pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou
Got some real tasty aged sheng puerh from Changtai in the post yesterday. We’ve been out of them for a while and it’s good to be able to sell them again because they’re really quite good. They’re the “Yuan Nian Shu / Ancient SouthWest” , and “Ji Nian / Memorial”. Both are from 2003 and were stored in the exact same Menghai warehouse. Both are from the same source material. The difference is only which grade of leaf are blended in each. It’s really interesting tasting them side by side. Ji Nian has a very nice aged sheng flavor and aroma whereas Yuan Nian Shu is lighter with more citrus notes.
Lao Tong Zhi toucha 2011
From verdant tea
8 grams to my 7 ounce giawan
Near boiling water
rinse/rest/5/10/15/20/30/50/70/100/140/280
The taste is fairy sweet, with a wood/leather/tobacco aroma and taste present.
I found this tea to provide a strong tingling numbness with a nice lingering mouthfeel.
I found this sample to have mellowed out greatly.
Way less assertive/astringent than the last time I tried this sample.
Strong Qi with a pleasant warming quality.
2010 Yongde first grade loose leaf ripe pu erh from JK Tea Shop. An old favorite of mine. Smooth, rich, and earthy. I bought several hundred grams awhile back and just opened a fresh 100g pouch this morning. I hadn’t had any in several months and it was nice to fall in love with this tea all over again. This is not the highest quality loose leaf ripe pu erh from what I can gather, but who cares… it is still one of my favorites. This one goes into my daily rotation box, and I’m glad to have it back!
Had some 2013 MGH 1302 Jingmai Dazhai Green Puerh this AM and was really pleasantly surprised to find that it tasted exactly like some of the greener oolongs I’ve had in the past. Light and floral, but with a more bitter finish. Definitely not what I expected!
It’s like Christmas! Yall know what I’m talking about. I ordered a bunch of cakes and samples from Puershop, all ripe, and dug into the box today. I started with a 2007 Jingmai Laoshu Gongting Ripe cake. I ordered an entire cake, a bit of a gamble, but it was only $22 and I usually love gong ting ripes. It is a pretty good tea. Very dark, with a bitter chocolate flavor and kind of woodsy. Pretty tasty and I’m glad I own a cake of it.
Having a 2011 Menghai “Real Taste” sheng.
I got this one in on an order today. Just don’t tell anyone I added it in.
Most of the time I let them acclimate in the “pumidor” for a week or two before I get into them. As I really like the shou version of this from the same year I said let’s toss it in the Gaiwan and give it a whirl.
I got about 11 grams to start with and a very quick wash to start out.
First brew very light aroma . Some decent color but it still showed its young age. The first cup was very mild with only the lightest notes of grass , slight smokiness and a bit of drying. The mouthfeel was ok but I think the rest let a bit to be desired. This may have happened since I brewed it right away after the wash. I usually tend to let them open up with the moisture for about 10 to 30 mins.
I let it sit, almost an hour and I am back at it.
Now with a little time and 5 second steeps it is coming out a bit. The color hasn’t really darkened. The smokiness has been enhanced a bit. It carries a bit of floral but only a touch. The drying astringency on the middle and back of the tongue more pronounced.
Final notes. Still young. leaf looks nice albeit chopped a bit. Should be better with a little age or time to acclimate to my conditions. I guess if I was sealed in a plastic bag in a box and tossed on a plane and shipped for about 3 weeks I would be a bit bruised and not ready to open up myself.
Flavors: Astringent, Drying, Grass, Smoke
It’s probably too late at night to be brewing up young sheng puerh, but I just had a craving. I am sating my desires with a very creamy and smooth Jingmai we got from Lower Mangjing village. It’s a 50/50 blend of gushu and younger trees.
Yesterday I had a long run with the 2010 Haiwan Peerless ripe cake. I intended to review it for Oolong Owl but the tea drunk times went hella strong by infusion 9. Now I’m trying to edit steeping notes I took down that are just pure manic crazy. I have set a reminder for when I’m doing NaNoWriMo I should drink this pu’er for massive writing productivity!.
Great tea by the way, especially for the price I paid at YS. Love the mouthfeel!
Drinking a 2001 Yiwu Wild sheng from David Lee Hoffman. Personally, I find this to be his best puerh… and perhaps the best aged Yiwu I’ve had. It has beautiful full leaves with a lot of twigs (something I seem to like for some reason!).Thick in the mouth with very nice notes of almonds. Excellent tea that exhibits the traits of a well aged Yiwu.
I was reading on a site featuring “golden flower” tea that the twigs are important for fermentation. It might just factor.
had a session last night. this is a sample fr Steepster friend – thank you.
it exceeded my expectations. The color and taste is like nothing i tried before – its like baking spices, maybe nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cloves. It doesnt have usual earthy profile.
Login or sign up to leave a comment.