pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

My tea this evening was courtesy of Yang-chu, and a sample he sent. The tea is a 2005 CNNP ripe pu-erh “1938 Anniversary” which commemorates the founding of CNNP. Made of Menghai area spring material, this is a delicious blend of high quality tea, with flavors of earth and chocolate which is quite pleasing in its flavors, and harmonious feeling. Nothing seems out of place, flavors are deep and pleasing, and the tea just tastes good. Available on the Yunnan Sourcing website you can read more or purchase at http://yunnansourcing.com/en/ripepu-erh/417-2005cnnp1938anniversarypremiumripepu-erhtea.html (sale is going on now). Thanks again to Yang-chu for the sample.

Having a backlog from yesterday on a 2007 Menghai “Adorned in Red”sheng.
I have actually enjoyed this one most of the day yesterday as the rain fell all day.
I got this one out grabbed 10 grams and headed for the Gaiwan. This has a kind of light aroma of hay in the dry leaf. I gave a quick rinse and started. The first 3 infusions done a 5 seconds each were a little light in color. The taste of these 3 had a subdued floral note with a touch of bitter. Steeps 4 through 9 is where this one really shined.
The color was much darker as I increased the steep times. The flavor came on with some fruity and floral that had a hit of bitter that faded to a sweetness at the back of the tongue.
I think I did about 15 steeps till this got too weak for me. I did save the brewed lea and put them with a fresh batch of hot water to season a new Yixing I recently purchased. Hopefully that will add a bit to the pot.

Flavors: Bitter, Floral, Fruity, Sweet

I continue to drink aged tea while my stomach recovers from drinking fresh tea for a month. Today it was a couple of tuos and then a 90’s Dry Stored Hong Kong storage 7432. A lovely tea that carried me through the and the fragrance was in my mouth for a couple hours after my lips last touched a cup.

My puerh of the day: The Essence Of Tea’s 1980’s Zi Tian (Purple Sky) 8592 Shu Puerh. The best shu I have tasted so far. Rich, syrupy, bold, thick, creamy, ultra smooth, silky, nicely aged flavours, complex, earthy, durable, sweetness in the finish, vibrancy on the tongue, nice cooling affect. It is the full package. I need a full cake :)

Sichuan Caravan, from Verdant.
I’m not usually a fan of flavored puerh, but when you start talking about natural additions like ginger, licorice root, elderberry, combined with a sweet shu, my eyes tend to glaze over a bit…or maybe that’s my pain dope?

Seriously, this is tasty, & of course, I hoarded a decent quantity of it back when it first came out, mourning the day I drank the final cup. The remake, using a different shu, will never be quite as good as the original, but I grabbed a pretty good supply of it too.

Yesterday I drank the CNNP Grand Red in Red shou puerh from Puerhshop. It was a tasty, somewhat sweet puerh for an incredibly sweet price, just $18 from Puerhshop. It was not a top tier puerh but it was close and very worth the price.

Another shu for my puerh of the day: 1998 White Tuo Ripe courtesy of White2Tea. Black, syrupy, creamy, rich, bold, silky smooth, sweet finish, nicely aged, complex character. I leave you with a classic quote from the film Commando, which is yet another reason to try this excellent shu…

Cooke: “You know what I like best”
Car Salesman: “What’s that?”
Cooke: “The price…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7IDx_D0AfI

Many thanks to White2Tea for another great shu session.

I received a sample of 2013 “Ye Xin” Raw Pu-erh from Yunnan Sourcing… really enjoyable!

My review:
Brilliantly clean and brisk, this young sheng displays a light golden color and notes of apricot and citrus. Bold flavors of dried apricot and fresh tobacco dominate the palate with hints of tangerine and a brisk astringency that seems to bounce flavors around your mouth playfully creatings an uncommonly long finish that highlights the “raisin” aspect of the tobacco notes. Multiple steepings are possible and the astringency tapers off along with this. I was most pleased with this sample from Yunnan Sourcing.

Having a 2012 Yunnan Sourcing “Mang Fei” Wild Arbor sheng.
Brewing this in the Gaiwan, 10 grams with a short rinse and about a minute rest period for the tea to open up. This is nice thick and pungent tea. It starts slightly sweet very full in the mouth with a hint of tobacco and bitter melon with a good bit of bitter at the end. Mang Fei teas of good quality always seem to carry this well into the brew. Very nice for now for those with the strong upfront qualities. I will look forward to see how this progresses in the years to come. A very upfront tea for sure.

I’m drinking a 2013 Truth Bulang Shan Blend Shou by DC Tea. Interestingly, the label says “True Love” (in english, so I know I didn’t mess it up), but when I translate the cake page on the website, it just says “Truth”. But whatevs.

I’m liking this one more and more. I did two rinses and am now on the 6th actual steep. It doesn’t show any signs of stopping and it’s smoothed out (less harshness as it cools).

I’m shenging in the morning, so I guess that if this one still has some steeps to offer, I will brew it some more after work tomorrow :)