pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou
2009 Mengku Rongshi Golden Buds Ripe
I have come to admire and appreciate puerh cakes produced by Mengku Tea Co. Ltd. Today I have been enjoying the 2009 Golden Buds. This mini cake is a blend of smaller and medium sized leaves. The brew is dark and yields a very smooth tea – robust and rich in both mouthfeel and flavor. Readily available from several ebay or Aliexpress sellers. This mini cake is maturing nicely as Mengku teas do.
Yunnan Sourcing 2013 Year of the Snake Shu cake, ugh, ouch, bleeagh.
to elaborate, brewed smells like burnt rubber, very strongly at first, less so but still a bit after many rinses. Also, it sits in the stomach like battery acid. I find most shu very smooth and soothing on the stomach, but this is the exact opposite, a sort of active painful bloaty burning nearly immediately, wtf. Are these defects that’ll eventually age out of the tea? (even though it’s supposed to be made from already 4-6 year aged material) or will it be a permanent lesson about not sampling first even when the reviews are good?
That sounds terrible. I have a sample of that in my stash and am now wondering if I dare open it. Could it be a bad batch? I had a bad brick of the Tibetan Flame that I usually enjoy so much, so perhaps the same has happened with this one.
I began the week with the Menghai Adorned in Red and have now finished the sample that I was sent. Today I started a pot of the 2007 Meng Ba Na, which is my usual everyday shu. Both teas are perfect in their own way for my currently rather too busy lifestyle. I’m looking forward to finding some time to sit and think harder about my tea, but in the meantime I shall drink old friends that I know well enough to enjoy just a passing meeting each day.
Xiaguan FT 2011 Baoyan Jincha (Tibeten Flame mushroom), pure nirvana, just what I needed.
Today is a 2012 Bangwei EoT sheng. Definitely among my favourite puerhs. Pleasant sweetness (a unique citrus note…unlike the citrus notes I’ve encountered) with a remarkable smoothness and hui tian. This tea is truly a peace of art. A little pricy but definitely worth the money.
I haven’t had any Pu erh in a while but found myself craving some recently, so I browsed what I have and found my Ripe Tuocha from Teavivre. I have all three flavours (original, chrysanthemum and rose) and in the end I decided on rose. It’s serving as an after dinner tea and it’s going down a treat :)
Hi guys, I’m new to Steepster, however I am an avid tea drinker, and I travel many times a year to China and Taiwan to visit different tea farms. A few years ago, my wife and I went to visit Xixuanbanna, Yunnan, and we shot a step by step video on the production of Pu Erh teas. It was really cool! We were able to visit a 1,400 year old Pu Erh tea tree in Meng Hai. Check out my video and give me some feedback!
Here is the link on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYcQySL_ozg
Thanks guys!
Today is a 2006 EoT Da Xue Shan. Pretty nice tea exhibiting classic Lincang characters. There is a nice sweetness and well balanced mouth-feel. The soup is rather thick in the mouth and has a calming chaqi. As much as I am enjoying this tea, I still tend to gravitate more towards Banna puerhs.
By Banna Puerhs I mean Xishuangbanna Puerhs. I prefer Xishuangbanna puerhs over Lincang puerhs.
Sorry to have been gone a while on here, crazy work schedule. I am having a 2006 Yiwu spring from the Teaurchin today. I grabbed this as a sample with my order from them(They sent storage boxes free with the cakes I purchased from them. Shameless plug).
The vendor description is spot is spot on about this one. Woody notes with mushroom and a slight sweet on the end. This is a very quiet and calming tea that brews a rich amber color. It shows more age and depth of flavor than a cake pressed in the same year of production. I would guess as that having it stored has helped it age faster. Not for a faint of heart drinker! I started with one wash and 15 second steeps to bring this one out.
Flavors: Mushrooms, Wood
Ah, I am back at planning stages… scraping the use of the oven. I have all my bings on a bookshelf for now. Hey John, how long does it usually take to receive your tea urchin orders?
Just to chime in, I got mine in 2 weeks exactly. Also, just to chime in, I am experimenting this week with large sponges in a shallow pan of water in a small closet for a quasi pumidor setup. We shall see what humidity I can maintain!
I think it took about 3 weeks to get the order in. Rich the prediction come true LOL! Make sure and keep the humidity at 70% or LOWER. Over 70 and lots of risks.
John, your prediction was way off – you said 6 months! It has only been about 1.
I LOLd @ Pumidor. I have my eye on some Tea Urchin teas. I tried to do an order but the pages wouldn’t load for me and I don’t know if it was me or them. I want to try the Lang He 2010 Yu Pin, the Jing Mai 2009, the Lang He 2006 and enough other samples to make the $20 shipping worthwhile before I buy some cakes. I’m gonna go try again and would love some other suggestions for an order of samples.
Looks like it is is working now. To the above, I added Yi Zhan Chun 2012 and placed my order. Can’t wait – these sound good! I should say I TRIED to place my order :(
OOOPS – never mind – didn’t work. Apparently I can’t place an order unless I create a Paypal account which does not work for me. :(
The Lao Man E may be worth sampling. Its a very pungent tea. I’m actually waiting on two Tea Urchin orders :$ LOL!
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