pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou
‘07 GSGR Imperial Ripe Brick from Puerhshop today. My nose could detect some fermentation on the rinse, but it has been clean tasting from the first steep. Tea brews a dark red-brown and has medium mouth feel. Not oily, but it does linger on the palate and has reasonable strength in the early steeps. Flavors are earthy/leathery, with some grain/cereal additions. This shu isn’t overly sweet, which I like. Glad to have tried this sample.
Had a 2005 Xiaguan “Crane Label” Ripe Pu-erh today. Was pleasantly surprised in how light and not earthy it was for a ripe. I didn’t know a ripe could be so light and golden hued in liquor color.
Ive just found a 25g sample bag of 2007 Repave I forgot I had. So today, I shall be drinking that, and I shall be very happy about it.
2005 CNNP ‘Green Mark’ shou, stored in Korea for the last 3 years after 7 years in Kunming.
After 10 or 11 years of storage I can’t really tell the difference if it has 1 or 2 more years and I always end up drinking them all before I can keep a few to taste side by side. Need to get a few samples of the same recipe from different years and do a little comparison. I know for sheng it is a lot different of course but I’ve been a shou drinker for 12 years and a sheng drinker for only 1. To be honest the first time I tasted shou, I fell in love instantly. The first time I tasted sheng, I never bothered again for years. Then finally in the last year I ‘forced’ myself and it took a lot to persuade myself that I actually liked it, but its truly grown a lot on me (like tasting your first beer!). I’m still a shou drinker at heart, I just cannot resist, but I have a nice little pile of sheng samples to work my way through now and I’m enjoying them!
Shou was my first true love. it was natural. i made myself to like sheng. There are days i love Sheng more than shou, its more complex ( thankfully Shou cant read and get upset lol) I love them both now :D
I must say I do have days I love Sheng more than Shou too. Actually summer is a good example, on the hottest days in the humid Korean summer I found myself really enjoying Sheng, it made me sweat so much it cooled me down! Now in freezing winter I just want to dive into a bathtub full of shou. I would like to try a few more of the low to semi-ripe shou pu-erhs though as most shous I drink are pretty heavily ripe recipes.
Langhe and Longyuan Hao both make some lighter fermented shu. I know the Langhe Kongque Gong Bing is light and their Teahouse blends are lighter. Some are quite astringent.
You have to explore aged sheng. 2000 and earlier. it will make you very warm. and its more satisfying than shou.
2006 ChangTai Hao “BuLang Ripe Cake” was very atypical shou, light to medium fermented it tasted more like semi aged sheng than shou. i really hope Scott will get more of it.
I was looking at the Hua Yuan Jing Brand sheng made from very slightly fermented, spring 1999 material, and the 2003 Langhe medium-fermented shou.
Last 2 days i spent on Planet Jingmai by Crimson Lotus Tea. I think its my 3rd orb since i got it last April. its developing nicely. its thicker,leaves are getting darker. so sweet,almost no astringency, just barely. i used off boil water, that what i do for any sheng, young or middle aged. It was opening slowly and i was patient. ive had some other teas in between. it made me very mellow and relaxed.
I just received my White2Tea raw basics set in the mail. I started with the 2015 Spring. The only raw puer I’ve tried before was the Spring 2014 White Wrapper Dehong from Yunnan Sourcing and this started out with a similar sweetness to it, but it gradually developed a strong musty taste. The mustiness seems to get stronger through the steeps and I don’t particularly enjoy that taste. I’ve still kept drinking it because I’m interested to see how it continues to change.
I’ve read about people letting puer air out for about a month after getting it. I wonder if that would help this tea.
How exactly to do air it out mrmopar…especially over a long period of time? Leave it unwrapped?
2012 Kunming Tea Factory “Hou De” ripe cake. Don’t quite know what happened between the time I first tried this and this session. The change is decidedly for the better. Possibly one of the sweetest shu I’ve tried, very mellow and pleasing. No tannins to speak of, smooth and juicy. I’ve decided that it still possesses a bit of fermentation “fragrance.” Not sure, could be confusing it for leather or something like that, not particularly earthy either. It’s pure sweetness, an old page or two from that original written by Faulkner, along with the sweet smell of horses.
I’m drinking a 2012 Bulang (Malaysia-stored) from Essence of Tea. I hope I’ll stay coherent enough to write up notes, but this is the strongest cha qi I’ve ever experienced. I just want to sit and meditate.
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