SOTD- sheng of the day

[shah8]

What with some of that old tea I was trying, I pulled out my cake of 2004 Yang Qing Hao Special Reserve today, and pried out 7.3g of precious (to me) tea.

[sigh]

Awesome tea.

Only reason it's not a top ten session or nuttin' is that the taste, while broad enough, has a relatively low volume. Anyone who wants strong flavors are going to be very disappointed with this tea. The aroma isn't all that much better in terms of strength. Early on the taste was pretty similar to other Yiwu teas, like the '05 MYH, a bit more on the spice, less on the wood. There were a few nice notes hidden in the flavor and aroma, more or less from the start. Soup thickness was only a bit better than the Zhenchunyahao, smoother, with a bit more plumpness in the texture. From the first brew the qi was there, generally at moderate-strong levels, and very high quality. Not really moving, but one thing it really did was deliver a sense of well-being (if not happy-happy like Xishangmeishao), and it lasted well after the cup is finish, and still going as I'm typing this, more than thirty minutes after the very last cup for the day. Pretty much from the start, it delivered good length and aftertastes. Especially after the tea got going, a bit. I'd sip and savor it, let it roll back and swallow--then about fifteen seconds later, with no pungency or anything, it feels like a lotus just grows up out of my throat and blooms in the mouth in a combo huigan, yun, mouthcoat. This sort of aftertaste was really impressive, for the strong ones, and there were at least weak ones like this every cup. Sure, the taste could be very plummy one cup and vanilla the next cup, but that just wasn't what the show was about. The aftertastes stays in the mouth for a long time too.

Wonder what would happen if I had a tea like this and it had a strong and complex taste? Would that count as dialing it up to 11? Pretty easily better than Zhenchunyahao, overall, generally on the basis of qi. In general, thinking about how the CGHT Fall was doing the excellent aftertaste thing, too...I think it's hard for me to justify being interested in any Yiwu but GFZ. Yiwu just aren't usually all that potent in qi or a great performer in aftertaste. They are nice, but...

 

[shah8]

'06 XZH Youle as calibration, like yesterday's tea. Dry leaf is aromatic, especially when heated. Relatively loud, broad taste is generally of an aromatic wood on top (not really woody like pu-erh.sk tea), and a fairly generic tea taste on bottom that's less plummy than the pu-erh.sk tea. I tended to drink a bit fast because of the simplicity. Good thickness and texture. Lots of huigans (much less violent than it used to be), which were not as beautiful as the '04 YQH. A bit of mouthcoat, but none of that plum-paints-the-throat that the '04 pu-erh.sk tea did. There was some good sense of age, like the aged vanilla flashes and a few other notes, especially in the finish. In late brews, the tea had some sensate sweetness come in. The qi was generally strong, but not as high quality as the YQH, or as long lasting, but it did have some nice moments. Overall, I'd say this is a better tea than the Zhenchunyahao or the pu-erh.sk tea as well, mainly on the strength of a stronger, better, taste/viscosity character vs the Zhenchunyahao; better durability, sweetness, more aftertastes than the pu-erh.sk tea. Qi is much stronger than both.

I enjoyed the maocha best, only thing it could use more of maybe was good fragrance. Then my two teas, then Zhenchunya, then pu-erh.ek.

 

[bbclj]

Tried out the 2002 Nan Jian Phoenix Tuo again : It has gained some weight since 2 years ago. The aroma and taste show a hint of age. It still tastes monolithic right now but it shows a bit of development. It could become a nice office drink someday. The aroma and tasting profiles reminds me of Xiaguan which I think they are close. Have had no previous experience with older puerh from this factory and wonder if there is any around.

 

[bbclj]

'06 Xizihao Yiwu King from Houde: It tastes very clean and the tea broth is like crystal clear. I think it's from Gua Feng Zhai because it tastes like from old trees and wild. It tastes fresh and easy on the mouth. It is not bitter at all. Not much huigans either. I don't see any age on it. Maybe it has been stored in a ziploc...

 

[shah8]

'06 and '07 XZH Yiwu do not have much in the way of huigans. What I remember from the '06 (tried in '10) is the depth, finish and surplus of flavors. It typically gets a positive reaction on the first try, and then a more disappointed reaction later on. Still, a very good tea.

