pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

Having a 2011 Bu Lang from Teanami today.
Leaf seems to be very nice with hints of a drier storage aroma.
I got 9.8 grams out for brewing in the gaiwan. Water was heated to 208f to start with. I heated the gaiwan and tossed the dry leaf in and shook it around. Opening the lid the aroma gives a bit of mineral and damp hay in there. Rinsing the leaf for about 5 seconds the aroma goes to a honey sweet hay type of aroma. Brewing the first cup, it doesn’t come across as a heavy type of brew. Semi-sweet and a bit of oily viscosity.
Second brew after letting the leaf absorb a touch are quite stronger. The tea starts to push the bitterness that Bu Lang is known for. The viscosity comes up as well. It hits the tip and side of the tongue well. Some tobacco is in there as well. Sitting back the tingle lasts a bit.
Successive brewing awakes it well. The wet leaf exudes the aroma so well.
Steeps 3 to 5 The activity moves back more in the mouth and throat. The sweetness after the sips will play in there as well. There is just a hint on my palate of smoke in there. This isn’t as astringent as some of the younger teas I have had but it packs a punch under all that sweet aroma the wet leaf gives off. For fans of Bu Lang and Mang Fei this will be right up your alley.

Flavors: Bitter, Hay, Honey, Mineral, Thick, Tobacco

Another raw/ripe blend today. A sizeable chunk of red snake blend ripe from YS along with a sizeable chunk of 2009 Yongde Da Xue Shan from Finepuer. This was (and still is) surprisingly good. Some pleasant mouthfeels and a bit of tongue tingle, and even sat decently far down into the throat. Quite tasty too.

Drinking a 2010 Shuangli Jingmaishan Ripe.
Chawangshop has some great ripes, at really low prices. This is a $6 100g cake, and it is really good. Pretty smooth, very little fermentation flavor, just deep and rich and hearty. Later steeps had just a touch of tart cherry. It is not earth shattering, but it is really good. They do a great job curating decent lesser known factory ripes at great prices, the best shop out there for this niche in my experience.

2010 Chen Sheng Yi Hao from Tea Urchin, remaining sample in a bag from tea pal and Puerh Extraordinaire mrmopar. Though the rest of my sample has remained in the Baggie for a year, the tea is still quite good. I’d consider springing for a cake of this but…with spring teas coming out I’m saving my cash for now.

This tea is Bulang with 10% LBZ, so sprinkles. I can think of better cakes but 400g is a lot of tea and the price is mid range. Not much smoke in this.

2011 Bulang Teanami. Sample for review. #teadrunk

White Whale for me today. Working on a tasting note that belongs if the Tasting Note Hall of Shame, if there were such a thing.

2012 autumn raw 100g mini-bing from Chawangshop today. Can’t remember the name, or if I’ve posted about this little badboy before, but I’m not dedicated enough to look it up. Finishing off the third (or is that forth?) cake of this today, which tells you that it must be good. Strong and tasty, with a dependable calming qi. Quite comfortable on the stomach for a young raw. Smokey in a good way, which is something I can’t say about most teas.

Having a 2008 Goddess of Beauty shou tonight from Teanami.
I got about 9.5 grams of this out to try tonight. I used the Gaiwan to brew this up. I gave this a quick rinse and allowed it to sit for about 10 minutes.
I did 3 quick brews into a big mug, my favorite way for shou.
The brew is a nice deep amber color. The sips are very clean. I think the fermentation has left this one. It has the bittersweet chocolate and dry cocoa in the mouth. It tends to linger on the middle part of the tongue and whispers of a savory broth with some saltiness in there. Hints of dried dates also come through as the tea cools a bit.
Nice and clean and good value for a tea with this age.

Flavors: Broth, Cocoa, Dark Bittersweet, Dates, Salt

2015 “Impressions” from Yunnan Sourcing. Not the greatest tea ever, but I still cannot believe this cake only costs $19. My first and only autumn sheng. I’m considering buying a tong so I have this on hand for years to come. Has a great aftertaste that sticks around for a while.

Puerh Tea TTB. This morning I drank an aged raw from Essence of Tea, the 2001 Jing Mai Ancient Tree. This tea was very astringent . It was somewhat bitter but not too bad. It was somewhat smoky. It did not have strong notes of leather and tobacco but they were present to some degree. I am beginning to think I don’t like aged sheng. I have not yet come across one that I found spectacular in taste. Some like the YQH teas I found spectacular in qi. This one I got no qi off of.