Chawangshop

This is a fairly nice tea with a bittersweet start. There were some notes of mushroom and woodsy notes in the first few steeps. This slowly turned sweeter, with a bit of a fruity tang by the eighth steep. Not bad at all when you consider the price, $28 for three 250g mushroom tuos. I did not notice too much in the way of fermentation flavor to this one although that is not to say it has cleared.

I brewed this eight times in a 160ml Jian Shui teapot with 13g leaf. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, and 20 sec.

This is excellent tea considering the price of $12. It had little bitterness even in the first steep with a sort of muted sweetness, just a very light sweet note without a bitter background note. There was some fermentation taste but I didn’t notice it all that much. A few steeps in a note that I would describe as dry grapes emerged that only lasted about two or three steeps. Then it was back to a muted sweetness. This tea was quite the find for the price. While certainly not as good as a $100 shou brick from someone like Hai Lang Hao it was incredible considering the price. This is one I would definitely buy again if I run out of it.

I steeped this tea eight times in a 207ml Taiwan Clay Teapot with 17.5g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, and 20 seconds. Going to go back and steep it a few more times for some photos.

Another TTB sample I believe – just got 4 grams of this one, enough to do a sesh with my 60mL gaiwan. I was pleasantly surprised by this one – I expected these Laotian border teas to be a little bit rougher, but this one didn’t have much of anything unpleasant going on.

There was a relatively unfamiliar and slightly unusual herbal note in the first couple steeps – I can’t describe it any more certainly than that. The rest of the session was pretty pleasant – creamy texture with a good amount of bitterness as one might expect in young sheng. Again, didn’t really take notes or anything, just remembered that it was better than I thought it might’ve been going in, but that it didn’t strike me as anything too special.

This is a relatively nice tea from Chawangshop. It was not terribly expensive but as I recall not dirt cheap either. It was fairly bittersweet at the start with a fair amount of fermentation flavor. Both the bitter note and the fermentation took four or five steeps to steep out, leaving a fairly nice, semi sweet ripe puerh. I tried the same ratio of leaf to water that worked so well for the LBZ ripe tea from the other day, 1g to 10ml. It was too much tea for this one. This one would have been better with at least a 1g to 15ml ratio. Still there was a good taste to this by the eighth steep. I think if I took this to twelve steeps it would develop a fruity character, or if I had used less leaf probably by the eighth steep.

I steeped this eight times in a 160ml Yixing teapot with 16g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 7 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, and 10 sec.

Another sample from the 2016 Chawang sample group buy I participated in earlier this year. This one was definitely dominated by bitter/astringent notes in my experience. The two sessions I did with boiled water were not particularly enjoyable. I was getting almost no sweetness cutting through the wall of tannic astringency.

I finally was able to get a better read on the tea when I did a session with 200F water. Still had a pretty sharp astringent edge, but I finally started to get some nice floral sweet huigan coming through. This tea is nice and thick and has some pretty good energy behind it as well.

When I try young teas, most of them fall somewhere into the category of “this is good now, but could improve with age.” This one really isn’t worth drinking now, but when that astringency starts to soften, I think it could become something really nice. Would I pick up a cake depending on that to happen? Most likely not…but I bet it would turn out well.

Tea Swap
Sipdown

I brewed this last night (10g/200 ml) after work. I’ve not been able to sleep anymore, so I have started working out and drinking a variety of sheng (which helps me relax) to slow my mind down.

At first, it was a bit bitter, but from my experiences with Naka, that’s how it goes with most of them…After a few steeps in, the bitterness vanished and there was a nice smooth ‘sheng’ (leathery) note….However, I hadn’t realized that the tea was taking hold of me, and allowing my mind/body soar in the state of relaxation/sleepiness. Upon drinking more and stopping momentarily to allow the kettle to boil back to the temperature needed, I was asleep.

So, in conclusion….this is pretty good stuff.

I have been trying to get to my remaining Chawang samples the past couple weeks, and this was the next in line. I was surprised by how nice this was, especially after the Bada Laoyu was a good deal smokier than I would prefer. The dry leaves had a sweet apricot aroma with a bit of something light and vegetal behind em. After a rinse, the fruity note came out strongly, along with a bit of a sourness and a light floral aspect.

