pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou
Today I drank a 2006 ripe that was not quite up to par in my opinion. It was a 2006 Menghai Dayi 0562 recipe batch 602. There was an initial fishy note. It did improve dramatically over twelve steeps. I am just wondering about this tea because the taste did not seem up to Dayi standards and I am not sure about the wrapping. I took a picture of the back of the cake and am waiting for Mr Mopar to tell me what he thinks of the wrapping.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BClPb7xzDcEvT3bKEVWSoUhr-tpWD0kYh7j0ME0/?taken-by=allanckeanepuerhtea
From Yunnan Sourcing’s TeaClub: 2011 Gu Ming Xiang “Classic Jing Mai” Ripe Pu-erh Tea Cake – this was very nice! Smooth, creamy. No funk, just nice earth and warmth. Enjoyed it a lot!
Drank a nice ripe today from Yunnan Sourcing, the 2005 BO Wen Yue Chen Yue Xiang Ripe Puerh Tea of Menghai. This was a nice tasting ripe with a fair amount of fermentation left to it. Someone once told me that ripe doesn’t chance much after five years of aging. I think that is wrong. This one was good but still needs to age after ten years. I think in ten more years this one will have changed to the point there is no fermentation taste left to it. It was good now however. The fermentation taste was clean, not fishy. It was sweet, not bitter. Other people have noted notes of chocolate in this one. I really didn’t get that but it is possible. It was good overall.
Green Miracle from Yunnan Sourcing, sample courtesy of Liquid Proust. This is another tea that’s right in my shu wheelhouse – strong, dark, sweet, energizing, and so far it’s lasting much longer than I thought it would. It’s like Pretty Girls’ much less capricious sister. I am definitely buying a cake of this.
Today I drank a tea that may be an aged sheng or not. I bought it from The Pleasures of Tea and it was sold as a 1992 sheng puerh loose leaf. The leaves look like a shou to me however. It does not taste of fermentation but if she had been sold an aged shou that age it wouldn’t have any fermentation taste to it. I didn’t like the tea much. I found it quite bitter. I will post the photos and you can tell me if it looks at all like a sheng to you.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BCnyeV0zDRWmSAeS9jUn3K6YnsCCF57DV4gsrQ0/?taken-by=allanckeanepuerhtea
https://www.instagram.com/p/BCn0lyDTDYQFYA2F037PyCSY6hi1Xoghnw-oUk0/?taken-by=allanckeanepuerhtea
https://www.instagram.com/p/BCn1V8zTDaPtwAvf9a7TAH-p7jslPCGv_P150c0/?taken-by=allanckeanepuerhtea
Yiwu Golden Unicron from Bana tea. Super mellow, but not without plenty of strength. The flavor reminds me a lot of the white tea from the Feb w2t club. Which is not really a plus for me, as I don’t really care for the flavor of aged whites, at least not so far. It’s funny, I’m tasting this particular unpreferred note right now in the aftertaste, and I recognize it quite clearly, but I have no idea what you would call it.
Coming back to this one after a rest, and the “aged white” flavor I didn’t care for is pretty much gone. Nice smooth qi, quite relaxing. Interesting lingering aftertaste.
I always try to let anything new rest a while after it comes in. Normally a week or two. I find that letting it breathe improves the brew.
That’s not the ‘rest’ I was referring to (I meant coming back to the same set of leaves later in the day), but I agree all the same. I tried this tea right after I got it, and it was good, but but not great. The tea has been more interesting today, and perhaps had a stronger qi as well.
Today I enjoyed a special session with Yang Qing Hao’s 2006 YQH Chawangshu sheng. How often do we have an opportunity to try a mid-aged tea made of high quality leaves sourced from a highly prized old plantation in Guafengzhai? This is definitely an extra special tea with a sweet mix of fruit, honey and wood in the taste and a lovely relaxing qi. Highly recommend.
Is it worth the price tag. I bought several of these teas and while they are all really good I think they are somewhat overpriced.
Definitely a high price. Like qi determining if a tea is worth the price is individualized and varies with each person. First and foremost, I enjoy tea for the taste and if I find a nice qi, it is a bonus; however, I also enjoy the ritual and the process of the tea experience. Sometimes, if I discover a tea with a sense of beauty, a work of art if you will, it greatly increases the value for me and this tea has all that and more. Beautiful whole leaves; not a stem in site; pieces only if I did a poor job of picking. This tea has the taste and the qi and this beauty. Definitely worth the price for me.
I have found that two of the three of his I have tried had qi that was simply put in another league compared to what I’m used to and that the third one had a lot of qi too. I found the qi on these teas to be an energizing qi. I have a fourth Yangqinghao tea that I bought that I have not yet tried.
Today I enjoyed a mystery sheng from tea friend ID will know later. It was nice and not bitter or astringent (to me) Looks like a young sheng. I would consider getting it depending on a price.
My second session was 2005(2015) Bulang Shan Old Tree XiaBing from Chawangshop. The tea shows reddish color and quite tamed. No brutality associated with Bulang sheng. Very enjoyable . I just wish it would be touch thicker. I might up the leaf next time I try. I used 4.8g for 65ml yixing and off boil.
2006 fall LBZ from YS. I am preferring it today after I steeped out a lot of the strength yesterday. Hit me too quick and was too strong, like coffee strong. Gave me the jitters although I loved the flavour, sweet mellow natural tasting. Also expensive, so not sure this one is actually for me – especially as you can only buy a sample, or cake, no inbetween. I have got similar enjoyment and nice mellow sweetness from cheaper sheng and without the (quite harsh) qi hit
Fun with Sheng: After reading Liquid Proust’s review of the YQH Bulang a few days ago, I decided to try it myself. During the 1st steep, I got a bright idea and pulled out a 2006 6FTM Bulang sample from Tea Urchin to do a side-by-side tasting. Bottom line: the YQH is the better tea, but not by a wide margin. The 6FTM is definitely the better value. I’m looking forward to doing this with some of the Sheng Olympics pairs, Especially the 2007/2011 Bang Wei.
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