It is my impression that the '06 Yiwu is a blend of Mahei and Gaoshanzhai, perhaps others, because I've had '06 single area maocha from those places, and the maocha selection follows the bing selection.

 

[nada]

... do not have much in the way of huigans...

At risk of appearing the pedant, I don't think huigan can be pluralised by adding an s. In Chinese it certainly wouldn't, but in English I don't think one would speak of it as a countable noun in the same way that one might talk about cups of tea or tea leaves. It would certainly be strange to say a tea had five huigans, but would make more sense to say that it had a lot of huigan or had good huigan, just as one would say that it had a lot of bitterness or pleasant fragrance.

Sorry - I'm not usually so pernickety, it just strikes me as strange every time I read it.

 

[shah8]

For me, huigan is a pungent feeling in the throat, that comes with flavor, generally. So if every sip leads to a bit of fruity horseradish in the throat, that's pretty strong in aftertaste. Many times, a huigan only comes at the end of the cup.

In any event I don't ascribe huigan as a permanent feature of whatever tea I'm drinking, because it's not something that is a particularly continuous feature like qi or a sort of yun or mouthcoat that is kept going as long as you drink it. It's not even very permanent in character as the tea ages, as it typically sags into a more sedate yun feeling. It's more like burps or the hiccups and not fever...

 

[nada]

You're free, of course, to use any word in whatever way you wish - I was just pointing out that it sounds strange every time I read it.

For the sake of debate on your point about huigan being impermanent. Bitterness can transform to sweetness throughout the sensation of drinking a cup of tea, but would you say a tea had a lot of bitternesses? The sensation of Qi, for me, is a very impermanent feature of a tea, coming in rushes, ebbs and flows. It would be strange to refer to these sensations as a tea having a lot of qis though, unless referring to distinct forms of qi. If I get a mouthcoating sensation following drinking each cup of a tea should I say it had a lot of mouthcoats? etc. etc. etc.

It's not a particularly important point, and one I debated mentioning at all. Each of us is at liberty to use words as we please & I put this usage down to your personal preference. It was only when I read others beginning to use the word in this way, perhaps less from conscious choice than just repeating a form that you'd used, that I thought I'd voice an opinion.

 

[shah8]

I did ponder all that earlier, when I was drinking '07 XZH LongFeng. It had a very consistent aftertaste. Anyways, the LongFeng is usually a pretty awkward tea, but today's session was not, and I got floral, honey, and lots of aged plummyness. I drank this tea slowly. Not too much qi, but enough to be enjoyable.

 

[bbclj]

Nada caught me. I did copy from one of Shah8's posts because I didn't know how to spell it. I do agree with Nada on the usage of this term though that it is not countable, hence it should be "huigan". But then it is a translated term which we try to use it in the way of the english language. When some foreign idea/words are translated into the English world, unlikely it would be perfect and exact match.

Shah8,

Does the '06 Xizihao Yiwu taste Mahei to you? I didn't to me. I think I remember you had a post on '06 Sunsing Mahei(?) Are they close in taste?

 

[bbclj]

'05 Dayi 7742 from YS: It is smoky, bitter sweet, complexed, and pungent. It has a long after-taste. I like it. It smells delicious and taste so too. My stomach can't take it too much because it is still young. It is a lovely tea.

Forgot to mention that the dominant parts are smoke and camphor, which makes me think it is a tea for Shah8.

 

[shah8]

'13 Nahan from Teaurchin...finishing it off 6.5g. It is nicely viscious, smooth, and isn't bitter-tart like it was the first time. The flavor and aroma are monotonic and vegetal. There is some persistent cooling in the back. Opens the eyes, maybe a tiny bit of qi late. This is a relatively poor value in my book, because it's a relatively boring tea, and from my experience with most teas of this nature, the best you can get is a sort of shallow plummyness after 7-8 years, and even that requires some moisture. It's thick and smooth, as compared to most of the teas I enjoy, say like the EoT Zhenyuan pesticide tea.