The flavor was really nice as well – apricot and a bit of buttery vegetal flavor. The finish was floral – I couldn’t tell you what flower it really was, but the first thing that came to mind for me was orange blossoms. During a couple early steeps, I picked up a quick licorice note on the very front of the sip. As the session went on, some astringency built up, but not all that much. As I increased steep times, the brightness of the apricot fruitiness faded some, into a deeper/more syrupy flavor and mouthfeel. I didn’t really pick up much energy off this one or anything. Nonetheless, quite tasty, easy to drink, and complex enough to make for an engaging session.

This is probably my favorite from Chawang’s Puerh line so far. Thick and creamy texture to the liquid. The flavors start off rather soft and sweet in the early steeps, but as the session goes, it picks up some astringency and bitterness – never overwhelming, but certainly noticeable. Fruity flavors and aromas are present in most steeps – sometimes tropical in nature. The tea also showed a good amount of energy, mostly in the early steeps.

This one is quite good – I might actually end up picking up a cake or two of it. Based on how it tastes now combined with the few aged Manzhuans I’ve tasted, I think this would do pretty well with some age.

Brewing this up tonight. I remember sampling a bit when it first came in to see where to store it.
I pulled 10 grams out to brew with. Cake is looser now that it has had time to settle a bit. I tossed the leaf in a warmed brewer and it gave an almost sweet alfalfa note. I rinsed it and got brewing.
First infusion quick steep, comes across sweet and aromatic. Light on the palate as it is still opening up. Let it sit about 30 minutes after this.
Second infusion, a bit more punch to it . Some astringency, maybe a hint of tart and metallic. Let it cool slightly and the sweetness comes back. An almost mint note to it.
Third infusion, still quick steeps. A little more bite/bitter in there. Sweetness still on the last note on the tongue. Gets thicker and has the lingering in the throat a bit. Seems to be good material. Not sure about pricing since it has climbed since I purchased it.

So last weekend I was house sitting for my parents as they were out of town and I just threw some random samples into my backpack… I pick out this one that says 97 Chawangshop red mark and I’m thinking ‘eh this will be decent I suppose’ thinking that Chawangshop doesn’t have serious bangers… well, I was wrong and it’s good to be wrong!

Tea brewed out really dark. Taste much like a Bulang with that spunk to it. Nice texture, a little speckle on the tongue/throat; you know, like the viscosity of the liquid was taking its time trickle throw/on both. Taste was very aged and dry aged at that… dry aged is MUCH easier to taste tea progression and low notes unlike humid storage; just try a 10 year XG that was humid stored vs a 10 year dry XG stored cake. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some humid stored stuff, but what a treat it is to have a dry stored cake that you can kind of taste the years pass through your taste buds.

No idea who gave me a sample, no idea if more is to be had… awesome session. Very satisfied.

I got a sample of this one in the Chawang Group buy I participated in earlier this year. I found this to be a pretty powerful tea. Flavors I noted were floral and slightly piney; this tea absolutely possesses a good amount of astringency and bitterness (more bitter than astringent though). This can be mitigated by brewing with a very light hand (or likely by using cooler water, though I did all my sessions at a boil).

The tea’s texture was quite thick in my mouth and as it went down my throat. I perceived a slight bit of energy, at points during the session, but only when I was really focused on it. This one seems like it would take well to aging. From what I’ve heard, Chawang selects more for teas which will be good with age rather than ones which are good young. While this one is tasty at this age, I think it would benefit from aging for sure.

Part 4 of my 2016 CWS review. First steep had a pleasant straw/apricot flavor. Slightly sweet. Silky in the mouth. 2nd (10s): Straw/tobacco nose. I’m already feeling the cha qi from the first steep. Nice tobacco/straw flavor and silky texture; Similar to first steep. 3rd(20s): Still rich, but the flavor has shifted from sweet and silky to slightly bitter, tannic and acidic. 4th (30s): Initially sweet, then bitter, then sweet again in the finish. Very powerful finish. Strong cha qi. 5th was an oversteep (90s). Strong without excessive bitterness.

This tea is what I think of when I thing of Chawangshop teas: solid and good value, but not the highest quality. Having said that, I have to note that two of the teas I’ve tried so far, were in fact of the “highest quality” according to my rating system >=90.

After finishing my review I read other reviews that talked about the bitterness of the tea. It certainly became more bitter in later steeps, but I didn’t find the bitterness excessive. I also found that the bitterness was reduced if I used shorter steeps in later cups, yet the straw flavors still came through nicely.

I’ve been tasting my way through the entire 2016 ChawangShop line, thanks to a group buy. This is my favorite so far.

