pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou
Today I enjoyed my first session with a 2007 Gu Ming Xiang NanNuo Mountain Ripe. Smooth deep oak flavor with a rich dark brown clear liquor and I detected a touch of dark chocolate and honey in the taste. This was part of a very generous sample which accompanied the 357g cake I recently purchased. The cake is for aging another year or two but I look forward to continuing with the sample very soon.
I think I am going to do that also. That is a good idea, it lets you try the tea and keep it intact also. Sammerz that is the best tea buying idea i have heard of. Guess my old mind isn’t as sharp as it used to be!
Having a Mandala Tea’s ’Wild Mountain" green sheng from 2011. I started this out with 11 grams that I broke off the chunk of tea I have. I separated it into smaller pieces. There are lots of whole leaf in this one with whole stems with the leaves attached. I brewed this in the yixing after a 10 second rinse. It started a golden color on the first brew after a 10 second steep.. This is nice and sweet on the first brew with hints of camphor, flowers and white grapes. I started the second infusion with a 10 second steep it comes out with more depth to it. The color is the same with the camphor touch and a slight pleasant bitternes that will coat and numb the tip of the tongue. I usually will only have one cup of sheng this late at night but this is the second cup and it leaves me wanting more. This is a very nice sheng, leaves appear to be a smaller “gongting” size about half the size of my smallest finger. The depth and complexity are nice and I may have to get a whole cake of this to age. Very enjoyable. Garret, Garret where do you find these great teas at. Better yet can you take me on your next trip there?
Yeah this was sweet, buttery, floral fruity grape and all the others mixed in. No bite or harsh astringency so far. Leaf size is nice. This is a very smooth and tasty sheng for sure! I am really glad I grabbed this sample on the last order. I will probably have a beeng of this stored away somewhere soon.
Very nice. I’ve been considering this beeng for a while.. might have to sample this one.
Today is a 1992 Dayi sheng. This is a pleasant tea with a distinctive woody (perhaps oaky?) profile. It is very dynamic with ups and downs in the mouth. There is a pleasant hui gan. The cha qi is very apparent in this tea. Very nice. This tea is available at the Essense of Tea.
Tonight a 2006 LCGC 003 Jing Mai Mountain raw. This is a very good Puerh that yields incredible thick honey sweetness and bittersweet/tangy floral notes that linger in the mouth. Its only downfall is that it still develops astringency fairly fast and is the kind that lingers in the tongue. Very good cake for the age, I think it would be even better in two or three years.
Jing Mai is the bees-knees, I suspect. I have a few on my to order list to see if it can rival the one I purchased in Kunming. I happened to see last night that we got quite a deal compared to what the company sells it for online. I would say, however, it’s every bit worth it.
I have to agree. Its not my favorite (I have a deep love for Bulang), but it is really good.
I echo JC. I enjoy Jingmais fruity aroma, however, there’s nothing like the kou gan of a nice Bulang =)
Hi, honey, I’m home! After rather too long without the time to think closely about the teas I am drinking, I am back and enjoying a 2007 Menghai Adorned in Red that I was sent by a fellow Steepsterite. I’m really enjoying it. It is not too complicated but has sufficient depth of flavour to be interesting, thus being a perfect way of returning to the fold.
I received my first Lao Man E beeng (2009 Hai Lang Hao “Lao Man’E Wild Arbor”). I’ve read several articles describing the regions intense bitterness, but have never experienced it. I began by breaking off 4.5 grams of dry leaf. The dry leaves seem medium in size with a fair share of buds. I suppose its fair to say it looks like your typical arbor beeng. The wet leaves have a brownish green colour to them and are indeed intact. Very nice to look at. This tea produces a nose that I have yet to come across. Its aroma hints at the forthcoming bitterness, an aroma which I can best describe as a vegetal smokiness (I want to say that the wet leaves have an intense bitter aroma, so intense that it seems smoky. However, I dont feel comfortable using the term bitter to describe a scent. Perhaps someone trying this tea can comment on this?). A brief 10 second steep yields an amber coloured liquor with intense bitterness, much more so than any LBZ I’ve had. In fact, I think this is the most bitter tea I’ve had (not including accidental oversteeps). Accompanied with the bitterness is a pleasant floral sweetness, albeit, it is rather subtle. The body is thick and coats the inner mouth with a subtle sweetness. The most impressive aspect of this tea, as Scott mentions in the YS description, is its qi. Its cha qi is incredibly strong and I’d echo his comments on it. There is also a pleasing hui gan and hui tian. I am happy with this purchase and I will definitely be picking up another beeng as I can see this material aging very well. 85/100
Wild Mountain" Green sheng 2011 from Mandala. First steep is a little grassy and vegetal. Second there was slight bitterness (not in a bad way), more depth and little bit of butteriness and as it cools slightly, a little grape taste. VERY nice grapey aftertaste. Third steep very grapey aroma – fruity/floral with a little astringent buzz on my tongue. Number 4, still very pronouced grape aroma and more pronouced grape flavor. I REALLY like this. There is still a slight astringency but it is mellowing. The color is a paler green-gold and the aftertaste is less pronounced. Fifth steeping – it is thinning out now, with a bit of hay taste and more astringency Aftertaste is similar to the fourth steep with a little bite. Sixth steep, aroma is less grapey. On first sip, all of the flavors have really mellowed. The astringency is dialed back with just a wee bit on my tongue and still a little muscat kind of grape but subdued. I’m going to stop here. This tea is beautiful. Love it. I have a nice little qi buzz. I will post most of this in a tea rating.
