pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou
Even though is getting hot here lately I went with a Shou tonight. Jin Ya Jin Gua “Golden Melon”. This has been one of my favorite Shou Puerh. It isn’t overly complex is just extremely well processed. It’s handmade; the pressing is not too tight, it is made purely of buds and young leaves and yet it it makes for a thick and bready(yeast and starsh?) taste and texture with a malty finish. If it was cheaper I’d buy more, but for now is just one I go back every few months.
Yang-chu thinks I should balance out my sheng with a greater proportion of shu. Been trying…if only this 1998 Yiwu would give out already…still steeping it.
How do you feel about shou overall? If you are not too much into it, you can get a bing or two and that is more than enough. I have like four different ones, because I need to keep them separate from Sheng and I live in a small apt :(
(I’ve been favoring Sheng too).
Cwyn, sorry if I gave you that impression. Roll with the tea the gives you pleasure. I do much much more sheng in this warm weather.
does shupu smell horrible to anyone else? I can’t stand shu but enjoy dry stored sheng.
I don’t think it smells horrible… in general, but I think there are several examples of horrible smelling Shou Puerh out there. Which Shous have you tried, maybe I can’t point you towards something you’ll like or you just don’t like Shou, which is perfectly ok. But don’t limit yourself because of a few examples. It is like food, just because you didn’t like it in ‘that’ restaurant it doesn’t mean you don’t like the cuisine overall.
I’ve tried YS 2012 Yi Dian Hong and two mystery ones my friend gave me. my friend has a great taste in tea in general, so I trust the puers he gave me were quality.
Ah, the thing about Puerh is that you can have someone who shares a lot in common with either Sheng or Shou and then disagree completly about the opposite type :P I’d say try more aged examples (If the others were as young), I feel like young Shou Pu can be really harsh, even for me liking it. Also, some really earthy/woody notes can be off-putting. If you want I could send you some tea to try.
the two teas my friend had me try were from 2005.
I’ll have to consider your offer, that’s really kind. Would you want anything in return? my cupboard isn’t up to date at all, it’s a pain to update on mobile.
Tea Urchin’s Lang He Yupin is 1/2 fermented. I think it’s great. But if you don’t like the darker tea, it probably won’t make much of a difference.
apt, you don’t need to send anything. I like sharing when I can. But my cupboard is more outdated than Encarta 98 (I’m just too lazy for that :P )
Yang, You mean blended Sheng/Shou or light fermentation?
I have some aged oolongs and a Liu An that I’d be willing to send samples of in return. Also have a ton of Gaoshan from review samples I got and some good Shui Xian from a local shop.
Do you have anything from White2Tea? been meaning to try their teas but shipping is damn expensive for a few samples.
Hell, I’ll send you some of my favorite sheng (the only sheng I’ve tried) from Origin Tea
I ordered some from W2T. I have an order on the way. Some of them are already ‘reserved’ for an exchange lol. But PM me and I can send you a list of what I have up for exchange, besides the Shou I’ll send you and you can let me know :)
Today’s sample is a 2007 Menghai “Silver Dayi” Sheng. This is much more my normal territory than yesterday’s Shuang Yu. It is a bit wild and woolly with a creamy mouthfeel, and smoky, sweet, tobacco notes. There is a roughness to its edges that really appeals to me.
I am feeling the same way about Menghai sheng, beginning to think it’s my drink. Ordered 4 of those wife beater 2005 tuos that had me kneeling on the train tracks for more smoky aged wood goodness.
I still find the 2005 Xiaguan Tibetan Flame to be my proper comfort zone despite a bad brick that I had to throw. It started well but I quickly found leaf in there that made me feel queasy shortly after I sent samples of it to people. I still feel bad for inflicting bad sheng on people. Fortunately that was the only brick in the batch that was bad. I guess my liking for this tea makes me a cheap date! :)
I have a 2007 Menghai Dayi 7542 that I have not broached yet. Perhaps that should be tomorrow’s tipple.
