Puer Market Crash Creates Opportunity

This is an excerpt from one of my World Tea News articles. To find out more about my freelance writing or to ask me about writing copy for your tea business, please contact me at vee at veetea dot com. Thank you.

Then and Now

To meet demand during the bubble, which grew during the late 1990s by most accounts, crooked businessmen and duped vendors alike sold low-grade and counterfeit puers. Puer collector David Lee Hoffman (featured in the recent documentary, “All In This Tea”) said puers that were “acceptable, like table wine at best” proliferated, while quality became scarce in a flood of forgeries.

Guang Lee, owner of Hou De Tea, summed up the phenomenon of high prices and low quality with a joke: “People in China discussed the puer trade in Starbucks.” Coffee was the fashionable drink, but people invested in an imaginary demand for tea.

The inevitable puer crash was a sobering event for many investors, but aficionados consider it a boon. Roy Fong, co-owner of Imperial Tea Court, said that as a result of the crash, quality is more accessible and people are less likely to sell forgeries, making now “a great time to open a new channel.”

The crash uprooted opportunists, Hoffman said, and now, “if someone knows how to taste, then it’s a great time to buy.” Lee added that tearoom owners have more negotiating power with vendors than before.


Soon, you’ll be able to read the remainder of this article on my portfolio site, Copy & Taste.