I’m off in a few minutes to get a proper gaiwan. I’ve been using a clear pyrex custard cup with a flared out edge and this little scalloped ceramic teabag holder as a lid (the scalloped edge lets the liquor through and mostly holds back the leaf). Its time to get real :)
Sounds like a good tea, and I love your ingenuity with the brewing equipment. That probably deserves a photo! :)
LOL – well yanno, I have a couple of yixings and all manner of other teaware (to the really embarassing point), but just had not gotten a gaiwan yet. But I figured out what a gaiwan actually does and looked at what I had on hand and this works (a little messy but it works). The teabag holder I use upside down over the custard cup is one of these:
https://artreco.com/shop/set-of-4-tea-bag-holders-flowers/
But yeah, am on my way to get a real gaiwan
You can never have too much teaware! Those tea-bag holders are pretty groovy. Gaiwans are good though, and I seem to have more than I really need of those too.
I had this one 3 days ago! I saw you got the “grape” in there also. I plan on getting one of these beengs when $ allow it. Get an easy Gaiwan and try to find one that has little knobs or ears on it so you don’t burn your fingers. I couldn’t use a regular one with my big hands buy the easy one I can manage.
The little bag holder was a gift from a friend who knows how much i love tea. And it is very very cute. Mine is the one on the top left. I rarely drink bagged tea at home, so I do all kinds of other things with it (like using it for a gaiwan lid). I’m trying very hard to talk myself out of this gaiwan, only because it seems kind of big and is expensive, but its sooooo pretty:
@mrmopar – yeah if I can find one, I will likely get an easy one – but seriously, I burn my fingers with the custard cup frequently so I’m kind of used to it.
I almost feel compelled to sample this tea after the last few reviews it has received =)
@Roughage – I think it is gorgeous but it seems biggish. I’m sure I won’t be able to resist it in the end.
@Sammerz314 – I like it a lot. I don’t really have anything to compare it to as it is my first sheng, but I don’t think you can go wrong with a sample.
Small but nice fast shipping good seller.
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Longquan-celadon-office-tea-cup-pot-Quik-cups-Kung-Fu-Tea-Travel-cup-TP085/320709_1478479746.html
This is the one I use and from the same seller. A little slow on shipping though.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/White-Gongfu-Tea-Porcelain-Gaiwan-125ml/606434677.html.
Another nice on but no wire mesh strainer I think.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Two-Piece-Pottery-Gaiwan-Bowl-with-Lid-for-Steeping-Tea-Peony-200ML-Free-Shipping/1387905193.html.
You are good to go now!
@mrmopar I’m all gaiwan-ed up! Went to the Chinese herb store and they had a set – a very BADLY painted set but it contained a small regular gaiwan and an bigger (but not too big) easy gaiwan similar to the one in the second link, just with bad painting. The guy gave me a really great deal. There is also a multitude of cups. I might have also ordered the really pretty one I posted the link to above. I’m really looking forward to the weekend: sheng Saturday and shou Sunday.
Had Mandala’s “Special Dark” from 2006 last night. I only did one brew with 8 grams in the yixing and only one 30 second steep so far. This is a very rich an velvety tea. It has notes of cocoa and slight hints of bittersweet chocolate also. It left me wanting another cup and I think it will eventually morph into a sweet caramel note in the later steeps. I wish I had done another cup last night while writing these notes but I will continue later today. This one has a certain “richness” that I have found only in the highest grade shous. It is a very impressive shou.
I’ve had the cocoa flavour with the Fengqing black teas and really liked it. Finding it in a puerh would be interesting, and might be a bit peculiar given my expectations of puerh.
Here ya go, this is the link.
http://shopmandalatea.com/ripe-pu-er/loose/special-dark.html.
Well hell. I just ordered that, another Wild Monk, a Phatty Cake and a Red Rhyme. Seriously, that site is dangerous.
I had the 2007 Special Dark Ripe from Mandala this evening. What a pleasant tea. Pleasantly flavored, some cocoa, a bit of sweetness, and just an overall nice experience for me. This was from a sample, 30 seconds and 5.5 grams in a 210 ml yixing teapot, and then 3 steepings blended. I will order more. (edit: I could not find the 2007 on their website – I guess I can settle for the 2006!)
2007 LBZ sheng today. This is an interesting tea as it was produced by the Mengku tea factory. Supposedly 100% wild arbor material, this tea brews a dark amber liquor with a nice bitterness which fades into a fruity sweetness. This teas prominent feature is its strong, almost instantaneous hui gan.