At work, having Life in Teacup’s 2008 Meng Song Arbor Tree Sheng. This is a very mellow Sheng with an initial mature taste of woody notes and slowly develops very nice huigan and some floral notes that linger for a long time. It tastes like it was in a wetter storage for a short period, not because of any off tastes rather it has more aged taste upfront than I’d expect from a 2008 Sheng. It is very nice. I had this sample for the longest time but never got into it.
I think she has brought in some ‘wetter’ storage Puerh as examples. I received this one as a free sample. However, it is a good tea. Besides, usually ‘dry’ has a wider spectrum that it wears at face value considering that ‘Dry’ is from 50-60% to some people and 60-75% to others. And even then you’d have to take into account if it was warehouse dry storage or natural dry storage which is subject to natural fluctuations. :/
So I’ll just say it is a pleasant Puerh lol, easier for me :P
Got my first order from Puerh Shop today, yay! _
And as a bonus they sent me single serving sized samples of 2013 COFCO Jingpin 7581 Pu-erh Tea BRick 500g and 2010 Yiwu Old Tree Ripen Pu-erh Tea Cake 357g. yaay!
Just a note, the brick I received from the first link has two holes in it. One almost dime sized and one apple seed sized. Is this normal or should I contact them?
Keep us posted. I received one such cake with some holes. I don’t think it’s that big a deal.
Everything I bought was ripe. Does it matter how they’re stored? What I mean is, do I store them any different then regular tea?
Ripe is ready to be consumed now, they don’t need to be aged. You can either chip off what you need a little at a time or break up a cake and store in a jar. The only suggestion would be to keep it away from strong odors.
The little wrapper will also tell you to keep outta sunlight. If you find that they have a funky taste then you need to decide on whether its musty or oily type off-taste. The oil type actually will need to age a bit, provided you don’t care much for that taste. Many factories will store themselves to let this effect wear off. If it’s the musty type, then you may either be in luck or sol.
There are different types of must: some mushroomy and nice, others just moldy junk, imho. Still, I’ve shared some of the latter with folks who’ve really enjoyed it.
Away from light and odors in a place fit for human habitation is how most say to store it. I think the humidity may be a bit higher than ours though. I keep mine in an old fridge with a cigar humidifier to keep them stable.
I keep them in carton box open on a bookshelf. Be sure to remove any plastic wrap from them. Let them breath
Listen to boychik, but you’ll get the hang of it. I was watching a video and they talked about tea as an art not science. Cardboard is awesome for tea, especially if it needs mellowing. It’ll be up to your tastes and the maker to determine. I’ve found that teas from Da-li need very little breathing irrespective of sheng or shou, but still there are others that do.
I’ve only had the Moonlight Whites from Jing-gu so I’ll be interested in your impressions. I suspect that the Yunnan Puer Tea Group tea will be exactly as they say, thus requiring no airing out, might even lose something. Just a guess.
I kept my 7572 in a cardboard box for 5 years, may have been too long. Took awhile to get the cardboard taste out of it, realized I probably should have changed out the box every so often. It is okay tea, the box didn’t lead to anything funky once the dusty cardboard smell wore off.
Cwyn, that’s funny. I’ve only kept stuff for about 4 mths, testing on a monthly basis.
Finally moving on, after a few days of brewing some Aromatic Bamboo Species Raw Pu-erh Tea “Xiang Zhu” – this one was a lot moreearthy than I anticipated and what the description on the vendor stated, however a very nice numbing and cooling affect to the middle of the tongue. Also, a warming to the upper back as I have had a couple of cups.
Now it’s time for a different switching of the gears – Pure Purple Bud Sun-Dried Tea of Jing Gu 2014 This one is so clean and definitely has a good punch to it. There is a kumquat citrusy sweetness that lingers. I love the leaf quality. After they have been steeped a couple times, you’d swear they were green tea leaves!
Tonight I am rolling with Misty Peak sheng sample size. Not ready for a note yet, struggling with steeping parameters. I feel like I am trying to coax flavor out of this, my usual 8 g’s in 100 ml. Nice flavor but isn’t staying for me yet.
Maybe I should have ordered the Autumn instead. Found myself looking for tea and just put myself through a cup of Yunnan White Jasmine. Why did I do that to myself?? Now servicing grossed out tummy with a grandpa mug of Leaf and Spoon shou and a side of soda crackers.
