pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou
Having a 2011 Xia Guan" Jin Se Yin Xiang" in the cup tonight.
Breaking this one out tonight for the for the first time. Broke off about 12 grams for this one. Brewing in a new Yixing from Enjoying Tea.
It has the typical Xia Guan “tight” compression to it as I tried to pick out enough to brew. It was difficult to break the chunks I pried off into smaller pieces to infuse with.
The aroma of the dry leaf had a mossy peat moss smell to it. I gave it a flash rinse of about 5 seconds to wake it up some. I really think I should have gone longer due to the compression.
First brew good amber color, some smoke with a touch of bitter and drying at the end of the sip. Lighter than most Xia Guan at this stage probably should have steeped a bit longer.
Second infusion about 10 seconds color is good and the brew is much stronger. Much more smoke to it some floral and bitter and drying astringency that turns to a soft sweet barely noticeable on the end. Hui Gan is nice on this one and you can kind of “feel” the older leaf pushing up in the later infusion.
Xia Guan lover’s would like this one.
I got this one from Enjoying Teas.
http://www.enjoyingtea.com/plum-blossom-yixing-clay-teapot.html.
and these also.
http://www.enjoyingtea.com/golden-dragon-yixing-clay-teapot.html.
http://www.enjoyingtea.com/bamboo-zisha-teapot.html.
Are the puerh teas usually referred to by the factory name :) ? I looked Xia Guan up and I found it was one of the factories. I have lots to learn :)
I love them all. And those prices are just unbelievable. May you enjoy them for many years to come. Did you season all of them already? I saw 2 videos one by David Duckler, another by YS. I like Davids method more. How did you do it?
Hi Lee! I usually go by the factory name or producer on reviews. I try to list the tea I review and have the seller in the tea’s description so people can find where to obtain them if they want. Or if you look and see anything in my cupboard I can usually tell you where to get it and usually the best pricing. I guess I am a bit frugal but the less I spend on tea the more I can have if you know what I mean!
boychik those are good prices I think. May not be the best grade but I will use them a lot. I do something similar to Davids in a hybrid way. I use them a lot so they should season pretty quick.
Those prices are INSANE!!!! I just looked at their pu’er selection, which is a bit spooky, but the zi-sha pricing is the best I’ve seen anywhere.
Yeah no puerh from them only the pots. I don’t think the Zisha is top grade but they will work for my intentions. I agree puerh from there spooky.
Yeah, I can tell it’s not the top quality. You aware of the health warnings about zisha and lead? Interesting thing is that in some Chinese medicine formulations lead can be an ingredient, also fluorite. Anyway, I wonder how the tea itself might offset the lead.
Lacquer is another, mercury. Cinnabar is an active anti-anxiety ingredient. Heavy metals are used to anchor those with a flighty spirit, i.e., anxiety. Shells, like mother of pearl and conch, high in calcium, perform a similar function.
Wow, those prices are insane. I just finished purchasing a Yixing set from Teavivre yesterday and thought I did great.
I would think since they are an American seller the FDA guidelines would probably have to be followed to sell here though.
I’m not sure that’s the case. Here in CA there’s a requirement that all zisha be labeled with a warning. They do the same with all Chinese herbs too, with menacing language about cancer, even when no such risk exists.
I just bought the same Yixing teapot as mrmopar, EnjoyingTea had 3 pots on sale for $7.98. I needed one for just small samples, I have other dedicated pots. Can’t turn down the price here for my sampler pot. I also ordered the green tea brick pressed with the pattern, they must have been out of stock on it because instead they sent me a $50 tea cake. They have some insane prices but also weird stuff I like to look at like that early 1970s Cultural Revolution tuo cha, that thing is scary to look at.
Thanks so much for the help,,looking forward to learning lots here!!!
2003 Bamboo Fragance Sheng. (I blame mrmopar for reminding me I haven’t had this one in a while :P ) The taste of the broth is true to the scent, I wouldn’t say floral as much as I’d use a ‘perfumy’ fragrance as it is an invasive experience compared to the floral notes you’ll find naturally in some sheng. When I first bought it and tried it, it was bit too much for me and some ways it still is, but I’ve come to appreciate its nuances.
The tea has mellowed since the last time I tried it and it has improved in the three years that I’ve had it, most of the harsher notes have mellowed. I would buy another to keep for a few years and see how it tastes in 5-8 years, but storing scented Puerh is a bit of pain. I have it stored in a cabinet where there are only other unopened bags of tea so it won’t ‘taint’ my other Puerh and tea in general.