The first steep was disappointing: light straw nose and taste. The 2nd steep started light; mostly straw. However, as the tea cooled, it developed more flavor and texture in the mouth, particularly near the finish, which was long. I’m not noticing much cha qi at this point. The 3rd steep was when it started to shine. It was very full in the mouth. The taste was a mix of broth, weeds, and leather with some bitterness at the finish. Long, long, finish; the finish is definitely the best part of this tea, though the texture in the mouth is a close second.

In the 4th steep I was finally feeling some cha qi. The nose and taste are weedy, with hints of grass. Really full texture in the mouth; slightly astringent. For me, a tea normally peaks in the 3rd steep, but I liked this steep better. I want to just keep rolling it around in my mouth. Then, the finish keeps it going. 5th steep (40s): The nose is full and rich. Taste is too. Huge finish. The 6th steep finally showed a bit of weakness; still quite good, but less so than the 5th.

This was my second tea of the group buy tasting. I didn’t like it nearly as much as the Jinggu You Shang gushu.

The first steep had a weak nose. Sweet straw flavor is light in the mouth. This may be partly because the cake was relatively solid, so I did a poor job of breaking it. Waited 15 minutes for next steep to let the chunk loosen. After 4 steeps, it was fully separated. The tea never really developed: decent flavor but straightforward, and slightly astringent. A longer steep just produced bitterness. I gave up after 5 steeps. Not really a bad tea, just average, which is no longer what I am hoping for.

Been airing this one since I got it. I grabbed about 11 grams out to brew with. I gave it a good long rinse. First three steepings are smoky, bitter and strong. I think this is one to just put away and age. Material looks decent for the price paid. There is some floral hayish lingering in the mouth a bit after drinking this one.

Not much I can say that the reviews from Rich and Liquid Proust before me haven’t already said. I echo their sentiments exactly. Good tea…actually a steal of a tea. Don’t buy it all before I get around to placing another order :)

This tea has girth… like an enlarging depth of flavor that takes up your mouth through a shrinking via bitter notes.

From the first steep I knew this was quality. This is some good stuff and I expected to see something more than $50 for a cake and that was true after I looked it up. Still, $45/200g is less than what the average silly 200g pressing is going for when it comes to something that has serious potential such as this cake.

It has some nice plucks to it, but dang this tea is solid and I look forward to having someone remind me to revisit a year down the road.

Mainly tannic vegetables with a hint of ‘stuff’

I am going to have to say that this at the moment is too dry and astringent for me. The material is compressed on the tighter side but there would need to probably be some storage adjustment with this one so it develops over time to something I would like… no sweetness which is a downer for me, but not all tea with have a sweetness and that is fine because not all tea will be for my taste buds.

This is a very good tea for the price Chawangshop gets for it, I believe for $5 a 100g bing. Yunnan Sourcing has the same tea which I also bought before I saw it at Chawangshop. While I would not call this tea phenomenal, it was very good, a nice solid ripe. It had a fair amount of fermentation flavor left, that flavor was a little unpleasant at first but not fishy. There were some notes of dark bittersweet chocolate in there. After a few steeps the bittersweet notes left and a sweet note was there. Not sure as to how to describe this note. This tea is definitely worth buying at Chawangshop’s price if you put in an order.

I steeped this tea twelve times in a 220ml Yixing Teapot with 15.1g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 minutes. It waspretty much finished at twelve steepings. If I had used more leaf I am sure it would have gone a little further.

This is a fairly tasty ripe brick from Chawangshop. It had a fair amount of fermentation flavor. Neither unpleasant nor fishy tasting. There was no bitterness, just a sweet note from the start.

I steeped this ten times in a 160ml Silver Teapot with 12.2g leaf and 190 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec,7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 minute.

This is an interesting tea. It is a border tea, produced in Myanmar, and is very cheap at $12 for a 200g cake. It is definitely good, but certainly rougher than typical young sheng we’ve all probably been tasting in recent years. It’s kind of tart, somewhat bitter throughout, and very green. It is also very strong, both in body and in qi, and was very long lived. I think those who like strong and bitter would find this tea interesting and appealing and well worth a try at this price. Chawangshop says that this kind of border tea is often used as a mixer in high end blends, like Lao Banzhang. I can see how that would work…

Randomly threw some of this into a gaiwan and began a session that was bleh.
Very basiic raw puerh with some umph to it in regards to bitterness.

After 12 steeps I was like… this is not on the same level as the other at all ; ‘what the heck mayne???’

Well… $22 cake, I suppose that answers my internal thoughts; not to say cheap tea is weak or weak tea is cheap or expensive tea… yadda yadda