pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou
I am a big fan of White2Tea’s commitment to offer value-priced finds to be enjoyed by all. About a month ago I picked up his latest find the 1998 White Tuo but I had not tried it until Darkstar"s recent tasting note inspired me to pull it out and pick it this morning. Definitely a great value given that it is nice raw material with a good amount of age. The expected dark leaves of a fine shou offer an aroma with clean notes (sweet and earthy with just a hint of mustiness) and produce a dark red-orange tea soup which is very clear. No sign of fermentation remains and I detected absolutely no bitterness – it yields a very pleasant sip. Overall impression: bold dark leaves of good size and integrity; thick but soft body; hints of vanilla; dried fruit flavor (raisins or dates); the feeling in the mouth and throat is decent. I definitely want to have this shou on hand so I am quite sure I’ll purchase more very soon. Thanks, Paul!
I want to pass along an appreciation of excellent customer service from Yunnan Sourcing (Scott Wilson). I ordered a number of items during their recent sale of particular companies from the US website, and I received all the items quickly with but one problem. A 2002 Nan Jian Te Zhi ripe pu-erh tuo was substituted for by a 2012 Nan Jian “801” ripe tuo. I contacted Scott about the substitution and asked him to send the 2002 if it was still available. He quickly corrected the problem, sending out the 2002, and gave me the 2012 tuo despite my effort to reimburse him for its cost. I have had very good experiences with both websites, and appreciate the excellent customer service I have received. I feel confident I’m being treated in an ethical and fair manner for which I’m grateful, and I’m now loaded up with many teas to report on!
I love YS! I placed 2 orders during the sale, LOL, one from the US site, & one from the China headquarters. Both ‘get well soon’ presents to myself, to boost my morale :)
i will second this. I recently posted all my reviews or them that I logged here on their site. I have always had great service with them. China and USA site.
I had a similar situation. I ordered an older shou tuo, but received a sheng which had a similar label. Scott replied right away, replaced the incorrect item, and was exceptionally helpful and pleasant.
Mistakes happen. How a seller handles them determines whether I will come back. YS has great stuff and great service.
Terri… can’t wait to see what you got. Post lots of notes. :)
I must say, I recently had an experience where he included the wrong item, and I did not receive good customer service in response. It was a year different than the cake I ordered and specifically wanted. When I emailed him, he responded that I could keep the (slightly) more expensive tea in lieu of the one I actually ordered. When I told him I really wanted the tea I ordered because I already sampled it, he seemed annoyed and said I could send him the cake back and when he received it, he would send me the right one. He did not even offer to pay the postage for me to return it. So I am not all that happy with the customer service I received when the mistake was clearly not mine. I’m glad you all got good service, but this experience did not inspire confidence and left a bad taste in my mouth. I’m not rushing to order from them again. Though I do enjoy the tea offerings from YS, and I probably will buy from them again.
Yesterday I started sipping on Jalam’s Oct offering, 2013 Bang Pun Unfermented. I enjoyed several rounds, but I didn’t take any notes.This afternoon I gave it a rinse, & am enjoying a few more rounds. It brings to mind what I imagine olive leaf would taste like, vegetal & a little tart, kind of lemon like. On the other hand, I think it tastes a lot like freshly steamed artichoke. I can’t really tell you how many steeps in I am, but there is a creamy feel to it, & its lightly sweet & pleasantly savory, without being brash, although there is a slight bitterness. I swear there’s even a saline quality to the next pour.
So now I’m thinking fresh steamed artichoke leaves, dipped in caper butter…
and now I’m hungry!
Do you have his subscription? I met him at the Toronto Tea Festival and actually signed up… cool experience.
White2Tea 2005 Naka
It’s sublime. Truly. I’m excited that I ended up getting a teensy yixing so I can use small amounts of tea and really make it last. So far I’m around 12 steeps, and it doesn’t seem done yet. Any rumors of extreme happiness and relaxation are 100% true!
Having a 2006 CNNP “Yiwu Wild Arbor” sheng tonight.
Breaking this out as a sample from finepuerh. It is a 10 gram sample that I purchased from them. I am brewing this in a claypot Yixing as the Gaiwan still has some unfinished brew in it.
The dry leaf looks a little different. It has some stems in with the leaf but I have had others this way also. I gave a quick 5 second rinse and let this sit for an hour. It has a subdued aroma of something akin to wet hay. The first brew came out a nice golden/bronze color. It has nice woody and camphory and light citrus notes to it. It gives a nice aftertaste that lasts for a while after drinking it. Almost no strong bitterness and a good feeling after drinking it. A testament to good storage on this one with no off notes or aroma. Multiple notes on this one and nice to drink.
