pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

2005 Gong Ting Pu-erh in Tangerine “Golden Horse 8685”

It was so much fun to have a WHOLE tangerine to bust open! I have to say, this is much better than the 2009 stuffed tangerine puerh I had a sample of from Teavivre. The shu just seems to be higher quality! The tangerine flavor itself is very subtle (I don’t think I got any bits of peel in my gaiwan this time though.) The shu is rich and creamy and earthy without any ‘off’ flavors. I was sad when the leaves finally gave up, which always speaks well of any tea :)

I’m watching the Curse of Chucky and drinking some Mandala Temple Stairs. This is a really lovely and mild shou. I think I’d like to pick up some of the mini tuos when they are added to the site.

Trying the 2011 Yunnan Sourcing “Ai Lao Mountain” Wild Arbor Pu-erh tea cake by Yunnan Sourcing for afternoon tea with the wife.

Got a sample of this at the urging of one of our fellow sheng peers in this forum discussion recently. It is a great choice if you are looking for a safe to drink young sheng. Kind of like YS Wu Liang. Very floral, kind of tasted like honey and pollen. I know, you are saying to yourself ’he’s never tasted pollen’ but it probably tastes like this. Sweet with no bitterness. The first couple infusions had a nice huigan, but that faded quickly. Pretty high kick factor if that is something you desire in your sheng. Also very reasonably priced at $34 currently.

Trying a tea from Tea Urhcin today, the 2010 Chen Sheng Yi Hao.
Brews a golden brown. Definitely a strong flavor, citrus and smoke in perfect proportion. Very high quality leaves with thick body and mouthfeel. Some good bitterness, a little huigan, but I keep tasting a pronounced sourness which to me is a flaw. It is a pretty good tea, but I personally didn’t like it as much as other reviewers who have tried this tea.

The other evening while Steepster wasn’t working, my Teaplets and I tasted some of the White2 Repave. Hello!!!! It was so good! Very fruity, apricots and then apples. Very very smooth and lovely. I’m so glad I have more.

For the last three days I have been having the Crimson Lotus tea’s 2007 Qiao Jun “Huang Zhi” shou pu-erh. The website states: “This puerh brews very light even with longer steepings. This will brew very smooth with a pronounced mellow sweetness. It’s moist in the throat with a pleasant aftertaste.” I completely agree with this note. The tea is simply pleasant, has a certain lightness to it, and has a hint of chocolate in its finish during early steepings. I found it grew on me over the three days it took to go through 10 steepings. Seems like a pretty good bargain for a pleasant everyday drinker at $22 for a 250 ml brick (also available in 25 gram sample size). More info available at http://crimsonlotustea.com/products/2007-qiao-jun-huang-zhi-250g-shou-ripe-puerh-brick. My tea was from a sample purchased last month.

I’ve been stupidly busy for the past few weeks so have been grandpa-ing my Tibetan Flame a lot. I’ve also not been able to access Steepster or its message system. I still can’t get the messages up but at least I can read and join in here again.

Today I have had time to sit down and enjoy the 2012 Yunnan Sourcing ‘Qui Yun’ Wild Arbor sheng that I have had for a while but not sampled yet. It’s great. Really fruity and sweet with no bitterness and a solid citrussy aftertaste that leaves me salivating for ages. Makes me glad I bought a whole beeng when I could.

I’m currently enjoying a 90’s HK wet stored tuo, that I am very glad I managed to get hold off through origin tea right before they sadly closed down their shop.

The dull, dark leaves show a little white frosting here and there on the surface of the tightly compressed tuo, and emit that lovely musty scent of moist storage.

It takes a second rinse for the leaf to release it’s hold, and open up to the water, a rinse that I happily quaffed down.

It’s pungent, it’s sweet, it tingles on the tongue and has an expanding feeling in the mouth, before the silky yet thin brew slides down my throat where it leaves a sweet liquorice like aftertaste in it’s wake that doesn’t leave any time soon. It bears an elevating qi, that comes very welcome after a sleepless night

It’s good, and I wish I had sold some of my organs or something so I could’ve bought more back when origin tea was still doing business.

It’s tricky to find tea like this, especially at the price for which origin offered it for sale. At least, I have trouble finding it.

Probably due to the high demand for tea such as this among rehab facilities that use this stuff to wean junkies off smack.

Yesterday I enjoyed another cost effective everyday tea from Yunnan Sourcing – 2012 Yunnan Sourcing Yong de Blue Shou. Good woody flavor with decent energy – a low level of sweetness with definite cocoa and berry undertones. Enjoyed six dark infusions and I could have used the leaves a few more times for they were still full of tea goodness.

For my morning tea, today I broke out th 5 Years Aged “Menghai Golden Pu-erh” of Bu Lang Mountain by Yunnan Sourcing.

This is an interesting tea. If you like Special Dark, you should give this one a try. It’s the same style. To me it tastes like a cross between a shu and a yunnan black. It’s got that golden bud shu flavor, coupled with some sweet notes typically found in yunnan black teas. Pretty smooth, though it is definitely somewhat bitter.