pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou
Today I drank a tea that just didn’t make the grade, the 2004 CNNP Green Print Ripe Tuocha 100g from Puerhshop. There was a strong and somewhat unpleasant fermentation taste. An unpleasant note permeated this tea, I think it stemmed from the fermentation taste. This tea was no more than average quality and somewhat below average in taste to tell the truth. I will probably revisit this tea in six months to see if storage improves it.
Does anyone drink puerh during the later end of night hours, nearing the time around heading to sleep? Not really sure if the caffeine is enough to interfere with sleep. Perhaps it depends how many steeps are drank, and maybe it makes more sense to begin a session earlier in the day and finish it up around bedtime?
I am tempted to begin a long session with my W2T 2015 Poundcake or 2014 Laochatou right now =O
I dont start a session late, but I get insomnia sometimes anyway, im pretty sensitive to these things
I often cheat on my caffeine and drink sheng in the early evening, usually starting at the 5th steep or so of a tea I was drinking in the afternoon. Sometimes it affects my sleep and sometimes it doesn’t. I also do shou with similar results, with 1st steep after dinner.
I drink shu during the day only, too much caffeine and not enough l-theanine to counterbalance it. I can do aged sheng in the evening, and some mellow younger ones without it impacting my sleep.
I drink sheng on the late evening, since that’s the only time I can have a full session. I have no problem to fall a sleep, I probably built up a tolerance already.
I’ve had late tea sessions often. I sleep like a log. Even if I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, I fall asleep again immediately.
“Devil pinching the throat,” evidently a sensation not satisfied by all when drinking. In hs we called that a “potato-chop.” Someone might read this, and delight me to no end by finding occasion to use it. (鬼掐喉咙, gui qia houlong).
YQH 2007 Huangshan Qizhong. Sampling this today and now I have to open my wallet, instantly moved to the top of my list.
Having the 2005 Changtai Yun Pu Zhi Dian / Top of the Clouds; by Crimson Lotus Tea tonight.
Getting this from the Sheng Olympics box.
I pulled the whole sample out to brew this one, a tad under 10 grams.
I got out the and gave a rinse and let it sit for a few minutes. I started out with a 5 second steep and did 3 for the big cup. The brew comes out with a nice gold color. The aroma belies a bit of humidity but not overly powerful.
The sips have a little smoky, just the least bit, and a bit of sheng sharpness with a touch of mineral on the front. The front to middle part of the tongue is where this one seems to go. The mineral goes to a sweet finish. It carries through with some camphor and mintiness in there as well. A nice warming tea on a cold Winter evening.
Flavors: Camphor, Mineral, Mint, Smoke, Sweet
Sampling 2004 Teji from YQH. The taste is light, little bit of leather and sweet. I wasn’t ready from the taste for the great body feeling this tea has. For me the tea made me sweat and the head and body feeling is a lasting one, much longer then any tea I’ve had. The aftertaste is amazing and the throat feel is still present. My mouth is sweet and cool, slightly coated. I think I prefer the taste of the one session of Qizhong I’ve had but this tea is an experience. It’s consistent with little change inbetween steeps, maybe some slight intensity jumps but overall it could care less how I brewed it and gave me the same results. The most consistent tea I’ve tried in my limited experience.
Had the 2015 Da Hu Sai Raw from Yunnan Sourcing. Very nice. Defining characteristic is up front bitterness smoothly transitioning via strong huigan to sweetness with floral/ fruitiness. An awesome body with very active feeling in mouth and throat. Used 7 grams for roughly 110 ml Gaiwan. Due to bitterness early steepings required flash brews.
2013 Xi Zi Hao “Xuan Xi” Raw from HouDe
This is a very solid tea – both welcoming and encouraging. A touch of astringency in the first cup but this soon disappeared. The tea offers an appealing sweetness with fruity overtones and the aroma is both floral and fruity. In the third or fourth cup I began to detect a quiet relaxing qi settling in. Overall the tea is complex enough for me to feel that this is a rich and powerful tea which offers a pleasant worthwhile session and interesting possibilities for aging in the years ahead.
Today it the 2005 Hai Lang Hao “You Le Zheng Shan” from the 2016 Sheng Olympics sheng sampler. This is a nice tea. It is somewhat sweet and somewhat astringent. It doesn’t seem to have aged that much for a 2005 tea but that is all right. I think that this one will be really good in another ten years of aging. I am not sure as to how much this one costs but I am tempted to pick one up the next time Yunnan Sourcing has a sale.
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