pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

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Rich select said

Jing Mai 2012 Spring by Tea Urchin
Another lovely tea from Tea Urchin. The first three steeps were quite bitter and acidic, and the flavor seemed kind of flat. But on the fourth, it opened up. Just a little fruitiness and honey sweetness. It held up very well to a good 10 infusions before turning a bit bitter again. The energy is strong and stable, not too flighty. For those of us getting into the pu erh thing, I think we are trying to guess about whether a tea like this will age well, lose the bitterness, and evolve into something wonderful. So it is a bit of a gamble when we lack the experience to tell what flavors will develop into. I think I am going to take a chance on this one and order a cake. At the very least, like all teas I’ve tried from Tea Urchin, it wreaks of high quality. In another few years, at least, I will hopefully see how this one ages and add it to my experience!

Yang-chu said

I think the principle is like wine. Tea high in tannins have good potential.
I’m often rather confused about what people mean by “bitter,” as there seems to be considerable conflation of bitter for tannins.
Interestingly, I also have a sour cake, which I’m having a hard time deciding on. It has flavours like jackfruit and banana and subsequent infusions reveal a tartness, which is quite unlike any other tea I’ve ever had.
You can speed age your tea by breaking some off and placing in a tea caddy or letting sit out, just as you would a highly tannic wine. This can speed it up by a few months or weeks. You have to taste regularly to find the sweet spot, so to speak.

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sansnipple said

Puerhshop’s 2009 American Hao 0906 sheng blend, nearly halfway through the cake now i think, It’s pretty good for the price, smooth and easy with a light honey flavor and decent caffeine. Although in late brews it does tend to go bitter (instead of gently fading off into sweetness like better sheng) betraying its cheap plantation origins, but you can hardly blame it too much at this price, what other remotely drinkable 5 year old shengs go for $15/cake still? Overall, ok tea on the cheap, won’t get it again, but I don’t regret the one cake of it.

Yang-chu said

btw, what does American Hao mean exactly? It seems there are cakes from varying factories, primarily Juming? but still others.

sansnipple said

It’s the brand of some of Jim of Puerhshop.com’s own cakes (he also has used the brand names MGH and Zen Puer)

Yang-chu said

So, is Jim contracting through different factories?

sansnipple said

well, you have to get your leaves pressed somewhere

Sammerz314 said

Have you tried the 2008 American Hao from Mansa?

sansnipple said

Not yet, this is the only of his shengs I’ve had so far.

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Breaking out of my mold of steeping well known favorites at my desk while I work. Last night I tried the 2009 Mengku Rongshi Golden Buds Ripe, a sample sent to me out of the blue by boychik simply because she saw it on my wishlist and had some to spare. Went a little too long in the first couple of steeps since I’ve been used to larger leaf varieties, then dialed back the time and brought out a tasty spice/sweetness combination over a medium bodied rich shu flavor. I have enough for two more sessions so I’ll get to know this one better before logging, but my initial question of “should I order some of this” appears to be leaning toward “yes”.

And an interesting surprise appeared in my latest Mandala order which arrived yesterday. A sample labeled “Commemorative Ripe 2013 – Not yet named”. And in a thread under a “Mandala Year of the Dragon Ripe” review yesterday, Garret posted the following snippet: ‘I can’t wait to have you try the new cake that is being pressed this week in China. I’ve made a ripe blend from 2012 and 2013 material and it is named “Temple Stairs”. The loose leaf blend is already here (not up on website yet) and I had 500 100g cakes pressed along with 10,000 mini-tuochas.’ Which has me wondering if these two are not one and the same. I’m drinking the first steep of this “not yet named” sample but will hold off logging until Garret clarifies the name for me so an appropriate tea entry can be created.

Garret said

Yes!! I just replied to that thread just a minute ago and then saw this post. I was going to use the ripe tea to mark our 1 yr anniversary of having our Rochester, MN tea shop open – hence the “commemorative” on the sample. It is now “Temple Stairs”. I hope you dig it. I’m very happy with this now but In 2 to 3 years, this stuff is gonna be super exciting and clear.

mrmopar said

Garret one word about this Temple Stairs, WANT.

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Sammerz314 said

Drinking a 1991 Menghai 7542 today. The broth has a dark red tint to it that brings a cup of Port to mind. The wet leaves produce a fruity aroma with apparent spicy notes. One of the nicer noses I’ve come across. The broth is smooth with a thick body and has an aged sweetness that lingers in the throat. There is a strong chaqi with this tea as only a few cups (40 mL each) have seem to put me in a meditative state.

Yang-chu said

nice.

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Javan said

Just arrived yesterday a cake of 2013 autumn pressing of Yiwu sheng pu-erh from Misty Peak Teas. This is a lovely tea, in a lovely cake of large dark green leaves, which brews up to a deep but clear orange color with a citrus aroma. It is deep, refined, altogether lovely. Has some depth in the aftertaste that gives me hope for mid-term aging. Delivers slight bitterness which leads to sweetness. Very nice. 5.6 grams in a 200 ml dedicated yixing teapot – first three steeps combined.

Sammerz314 said

Really enjoyed the 2012 Autumn.

Yang-chu said

My wife loved it, muchos, muchos. I enjoyed it as well.

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sansnipple said

Xiaguan Tibetan Flame brick, a 2007 one from puerhshop. I love these bricks, they’re just so much better than they have any right to be. With a bit of age on them they’re (in my opinion) by far the best value in sheng puer.

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Sammerz314 said

Today is a 2009 Bing Dao Yi Hao by Meng Dai from the Tea Urchin. Pretty nice tea. Nice ku wei, lingering sweetness and, what I am beginning to feel, a strong qi. Nice stuff albeit I wouldn’t spend $288 on a full bing.

Yang-chu said

ouch! if only to be rich!

Sammerz314 said

haha tell me about it! If it were affordable, then I’d definitely get one lol

MzPriss said

There are soooo many things on their site that look so good – but they are expensive! I had all kinds of trouble doing an order of samples too, but I’m going to try again.

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mrmopar said

having a 2008 Menghai “7452” tonight. Having this one actually for the second day. I brought this one out and picked about 10 grams off the cake. I started out with a quick wash on this one . It brews a golden amber color. It has just a touch of smokiness very subdued and a woody pine with a touch of bitter to it. This brews very nice as opposed to the younger versions of this I own. It gives you a bit of the calmness after drinking in and seems to have a little “thickness” when drinking. it is a nice pretty full bodied tea to have in the cup. The taste seems to carry on a bit after drinking it.

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Rich select said

2007 Yong De Organic Ripe Pu’erh by Mandala Tea
This is a lightly fermented safely tasty shu. Just a slight touch of fishiness, which I actually like in this tea. It is quite smooth, with light body, and a hefty caffeine kick! Kind of a safe shu. Hard not to like, though I enjoy bolder teas. I don’t think you can purchase it anywhere anymore.

sansnipple said

There’s newer versions of this (2011-12) on yunnan sourcing, I had the 2011 and it was really good.

Rich select said

Yup, I have a cake of that one, too!

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DigniTea said

This afternoon I am enjoying the 2012 BangWei 33 sheng from The Essence of Tea. What a delight – smooth, fresh, juicy, with a definite hint of sweetness. After reading several comments from Sammerz314, I was very curious about The Essence of Tea products. As a result, I ordered several 10-20g samples from them and although they arrived a month ago, I’d not tried anything until today. How exciting it will be if they are all as nice as this first one!

Sammerz314 said

That is one of my favourite shengs, hands down. Their Wild Wuliang is excellent as well =)

DigniTea said

I have that one so I’ll try it next. Thanks for the tip.

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