Strange

Tea, like wine, can be good investment

by Lazylizards | January 5, 2009 at 04:11 am

588 views | 68 Recommendations | 9 comments

Next time you want to diversify your investments, buy tea. Yes, a form of tea that comes from southwest China.

Called pu'erh, or pu'er tea or Bolay, this fermented tea can be taken right after pit is produced or after it has been aged, sometimes for as many as 50 years or longer.

Connoisseurs of this traditional chinese tea found that many ethnic chinese in Malaysia had stored pu'erh tea in their houses, and collectors from as far away as China and Hong Kong had come to realise that this tea was worth a lot.

In 2007, the bubble burst because collectors had chased up prices.

Not unlike fine wine, Pu’er tea improves with age and is believed to have medicinal value, especially those over 50 years old. Investors in southern China and Hong Kong have come to realise that with the limited amount of tea grown each year, prices can be manipulated by storing rather than selling it.

“There are two types of Pu’er: raw and ripe. Raw tea is normally left to ferment and mature naturally and this is the best type for ageing. Different aromas are obtained from different aged teas and, for this, people are willing to pay handsome prices,” explains tea merchant Wayne Thong, 28, from Cheer Ascent.

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Paschen

at 04:16 on January 5th, 2009

Interesting, I always though that tea is undervalued.

Jordan Yerman

at 10:11 on January 5th, 2009

I'd face the same problem collecting tea as I would with wine... the desire to sip it would outweigh the desire to save it.

Karenke4

at 10:11 on January 5th, 2009

Good point to make. Some pu'erh is extremely expensive. It has a very earthy taste that some people love. I think it tastes like barn, personally, but agree it is a great investment!

Jawa Lunk

at 10:29 on January 5th, 2009

Hmm... I live by lots of barns....Maybe I could go harvesting and create my own fermented drink? hahaha

teajournaling

at 15:20 on January 5th, 2009

I don't particularly agree with seeing tea as an investment, as this has led to a lot of problems for us tea fanatics who want to be able to locate and afford older examples of some teas we love. This was the whole reason the Pu'er bubble prevented a lot of people from enjoying the aged classic teas such as Hong Yin, and 88 Qing Bing.

Also, anyone willing to sell off tea they've aged themselves must be crazy, or not love the particular tea enough to keep it.

Tea has been said to be the cheapest luxury in the world- let's try to keep it that way. The bursting of the Pu'er bubble was great news to all of us, and hopefully leading into 2009 will provide us with a new attitude of quality over quantity. Here's to hoping.

teajournaling has contributed a photo to this story.