Sheng TTB 1
This is also Puerh TTB#7. Based upon prior discussion, we revised this box to be only sheng. There are a few exceptions, by folks that want to convince us sheng drinkers that shou can be fun too. The first two are donations by Bitterleaf teas (Thanks again!). Please try these (and write reviews); you don’t need to replace what you drink for these. The third is something AllanK really wanted to share.
The current list of participants, in mailing order is:
AllanK, NY
Mitten5 Washington DC
Inkay FL
aardvarkcheeselog FL
Ken NV
Snielson CO Deleted per request
Obritten MN
Matu MI
Rich NY Deleted per request
Dr Jim MA
Because it has been so long since signups, please PM me to confirm you are still interested. Also make contact with the people before and after you on the list well before the box arrives; we’ve had people just drift away from Steepster and it delays the box.
The rules are similar to previous TTBs. I was going to skip this step but we have some new members this time around.
1. Please follow everyone on the list. It will make it easier to coordinate changes.
2. Take as much of each tea as you want and replace it with an equal amount of tea. Please try to add where you bought the tea. Don’t put more than about 1 oz of any one tea in the box. You don’t need a lot of variety; we get that by having a lot of people on the list. Adding only 2 or 3 teas is OK as long as the weight is the same. Try to maintain the quality level as well.
3. Only unflavored sheng.
4. Please post your additions plus any teas that you finished off to this topic, so others can track the contents.
5. Try to send the box on to the next person within a week to ten days. PM them for their address when you receive the box. You can get their address in advance, but please don’t skip this step. Boxes have gone missing due to summer vacation, moves, etc. Remember that you can always take samples to try later.
6. Try to write reviews; it lets us all participate vicariously. Reviews are mandatory for the Bitterleaf teas. If a vendor is kind enough to donate teas, the least we can do in return is to write a review.
7. Try to wrap the teas well. There’s been a lot of discussion about packing for TTBs elsewhere on Steepster, and the consensus is that thin baggies don’t seal well enough. Heavier gauge ziplock seems okay but the consensus is that foil is best.
8. Mail via priority mail and get a tracking number. In general, a single-rate box is NOT the best option.
10. When you mail the box, PM me and the person you are sending it to with the tracking number. Also post to the thread the fact that the box has been mailed, along with a list of what you’ve added and what you tried.
Sorry for all the small print. I shipped the box to AllanK this morning so it is on the way.
Dr. Jim
I did a lot of shuffling between this and the Puerh Plus box, so I won’t list all the changes. I added:
Yiwu Peacock Blend 2013 Spring TU
2013 Yiwu Snake Blend Spring TU
2014 Mang Fei Mtn Old Arbor YS
2015 Mengsong Old Tree CWS
2012 Spring Bulang Mini Cake W2T
The contents of the box are
shou
2009 Black Beauty Meng Hai Bitterleaf
2005 CNNP Red Star 7581 Bitterleaf
sheng
1992 Zhong Cha BTTC
2002 Lingang Qiaumu “Diamond Cutter” Bitterleaf
2002 White Whale W2T
2003 Tuocha Minis MX tea
2006 “LBZ” Awazon Tea
2006 Haiwan MX tea
2006 100 Years old Red Awazon
2008 Jingmai Crimson Lotus
2010 Dong Sheng Yunnan Sourcing
2010 Mengku Organic Abora King Tea
2011 Jingmai Gushu Farmerleaf
2012 Gao Jia Wild Tian Jian Yunnan Sourcing
2012 Xiaguan Gold Ribbon Berylleb
2013 Awazon 1302 Awazon
2013 Cheng Shen Hao Nannuo YS?
2013 Hunnan "Hua Zhuan CWS
2013 Wu Liang Ye Sheng Yunnan Sourcing
2014 Gao Jia Shan Fu Zhuan Yunnan Sourcing
2015 Autumn Misty Peaks
2015 Bada Mt Manyue Jalam
2015 Bang Dong “winter wings” Bitterleaf
2015 Bulang Purple Leaf Jalam
2015 Laos Puerh Phong Sai Camelia Sinensis
2015 Pin W2T
2016 Alter Ego Huangpian Bitterleaf
2016 Bulang Shan Sheng Royal Tea NY
2016 Daily Drinker BasicBitch W2T
2016 Fade W2T
2016 Jingmai Love CLT
2016 Longyuanhao Banzhang ?
2016 Mang Fei old trees Bitterleaf
2016 Nanzuo single trees Farmerleaf
2016 Road To Lincaing What-Cha
Party Mix (3×7g) Bitterleaf
Ok I am getting ready to send the box on, hopefully today. The teas I have drank are as follows.