I'm not completely sure about what all of Mahei tastes like. The Zenchunyahao tasting and behaving as much like the '06 Sunsing Mahei as it did was very much a surprise. The '11 Fall Sunsing Mahei doesn't taste like the earlier teas. Also that '06 XZH Yiwu was among the very first gushu puerh I've tried, maybe *the* first. I believe I have a good taste memory of it, but maybe I have the puerh judgment I did then involved with it. I *do* know that Tony Chen pulled out on his Facebook an explicitly spring GFZ cake that was from '07 if I remember right, but wrapped in '06 style wrapping. A Fall 2007 was sold at Houde. The '06 XZH Mahei maocha, '09 Zhensilong Mahei, and '11 Sunsing Mahei are relatively close to each other. The '06 XZH Yiwu Chahuang is not completely similar in character, but is also not like the CGHT '06 Fall or '07 Spring Yiwu Chawangs, which are explicitly GFZ area teas (darker, less sweet flavors of caramel, vanilla to boot).

I am not a fan of camphor cakes, not really. Did you actually get an '05 7742 from YS way back when, since it's not on the list today? Anyways, I do enjoy a bit of smoke if it's in moderation and it's kind of nice, and especially if it's all converted to camphor. The trouble is that there doesn't tend to be very much underneath it. Take the '06 Putiyuan, for example. Very tippy, and also had that camphor cake thing going, but underneath that aromatic wood, there isn't really very much. As opposed to the '05 Mengsong Peacock, where the smoke/camphor is overlaying and enhancing a tea with a lot going on in taste and aroma. There also tends to be a weird tendency for such cakes to have a roasted mushroom element to the flavor, which while I don't mind, is definitly not a plus.

The 90's Hualiens are not that impressive to you? I was also surprise not to see you write about the smokiness, since they seem to be so famous for being smoky.

 

[shah8]

For various reasons, the recent session with '07 LongFeng made me want to try the 2003 Bulang JingPin. I took the loose stuff from the wrapper, and used a slight bit more than I typically do. However, the resulting session had a very light taste, particularly after the first few brews. It was also less fruity than usual. One flaw that was as before is the thin soup, but at least it was smooth. The qi was very, very good, fairly strong, and almost active. The aftertaste was pretty much one long huigan throughout the session, and that huigan was often stronger tasting than the top taste. Pretty much a total drink with the body sort of tea. I see it as flawed (compared to a more well-rounded tea like Tai Lian), a little similarly with the '04 YQH, but it was a pretty good experience. I also remember that many of the older banzhang, the '97 Old Tree Red Ribbon, in particular, also is reputed to have very little actual flavor. At this point, I'm thinking that banzhang and some Mengsong, however that they both can return fruity aftertaste, can be distinguished by banzhang having a more full, deep, feeling of power in the throat, much like high proof alcohol that lingers pleasantly. Mengsong tea is a bit more narrow and sharp in the throat.

 

[shah8]

From '03 Jingpin to '05 Dayi Mengsong Peacock. Stronger taste, stronger earlier bitterness. Nice aromatic wood taste and aroma, most smoke seems pretty converted. Soup thickness is about the same, a bit more stiff in mouthfeel. Qi is much weaker and a calming, peaceful tone, rather than the more Dionysian feel of the '03. The aftertastes are much more shallow in the throat, but the mouthcoat does linger for a long while after the last cup. Some mouth aroma in late brews too. Pretty decent session and I had a good time, but not really quite at its best.

 

[bbclj]

The Zenchunyahao has a thing or two similar to the '06 Sunsing Mahei because both are from Yiwu. Besides that, they should be quite different because the former doesn't have the distinguished Mahei taste. The Zenchunyahao is a nice tea but it doesn't have the broad spectrum as the '06 Sunsing Mahei due to the raw material.

I guessed GFZ for the '06 XZH Yiwu Chahuang because it tasted like material from that area - big area covering up all the neighors, as different than the more traditional area like Mahei, LukShuiDong, etc.

If you like the '05 Dayi Mengsong Peacock, then you would like the '05 Dayi 7742 because it is better and more complexed.

The Hualiens have aged for a while and most of the smokiness has integrated into the tea so it is not as smoky as at the beginning (at least the samples I have had, which went through some wet storage).

