pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

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AllanK said

Tonight I drank an excellent ripe puerh, the 2014 Top Yunnan Yellow Dragon Golden Needle by Streetshop88. This was excellent and lived up to the name “Golden Needle”. Most teas that call themselves that and are not made by Dayi fall short. This tea was quite earthy but it was a pleasant and sweet earthiness. The was some bitterness in the first steep but this very soon went away. I steeped this nine times and could easily have gotten 15 steeps out of the leaves if I didn’t need to sleep tonight. This tea was sold to me by Streetshop88, one of the best EBay sellers in China in my opinion. I have gotten some excellent tea from them in the past and they came through again.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/231281751839?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&var=530516688249&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

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mrmopar said

Having a 2008 Menghai “Peacock of Mengsong” cake.
Breaking this one out for tonight. Comparing with a “sample” from finepuerh. A good seller from Malaysia with seemingly good storage.
I got 10 grams off the cake (sorry grand-daughter I will get you another) into the “new” yixing I was gifted with from a great teafriend.
I gave a quick rinse and started brewing. This is a bit textured and complex. Notes are smoky, tannic, camphor,bitter and a touch salty. It has a nice full feeling in the mouth. A bit of sweetness rolls around the back of the tongue.
I am for sure a fan of Bada and Menghai mountain teas but I think my love of Mengsong is coming along. I have had some good Mengsong teas lately and am trying to expand into new territory. A nice golden hue on this one. It may be a bit too “smoky” for some but I think it has developed nicely. I look forward to trying this a bit down the road.

Flavors: Bitter, Camphor, Salt, Smoke, Tannic
Glad the holiday rush is over for us in the shipping business, Glad to back to having the time to drink and share the experience.
Merry Christmas everyone!

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AllanK said

Drank the 2005 Naka earlier today. It was a nice aged sheng but my tastes are still more into shou. I don’t know how to describe the flavor of the Naka, it had that aged flavor. Ironically I don’t find an aged tea to be as smooth and sweet as a young sheng. It was good. Other people have reported getting tea drunk from this. I was relaxed when drinking it but definitely not tea drunk.

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DigniTea said

Very nice overview of the various tea growing regions in Yunnan just posted on TeaDB. Worth a look if you’ve not already seen it.
http://teadb.org/yunnan/#more-2092
Thanks, James!

jschergen said

Thanks for the shout! Glad you found it useful.

Eekkh. I just realized that I’d scheduled this to publish today about a month ago. Just edited it a bit more and added the links to the always great babelcarp.

nice thanks for sharing!

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DigniTea said

Here’s one to consider if you are a shou fan – 2008 Menghai Boyou “Secret Live”.
This is a delightful rich flavored puerh! Easy to drink with absolutely no off-putting fermentation taste. Moderate compression with a mix of leaf pieces but fairly easy picking of chunks to brew. Flavor profile offers a creamy chocolate with a fair amount of underlying sweetness. Easily yields 6-7 flavorful cups. Very nice everyday ripe tea to enjoy and share with others (even those non-pu types).

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AllanK said

Today I drank the 2014 Supreme Yunnan Menghai Langhe 7599 from Streetshop88 on EBay. It was good. There was a slight bitterness to the early infusions and a slight sour note to the first two infusions. It was quite earthy which is to be expected for a 2014 tea. There were no off flavors however. I bought a bing of this on EBay at the same time as buying another tea from Streetshop88. This tea was good and can be found at the following link.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/331373126445?trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&var=540560653098&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
The other tea I bought was better and only a little more money gram for gram.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/231281751839?
trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&var=530516688249&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

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Sammerz314 said

It’s been a very long time since I’ve posted anything. I just wanted to say happy holidays to everyone! Enjoying the white whale puerh in an 80 mL Lixing Yixing teapot from EoT. Frankly, its been a while since I sat down and had a proper tea session. Nice to get back to it.

Yang-chu said

ta-daa.

mrmopar said

Yah Sammaerz where you been hiding at?

Sammerz314 said

Meh, busy with work and planning my trip to Vietnam! I leave in a weeks time hehe. What’s going on in here? What’s everyone drinking nowadays?! I’m considering giving the pumidor another shot… the conditions up here in Toronto are so dry this time of year :(. Btw, HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!!

JC said

Welcome back

mrmopar said

Be careful in your travels my friend! And if you find some good tea…. you know the rest!

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mrmopar said

Having a 2009 Menghai Dayi “Da Yi Jia Ji Tuo”
Breaking this out after storing a few years. Time to see if the “hype” is up to par.
Double wrapper as stated in the vendor description, phase one pass.
Got 10 grams , easy gaiwan brewing for this one.
Leaf looks a bit “chopped” not the full leaf teas that I have drank lately.
Gave a quick rinse to wake things up. Quick steeps of about 5 seconds each. Poured into my 10 oz. mug. Nice color to be as young as it is.
Still a bit strong, a fair bit of smoke in it. Nice hit of tobacco and camphor. Gives a bit of a tongue buzz to it.
Still “burly” and young but quite a bit more stout and powerful than most other Dayi products of this age . Not for the faint of heart but for those punch me in the chops type of tea. Some light fruit notes and a touch of an in between bitter to sweet note.

Flavors: Bitter, Camphor, Smoke, Sweet, Tobacco

Sounds good, I can dig it!

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JC said

Today 2014 Yunnan Sourcing Ku Zhu Shan Raw This was one of many that Scott recommended me when I asked for full bodied and good mouth-feel Shengs. So far the tea is very mellow with medium thickness and faint notes plum and even some tart berries behind the ‘savory’ vegetal notes with some tobacco bitterness forming as you keep steeping and the liquor cools down. The bitterness is present but not aggressive, and slowly become a fruity bitterness like the aftertaste of eating a tart fruit.

Update/Edit
The bitterness is VERY apparent now, it feel like it increased over each steep, BUT it isn’t aggressive. I find it to be there, but it isn’t attacking my taste buds, its just there seating peacefully lingering for a really long time in the back of my tongue and throat. I think the low astringency makes it that much more enjoyable.

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DigniTea said

Pulled out my 2000 CNNP Lincang Ripe cake sold by Yunnan Sourcing (still available on both sites, by the way). This one has slowly become a favorite. I didn’t take to it at first but now I really look forward to drinking it. Enjoying a nice large cup on a rather cold day – seems to hit the spot. When I drink this one, I typically use the same leaves over a three day period – the quality and maturation of the leaves allows me to do this. Gotta love the sparkling clear burgundy tea liquor! The first day (phase) offers a woody, mushroomy tea which is also quite smooth and mellow with the complexity slowly revealing itself. Good choice for this afternoon with even more promise for tomorrow’s session.

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