Longyuanhao 2016 Banzhang Sheng 5.1g
2015 Chawangpu Mengsong Old Tree Raw 5.1g
1992 Zhong Cha Raw Puerh 5.1g
2012 Spring Bulang Mini Cake 5g
2016 Road to Lincang 5.3g
Black Beauty 2009 8.3g
2013 Yiwu Peacock Blend 5g
2012 Chang Yun Oolong Puerh 6g finished
Jalan 2015 Bada Mtn Sheng 6.4g
2014 YS Mang Fei Mountain 5g
2010 Yunnan Mengku Organic Abora King 6g
Red Star 7581 10.4g
2005 Ruyi Ripe 7g Finished
Aged Shyou CNNP White2Tea 7g Finished
BLT Party Mix 7g
I have added
Bamboo Basket Raw Puerh EBay seller xicheny0 22g
2014 Laos Ban Komen (Blue) Gu Shu Raw 15g Chawangshop
2005 Jing Long Tribute Raw Puerh 16.5g Yunnan Sourcing
13 year aged Bamboo Coin Raw Puerh Yunnan Sourcing 22.5g
1996 CNNP Green Mark Te Ji Ripe 15.6g
Has the box been lost?
Box arrived with me on 5/30. I’m sending it on this week. Will post the teas I’ve swapped.
OK the box has been sent on to it’s next destination.
My thoughts: Many samples are very broken-up leaf. The first rule includes “try not to put more than 1oz in.” I must say this rule results in lots of tiny samples that get broken up into tiny bits. I tried the 2015 Pin sample, and it was basically shake and powder, and was probably only about 5g total — I ended up discarding it as undrinkable. Would have liked more (and bigger) cake sections. It made me feel bad to take a whole sample because then nobody else will get to try it and compare notes with me. 60g samples might be good, and people could take ~15g and 4 people can compare that way? All but 1 of my additions are broken off of whole cakes. That being said, the box is really fun, and there’s a lot of stuff in here that I would not buy myself and really wanted to try. I wish it could have stayed with me for a month or more for me to drink and replace far more than I was able to. Thanks to Dr Jim for running these!
My changes:
Taken (~70g):
1996 CNNP Green Mark Shu 6g (I left some of this beauty for someone else to try, will be buying a cake of this at first available opportunity)
Bitterleaf Diamond Cutter (finished) (~12g)
Tea Urchin 2013 Peacock ~13g (finished)
Camellia-Sinensis Laos Pu 2015 20g (finished)
YunnanSourcing 2016 Da Qing Gushu 18g (finished)
I also removed the sample of 2015 Pin. I did not remove any other samples that I thought were too small, since my idea of quality may be different from others.
Added (~115g):
Verdant Qianjiazhai 2015 guhua sheng 14g
Verdant Qianjiazhai 2014 shu nuggets 14g
W2T 2016 Fade — I added 20g of cake to the current 10g sample
W2T 2015 Poundcake 35g
Chen Sheng Hao 2012 Ba Wang/Bulang 20g
Chen Sheng Hao 2009 Fu Yuan Chang 10g
@Mitten5: I appreciate the comment about the small samples. Part of the problem is that eventually large samples become small. I try to sort out the crummy ones when the box passes through here, but it’s always a tough call when what I think is a really good tea that has just seen some rough handling. Most folks seem to take samples of 5-7 grams, so the small samples work for many people, and you get to pick what you choose.
Also, many older teas are just going to flake into chunks and powder when you break them up. I get the feeling that the whole beautiful beeng movement isn’t much more than a decade old.
Login or sign up to leave a comment.