Agreed! How do you store this kind of Puerh? I honestly have it as far from others as I can, which sucks because I feel the more of them you have the worse it would be. I wanted to get a bamboo scented Bulang Sheng but it was a 600gm ‘tube’ and I didn’t because I didn’t have how to store it properly.
I would just bag it away from other tea, or I have a non humidified sheng storage fridge that I put the one I have in. I think the humidity would make the bamboo “bloon” open its aroma so I just store it dry.
I love floral teas but didn’t know Bamboo had a fragrance. What does the fragrance remind you of?
Kind of like JC said it has a perfumy kind of wet wood aroma to it. A little hard to describe.
It is hard to describe. I feel like I’ve smelled something similar when I was just a kid (somewhat of a while ago :P) but I can’t pinpoint it. If I had to give you a description now, I’d say a good quality and not store old Sandalwood incense. But honestly, I’d take that description back if I find something more suiting. I have a 2009 and a 2003, the younger one can be too much to drink now (unless you are into that specific scent/taste) and the 2003 shows its origin but I feel like most people can at least appreciate.
mrmopar, I couldn’t agree more with you! With the recent rain here the bamboo scent became more apparent, not in a bad way, but enough to know that made me glad I keep it so far from other tea.
JC sandalwood is pretty close! I couldn’t get the exact but this is really close to it.
Hi Sam, the 2003 is from David Lee Hoffman. The 2009 is a Yunnan Sourcing I bought a while ago. I prefer David’s both due to aging and overall material grade.
mrmopar, that’s the closest I can get to the fragrance lol. I’ll probably spend the next month smelling things to spot the right one, but I swear I’ve smelled that scent before in my ‘pre-puerh’ life.
CNNP: Lucky Brand 1938 Prime Grade 2005— This is a righteous shu. Characteristic clarity and true taste of CNNP products. At cool temps easy to detect a sweetness, along with a cocoa-like astringency, maybe even carob. I haven’t had a CNNP shu yet that I haven’t liked. I’ve never felt dubious about their fermentation methods, even the fake CNNP, which this is not. I’ve yet to try their sheng. Recently, I sent out a few samples of a Cultural Revolution series I thought I’d develop. There’s one from The Great Tea Factory (Da-cha Fang) that is so hideous, I thought I might stop liking shu altogether. It’s proven popular, but for me I like the true tastes of CNNP.
I prefer CNNP is such a wide world. They subcontracted smaller factories and the taste of both Shou and Sheng can vary a lot. But I agree that those Shou are amazing.
You’re right, JC. I look forward to getting more Dayi under my belt, but I prefer rooting about with the small producers, the ones without the reputation that commands such high prices, though I’d really like to try some Yu-lin. Heng Bang is also a factory of stone-pressed pu’er that I’m quite interested in trying. Still waiting on the TeaUrchin order and have so much to write. Have this little translation on the Six Great Tea Mountains that I should get out there. With CNNP, I’ve been looking primarily at trying each of the different coloured labels. I have a blue label on order, but it’s getting held up by a small producer with whom I ordered some loose Jing-mai. I have the purple label in my cross hairs and possess a fantastically smooth yellow label. 70% chance it’s fake, but style is very similar to a brick of theirs Serve the People, which I feel 70% sure is authentic. With smaller labels there’s such a smaller chance of getting fakes. Lot’s of Mengku fake out there it seems. I think that Canton Tea Co Mengku is as well. I’m rambling…
Dayi is faked probably a whole lot more than any other brand. It got so bad they have went with security labels with fluorescent markings to cut down on it. recently they have a new label you can scan and check the number for authenticity on their site.
I agree. Dayi is probably faked the most among all factories out there. I am sure there are even fake security labels out there haha. Have they begun the new label with the scan-check? Haven’t seen them yet.
I really like CNNP shus, they are so reliable and more forgiving with storage, I have challenges with dry weather. Also I appreciate a reliable recipe and research testing, most decent CNNP sellers will indicate any slight departures from recipes or storage issues, such as how long the cakes remained at the factory after pressing. The attempt toward recipe consistency and disclosure is as interesting to me as a risky new sheng from a small vendor. There is a place for data collection in tea recipes, and so I don’t get fussed over the older cakes vs the newer ones, I am not a collector though.
