pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

7959 Replies
MzPriss said

I just had Mandala’s 2009 Old Tea Nuggets. Not a lot to say about them. Not offensive and easy to drink.

apt said

i need to explore this type of tea.

mrmopar said

And you shall apt…..

boychik said

MzPriss, I don’t know your parameters but I found that you should use double of what you normally using for shou pu. If usually I use 6g for 100ml nuggets should be around 12g

boychik said

apt I don’t have Mandala but I do have
http://www.yunnansourcing.us/store/index.php?id_product=193&controller=product
I can send you some if you want

apt said

haha boychik another friend of mine already offered to send me some of that exact same tea :) thank you for the offer though, we should swap soon.

boychik said

Sure ;)

MzPriss said

@boychik – I will try it with double. I used 6 or 7 grams and I did the mrmo thing where I rinsed and then left it alone for a half hour or so before going back to it. It wasn’t bad, just not much there, so I will try more tea. Thanks

I’ve always been leery of these nuggets. It seems like they are a by product of the fermentation pile (not just Mandala’s but all of them)

JC said

TeaBrat If I were to take a shot at BS/Made up statistics, I’d say about 95% of them are lol. But recently, more small companies and tea vendors are pressing their own with descent to good material. That being said, I haven’t tried this one.

@JC the ones I’ve tried are not that great, think I might steer clear in the future. ;)

mrmopar said

The Menghai ones are good. They just seem to get better as time goes on. They are from fermentation and the sugars in the tea cause these clumps or nuggets.

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I came home from work exhausted from dealing with asinine kids, & had about 30 minutes to recoup before my round of private students, who are much more well behaved & much more interested in learning. I knew I wanted a raw puerh long before I walked in my front door, & this one caught my eye: Tribute Tea Company’s 2007 Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tree Sheng – Puerh. This tea was sourced for Tribute by Jeff Fuchs, owner of Jalam Teas.

Dry, there is a horsey aroma, but after a rinse that aroma was gone. The tea had an immediate dark amber color, even with a very short steeping, a pleasant light taste, & an instant huigan. I’ve been drinking from these leaves since 3:30, & have enjoyed every cup. The flavor built to leather, tobacco, caramelized brown sugar & vanilla. The sweetness is a peachy kind of taste, and the later steepings have a lemony edge.

I’ve reached the end of my sipping for today, but I feel like this will go on for many more cups. The color is still rich, the taste sweet, the energy rejuvenating…everything I needed today :)

Cwyn said

Can’t get all that from a tea bag. Puerh is so worth the money. :) hang in there, my son’s dad is a music teacher, I know what he goes thru.

Yang-chu said

Sounds quite nice. Some really look down on Jing Mai. This one does sound quite complex. Seems like it was stored quite nicely.

I love Jingmai. Just one walk through their old growth tea forests will hook you for life. It’s amazing there. Every time I drink Jingmai I get a rush of memories coming back. Next time I’m bringing a tent. The villagers told us we can camp in the forests if we want. :-)

Yang-chu said

Crimson, that sounds really awesome. Watch out for the spiders. ;-)

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boychik said

last night i had a session 2007 Naka Qiao Mu Bamboo Raw Chawang Shop
I got it based on Cwyn review. yes, i got stoned. not immediately. after 5 steeps. i was very happy smiling then fell asleep and couldnt get up. I still feel drugged. Flavor wise its very pleasant, bittersweet stonefruits and spice. 6g for 100g gongfu glass teapot

http://instagram.com/p/vhpa_ehwm2/

http://instagram.com/p/vhwTfiBwt4/

http://instagram.com/p/vhwwyGBwgP/

http://instagram.com/p/vhycPKhwoq/

I want to try stoner tea! :P

Sounds like it tastes amazing too! :D

boychik said

and you shall get it soon ;)

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DigniTea said

I spent a good part of today enjoying The Wild Elephant King Cake – you’ve got to enjoy the wrapper! This one is officially listed as 2007 Yexiangwang Naka from White2Tea. This is an interesting blend of Naka and Bulang material. At the price I paid, it was a great bargain purchase given the high quality. The dry leaf offers a pleasant smell which became sweeter as the leaves steeped. The liquor is dark brass in color. The sip conveys what I would term power with a comforting sweetness – clean, strong and smooth with a very nice cooling effect. The activity in the mouth is strong and clean offering a swelling sensation with nice huigan. The leaf has good endurance and remained strong and flavorful through ten resteeps. At the end of the tea session I was left in a very thoughtful meditative state which persisted for about two hours.
Purchased from White2Tea in June for $34.50. Unfortunately the current price is $115 (a true indication of the escalating price of Naka tea products during the past 12-18 months).

jschergen said

That one was on my radar forever. I snoozed and lost :(!