There are some fun readings at TeaHeavenly:
"What is the first duty of being a puerh?
Being big in taste and thick in body? Being astringent and aggressive, or soft and very drinkable when young? No? How about being a Lao Ban Zhang? Or being a Yiwu?
The answer is: none of the above."

 

[shah8]

I had a disappointingly hongcha experience with the EoT '10 Bangwei the other day, and I was thinking about awkward ages since then. Today, I decided to use the last full session of XZH '11 Zhangjiawan I had, to compare a three year old tea, as opposed to a four year old tea. I also wanted to see if I could understand not-hongcha better, since I've only a small grasp of what honchapu is. Not sure if that comparison is fair, since a Yiwu's truly ready to drink in it's youth at three years old, and this session seems to bear that out.

The aroma was low and soft, like what a puerh should be, the soup wasn't that thick, but it had a nice stiffness to it. The taste has a kind of green-not-as-green crunchiness as opposed to, I guess, a soggy and soft corn flake cereal of hongcha. The actual taste though was very nice through much of the session--earlier on was a good (not that loud) wood taste, and later was a kind of slight fruity Yiwu-Menghai taste. The only flaws was some sourness that it has always had, and a touch of tartness here and there. There was some nice layering happening, too. It has what can be dignified as huigan, consistently through the first seven or so brews, and some cooling. Some flavor is returned, but the depth is relatively shallow. The qi was mild to moderate and pleasantly uplifting. I felt better as I drank this tea. There is a reason I'm a tea snob, and that I'm such a huge fan of XZH.

 

[shah8]

Broke open an '04 Nanjian Zhaizipo...this got thrown in when I changed what cakes I was getting from Houde and the total value was reduced below what I paid...

Starts off with a rather intense (if not loud) wild honey taste and aroma. Very hongchapu in the sense of stale bai-hao-ceylon (acidity). This washes out in about three brews. Interestingly, it has puerh throatfeel and aftertaste and not much hongchapu aftertaste. The huigans, while real, did not do much more than make the throat feel it. The soup was low in astringency, but also low in any sort of feel, no thickness or interesting texture. The qi is as I remember and better besides--this always did have a high quality qi, as I remember how good my previous cakes were for reading sessions. Focused on the body, and calming, sort of like the Mengdai Bingdao, but all truly older tea qi. Pretty different from the '03 Bulang Jingpin which gives a more visceral feel. After a rest of some hours, the back end of the session had a very nice dried longan fruity-sorta-tar-floral taste. More Jingmai than Yibang. The qi was really good for three or so brews, lasted about 12 brews or so, overall.

Don't expect lobular leaf to age too well, but this, I think, falls squarely among items like the '01 HeShiHua Jingmai which have aged well enough for what it is.

 

[shah8]

Finished off the EoT '13 GFZ. Fairly disappointing, and not as good as the Zhaizipo or XZH I had recently. Slight softness of hongcha. Low aroma, but relatively solid, complex and sort of interesting. The taste was pretty delicate and meh. There were a few huigans, but sort of weak, but still returned flavor. Texture and thickness wasn't that great. I got a few interesting things out of it on the back end, but in general, I do think the tea is capable of better than this. Even so, the bar set by the tea at its best isn't really quite high enough for what price is asked for it. Ah, Wild Wuliang...now that one was consistently giving me good pleasure...

 

[bbclj]

2010 Chen Sing Hao Lao Ban Zhang 200g brick from eBay: It has the same aroma and flavours what TH describes with their LBZ on their site. It is very nice. The 3rd and 4th brews are the best. Then the flavours drop very quickly on each subsequent brews. I think it is made of material from early Spring that year but probably not a whole lot of good arbour tree tea leaves, which would explain the performance.

"Ah, Wild Wuliang...now that one was consistently giving me good pleasure..."
It sounds kinky, but if it's good pleasure, it is good pleasure. )

 

[shah8]

2003 baoyan jincha. It was enjoyable. Early infusion had some sourness, tartness, astringency, but was pretty firmly woody. After the bad stuff went away, there was a few good brews with woodiness and a slight aged plum. Good thickness, somewhat moderate, but low quality qi. Fairly durable.