SOTD- sheng of the day

[shah8]

Had a very good tea day today:

Morning tea was SE Memorial, which has been a consistently good performer these days...

Then I treated myself to a bit of ManNuo. I could say many things. I'll just say two things. I've had a lot of the lasting feel of drinking peach schnapps. This tea has an intense sensate sweetness, as strong or stronger than Yibang or Hekai, so when it went to butterscotch, it pretty much was like drinking candy.

 

[GN?]

I had broke off a little Mannou this weekend to. I did use half leaf half tea dust from the wrapper so it wasn't as full as it could have been but still a awesome tea.
sotd a 05 haiwan brick I was told after i bought it that it was LBZ. I can believe it . It is what it is a twenty dollar brick from Haiwan. But after getting to know it a bit better I wish I had grabbed a few of these. It starts off very strong having an old library leather chair kinda feel. But there is definetly LBZ flavor there in that frame work. Unfortunately like the 03 yiwu brick from houde it fades fast giving only 8 strong infusions before starting to weaken.

 

[JakubT]

Just had another session with 1995 CNNP Camphor 7542 from finepuer. It is quite an interesting tea I think, a seldom found harmony of smoke and non-smoke (and camphor). Although I'd spend its price elsewhere, it's a fun tea nevertheless. I'm just not too sure that it's from 1995 really, most of its features point somewhere to 2001-2003 in my opinion...

 

[shah8]

finished off five more infusions of Mannuo, for a total approaching 30 infusions. The latter infusions strongly resembles the Puersom LBZ '11 latter infusions. So I'm thinking about poor man's LBZ and yibang/mansong et al. Exceptional tea, and only thing sorta wrong with it is that it's not as loud as some superpremium tea, like Puzhen, or Nadacha '12 Bangwei, in terms of taste and smell. I very much regret not somehow figuring out how to buy a tong, at the time.

 

[GN?]

Yesterday I had a really good session with a 97 8582 (cnnp)?. Storage was quitting for the first couple infusions from not being aired out properly. But it packed a decent huigan with a herbaceous mmedicinal aftertaste hints of granny powder popping up from time to time. This was all capped off by some nice ballanced cha qi.
Also yesterday 01 simao gu puer 6 famous set yiwu. I was not expecting much given the poor performance of the yibang. But that was most likely due to the age ability of small leaf trees. This tea was a pleasant surprise . It carried Nice yi wu flavor, much stronger than the yibang but not good enough to make me wanna spend. Almost five hundred dollar on the set.. But it give me hope the lbz might be decent.
Sotd guyana 05 autumn Lbz. The leaves that make up this tea look to be of good quality and the initial flavor is good if missing high notes from lack of buds in the blend. But the autu,n leaves start to give out after five infusions. Has anyone else noticed lack of durability in lbzs. It seems to me that most lbzs even better ones start to run low on gas around the eighth or ninth infusion. That is one of the reasons I won't drop money on a good lbz even though I love the flavor. Honestly the eot Mannuo on a good day ranks up there with any lbz I've had, with much better durability. Also 03 cnnp menghai special grade. Thin soup honey flavor is present but weak. That is funny as I remember it being almost over powering. Idk I think my taste buds where ruined by hot sauce.

 

[JakubT]

2009 Xizihao Jin Xuan. After airing out and being re-packed into another sample bag, it got better. I quite like it, although it still has too low stamina for me to even consider buying it. But it's an interesting combination of mellow and bitter (not working that great together, but it's something new at least), light, sweet, easygoing tea.

 

[shah8]

XZH 8582.

Starts out sour, good aroma. Kinda mengku-ish. Later on sourness recedes and there are sips of the notable apricot on toast taste, but not a consistent flavor. The top taste in general isn't too good, the pleasing aspects tend to be the aftertaste, qi, and throatfeel. Late infusions have a slight aged 8582 taste to it. The 7542 has a better top taste to it, with a thinner backend of flavor transition and throat feel. The Longfeng has a more coherent taste and better aroma than the other two, and I intuit that it will be a more reliable age-er. The 8582 has the thickest broth, while all three have roughly the same qi. At the time of creation, all around, they would be inferior to the Taipei jincha, with its superior kuwei, vastly superior and reliable top taste/aroma, and only a bit less qi and taste-transitions/aftertaste/throatfeel than the '07 XZH C-grade teas, especially in terms of cost/performance (about a fifth less/g).

 

[EdoB]

SOTD: YQH 2006 GuShu ChaWang - In summary, similar to what shah8 said in a much older post, the taste is light but the qi is strong. Thoughts on this tea from others that have had it recently?

 

[EdoB]

SOTD: EoT Mannuo - reminded me of a lighter Bulang. Then had some XZH 2007 HuangShanLin - had a nice light, sweet taste and good mouth feel. This is rather different from other sheng I've had, probably due to the varietal.

