pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

Been drinking tea in Bangdong and Xigui all day. I don’t expect to sleep much tonight, but I also don’t expect much sympathy for my “hardships”.

Pic below – gushu (old/ancient/whatever arbor) is not ready to be picked yet, but getting very close.

Here is a pic of a tree in Xigui for anyone interested – http://imgur.com/2h71l6x

I didn’t sleep last night and tea was the culprit for me too. 1990s Tong Chang Huangji, a thoughtful sample from Hster. She suggested this tea as a budget aged option from EBay. I guess it is okay for budget but two months of airing didn’t get rid of the “tea shop incense” flavor. Naturally I drink it up anyway. Then I’m two fisting that with 2013 YS Drunk on Red black tea cake. So I didn’t deserve to sleep well after all that behavior on my part.

Somebody buy up this teapot so I’m not tempted http://crimsonlotustea.com/collections/yunnan-2015-collection/products/jianshui-zi-tao-clay-teapot-bronze-with-old-man-110ml

2009 Wuliang Wild Puerh from The Essence of Tea.
The raw material in this cake is from ancient, wild trees (800-1000 years old) on Wuliang mountain and the possibilities drew me to the tea. I was not disappointed. The leaves brew a lovely clear liquor and the wet leaves smell powerfully sweet, fruity and complex. The first brew is reasonably thick with a very interesting fruity sweetness – no bitterness or astringency detected. Some Wuliangs I have had before revealed smoke in the flavor profile but fortunately I did not find that in this tea. The strong sweetness is the main feature here – sweetness mixed with spice and citrus suggesting the healthy characteristics of the trees and environment from which it comes. Rather full in the mouth with nice, gentle, but long activity on the tongue promoting a lubricated mouth feel with a persistent warmth. An interesting “wild” tea – sweet, soft, lovely in its gentle aroma. The stamina of the tea is quite good but later steepings became a little thin in taste for me so I did not push the tea past 9 steeps. The tea’s primary taste is rounded and smooth – some people might say that it is too smooth but I found a strength of character which provides the tea drinker with interesting and complex textures. I am definitely a fan!

Today I am drinking the 2013 “Hui Run” Ripe Pu-erh tea cake of Bu Lang Mountain by Yunnan Sourcing.

A very nice tasting ripe. It is quite complex. There is some fishy flavor, so it will probably benefit from some aging. It’s an interesting mix of sweet dates, coffee, and bitter chocolate. It is dark and thick, and seems to have a lot of caffeine. I like it! I think it has a lot of potential.

2012 Xigui Yapu Tea Co. Since we’re on the topic of Xigui… When I got this one outta the wrapper, I was hit with a blast of fragrance and expected good things. That was in Dec and only now is it starting to taste good.
The most outstanding quality of this offering is the blast of shuangkou that it provides once it’s washed down. Imagine some heretofore unknown Mentos packed with “shuang,” along with a bit of sweet and full splashes of perfume. Shuang （霜） is frost but its exhilarating effect is also shuang (爽）。
There’s been some interesting discussion about the aging prospects of Xigui among other things, but I don’t recall reading anything about shuang. It got me wondering whether the immediate drinkability is inversely correlated with “the shuang factor” (possibly a new cologne coming out this autumn).
The liquor is a light yellow, aged so far on the dryish side. Holding it in your mouth gives a playful sweetness. I’ve noticed, brewing seems to take a bit of babying. I’m doing steeps between 5-10s and if I wait 1/2hr or so after 2 rounds it’s ideal. If too much releases then it’s just bitter, with the irrepressible and numbing huigan that lasts between 5-8 min. It seems the bitter is the perfume/floral itself because at this stage there is much more fruitiness in the aroma and taste than initially.

Having “tribute Teas” 2013 “Bada Shan Shengtai”.
Breaking this one out to try tonight. I am very intrigued by this one as I like Bada’s a bit. This tea is packed cylinder style and I picked off 10 grams to try. The leaf is very nice on this one. It has a nice greenish hay aroma of the dry leaf.
I did a quick rinse in the easy gaiwan to brew this with. Very nice aroma, the green puerh aroma comes through and then an aroma that smells very sweet on this one.
The brew is a nice dark golden color in the cup. The aroma is very nice on this one, makes me want to dive in on it.
The brew is nice. It is very thick, almost syrupy thick. . The bitter is there but it goes sweet very quickly. It has just the slightest touch of the smokiness left , but just the slightest hint. The aroma on the brewed leaf is really fantastic. The aromatics of this one will hit you hard. Makes you want to toss back the whole cup at once. Really impressed by this one.
I have really enjoyed this and been glad got enough to have at a later date. Well done on the tea production and the one who found it.

Flavors: Bitter, Hay, Smoke, Sweet

I had grapefruit flavoured Shou from Big-active a polish brand I find in European supermarkets and delis. The grapefruit is red grapefruit and is sweet and pretty well done. The flavouring holds up for at least three steeps and the tea underneath is decent though mild for quite a cheap tea (4.25-4.95/100g). It tastes decent for steeps ranging from 30s to 4-5 minutes and is a decent entry tea for those who are leary of shou as it has no really unpleasant notes in scent or taste though later steeps can begin to gave marine notes.

Today I’m having 2010 Dian Yi Hao Naka Brick from Cha Wang Shop. The dry leaves are pretty looking and fruity aromatic with plenty of honey notes. When wet some more depth appears with bitter to bittersweet floral notes, orange peel and mineral. As I steeped I also got some zhu(bamboo) floral notes that can be a bit perfumy.

I’m still tasting this one and will come back to it, but so far the notes are fairly smooth with some floral bitterness and a muted honey sweetness that lingers with an almost waxy mouthfeel. The liquor does become richer as it goes down and you continue to drink giving notes of darker fruits and even some savory notes. Some steeps/sessions have some tobacco note in there, I don’t know if it is natural or inconsistency in the firing/kill the green.

Good so far, not great, but I’m going to revisit this one once it airs out a bit more. I do have to mention that I’d rather pay less and get only the tea instead of feeling that I paid extra for the box :P

Mahei Sheng Pu-erh from Ancient Tea Tree 2011 Spring by WymmTea

i went with the entire sample which was about 6g .
95ml gaiwan, 200F rinse/pause/3/5/5/5/7/7/10sec etc

The tea is wonderful. I was cautious not to oversteep it, so my steeps were very short, some even flash.
started mild, then progressed to a nice minty cool and spicy flavor. i cannot say i experienced any harsh bitterness or astringency. It was very pleasant. i really liked that minty cool freshness.
Later steeps lost the mint flavor but again no bitterness ( or maybe im getting used to it so i dont notice haha)

i highly recommend to try this tea. i really enjoyed it.

In honor of spring (and Friday!). Broke out the CNNP 2008 Sheng, 7-8 grams of impossibly tightly pressed cake into my favorite 150cc Ru Yao Gaiwan. One immediate rinse, one long rinse. First brew about 10-15 seconds which was light and slightly roasted, hints of smoke, subtle nose, light amber soup. Then second brewing (20-25 seconds): the familiar astringent and chemical hospital room flavor I love about this cake. Nothing subtle or forgiving, just a battering ram of mineral-ly sensation…which is what I prefer. The cake has no pretense, and does not leave you wondering about what its identity is…very honest. Long drawn out finish, that seems to linger in the throat and coat the stomach. Burst of energy and focus to finish up work projects before lunch—which will have to be something greasy and nap inducing.

Cheers!