pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

Yesterday I sampled Mandala’s 2014 Leaf Nei Fei Kunlu. Pine, spicy, citrus, tart stone fruits. Not overly complex, but it gave me tons of energy. Had to split the session into three parts because I needed a couple of hours in-between to let the energy subside.

Leaf picture: https://instagram.com/p/9CF7TqliyL/

Tonight I did a 20-steep marathon session with Mandala’s 2012 “Heart of the Old Tree” raw. Medium bodied, spicy, sweet, mildly tart and slightly citrusy. No smoke. Calming yet uplifting energy throughout the session, though by the end I was vibrating a little inside. Very nice.

Leaf porn: http://instagram.com/p/9DSYJzli5Y

So I’m doing a comparison of some shu I got from Whispering Pines. I ordered a few ounces of the loose leaf a couple of days before the cakes were released. I’m not going to do a full review until another time when I can focus on one tea at a time and I’m in the right frame of mind for it. The 1357 Ontario loose is a smooth and mild shu. Clean, no funk. Wet leaf aroma is dirt, forest floor, mushrooms. Not terribly pleasant to be honest, but the flavor is decent. The flavors are primarily mushrooms and earth. WP also sent a small sample of the Ontario cake with my order. I’ll be honest, I don’t detect a huge difference between the loose and the cake. The chunk of cake I got was a small 10g sample, but still, it’s quite similar to me. The Gold Needle has a much more pleasant wet leaf aroma. It has a pleasant sourness but it’s not what I would call funky. Earth, mushrooms, a bit of hay. I prefer this one to the 1357, but not by much, and probably because there’s a tiny bit of sweetness present that I find lacking in the 1357, and if there’s one thing I like in a shu it’s sweetness. Overall, these shu are collectively not my favorite, and I’ll be honest I’m a bit crestfallen b/c so many others have raved about them. They are ok, but I’ve had better. I think a couple of years crock aging might be in order. Can shu get sweeter that way?

Switched to shou last night. Tried a pre-release sample of Mandala’s 2014 Rama Lama Bu Lang. Medium body, rich flavor, killer aromas. Very sweet with a restrained Bu Lang bitter counterpoint. Seems very promising. Coming “soon”, according to Mandala.

Pix: http://instagram.com/p/9F40FTFi93

Probably going to switch to the samples I bought from YS for a little while, but may get sidetracked by my first WPTC order arriving tomorrow.

2015 Tea Urchin Ban Peng Gushu Spring Raw
Ban Pen is a BuLang village found close to Lao Ban Zhang and Lao Man’e. It is home to the LaHu minority people who earn the majority of their living from ttea. Ancient tea trees surround the village. Seemingly less bitterness than Ban Zhang but a fast huigan and a lingering feel in both the mouth and throat. Medium sized, spindly, dark and twisted leaves. Fresh clean scent (tangy and sweet) from the dry leaf. Clear golden yellow tea soup with a sweet herbaceous aroma. The first sip revealed a fresh pure taste with a light hit of bitterness. A few sips later I began to detect a warming sweetness which became stronger and more dominant in successive steepings. Buttery mouthfeel builds up throughout the session. Overall, healthy balance of sweetness and low level bitterness; good strength of character – complex and rich; calm and relaxing chaqi, invoking a peaceful state. Included in TU’s “Bulang Maocha Tasting Set” or you can buy a 50 g packet of just the Ban Pen.

SHENG! W2T 2007 REPAVE…its my new crack!

Edit 2012 Naka Bamboo from Chawang shop (thanks for letting me know I forgot the name, red faced embarrassed).I got 10 grams out to brew and gave a rinse. I let this sit about 2 hours since it was highly compressed.
After rinsing this tea gave off a very sweet aroma. The sweetness of the bamboo is present here. The color is a nice golden brew.
The initial brew is slightly sweet and then gets the light buttery punch in it. It is a thick brew that coats the mouth. Good feeling with this one. It starts to give the cha qui head sweat after drinking the cup. The aftertaste lingers in the mouth for a while.
Very enjoyable and I am glad they got this from the bamboo before shipping it.

Flavors: Bamboo, Bitter, Sweet

Today I drank an aged ripe from Dragon Tea House, the 2004 CNNP Aged Melon Yunnan Tuo Cha Puerh Tea Ripe 500g. The first thing about this tea was it was clearly wet stored. The wet storage taste was prevelent. It was noticeable even in the twelfth steep. There were also notes of camphor and spice. This is a great bargain for someone who likes wet stored shou. It was less than $30. I didn’t find the wet storage taste, or wet wood too overpowering for me but I am not a big fan of it. This is probably one I will want to revisit after I have dry stored it for another year, see if some of the wet wood taste goes away.

Having Chawang shop’s 2013 ‘shuang shu’ xiao cake.
I got a sample of this on my last order. A blending of Jingmai and Meng song sounded interesting to me. I know Mengsong by itself is pretty nice. Jingmai can be hit or miss to me. I had previously tried the Huang Pia from this shop from Jingmai and it met my approval as well.
I got 8 grams out and gave a quick wash and allowed it to set for about 10 minutes.
The first brew was a light gold, very little char in the strainer indicating good processing. The brew was very clear as well.
Taste notes are nice. You can feel the burly part of the Mengsong and the softening the Jingmai gives it. The aromas of the wt leaf are somewhat floral. The tasting is deceptively sweet. It takes a second or two but the it s there. The later steeps bring the citrus of the Jingmai into the mix as well. This tea is viscous and thick with bitter, sweet and citrus rolled in there.
The leaf in the gaiwan is easy to pick the smaller Jingmai and the bigger Mengsong out in there. I am not sure but the larger leaf looks as it can be a bit older the Jingmai. It is making me sweat a bit as well from the Cha Qui.
Well done production.

Flavors: Bitter, Citrus, Floral, Sweet

Today I drank an excellent aged sheng from The Essence of Tea, the 2000 Green Peacock. This tea took a couple rounds to get going. It had a light yellow color in the first couple of steeps but by the fourth steep it had the dark amber brown of an aged sheng. There was a potent spicy note to this tea that was the dominant note. This was a very smooth tea despite that spicy note. I did not find any notes of wet wood or wet storage taste. It is possible the spicy note was a storage taste in of itself but I don’t know. It was quite good. I gave it fifteen steeps. It seems to have a very strong qi as I am feeling it now.