 

[nff]

2008 menghai "classic"

Prep Method:
11g of tea

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90-95c water
120ml yixing teapot with "Ghetto Ghasket" to prevent lid seepage

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1 rinse/cup warming at 95c

​

First infusion:
Flash 90c

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Fairly low astringancy so far a earthy smokeyness on the arrival that melds into a tangy citrus on the sides of the tongue slightly dry finish




Second infusion:
Flash (slow pour due to tea blocking spout.)

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Arrival is Nazi facemelting astringancy that dominates but slides into that citrus tang extremely dry finish.

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Third infusion:
Flash(similar pour)

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Arrival astringancy is more manageable this time still very dry almost smoked walnuts citrus is still there but more laid back.




4th infusion:
5s(plus pour)

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Tea has calmed down now smokeyness and dry astringancy up front slightly sweet finish.


5th infusion:
10s

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Smokeyness has deminished a bit pulling sweet minirals forward time to up infusion time.






6th Infusion:
20s

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earthy and sweet still dry.




7th infusion:
30s

​

earthy almost mushroom like flavor still sweet.




8th infusion
1m

​

​

Minerals and sweetness ghostly citrus tang can be detected.




9th infusion:
1:30

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similar to above. For the readers sake i will return when the tea changes.

 

[TwoDog2]

My experience with most recent (1-4 year old) Menghai shengs is that they often open with this "Nazi face melting astringency" - unless they are wet stored for a year or so.

An exception to that was the 2011 Jin Dayi, graciously provided by Apache. The price of this cake seems to have gone a bit bonkers in the last few weeks, and I can see why. (brand name coupled with good tea) I give it a slightly backhanded compliment, that it is the most interesting Dayi sheng I have had from the last 4 years. It seemed to have a bit of staying power and was dense, and for me, thick with fresh tobacco throughout the session. I imagine it will age well.

A past few SOTD selections: 2012 Spring Laoman'e tippy cake (very good, very expensive), 2009 Simao cake with huangpian, big leaves, tips, & the kitchen sink (decent, very inexpensive), 2011 Jin Dayi, mentioned above (good, expensive)

 

[JakubT]

2007 Banzhang green bowl from finepuer. At $15 per 250, I think it is very scary that it actually tastes and feels like real Banzhang and I love it. I'm not as keen on Banzhang as some, but I do enjoy it a lot occasionally.

 

[ouch]

Had a bit of those adorable little 50g Douji bricks. What a kick.

 

[TwoDog2]

SOTD: More 2012 Fall Maocha from Mengsong - still really enjoying this fruity and fragrant young fellow, I acquired a new bag of about 500g or so, so this will work its way into my daily rotation

 

[JakubT]

2010 Shi Kun Mu Yun Pin. Is there anyone so consistently awesome as Master Shi Kun Mu? I can't think of anybody. Every tea I had from him was quite a hit.

 

[jockrobin]

Just as a reference, the asking price of 2009 Douji Banzhang written on the same page by Hobbes was $54, now it is ¥1380 ($219).

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.10.118.edf653&id=15189285810

I would not say this is an outstanding Banzhang. It's a just about o.k. Banzhang!

Price in tea have all been updated into high. and I also find this one in a site with price:
US $268.71
http://www.buychina.com/products/15189285810

It is the same as above one, original from Taobao seller; has been added 20% handle fee. can be paid by international payment and shipping methods.

I want to get it at a litter lower price if I can bargain the price with the seller in the english site.

 

[shah8]

For most purposes:

http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=69&products_id=1083

is by far the better deal. Better tea, cheaper, by higher prestige maker.

 

[shah8]

Did the '05 "Yiwu" brick from Best Tea House.

Ain't Yiwu. All that strong Litchi essence is gone, and what remains is a tomatos and herb sensibility that is strikingly like what I get from Wuliang tea. There is a sour hit upon the entrance, which was there the other times I've tried it, but the taste is pretty good, if you like V8 with a thin crust of high pitched wood. However, the price for this should be cheapish. No qi, a little mouth energy, some aroma, slight throat fun. I have to say, if this is a Wuliang, instead of some kind of Jiangchen, that doesn't bode well for the prospects of aging Zhongcang Wuliang. The ZhaiZiPo also illustrates some issues with that dead honey crust with Wuliang. Most likely a consume within reasonable time sort of tea.

 

[nff]

EDIT!!!!!!!!!!!! omg wow wrong site entirely~! uhg LOL i had a 5 hour session of 69th anniversary menghai sheng

 

[TwoDog2]

2007 Xiaguan Teji Tuo, the last chunks of this washed away the pain of a long weekend. Smoke and some of the green smells of younger puer combined to be like weed in the gaiwan, went away after the second steep, then was just typical XG, which is fine by me.