pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou
I’m going through my samples once more and chose the 2012 Yunnan Sourcing “Autumn Mu Shu Cha” Raw Puerh. I have tried this a couple of times with different steeping parameters but am not getting the intense cha qi filled experience that Yunnan Sourcing proclaim on the website. This tea is quiet and very drinkable. It is more like an ordinary green tea than a sheng, but that could be its youth. I do wonder how it will age though. Could be an interesting one to try in a few years’ time.
The pictures on their site look great. Quite a mix of different colored leaves. A bit too young, to get the intense cha qi experience, I think.
Yes, that was what I was thinking, but the text on the site claims it is present now.
One thing I have noticed since writing my notes on this tea is that the astringency goes on a long time after drinking and also develops a citrusy tang. Also, the tea will not take many re-steepings yet. I am very tempted to add a beeng to my shopping basket to try over the next ten years or so.
As you cannot prove it, you cannot send it back and say, hey, there’s no intense cha qi in your tea!
This happened to me with a smaller 100gm cake a while ago. I can’t even recall the name(I’ll see if I can find it). Very young, it was advertised as having strong Cha Qi, but it tasted like a green. Not bad, but not specially good. I think the tea was too young and was set for sale instead of letting it sit for a bit to develop Sheng characteristics.
I decided to go with a 2004 Haiwan Old Mountain sheng this morning. The tea brews a dark amber colour that is rather clean. No cloudiness whatsoever. The soup yields a delightful sweetness, which leaves lasting impression on the throat. Despite the sweetness and long finish, I do find a slight lack in body. That being said, it is a fine tea!
It is indeed pleasant. What are you drinking Roughage? How are you enjoying it Peter? Come across any new aged puerhs?
I’m just finishing up the pot of 2012 Yunnan Sourcing “Autumn Mu Shu Cha” Raw Puerh that I posted about earlier today. I think I need to use hotter water and a lot more leaf to get the best out of this one.
In fact, I’m having it in my cupboard, but I’m drinking a Menghai Tuo Cha 200?, which I like very much, it’s a dark, mysterious and complex brew. New year’s eve, we drank a 100 year old Tieguanyin, how about that for aged? :-)
100 year old tieguanyin?! where do you find these teas? LOL I have a 10 year old tieguanyin which I do not like very much.. I think I remember it having a “dusty” taste LOL.
Do you know how many times it has been roasted? They usually roast tieguanyin that has been aging before consumption.. sometimes once.. sometimes multiple times. The one I have was roasted once when taken out of the storage container.
Having my beloved, relaxing Yunnan Aged Qizi from Yezi Tea this morning in anticipation of the new My Little Pony episode. This tea will always hold a special place in my heart. Words are failing me right now, as I only got about two hours of sleep, but, needless to say, I love this shu.
Here are links to an excellent documentary about puerh tea:
http://english.cntv.cn/program/documentary/20110428/110815.shtml (Part1)
http://english.cntv.cn/program/documentary/20110429/111015.shtml (Part2)
Bracing this mild weather with a 2013 Yiwu sheng. I am enjoying this tea very much. It coats my mouth with a thick layer and leaves a wonderful dryness.. the perfect amount of astringency (I personally enjoy some dryness.. like a fine barolo fine) It is, of course, sweet in the finish. I will definitely put this tea on my shopping list. 7.9/10
“The liquid of tea is like the sweetest dew from heaven” – Lu Yu (733-804)
Having a 2008 Yi Heng Xiang Pigtails sheng. This tea is very similar to the “Handmade Plait” tea I possess. This whole cake is made the same way just pressed into a beeng. It chips off in whole plait peices if you break it carefully. It seems more like a light green tea when brewing. It is not strong but very light in brew strength and color. It has the familiar grassy and tobacco of many young shengs. I think the manufacture style on this would deem aging longer than most others as these “plaits” really take about 5 or 6 infusions to fully unfurl. Personal note is you could take a strand or two to work drop into a cup of hot water and instant tea. It does hold together well and I found almost no need to run this through a strainer.
Had some wonderful shu pu-erh (or, I should probably say, po lei) today while at Dim Sum with loved ones. There is nothing quite like drinking delicious shu, chatting with those your care about, and taking in the ambiance of a early Sunday afternoon in China Town right before New Years. :)
I’m drinking 2003 Golden Melon “Jin Ya Jin Gua”. I wanted to go for a bread/baked good tasting Shou today. It is very warming this one, makes an amazing 4-5 steeps, but after it weakens greatly but it still holds some sweetness.
I heard a shou calling my name this morning. It was a 1996 shou I purchased many years ago, a tea still advertised as Zhong Cha. I believe it was my first cake. I measure out 5 grams into my Gaiwan, which holds about 100 ml of water. I pour the water into the Gaiwan, witnessing the leaves dance gracefully. Due to its age and questionable quality, I decided to wash this tea three times. After the wash, it produces a red soup which leads me to think that this tea is lightly-medium fermented. The colour is nice in my opinion. The soup produces a sweet woody taste with, what I detect as, a slight fishy note to it. Overall, not bad I suppose. I’d be really interested in what a more experience shou drinker thought about this tea.
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