My first encounter with the modern style of puerh tea came in 2005 at a Chinese tea market in Kunming. During that time such teas were not taken seriously and were treated as a gimmick which often resulted in them being offered to new tea drinkers. The market sentiment was very different during those times. It was a speculative market with fast money and investing in puerh tea provided a roller coaster ride of emotions. The vast majority of buyers were Chinese and there was strong demand for puerh tea that could potentially make future profits. Buyers wanted puerh tea that was age worthy and that would give them a return on their investment. The modern style of puerh tea was an unknown quantity and its docile qualities were so different to the standard puerh tea at the time that some even questioned whether it was genuine puerh tea. The hardcore Chinese buyers were dismissive of the modern style of puerh tea and as a result the more competitive buying revolved around traditional and renowned production batches by established factories like Menghai TF, Xia Guan TF and Kunming TF.
