pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

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Roughage said

I’ve been working through the samples I wrote about before for a bit. I tend not to write about teas more than once unless something changes in my perception of them, so I have not really written anything. This morning I felt the need for something challenging that might wake me up so I dug out the sample of New Amerykah 2 that Paul at White2tea sent me. This tea is everything that Cwyn said it was and more. It’s seriously powerful and totally eighties right down to the hair and bad clothes. Awesome!

MzPriss said

I LOVE this note :)

Cwyn said

Lol! Roughage can take it…;)

Roughage said

“Yeah, I can take it”, he says, crawling up from the floor like Tom Hanks in Bachelor Party.

Cwyn said

Yup it put me on the floor too, and learned me the lesson from the good docs we have on here about following up a sheng like that with a bit of good shou.

Roughage said

Ah, I just rolled with it and hit a different sheng. It’s a ‘hair of the dog’ situation. :)

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Rich select said

2013 Yunnan Sourcing “Feng Chun” by Yunnan Sourcing
Another blend from YS. I liked this one quite a lot. It’s quite easy to drink young, but still feels like it has the potential to age. Kind of that cereal sweetness, with some astringency but not too much. It’s thick, with a medium high kick factor, and has got a little huigan. Going to pick up a cake of this for sure.

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Yang-chu said

2011 BulangShan BanPen Village— I’m trying this sample that JC stoked me with. The first round was about 4 oz after a 10 sec steep. Leaves hadn’t really woken, had a kind of YiWu mellowness. The second round had a little more punch, still 10 sec. Slowly my throat started to feel roached and tongue kinda scorched. I brewed the tea at 175. I’ll come back to it to see how I do in a bit.

JC said

That’s Ban Pen alright! lol I tried this one and the first time I didn’t like it, I felt tricked because as you said it started very mellow then it had very strong and assertive notes. I steeped mine at 205 with short steeps.

I’ve retried it since then and I have say it was partly initial shock from new tea, but it is still very strong it has medicinal taste+some young to it still.

Yang-chu said

I’ve come back to it this morning and it seems to tamed considerably. Pots 3-5 were v. agreeable. Over all, the mellow tenor of the tea jumps out, with soft compliments of astringency and floral. I’m liking it quite a bit.
Nice yellow liquor and the aroma is most pleasing, deep soothing elements.

JC said

I like this one, though I have to admit it took me a while to get used to. Also, later steeps get stronger in bittersweet to bitter floral and tobacco notes that I like, but only on some occasions. I need to get more Ban Pen examples to see how I feel about it.

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mrmopar said

Been a while since I have had time to post a full note on here.
Having the TeaUrchin’s 2013 Lao Man E spring. Thought it would be a nice reward for the 11 hour days going on this week.
Breaking this one out after one of these long work days. They are terrible and don’t leave a lot of hours to drink tea.
I did 10 grams in the Gaiwan to start out. A quick rinse and 3 5 second steeps into the fair cup. The brew is crystal clear in the cup. No cloudiness at all. A little touch of grape in the aroma and the first sip is “Bang” a large hit of the bitter as noted on a previous review and a nice mouthfeel to this one. This has one of the hardest bitter punches I have experienced. It gives a slight touch of faint sweetness in there after plowing through the bitter. Some hints of pine and flower in there.
Nice and strong as this one will punch you in the buds. You will have to enjoy the strength of the bitter it brings to truly enjoy this one with the good Ku Wei and Hui Gan.
Strong and powerful balanced a bit more to the bitter side but enjoyable.

Flavors: Bitter, Pine, Sweet

JC said

I should have gotten a sample of this one when I ordered. I’ll keep it in mind if I find myself ordering again :)

Cwyn said

Pine…that is very interesting.

mrmopar said

It has a kick for sure. I wish I could have gotten a full cake on this one but if it was found in the banking statement big trouble.

JC said

LOL, we need to start a secret tea bank accounts to make this type of ‘exceptions’.

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Cwyn said

1990s (or 2001) Ding Xing Hao sheng, followed by R-i-s-h-i ginger shou. Yeah, I know…it’s like fine port followed by lite beer.

Roughage said

Sounds to me like you are dishing out the good stuff until everyone is too tea drunk to notice the difference! ;)

Cwyn said

Yeah I need TA, Tea Holics Anonymous. Should really be posting in the Tea Buying Hiatus topic…

Roughage said

I’m on enforced hiatus at the moment, so I am living vicariously through other people’s purchases. That’s a hint not to stop buying, by the way!

Sammerz314 said

Ah, love a glass of fine port.

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Sammerz314 said

Drinking a 1990s Hong Kong stored sheng, courtesy of White2tea. Nice wet stored sheng with a wonderful mouthfeel. Might pick up some more of this.

apt said

can’t wait to order from White2Tea

Cwyn said

I have half my sample left of that. It is more musty than the wet stored Ding Xing Hao, or maybe the camphor masks it a little. Anyway, airing out the remainder of that sample so I can try and taste something other than storage…

Sammerz314 said

I honestly didn’t find it too musty. I had much wetter stored puerhs… to the point where I disliked them. I think its fair to say I like this tea. Cwyn, you find this tea wetter than the Ding Xing? I haven’t tried the Ding Xing.