Salutations my fellow puerh lovers! I hope everyone is doing just fine and enjoying their puerhs! I just sampled Tea Urchins 2013 Spring Lao Man E and, man, is this tea ever bitter! haha. There is an initial soft sweetness which is quickly overwhelmed by a nice ku. Very powerful tea that, in my opinion, will age nicely. In my opinion, this is not meant to drink now… unless you like very bitter tea! =)
I did not get to do Sheng Day this weekend, because I realized I didn’t have enough different shengs. I solved that little problem by hitting the GO button at Mandala this weekend and Garret got me all shenged up! I got:
Wild Mountain Green(!)
2012 Silver Needle
2014 Wild Monk cake :D
Autumn Song Mao Cha
and some samples
I wish I had gotten even an hour of sleep last night and I would give into temptation and have some RIGHT NOW. But I have to sleep tonight. Have to. But this tea is just looking at me with big puppy dog “you-know-you-want-to-try-me” eyes…
Working on Mandala’s 2012 Ice Island of Mengku 100 gram cake. I got out the tea needle and pulled out 9 grams to start with.
I rinsed it for about 10 seconds and then did a 15 second steep as per the brewing instructions. The aroma is fresh grass and asparagus . It brewed a pale yellow cup from the yixing. It seems to be "medium " bodied that has the good mouthfeel to it. It gives citrus, wood and some Ku Wei to it. This will seem to slide over the tongue to the back of your mouth to where the sweet side of this one comes out. Easy to drink and wonderful leaf that I pulled out to see. Big and strong and very full.
Mandala another great tea!
I would say best to gong fu this one as I think more complexities will continue to come through. I only have done 2 so far but many more to come.
I think I liked the Ai Lao Mountain green a bit better but this one has a little more punch and I am excited to see how it ages.
Thanks, John! I think the Ai Lao stuff that I had pressed in 2011 as “Wild Mountain Green” is a nicer tea, myself, especially right now – it is fuller on the tongue. The Ice Island will age nicely. I pull it out ever month for teasting purposes, though :)
Mountain Top Tea Company Ltd: Ban-zhang King Green Cake 2008— This organic selection smells like hay, exactly like hay. After the rinse 10 sec, I noticed a very familiar smell… the smell of fresh-squeezed cane, with a touch of perfume. Sandpapery on the tongue from the serious astringency, sweet, pleasant. First two infusions pallid and tarnished pallor. Second infusion is very bitter, perhaps 7 on a scale of 10. All around this bitterness is a sweet hay/cane taste. It’s challenged in terms of clarity. I like to look the tea over carefully. At first glimpse it’s sparkly clear but held to the light just so, it has more particulate matter than most. This one also seems to not be so much for consuming on an empty stomach.
Jing Chang Hao Tea Enterprise Ltd: Hundred Year Old Ancient Fragrant Tree Round Tea 2009—Shu. Rich, nutty, sweet. No dui-wei. Even nuttier than most, earthy. I’m v. pleased with this. Leaves the mouth feeling quite tingly.
Did anyone order from white2tea? This company pops on Teachat.
Yeah Paul is a good guy. I am trying to hook him up with a seller stateside. I think with the shipping more affordable he could move a lot of product.
I read a number of the reviews on that site. To be honest, I felt that some of the people were blowing a lot of smoke. I like the white2tea site, as it is not trying to put people on. I ordered a range of teas from the Houde site a few years back and have found their selections as hit and miss as any other. The most expensive among the selections was like a cross between hojicha and some astringent stuff that I’d think was worth no more than some very low quality leaf from Gansu. Sure, that Mandarin site might be all that… might, but I like variety very much. Tea isn’t just about dropping serious coin on stuff that only the emperor can afford. There are medicinal properties and customs that exist around tea. It should be remembered that teas come from the tribes, many of whom live or lived in social arrangements that hardly afforded a type of stratification that would preclude access of any tribal member. How the mandarins later came to give form to, including the Confucian and Buddhist expressions, are not at the plant’s source. As far as I’m concerned, those smoke-blowers should reserve their pomp and circumstance for the West Lake and An-xi stuff… not that I wouldn’t appreciate having serious coin to purchase some Yu-lin stuff. I’ve a buddy in HK and doggoneit, I guess they’ve ticked me off enough for me to ask him to procure some.
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