That’s funny! I never mess with anything jasmine after 3:00 pm, unless it’s ungodly hot and not planning on sleeping.
I have a couple cakes of the 2013 Autumn Misty Peak and also got a nice sample from Nicholas of the 2012 Autumn.
I think I like the 2013 better but they’re both good. I’m finding brewing lower temp like 180 is working out nice. Get a lot of peaches and apricot that way. When going hotter gets kind of one note and more bitterness comes out.
Wow, this is third tea soul suggesting the autumn might be better. I usually go for spring by default. The tea does have the peaches and apricot, but not past a few steeps for me. Not even getting bitterness, it is literally no taste and watery. The cake sample is lovely but not getting any punch to it.
Here was my review of the 2013. But I agree, it does have a tendency to get one note. It’s just that one note is so damn good : )
92
RECOMMENDED weegeebee1
16 tasting notes
Autumn 2013 Yiwu Mountain 200g cake
Sometimes you read these descriptions of wines, cigars, and of course tea. “Oak, vanilla, blackberry, cocoa,” etc. Then you go to try it and it’s like, ummm, yeah, not really.
Well, let me tell you this. PEACHES PEACHES PEACHES. Honestly, if I was blindfolded and someone put the wet leaves to my nose, I would swear on my life it was freshly sliced peaches with a slight hint of apricot as it cools down. And if I proceeded to taste, still blindfolded, I would swear i was drinking mashed up peaches with hot water.
This is just fabulous sheng. No bitterness. No astringency. No smoke. Pure sweet nectar.
The only thing that prevents me going higher is maybe a lack of complexity or 2nd or 3rd wave of flavors. But what’s there is absolutely delicious.
Make sure you brew at a lower temp than most shengs. My first brew was too hot, and it tasted flat. You need to be in the 180 range. 10-15 seconds in the gaiwan.
The leaves are gorgeous. You can tell this is artisan craftmanship and made with passion.
Flavors: Apricot, Peach
PREPARATION180 °F / 82 °C 0 MIN, 15 SEC 5 G 3 OZ / 100 ML
I usually brew shengat around 180 or lower. I just picked up Yi Wu smooth, like Wan Gong’s. The leaves are top-notch for certain.
Pretty universal that the Autumn beats out the spring cake, unusual! I’ll try steeping the spring a bit cooler, I have quite a bit of sample left.
2008 Menghai Dayi Red Rhyme Shou.
This is some really good stuff. I’m on 12th infusion and still going strong. In fact, I think I like the numbers 8-12 best so far. It turns into this sort of Yunnan Gold bud sort of flavor.
No funk, very light wood. Real good clean creamy flavor, slight sweetness like a raisin finish, little bit of leather, maybe some vanilla hiding out in the back. Bit of honey as you get to those later infusions. I’m going 5-10 seconds this deep in, unreal.
Beautiful cake and at $14 for 100 grams via Mandala, it’s a steal.
Shhhh, don’t tell too many people. Want to buy a few more (dozen) cakes before word gets out and the price goes up : )
Today’s sheng is a 2003 Menghai Purple Da Yi 7432 that I am finding a little nondescript so far. Good job I only bought a sample. The dry leaf promised much with its hot hay aroma but the liquor fails to deliver. It has a nice bitterness at the back of the mouth and in the throat and is quite smooth, but in the end it leaves me feeling that something is missing. I’ll write a tasting note later once I have finished the session. Hopefully it will improve as the steepings go on.
So, I have given it a pretty good try, and I think it is fair to say that this is ok but not exciting. I remain underwhelmed.
It is often the big names that have let me down lol. At least you only bought a sample! It happened to me with a whole bing recently I was sad my pocket was sore.
At that price I could only afford a sample! I had to head off to university today so I took the purple da yi in my flask and brewed it grandpa style. It actually seemed much better brewed that way. Maybe it does not like gong fu style.
It sucks to find a Puerh that won’t do Gong Fu well. I’m glad that you could enjoy some of it though.
Login or sign up to leave a comment.