pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

Just had the privilige to taste a Song Pin 2000, at a friend’s place, it’s a very fine sheng, well balanced, with a hint of camphor.

Quite surprised, when I heard that the camphor taste of some (old) pu erhs, comes from the Cinamomum Camphora tree, surrounding the tea trees. Always thought it was caused by the long post-fermentation. Never too old to learn.

Following mrmopar’s advice, I have switched to the 2005 Tibetan Flame. The sweet, smoky hit is really waking me up, even brewed western style.

Sampling Yunnan Sourcing’s 2013 spring Purple Yiwu. Opening the sample bag a huge fruity smell punched me in the face, though once wet the leaves smell of a more familiar yiwu scent. Taste so far is pretty light and thin, but the caffeine (or qi or whatever) is knock-you-over strong. Not the gentle clear energy of most sheng, but instant, sharp, and violent. It’s making my head spin, and this from someone who’s been comfortably gulping gallons of xiaguan (and other sheng) back to back all week.

So, so sad… my Silver Buds Yabao just arrived at my apartment in New York and I am across the darn country for two weeks!
I’m just going to phantom drink it from here! :(

It gets worse… the only pu-erh that I have here is Rishi’s Pu-erh Ginger. Though I love it, I truly need my straight pu-erh fix! I am day dreaming about breaking beencha…

Hmm.. Breaking Beencha… Now, that is a show that I would watch! It would probably be about a middle-aged college professor in some social science who collects pu-erh.

Well, I splurged my Christmas present money on pu-erh. We give ourselves a set dollar amount each year at this time and I searched out on the YS websites the pu-erhs I wanted. Purchased 250 gr of 2003 Meng Song Dai Tribe bamboo raw pu-erh (detailed here: http://www.yunnansourcing.us/store/product.php?id_product=175). I’ve described this tea here previously. I went to the YS China website and purchased 500 gr of the 2009 version of the same tea (http://yunnansourcing.com/en/rawpu-erh/1128-2009mengsongdaitribebamboorawpu-erhtea100g.html). I’m sipping it now . It has a light distinct taste with a orange/citrus edge that is quite appealing. The rounds are extremely compressed. The tea is a deep orange/brown color, tastes a bit like a black tea to me, but with that citrus flavor and a bit of astringency. The 2003 version is a bit more “mellow” so I’m looking forward to aging the 2009. It is a distinctive and enjoyable tea. I feel like I have a Chinese national treasure in my house.

Here is an interesting piece of literature on puerh tea. It is actually in english so I thought I’d share it.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Pu-erh-Tea-Appreciating-Chinese-Tea-English-Tea-Book-/320915458781?pt=US_Texbook_Education&hash=item4ab80d4add

Ordered my copy today =)

Having another shot of the 2007 Menghai 0782. Much of the edge is off of this tea now. It starts out with a small camphor hit and turns quickly sweet and with a light green taste finish. I think it is mellowing out, Yay the “pumidor” may be working.

Starting the day with Phatty Cake, but I think I screwed up this one. Yesterday I drank the 2008 Menghai Qizibing, which needed 10 grams in my 120 ml pot to make a good brew through 12 steeps. Did the same with the Phatty and it was overwhelming through the first 6 steeps at 5 seconds each. On steep 8 now at 10 seconds and it’s less overpowering but unremarkable. Will have to try 5 grams next time.

Thumbing through an excellent book: “Translations From The Chinese” by Arthur Waley (1941 reprint of the 1919 classic). Picked this up in a curio shop in Cocoa Beach, FL some years ago for $8. A collection of songs, some from the “Shih Ching” and the poetry of Po Chu-I. Sets a wonderful reflective mood.

Enjoying a nice warm cup of a 1996 Zhong cha shou puerh brick today after scraping about an inch of ice off the driveway. We had a pretty rough ice storm here in Toronto. The local media is comparing it to the Oklahoma ice storm!

Having a Chun Ming factory offering today from RoyalPuer. This is a very good sheng. No astringency but it still retains some camphor and a little “bite” The first infusion was kind of weak, I guess I didn’t allow proper time for the leaves to re-hydrate. The later steeps are really nice and have the sweetness of an aged sheng. It gives many infusions before turning to just colored water.