pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

OMG the White 2 Tea countdown is killing me! I want to see the cakes already!!!!!!!!!! I’m sick at home and have run out of tea blog stuff to stalk, so need to obsess over pictures and descriptions of new awesomeness!

I am taking shots (very spaced apart shots, but prob drinking a bit fast bc warm liquid on my throat!!!) of Tea Urchin GFZ… since I can’t taste right now I wouldn’t be using this except my sister was over earlier and I thought she would like it. It’s nuts though, even with my cold I get the after taste. Happy happy.

I feel silly drinking this now… but it was already a few steeps in from my sister.

Having Wynn’s 2010 Spring Kunlu Mountain sheng.
I got this as a sample provided by Wymm tea. I hate to be so late getting to it but family matters weighed heavy on me the last week.
I got this sample out and weighed it , 7 grams so I got out the gaiwan for it. I gave a quick rinse and let it set for about 15 mins.
Upon opening the gaiwan the aroma was really good. It had the aroma of wet grass and honey mixed. I gave a quick 5 second steep and started away to drink. It gave a nice light yellow color in the cup. I picked through the leaves letting it cool a bit. The leaf in this is really nice .Whole leaves with a couple on a stem with 2 leaves attached.
I got into the cup and the aroma was still hanging around. I sipped it and just an instant of tobacco bitter and then it went sweet really fast. No astringency or biting notes just soft, sweet and nice. No hints smoke or anything. Just a nice one. The sweet lasts a while on this and I can see why others noted apricots , they are in there with some nutty notes as well.
Nice well done.

Flavors: Apricot, Bitter, Honey, Nutty, Sweet

Today I drank a ripe tea from Berylleb King Tea, the 2005 Yunnan Mengku Bamboo Shell Tea Brick Ripe. While I did like this tea there were some down sides to it. It was very strong in the initial steeps and very weak in the latter steeps. It was very bitter in the early steeps. It had more fermentation flavor than you would expect from a 2005 tea. Overall I liked the tea but it did not have staying power. I used 10.5g leaf for 170ml of water so I think I used enough tea. This ratio has worked for me with other teas but did not work with this one. It was way too weak by the seventh steep. I steeped it ten times but would say I only got six good steeps out of it.

2002 Fu Cha Ju Ailaoshan Zhuan Ripe by Chawangshop

i got a sample recently and decided to try last night.
This tea is really good. it has no storage smell or taste. at all. just aged ripe shou, extremely clean but i wouldnt say its flat . its rich,creamy, fruity( more like red fruits),some malt and super clean. its a pure pleasure to drink 2002 tea without any mustiness or fermentation flavors.

I am having the 2001 High Mountain Wild Tree Purple Tea Cake of Lincang from Yunnan Sourcing. Its nice and mellow with a pleasant bitterness at the back – a little grapefruity. Quite clean and smooth. Not finding a lot of longevity here though. Decent mellow qi but not a big bang. It does taste purple and I like that very much.

I love that this thread is keeping on going. Shame I do not have the time and energy to take part more, although I keep up with all your great posts. Still, today I finally found the time to do justice to a mystery shupu that a nameless donor from Steepster sent me. It’s jolly good. I noticed a creamy texture, and notes of wood, freshly baked biscuit (cookie), sandalwood and cinnamon, like drinking a warm, freshly baked snickerdoodle. It’s dark, mellow and rounded with a creamy mouthfeel. It tastes like I am drinking a warm, freshly-baked snickerdoodle. The dominant flavours are biscuit (cookie for the USAians), cinnamon and sandalwood. I think I noticed a touch of red wine in there too, possibly something like a Cabernet Sauvignon or maybe a Syrah. I’m enjoying it and looking forward to seeing how long it lasts. I’m six steeps in and still going.

Today I drank JalamTeas’ purple sheng again. So sweet and delicious! I got a berry note again. Absolutely no smoke, just sweet with medium viscosity. I ordered another on their site today along with another cake of their Naka…Those are my two favorite cakes from them since I’ve been a member. :)

Spring 2015 Jingmai Midas Touch by Crimson Lotus Tea. Sample. Thank you so much
Last night session.
This tea is magnificent. it totally changes my view on young sheng. its buttery smooth, clean and sweet. like faint fresh peas and so creamy. at the same time it does tastes like sheng. i had many steeps and saved leaves for tonight.
I do not recommend you to drink it on the go.
i was soo tea drunk. i could barely type on my iphone. Giggling all the time like child. it just made me very happy.
I need this tea.

Bana Tea’s 2012 Nannao Ming Qian…still on the first steep… but I am shocked at how much it smells like certain substances that are legal in certain states now. I guess that explains the “penetrating Qi” in the description lol.

Today I drank the 2015 Lord of the Lakes from Whispering Pines. This was a pre release sample that I received with my order. It was really good. It had a slight bitterness in the first two steeps then it was a sweet ripe puerh. This was really good with many complex notes that I wasn’t paying attention to. I was simply enjoying the tea. This is not a tea for those with a serious aversion to fermentation flavor as it is still a young shou.