pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

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MzPriss said

Pu of the morning was a total accident. I was running late (#$%## daylight savings time change – tho I love DST, I hate the change). Decided I would have some of my brand new Noble Mark Loose this morning and decided not to fuss as I needed a to-go cup. Boiled the water, pulled some leaf out of my bag (in my dark-ish kitchen), put it in the Perfect Tea maker, poured the water in and off i went to feed the dogs. 4 minutes later I returned to the kitchen expecting to see some deep dark goodness to drain into my tea thermos. Imagine my surpise when I saw pale gold instead. I mixed up my bags in my rush and the dim kitchen light and steeped some loose Wild Monk Raw in almost boiling water for FOUR minutes >.<

I decided badly prepared tea was better than no tea for the drive to work and took it to the car.

I was expecting totally bitter astringent badness. I was very surprised to taste a not that bad, hardly bitter, slightly astringent, slightly fruity shengness – I do think I kind of boiled the qi away tho. While I wouldn’t prepare it this way ever again, I’m glad I didn’t have to suffer for my mistake. So tomorrow, I will try the Noble Mark.

graceatblb said

Wild Monk is one of the most kind and forgiving teas I have ever come across. I once had it sitting in the teapot overnight and it was still lovely. It had a little kick but it was still good…and gave me one heck of a buzz.

MzPriss said

I was really surprised – in the good way. It was totally drinkable. This is the second of my Mandala teas and I’m very impressed.

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graceatblb said

I am currently sipping on a sample of a 2000 Menghai Langhe shu that Garret sent me. It’s lovely. A little bit vanilla and cinnamon. A lot more gentle than I thought it would be. I am also excited to be drinking a tea from one of my team’s cup years. I only have 95 left to try.

MzPriss said

Oh that sounds good….

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I’m drinking 2006 Fengqing Raw Pu-erh Tea Tuocha from Teavivre today. Wonderfully mellow and delicious, especially since toucha is usually made from lower quality leaves.

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Sammerz314 said

Drinking a 2009 Jingmai sheng today. The fruity aroma and taste is the prominent feature of this tea. There is a slight astringency but nothing too overwhelming. This isn’t the most complex tea as it seems rather monotone. IMO, its sort of boring. 75/100

Yang-chu said

Who’s 2009 Jingmai?

Sammerz314 said

2009 Jingmai Nostalgia by YS

Yang-chu said

That’s really too bad. It looks so nice!

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mrmopar said

Having a 2007 Phoenix sheng I bought on Ebay a while back. Got this one out after almost forgetting about it. The tuo is tight on the outer layer but breaks easily after working the pick around. 11 grams in the Gaiwan with a 10 second rinse. the wet leaf has some smoke aroma to it. The taste is an almost pine and wood smoke with the little touch of numb that the camphor gives. It is no where as smoky as the wet leaf would suggest. It gives some drying and an almost salty after taste to it.

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Roughage said

I’ve been drinking a 2010 Man Lai Gan Gu Shu for the past couple of days. A friend in Sweden bought it from a shop there but has since decided that she does not like puerh. The tea has endured well and has very happy and relaxing qi. I’ve been too relaxed to write about it before now! The flavour is all honey and grapes with a solid astringency. Good stuff.

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mrmopar said

Having Mandala’s “Wild Monk” today. I took a day off to rest the shoulder and drink some tea while I am at it. I ordered this loose maocha and a cake on the last Mandala order I got. I have put the cake away but I wanted to sample it in its current state. This tea has an assorted size of leak in it. By volume it is heavier than lots of other puerhs I have tried. I was surpised at how little it actually to to get 9 grams. Might be the thick burly leaf in it.
I got down to business with this one in the yixing. I gave a flash rinse and opened the to to smell the aroma of the wet leaf. This is spicy almost like that little burn wasabi or hot mustard can give in the aroma department.
I steeper this for only about 5 seconds before pouring.
This tea has so many notes it it crazy! You have buttery, pine, sweet, bitter ,floral.
It is velvety but strong, floral with some bitter, citrus y and lots of flavors. You will get the tongue numbing with this one!
This is a rock on dead on fine sheng. I really look forward to this one when it ages. This also has some muscatel grape flavor as it cools to add in the mix.

Sammerz314 said

Sounds interesting!

DigniTea said

You do make it sound interesting. Glad I recently purchased a cake.

Sil select said

LOOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEEEE this one!

MzPriss said

I love this one too! And my newest order from Mandala just got here – so I have another brand new cake of this, and also some Special Dark and a Phatty Cake and a Red Rhyme cake woo!

graceatblb said

I miss my Wild Monk. I just drank the last bit of it. It’s one of the only shengs that I love—have to try more. But every time I drink it it’s something different. And now I’m craving it. I get the feeling another Mandala order is forthcoming.

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Sammerz314 said

I’ve decided to revisit the beautiful Bulang mountain range this morning with a 2010 Gu Ming Xiang Ban Pen sheng. The wet leaves, which are of an impressive size and produce a delightful amber liquor, radiate an aroma that I can only describe as smoky vegetal (I believe this aroma is similar to the aroma found in the Lao Man E sheng I described not too long ago). Frankly, the aroma isn’t as impressive as say a Jingmai ,but I suppose this is expected from a Bulang. What is impressive is this teas profile and kou gan. The tea exhibits a pleasant transformation from a light bitterness to a subtle sweetness. It only takes a few sips of this tea to bring out a well balanced astringency and Hui Gan in the mouth. IMO, this tea is a fine tea. It has a lot of character. I look foward to drinking it a few months down the road! Perhaps an 84/100 is fair assessment.

Parameters : 4.5 g / 100 mL of water @ ~200 F

JC said

This sounds delicious lol. I should bring some Bulang Sheng to work for the days that I crave it.

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JC said

Having 2009 Lao Ban Zhang Premium Raw Pu-erh tea cake from YS. This a really great tea. I will add notes later, but I loved the fact that it starts sweet and works the bittersweet-to-bitter (in a great way, not dryness/astringency in the tongue) as I continue to drink. It has very apparent floral/fruity complexity with a thick body that resembles an oily/buttery texture on the tongue with a vegetal(kale?) background. For me the Huigan is not immediate nor robust, rather a very pleasant sweetness that creeps up the throat and the tongue and wears very nice floral-fruity notes that linger; the cha qi made a surprise appearance on my third steep.

MINI RANT
I love to seek information about the cakes I try. I’ve had a few ‘Lao Ban Zhang’ teas, both good and bad. I HATE the fact that no matter what cake I get I always find enough skepticism about the source material for each cake to make me a bit unhappy about not knowing whether I got to experience the real deal. End of rant

Sammerz314 said

Sounds interesting. Might have to sample this tea =)

JC said

I’ll send you some.

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Sammerz314 said

Enjoying a 2013 Guafengzhai sheng from EoT. This tea is one of the best Yiwu shengs I’ve had.. including semi-aged Yiwus. The tea is thick with a very pleasant sweetness to it (can’t seem to describe the sweetness). Remarkably smooth with essentially no bitterness. Pleasant hui gan and qi.
I think 85/100 is a fair assessment. Good stuff.

Yang-chu said

Sounds nice.

Sammerz314 said

I really enjoyed that tea. I think its a puerh that will make many people re-think what a good sheng really is. If it weren’t for the price, I’d certainly have a few bings.

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