Flavors: Bitter, Camphor, Citrus, Wood
The Essence Of Tea Mansai 2010. Not had some of this in quite some time so decided to have a session. Really enjoyable. Clean, crisp, pure, smooth and thick after a few steeps, excellent balance of sweetness and bitterness, and you can push the bitterness if you want to. A really good everyday puerh. A shame it is no longer available.
Trying out Fengqing old tree raw puerh 2013 by Teavivre sent by a fellow user here at steepster. Thanks again! :-)
Today I am using the entire 10 grams of the sample. I plan to span this tea into the early afternoon as this is my second tea session I’ve had this morning with sheng.
Firstly, I notice how nice and light this cake is pressed it broke up very easily.
It smelt nice and sweet with a subtle smokey scent.
The smell of the first rinse was fantastic I noticed a lingering smokey/wood quality to the scent and it filled my small kitchen.
Rinsed the leaves for 5 seconds.
Infused with freshly boiled water for 10, and 20 seconds then I combined the first two infusions into an 8 ounce cup.
It steeped up to a nice golden but slightly amber color.
Right off the bat I noticed this one is a little stronger as far as a lingering mouthfeel that is produced.
I also found it to be very numbing.
Overall I enjoy that quality to this tea and find it almost refreshing to sip down.
Has a nice bitter taste which is very manageable and even enjoyable since the tea is so smooth. The taste of it reminds an old like oak tree. Very woody with a smokey almost juicy like taste.
The third and fourth infusions were also combined. A much darker amber infusion was produced.
The woody scent has sort of shifted to more of a earth sweet smell.
There is a notable stronger bitter aspect that I feel around concentrated the middle of my pallet. Still very smooth tho.
There also is noticeably stronger qi than my previous sheng I had this morning.
My whole body is buzzing from this tea without being too stimulating.
Nice and warming aspect also noted.
Can’t wait to try out a couple more liters of hot water on this sample.
2011 Guangxi Three Cranes Liu Bao 250g brick, bought on EBay. This is a heicha, not a puerh, fully oxidized black tea subjected to the wo dui pile fermentation process to produce golden flowers fungus on the tea. Taste is a cross between shou and black tea. I won’t put a note in the database for this brick because the seller has only two cakes left. I see similar ones on Taobao but not exactly the same, and not the 2011 made of 2010 summer material.
The tea tastes incredibly good to me, very clear. Shou taste but full of minerals in the third steep and afterward, and shiitake mushroom notes later on. Sweet flavor overall. I used 7 grams per 125 ml but will use more next time since it is so smooth. Qi up the back on this one but not a massive caffeine dose at all, pleasant relaxation. One night in crock storage and I got the flowers to appear. I have photos on my blog if you want to look.
Would buy up the last two cakes but I think I’ll expand my heicha horizons instead.
Allan, it is the $29 or Best Offer, just search Guangxi on EBay. Better hurry, only one left as of yesterday.
I’ve enjoyed a couple of Heicha now, including one with the golden flowers :)
2006 menghai shou wei zui yan
Used 6.2 grams to 110 ml of boiling water.
I rinsed for 5 seconds and let it rest for 1 min.
First steeping was for 15 seconds.
Medium bodied taste with a sweet molasses, earthy musk aspect to it. Not too dissimilar to the other shou puerh I have tried.
I let the second steeping go for 25 seconds and noticed a darker almost red black look the color I’m used to with ripe puerh.
The second steeping looks like a stronger cup of tea but lacks any bitterness as far as I noticed.
Smooth and earthy are still the main taste notes that stick out to me.
Along with a mineral like aftertaste. Easy to sip down sip after sip without a noticeable trace of over ferment “funk”.
I find this sample to be much more warming than the sheng that I have drank today.
I plan to drink at least another 6 infusions and letting each steep for 20-30 seconds longer than the last.
Overall I can’t exactly place my finger on it but I’m impressed with this sample.
There is also a Qi like none other. Instantly felt very alert after the first 2-3 infusions.
I want to note there seems to be a very “brightness” to this tea that for me uplifts the spirit and aids in awareness.
Seems to be a good tea to use for meditation as the energy seems to be directed inward.
I try to buy one of these from each year. The Wei Zui Yan translates to “The Strongest Taste”. I like the “hit” this one gives.
I just got the 2007 Wei Zui Yan in the mail from Dragon Tea House yesterday, can’t wait to try it.
Yep good stuff. I have always enjoyed these a lot. They seem to get better and better with age. Now you guys are going to make me want to pull one out.
Have either of you tried the Menghai “Real Taste Ripe”?
It is a performer shou for me as well. I think I have 2 currently. I may have to track down the latest version of it as well.
I’ve tried neither… yet. I just thought that character “yan” was interesting. The quotation above is from the 19th-century Wade-Giles Chinese to English Dictionary.
Yeah I would agree on the “richness” of this tea. It is very upfront much more than most other shous. The Real Taste kind of “mimics” this one but not in the entirety. That may be the reason of my preference for these two.
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