Sounds quite good!

apt said

“But if I like it, I cop (buy) it.” – Young Thug

These are words to live by.

apt said

Next blog post is about rap lyrics that serve as pu’erh shopping advice

DigniTea said

jschergen – It is actually better than I expected.

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I’m much more of a sheng person but its very cold tonight so I had a craving for shu. I’m drinking 2012 Bulang Gushu from Cirmson Lotus Tea.

mrmopar said

A good one.

If you’re gonna go shou, go gushu! That one has converted many non-shou drinkers.

apt said

i can confirm, although I was already drinking traditional stuff :)

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The first tea I’m sampling from the White2Tea TOMC is the 2000 Chocolate Mini Shu Bricks. There is, of course, no chocolate involved, but the dry mini bricks are very very dark & fudgey looking, with an aromatic wood/camphor & earth aroma. There are 2 10G squares, so I decided to go with 2 different steeping methods. For the first try I used 10G in my regular mug, giving it a quick rinse & then 15 sec steeps, increasing time as needed.
The early steeps were a light shroom broth, & a sweet bready after taste.
This built over time to a rich & very dark cup, very smooth, reminding me the feeling of unsweetened cocoa powder, with a taste of dried black figs, & blackstrap molasses.
It was very rich!

So I started this yesterday, drinking several cups. Today I gave the leaf a rinse & am enjoying it some more. I started on it when I got home at 3:00 & I think I’m on my 3rd cup. It’s still very dark, damp wood, tobacco, light camphor, & this last cup was kind of like cream of wheat with agave, & a little bit of a light shroomy broth.

The 2nd mini brick will be gongfu steepings in my yixing, sometime. I might have to pick up some more of these in the future.

Cwyn said

I bought me a double order, one of the cleanest, clearest cups! I soak the squares in cold water til the kettle boils, two boiling rinses. Fabulous.

Yang-chu said

tightly packed ones, i soak in water a bit as well.

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mrmopar said

Here’s a little snippet of what I will be drinking tonight. The Chairman has chosen with great enthusiasm.
http://instagram.com/p/vmmmKDrA_j/
Having White2tea’s 2000 “7532” tonight.
I got this out with the “Chairman’s” . She seemed to really like this one a lot.
I got out 8 grams to start with. I gave 2 very quick rinses and let this one sit for about an hour. This is one of the oldest ones that I have had a chance to drink.
First cup. Brewed very quick. Color is a nice amber.
First sip, hit with flavors of earthiness, peat moss, a bit of sharp tannic notes and a hint of camphor.
This would be one a connoisseur would appreciate. I don’t think an inexperienced drinker would appreciate this. it packs a good kick. The Huigan is very noticeable and it really give a good “oily” coating in the mouth.
The Cha Qui may have to wait till tomorrow as the work schedule is only going to let me have one session tonight.
Yixing pot for brewing.

Flavors: Camphor, Earth, Peat, Tannic, Wood

Cwyn said

That cat photo is extreme feline tea addiction, awesome. My cats have no interest at all.

Yang-chu said

Cute pic.

Dr Jim said

Should the Flavors also include a hint of cat?

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mrmopar said

Dr Jim that is funny!

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Shou lovers should subscribe to updates on this thread…there’s going to be a little giveaway later tonight ;-) http://steepster.com/discuss/9751-coupon-madness?post_id=156976

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JC said

My first tea since my return from a deserved vacation! 2007 Yang Pin Hao – Limited Edition by SampleTea. This was a free sample with my order a while ago.

The dry leaves smell like bitter-wood/tobacco and some floral notes(maybe hidden fruit notes). When wet it smells a quite a bit harsher and it wears some smoke.

The liquor is not nearly as harsh as the scent, but still packs a punch. It has a more aggressive character the first 3-4 steeps and mellows/balances out later. It has a medium thickness at first and later becomes a numbing sensation. Mellow sweet huigan with some herbaceous notes. I would call it a ‘lesser’ Repave.

mrmopar said

Welcome back brother!

Yang-chu said

Ta-daa

MzPriss said

I’m so glad Repave is back

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