pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

2005 Yunnan NaKa Wild Pu’er Tea Raw. Not sure of the tea manufacturer(http://steepster.com/teas/unknown/38445-2005-yunnan-naka-wild-puer-tea-cake-raw) Very calming and still has a bite to the brew. I could see this one aging nicely. Pretty young tasting, however the liquid color is slightly darker. Will keep sipping for now.

Tried the offering from the cnnp factory tonight cnnp zhong cha "red Ribbon 2005 This brews up incredibly dark and with a sweetness almost like a touch of molasses. It is as dark as a cup of coffee and packs a pretty good punch in the flavor department. It is very multifaceted with lots of flavor notes. Coffee, molasses, dark sugarcane and an almost raisin note. A pretty good one so far. Preparation in a yixing almost boiling water, ten second wash and a fifteen minute steep.

Today’s tea is a 2008 Menghai Tea Factory #8562 shu pu-erh. I used 6.3 grams in my 160 ml yixing teapot. Tea was rinsed twice at 10 seconds, then I combined steeps 3-6 (each a 20-25 second steep). This tea is much better than the last time I had it two years ago. It has lost much of its fermentation aroma and is now showing molasses and caramel flavors, bright acidity, and a bit of astringency. It is still fairly simple, but enjoyable. The instructions with the tea suggest a 3-5 minute steep, so I’m going to try that in the next steeps I do. I think that will bring this tea into coffee substitute land.

I was wondering if you guys could help me out. Is it alright to say that a sheng is usually lighter and easier to drink than a shu, just generally speaking?

I finally cracked open my Mandala Silver Bud 2012 cake http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/mandala-silver-buds-raw-puer-2012-from-mandala-tea-tea-review/
Not what I was expecting! Very smooth, little smoke and astringency.

I’m enjoying astringency in pu’er, whereas other teas I don’t. It’s like this slight dryness that sticks to the mouth that glues in that tea flavor – the ultimate aftertaste, if that makes sense. Very different vs astringency that dries your throat into a scratchy hell.

I swear, I think about drinking pu’er more than I actually do. I should really drink more of it, I just get caught up with drinking down my other tea / pu’er can wait and age.

Currently drinking Mandala’s Phatty Cake. I always go back to this one. I am trying shorter steeps this time around and it is working wonders. Much sweeter with a lovely raisin note instead of heavy smoke.

2010 cnnp 60th anniversary cake.Having this for the first time, forgot to add it in from a previous order I made. This is a very tightly packed cake as opposed to some of the other sheng cakes I have. I pried off about 3 tablespoons of leaf to put into the yixing. The first steep after the 10 second wash was way overpowering to me almost bitter and very astringent and overpowering to me. I reduced the steep time for the second cup. It still has a great deal of punch in it with a heavy camphor note. It retains most of the bitterness from the first steep but is a little more palatable now. the brew is still pretty thick with a citrus and grassy mix on the tongue. I will hope this one mellows out in time as it still has a lot of kick in the face notes. Almost a little too strong, but being a sheng I think with this much early kick it will age nicely.

Last couple days, it’s been Fengqing Raw Pu-erh Cake Tea 2006 Paddy Flavor (sample from Teavivre) that has been my tea of choice. Very nice sheng that last with a sugarcane like aftertaste. It really reminds me of a few Dian Hong black teas that I’ve tried, which is an excellent treat and surprise. The only detection of astringency or bitterness is after the tea liquid cools to room temperature. Of course, it is not very often it gets that chance. :) I’m certainly going to have to pick up an entire cake of this one. Not bad at all!

It was time for a change, so on to a 2007 Mengku Arbor Green Pu-erh it was! Mengku Old County QZ Tea Co. is a smaller company (from the best I can tell) that does a great job producing very good budget friendly teas. This tea itself is a good example of that. It has a mellow bitterness with a lingering aroma, that turns sweeter as you hold it midway on the toungue. The leaves are not broken, but whole and are certainly on the larger side. This tea is satisfying and reminds me one of my favorite sheng puerh teas (Premium Mengku Calabash Shaped Tea), that comes from this same company. This calabash shaped tea is more sweet all the around, however hard to find sold as a whole tea in its 1kg size.

It must be a sheng day. I am trying a 2011 Yunnan Sourcing Ai Lao Mountain Wild Arbor sheng pu-erh today. The description of the current years production can be found at http://yunnansourcing.com/en/yunnan-sourcing-teas/2435-2013-yunnan-sourcing-ai-lao-mountain-wild-arbor-pu-erh-tea-cake.html. This is a very pleasant, sweet, lighter tea with a pleasant mouth feel, and a hint of orchid aroma. Later sips give an light earthy flavor I am enjoying. I like it and am looking forward to its continued development. This might make a reasonably priced introduction to good quality sheng pu-erh for those who want to give young sheng a try.