pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

Am still working on the 2013 Daxue “Five Century” sheng from Mandala, which is newly released and was a gift from the Amazing Sarsonator Jammy apricot fruit, no smoke, no astringency just smoooooth fruity love. I can’t believe this is a 2013 sheng. It doesn’t taste a like a baby. Can’t even imagine what this will be like in a few years. I feel warm and content and happy. Immediate full body relaxation. More complete note on it’s own page (and the song).

This morning, I decided to try the 2012 Star of Menghai, continuing my tour of this cake from different years. I chose 2012 for a couple of reasons. First, I tried the 2011 yesterday and did not like it all that much, whereas I loved the 2009 as mentioned previously. I thought if a later year tasted better, this would provide evidence that it’s not strictly aging that would make one cake’s vintage taste better than another. Second, in looking at prices for different years’ cakes, 2012 was more expensive than 2011. I wondered if the market was saying something – was the price higher because the quality was better, even though the cake was younger? I am an economist, so I wonder about these things. Anyway, I found the 2012 cake to be better than the 2011. Not by a whole lot, but it tasted less composty. It didn’t dazzle me like the 2009 did, but it does tell me that age isn’t the only factor determining how a house cake will taste, and that different years can taste different for reasons other than age. I’ll continue my experiment by trying a couple other vintages. I’ve got 2007, 2010 and 2013 still to go!

My smoothest sheng to date. A 2009 from Guoyan factory. The first word out of my mouth after not having this tea for over a month was: “Hypnotic.” This tea is hypnotic medicine.

Having a 2011 Yunnan Sourcing “Jing Gu” mini cake sheng tonight.
I got this from a friend to try. I have found it hard to post anything much with all the site issues but this I will.
I used 10 grams in the Gaiwan for this one with a 5 second rinse and about 10 second steeps. This isn’t as dark golden as some other shengs but that wasn’t a problem. This one brews very nice. Smoke is present in the wet leak and the brew but not to an overly strong note in my opinion. It has a bit of astringency to it but in a nice way. It give a floral and semi-sweet note in the cup. It is a rather “meaty” tea that gives a bit of tingle and a nice mouth filling taste. not thin and weak but with some punch in there.
I looked on the site and price for experience this would be a good tea for the money in my taste profile. Thanks to the generous one that sent it and I think it will be on a future order.

Flavors: Floral, Smoke

OK guys and gals – I just had my very first Pu-erh today. I got my sampler pack from Mandala of Ripe/Shu.

Fist up is Phatty Cake II – Picked in ’06, ripened in ’07, pressed in ’13. leaves from Lincang. Wow, wow, so complex – now I know why you all go gonzo over it! :-)

So I taste woodsy notes, touch of leather, maybe a hint of vanilla. mild astringent, but just enough to buzz your tongue, not enough to make it taste bad or offend my taste buds. I feel like the nose is leather with a hint of smoke.

I’m in love. Thank you so very much to all of you who have helped thus far in my Pu-erh education. :-D

I had the Mandala Year of the Dragon last night, got through six steeps before and after supper with the beau. I did like it, but it was very different than other shu I’ve experienced. I got a lot of earthiness and rich bold flavour for the first 3 or 4 steeps, then it lightened up a lot and became sweet with some fruit notes. I preferred it toward the end, and will go with shorter steep times for the other half of my sample.

Super pumped to be able to contribute to this thread!

Today I drank a new (old) ripe brick from 2004. It’s pretty damn decent. Some remainder of smoke in the beginning, no doubt the processing was a little old school. Generally enjoyable way to get mellow this morning.

Got back to my Tea Classico samples today and brewed up an oldie, 1980s Ying Ming Hao sheng by Tea Classico. This is what the older Yixing teapots are for! Really earthy tea and the leaves are in great condition. Wet storage. Anyway this is the oldest puerh tea I’ve tried and it is well worth it. Full review on my blog.

Trying a sample of a Dayi cake this morning – 2007 Imperial Ripe. A little tutorial on the ‘tiers’ of Menghai Dayi cakes (you can find more information at their website here: http://www.taetea.net/en/products). They have 4 tiers. Numbered cakes are the lowest, the ‘Select’ series is next (which includes the Star of Menghai), then there’s the ‘Imperial’ series, to which this cake belongs, and finally the ‘Master’ series (I’m not sure what is included in there, they don’t give any examples). The Imperial series also includes ‘Golden Needle White Lotus’ and ‘Dragon Pillar’. Those cakes fetch very high prices these days, probably inflated well beyond their worth (some are over $100!). I found this 2007 Imperial Ripe offered from a very good seller, Berylleb on ebay, where you can get a sample. This particular cake is not too cheap, but not over the top: $45 for a 200 gram cake. The 2010 version is $36. The 2007 is really good. It is old enough to have lost any off flavors. It’s medium fermented, with nice overall flavor that isn’t overwhelmed by earthiness. I find it interesting and it tastes good.

I drank some ‘huang pian’ sheng puerh from Kunlu Shan as I was finishing up a blog post about this unique puerh. If you don’t know what huang pian is I’ve got a whole blog post dedicated to it that I posted this morning. Huang pian is really interesting and worth a try. http://crimsonlotustea.com/blogs/puerh/15296929-what-is-huang-pian