pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

Today I drank the 2015 Chawangpu Mengsong Old Tree Raw by Chawangshop. This was an excellent tea for the money. At only $22 it is a bargain. It was just a little bitter at first, but just barely perceptible bitterness. It was full of light floral and sweet notes. I gave this tea fifteen steeps and by all indications it would have gone a few more steeps. Might have made it to twenty steeps had I any desire to try. This was a strong tea but not punchy and strong. Much more the strong and sweet variety of puerh.

Today I drank a ripe from Chawangshop, the 2012 Ming Sheng Hao Bulang Arbor Puerh Tea 357g Certified Organic. This was an excellent tea. It was thick and dark with fermentation flavor in the beginning. This fermentation flavor held throughout about five steeps or so. There was little bitterness to this tea. There were sweet flavors throughout the twelve steeps I gave it. I can’t say I noticed any notes of chocolate but who knows I could have missed them. It did develop a fruity note to it once the fermentation flavor had cleared. At only $30 for a really good tasting and organic tea this one is hard to beat. This is one I would happily drink all the time.

https://instagram.com/p/7-7clizDXQQe7WJzVvpkrYygDfqjFlSwwRLQU0/?taken-by=allanckeanepuerhtea

Im going to have a 2013 Ontario 1357 Shou tonight. Plan on getting major tea drunk!

Today I sampled another tea from Chawangshop. This was the cheapest tea of my order. I was not great but better than it had a right to be. It was the 2010 Jinggu Zhu Ke Zhuan Ripe Brick in Bamboo 250g. This brick was full of fermentation flavor in the early steeps. The dominant note to this tea session was spice. If I had added a red chile to this tea it would not have been much spicier. A sweet note eventually developed. The leaf quality of this tea was pretty low. It was large leafed and loosely packed. All in all fore the price it wasn’t bad however. It was only $7 after all.

Having Yunnan Sourcing’s 2011 Ban Po Lao Zhai Spring.
Breaking this one out of the rotation to try tonight.
I got 10 grams out to start this one off. I gave a rinse and brewed a few minutes later. I used the Gaiwan to start with and the tea came out a little thin. I switched to teapot with more success.
The second round of brewing with extended steep times came out much better. The tea became more thick with a buttery consistency to it. Flavor is much more pronounced as well.
It gives some of the brothy tastes that many a Spring tea brings. It has a sugary hint in the aroma department. The wisps of bitterness fade away and the hints of the sweetness drifts in a bit. The hints of mineral are there mixed in with the hints of the bitter as well when allowing the tea to linger in the mouth.
I am a few steeps in and plan to enjoy this one a bit more. This isn’t the strongest tea of YS’s line up but hopefully it will age gracefully into a mature tea.

Flavors: Bitter, Mineral, Sugar, Sweet

Today I drank an aged tea from Chawangshop, a sample from Mr Mopar, thanks. It was the 2005 (2015) Chawangpu Bulang Shan Old Tree. This was a definite aged tea. The color of the tea soup was a dark brown in the first infusion. It had clearly been wet stored for some time. There was an immediate not of wet wood to this tea. There was also a spicy bite to this tea. Not as pronounced as a red chile but there. It had a definite aged taste. This was no young sheng.

Drinking 2013 Ontario 1357 Shou from Whispering Pines (my favorite tea company). This is actually my first Pu-erh. Ever. I did two initial rinses. I’m currently on my second steep. I’m steeping for about 30-60 seconds at a time. The first cup had a slight mushroom soup/tea flavor. Hint of nuttiness. Very airy. This second cup has the mushroom aroma but the flavor and feel is general earthy with a drying effect on my throat. Not unpleasant. Just drying. Not sure if it is because it’s a warm fall night (for Michigan) but I definitely am breaking out in a small sweat. Hmm. I’ll update later on any other findings :)

I having exactly what ntchyg is having, 2013 Ontario 1357 Shou cake. This is one pf my favorites as of right now. I do want to get into some Sheng soon though…but for now, this one is rocking!

Sampling the 2002 Fu Cha Ailaoshan ripe tuo from Chawangshop. This is an interesting tea, quite different. Lighter, kind of chocolatey, and some flavors I can’t quite identify. Like wild gamey tea, if that makes any sense.

I had the second pu ball from the W2T club this morning. I was concerned because it’s going to be over 100 degrees today but it was past time to taste the pu ball. Now I’m melting, melting away in a warm puddle of shou.

As an aside, I am now imaging swarms of pu beetles rolling their precious pu balls across the desert sands. Have I had too much tea this morning? Yes I have!