Yup, I found it a little expensive. Its $28 for a 100g bricks. Its available at http://yunnansourcing.com/en/rawpu-erh/704-2007mengkulaobanzhangpu-erhteaminibrick100g.html. Pretty good tea, though.
That tea sounds really good to me as well. But yeah, I also think its expensive and I need to take out a second mortgage on my house to support my Mandala habit apparently, so I will have to wait on that one.
I’ve looked at that one a few times over. Never really got to order some. How did you like it?
OK pu-peeople. I seem to be embarking on a career of greedy tea cake acquisition. My question for y’all is: how do I store these things properly as it doesn’t appear that I will be stopping anytime soon based on recent history?
I keep mine in cardboard boxes on a bookshelf. I don’t keep them in the kitchen, because they could absorb the kitchen smells, so they are stashed in my office amid other boxes. That way my wife can never be sure how many beengs I have hidden away, and when I pull a new one out, I can always say “What, this old thing?” :)
This article on Teavivre might be of interest: http://www.teavivre.com/info/store-pu-erh-and-other-teas/
In theory, its pretty simple. Keep them in a dark area, relative humidity from 70-90% and scent free. Also, they should be exposed to fresh air (by this, I just mean dont keep them in a stagnant area of humid air). In practice, it can be tricky to get all these factors. For example, my pu is stored in an old oven (of course, its not plugged in) where I am able to control the humidity as its enclosed. However, I feel there is a lack of air movement (I need to open it out for 10 min or so every day).
There is a practice among some companies where they will ship their product to HK or Malaysia to store for a few years because of ideal humidity and heat. I just mention this because the Teavivre article suggests cool and low humidity, which conflicts with everything I’ve read.
The aging bit is an attempt to “cook” the tea into its ideal state. This is why they came up with the fermented cakes to begin with. Cool and dry ain’t gonna cook nuthin. It will do wonders to preserve the tea to its original state, but that’s definitely NOT what you want.
On this subject, there’s a difference of opinion around “dry” and “wet” storage. The wet storage method will ripen faster, but some have noted that something is lost in the taste when done so.
Hopefully, some of the regular contributors can correct me if I’m wrong or add to my rather superficial observations.
Yang-chu, from my experience, you definitely lose some complexity in wet storage. Ideally, I prefer a tea with the traditional aged notes accompanied with slight notes of the original tea. This is usually found in dryly stored puerhs. That being said, I’ll still pick a wet storage sheng over a shou.
Me: Dry Storage > Wet storage > Shou
Im not very familiar with storing shous so I can’t say much regarding storing conditions for shous.
Thanks y’all. I have done some reading and I’m confused. But I have a little of both right now. Am pondering something like a humidor for the shengs. I have a bookshelf that stays fairly constant temp that I may explore for the shous.
I store both my sheng and shou in the same place. I think that the conditions that apply for the shou are the same as for sheng. I’ve read that they should be kept separately, but I think that together, they’ll positively influence one another.
Being in California, everything gets a pretty dry storage. But I do water my tea with those beads that are used for cigars. I remember recently seeing this photo of a leaf disintegrated by dryness. If you don’t like in AZ/NM, TX/OK,the Dakotas, and eastern CO, I suspect you’ll get plenty of moisture for priming your cakes.
I haven’t had any of the really old sheng, say from the 80s or gawd forbid the 60s, so I’m totally in the dark about the super priced ones.
I am probably not doing it right but I store my cakes in medium sized cardboard boxes from Staples. I keep them on my bookshelf in my library at home. It’s not the best set up but it’s keeping my cakes all prettified for now. And with 30 odd cakes on the shelf, it looks pretty too.
Here in Toronto we tend to have pretty rough winters. The air is extremely dry right now.. under 50%. However, in the summer we get humid conditions of 100%. How’s the natural humidity down in California right now?
I used to keep my cakes on a bookshelf too. Its not a bad setup.. just don’t have much control over the humidity as its an open space. I suppose its fine if you’re drinking them.
I would control the temp and humidity and keep it as airtight as possible. I use an old refrigerator with cigar electronic humidifiers. I keep the temp for sheng and shou at 70f or so and the humidity ay 70% for both. I keep them seperate. Shou is in the lower fridge part and the sheng is in the freezer part. Humidifiers for each one separately. I have added 2 separate mini fridges for sheng puerh cakes and touchas. I think humidity is important to help the sheng age. Cigar humidity beads give off ammonia when drying out and this can get into your tea. I have a set up in each one with small computer fans to circulate the air in there and it helps to even the humidity. I run them once a week for about 30 mins each. These are just my opinions based on research and some trial and error. never actually frun the fridges because cooler air will condensate somewhat without raising the humidity. Condensation on puerh cakes = mold which you don’t want. basically a sheng is a puerh that rots in terms of a better phrase that evolves the tea. It is basically the shou process slowed way down.
“Cigar humidity beads give off ammonia when drying out and this can get into your tea.”— whoa
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