Cwyn said

Yes, but perhaps our samples differed. I just got another sample today with my White Whale order so I can see if that might be the case.

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mrmopar said

Having a Menghai 2006 “Spring of Menghai” tea.
Working 10 grams of this up in the Gaiwan to see how it does. This is the oldest Menghai Spring that I have that was purchased as a set of samples from Finepuerh. They seem to another pretty good seller in the market. Their packaging and labeling was really nice.
Enough about them and now to the tea. I picked this one after Scratch the kitty tea randomizer picked the White2Tea Amerykah 3 times in a row! I don’t think I can do that tonight and work tomorrow.
Wet lea still has the green scent with a little wisp of smoke in there. brew is a little darker than the 2008 cake I had a couple of days ago. This has evened out into a sweet brew without much bite or astringency to it. Honey and flowers in aroma and taste to this one. it is a little unassuming compared to the tea I had earlier in the day. Smooth and mellow would be the notes on this. Not much vibrancy or punch but an easy drinking brew. Hopefully it will open up a bit more on the later brews.

Cwyn said

Scratch the kitty tea randomizer? Hello Kitty? I think I’m-a tea stoned.

mrmopar said

I was like that most of the day with the Lao Man E. Scratch is presented with 2 teas and what ever she paws out to me is what I drink. Seems to work pretty good and it lets her earn her keep :-)

DigniTea said

Thanks for tasting and writing about this one. Finepuer does seem to be a promising seller. Recommended to me by an experienced tea drinker I respect and I am currently waiting on an order. Meanwhile, I’m glad to hear you too confirm their reliability.

mrmopar said

Oh yes nothing but good things about them. The samples I bought had the picture of the tea contained in the box. Good packaging and fairly fast from Malaysia. Storage seems good on the one I tried. I think it is a great place for samples. I got a bunch of samples from them. Reasonable pricing.

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Cwyn said

2012 Jingmai Pupu something or other mailed to me by Dr. Yang-chu. Am tea stoned out of my mind. Stoner tea. Pure cha qi. Don’t recall tasting anything. Wrote up something on the actual cake description page but now I can’t remember the name of it. Thanks for the medicine, Doc!

Yang-chu said

Yapu is the name of the company. After the third infusion it’s really best to sit tight to let the huigan build in your mouth. One of the best teas I’ve ever had.

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What do you use for pu-erh when you don’t the proper pick or knife?

mrmopar said

Letter opener will work fine.

Sounds good. I’ve got one of those.

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awilsondc said

Ok, I got a good one today. 2005 CNNP 1938 anniversary shou pu-erh. I first tried this one as a sample my friend had received from Yang-Chu. We had tea on the summit of silver star mountain and sampled this tea and it was amazing! Sweet and earthy with enough complexity to keep me focused on the tea and present in the moment. It was truly an excellent gong fu session on the summit… so much so, that I bought a cake. I tried some of my cake at home and it was just ok. I mean good, but not as good as I remembered it. A week or so later I again went out into the mountains and had this tea on a mountain summit and once again it was amazing! So complex and delicious I spent an hour with 5g in a gaiwan, it was heavenly. So then this morning, I select this tea for my morning shou and… well, it was just ok… what’s the deal? This tea is only spectacular when served on a mountain?!? :0 It is odd that I don’t enjoy this tea as much at home, but it is a great tea… one I will drink sparingly, perhaps only in the mountains. ;)

Cwyn said

o.O maybe it is the air. We are supposed to schlurp when sipping tea to aerate the liquor and thus gain access to the full bouquet. Maybe the air is making the bouquet more full.

Did you use different tea cups? Clay, porcelain, glass?

awilsondc said

At home I use my yixing with porcelain cups. In the mountains first time glass tea pot and porcelain cups, second time porcelain gaiwan and porcelain cups (same cups). I’m going to have to try the home version with my travel tea cups, that’s the only thing I can think of. I know that the vessel has a huge impact on taste so I’ll try it out! You can’t beat that fresh mountain air though! I’m sure that has something to do with it too…

I can imagine, I need to do some outdoor extreme tea sessioning!

Sammerz314 said

Could be the water supply… or perhaps the tea they sell isn’t the same as what you tried lol (despite their claims)

Yang-chu said

V. interesting variation.

awilsondc said

No, the cake I got tastes pretty much like the sample… just a lot better in the mountains! I find it interesting… I took my favorite tea into the mountains today and found out that it tastes better at home. Odd indeed, I think I’m going to need to do more research on this. Lots. More. Research!!!!!! :)

Yang-chu said

I haven’t taken the 1938 to the mountains yet. I like it quite a bit as is, so I can only imagine. Maybe some folks in Malibu are in order for inviting me for tea service. You’ve got me optimistic.

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