pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

Today I am drinking the1995 Shu TuoCha 9016 by pu-erh.sk

“One shu to rule them all!”

That’s what I was led to believe by reading a blog post on this shu from the prolific pu erh blogger, Hobbes. He said he thought this tea sets the standard by which good shu should be judged. Them is strong words.

This is a quite old and expensive shu from puer.sk. But I was so intrigued that I had to get my hands on some. So I put about 8g into my pot and began with some flash steepings, using just enough water to almost cover the leaves.
This really is a super tea. The first 5 steeps were thick and dark. It has just enough to of that old bookcase flavor to make it interesting, yet not overpowering. This shu has huigan that you can really taste if you are looking out for it, minty and mentholy, but again, not overpowering. There are hints of chocolate and perfume. It is not sweet. Absolutely no fermentation flavor, it is quite smooth. Just a wonderful flavor.

I took this tea through perhaps a dozen steeps this morning, all for about 10 seconds or so. The first six were very thick, the second six were less so, but still had plenty of flavor. All of these steeps were dark as coffee. When my hand began to shake after reaching for the 12th steep, I called it quits for the time being. The stimulation, or qi, is very nice. I feel wide awake and aware, but it is also gentle.

I’m going to go after this some more later or tomorrow. I bet I’m less than halfway through. I bet I can get a lot more from this shu. This tea has power.

I wish I could afford a tong of this, but it is 139 euros for 250g. I’m really glad to have some of it, and they do have samples available. Keep in mind that this tea brews perhaps twice as much per gram as an average shu, so it is actually not as expensive as it seems. The proprietor was very generous, and threw in a free handmade teacup with my order! And not a cheap one, it was an expensive one that I absolutely love.

I wonder what this tasted like when it was young? I wonder if any of my shus will turn out like this when they are 20 years old?

Today I drank the 2005 CNNP 1938 Anniversary Premium Ripe Puerh. This is an incredibly good tea. It was thick and rich in the early steeps with a sweet flavor but not with fermentation flavor. There was virtually no fermentation flavor to this tea. In my experience most ten year old ripes still have a fair amount of fermentation flavor left to them but not this one. There was even a sweet flavor I think I would describe as dates or plums. There was no bitterness to this tea.

Hmm, quiet here today. Is that because we are all taking advantage of YunnanSourcing’s sale? 12% off Menghai, Xiaguan and Shuangjiang Mengku product. Just use the code BIG12 at checkout. I have taken the opportunity to stock up on Tibetan Flame and buy a couple of other cheap bings as samples. I can’t afford it, but cannot afford not to get the discount now.

I recently received Verdant Tea’s 2015 Zhenyuan Dongsa sheng pu’er from Ailoa mountain which I made today. 8.0 g went into my 165 ml teapot and steeped for between 8 and 15 seconds. I liked the tea. It is fairly light with these tea brewing parameters, has typical young sheng flavors of hay, tobacco, olive oil, and a bit of a fruity note combined with a touch of astringency as well as a sweet flavor. It produces a delayed but strong salivary response in me. I tend to like the complex flavors of Ailoa mountain teas and this is no exception. I will be interested in tasting this over time. Anyone else try this yet?

2014 Silver Peacock, Colourful Yunnan Tea Co. Man it’s young. Tastes like a Bulang. Astringency pronounced, some bitter and sweet. Liquor is not clear, solid yellow approaching orange. Four infusions so far. Releases quickly. Leaf bits and some stems, definitely not a high-grade offering. How disrespectful of such a regal creature, the peacock. Let’s see how it ages up.

2005 mystery cake for me… got it from my wife’s dad, and he got it from a friend (who owns a tea shop in Kunming) 10 years ago. No original wrapper, just a pressed chunk of now-dark leaves. The leaves are from an area not too far from Bing Dao, and it shares some or the sweet honey-like qualities of some Bing Daos I’ve had, although I wouldn’t say there’s a ton of overlap otherwise. After about 8 steeps the leaves look to be uncut and not from a blend. Seems to be a stone pressed cake too, and not too tight, so it’s perhaps aged a little quicker in its 10 year life.

I returned from the tea desert that is Zurich on Saturday night and am now indulging in large quantities of a 2008 Feng Qing “Feng Shan Yi Hao” sheng. It’s not outstanding by any means but is eminently drinkable and at a good price. It has that lovely smell of horse in dry form and is smooth and vegetal to drink. For the price, it is doing the job.

Today I drank the1998 White Tuo Ripe by White 2 Tea.
Seems apropos to review this tea after trying the 1995 puer.sk ripe tuo. The two teas have a quite similar flavor profile: burnt coffee, bitter chocolate, and perfume, with a slightly woodsy background. They both brew up dark and deep. The white tuo is quite good, but just for comparison purposes, it is not quite as beefy or smooth, and doesn’t have much of a huigan, though it does have some. This is a very good tea, especially for the price. It also has a bit more caffeine. A solid performer.

This morning I rolled with Long Yuan Hao’s ‘07 Banna Prince Gold Metal. It won the gold at the Guandong Tea Expo back in ’06. Recently, I learned that Xishuang Banna is a transliteration for Sipsawngpanna, Dai/Thai for 12 Villages. There are many different Dai/Thai tribes, so I suppose there’s no dearth of princes. Ok, enough ethnology. I’m very impressed with how Long Yuan consistently presses their cakes AND bricks. This one is true to form. I used 5.5 g in my 150ml yixing. Liquor shows it’s moving along in terms of transformation. It’s been dry-stored. Tobacco and bitter, maybe a hint of sweet. This is the type of tea that you might drink with the guys while smoking fags, eating roasted mutton and naan, and talking politics. No huigan to speak of, no bad taste but I’d be hard-pressed to say I could ever develop a craving for this one.

1990’s Blue Mark from White2tea. Their website says it was stored in south China, I’m guessing on the drier side since there wasn’t much storage taste. By far the best (and most expensive) pre 2000 sheng I’ve had to date. Thick body that I’m sure will improve with some tinning and time, just received today but I was too excited over this one not to try. Sweet and silky smooth with some coolness after swallowing. Reminds me of a young bingdao I reviewed recently if it had 20 years of age on it. Gone are the fresh and edgy fruity notes, replaced by silky smooth sweetness. Qi also has similar feel, both teas come on super fast and stay at a good level throughout the session. Great tea overall and I’m looking forward to trying again in a couple weeks