SOTD- sheng of the day

[shah8]

Came from a cake. It was $18 for 20gms and was cheaper than many 90s cakes. The full name was the 1987 Menghai Chung Guo Shan Jian 8582. It's sold out now. I got a chunk.

It wasn't all that assertive in taste, though it did have plenty of chaqi. It also only lasted about 8 brews of interesting, and I expected more from that. It wasn't so bad, I don't think, but the Shin Ya shu costs more than this does for very good reasons, even though it's a shu from about the same year.

I think all in all, it was mostly that 2003 HK actually did air out or aged in the bag since Jan. I think...7542 formula rules...so long as it's old.

[Sp1key]

Perhaps the history of storage isnt ideal for that piece which happens with aged tea.

[Hobbesoxon]

Some more 2010 Nadacha "Bulang" punishment today. I don't like the price, but I like the tea. Some fruit, some tobacco, plenty of aggression.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[ambrose]

under the weather recently again :blink:

Im finding sheng really helps to loosen the muscles and relax.

07 Mengku Mu Ye Chun

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy20/ambroseshave/IMG_5125.jpg

[Hobbesoxon]

under the weather recently again :blink:

Im finding sheng really helps to loosen the muscles and relax.

07 Mengku Mu Ye Chun



An outstanding photo - really lovely.

My wife has recently discovered that if she breaks her ban on tea, and has a tiny cup or two in the morning with me, then it helps her morning sickness - I bet it's similarly healing for you, too :)

SotD: the 1995 CNNP so kindly given to us by Keng. This cake was so nice (and well-priced) that I had to buy a tong, which arrived this morning. Frighteningly good.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/1995-CNNP-Keng-01b.jpg


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[ouch]

My wife has recently discovered that if she breaks her ban on tea, and has a tiny cup or two in the morning with me, then it helps her morning sickness
Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Morning sickness? I had no idea.

Congrats, David. :thumbup1:

[netsurfr]

Congrats David! :thumbup:
:jump::jump::jump:

[ouch]

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the kid will be a tea drinker. :tongue_sm

[Hobbesoxon]

Thanks! He's a boy, according to the scans... :)

[arghblech]

Thanks! He's a boy, according to the scans... :)

So which tong are you laying down from his birth year? My son got 7452.

[arghblech]

2009 Douji Red Dadou sample from tea goober. Bright and clean with strong bottom notes. This stuff is pretty nice! Thanks, Goob!

[grasshopper]

70's Aged Liao Fu San Cha from Hou De
There are many teas that sell for more and do not taste as good as this. Guang blogged his article in November of 2007, so likely I purchased some then. Creamy and woody.

[tea goober]

2009 Douji Red Dadou sample from tea goober. Bright and clean with strong bottom notes. This stuff is pretty nice! Thanks, Goob!

Your welcome! I don't remember how much I sent you, I hope it was enough for a couple of sessions. It took me a few go's at this tea to really realize what it's merits were. It requires a little extra leaf to realize it's potential. I think it's a really good tea for the price. The maocha is very healthy and vibrant, processing is exellent. To me it's worth the extra money for the Douji's (as compared to Menghai) it's just an all around better product. Though I will always love my Menghai tea's I doubt I,ll be stocking up on them as much, having Douji as an alternative.

[physiognomy]

'02 Hai Lang Hao Mengku Wild Arbor tonight...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/4713652526_ea7882bc1c_b.jpg

[Hobbesoxon]

So which tong are you laying down from his birth year? My son got 7452.

A good question! For 2010 cakes, we went for tongs of the 2010 Nadacha Mansai, Bangwai, and Manmai (Bada) in the hope that one of them (or, ideally, all of them!) will grow nicely.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[ambrose]

An outstanding photo - really lovely.

My wife has recently discovered that if she breaks her ban on tea, and has a tiny cup or two in the morning with me, then it helps her morning sickness - I bet it's similarly healing for you, too :)

SotD: the 1995 CNNP so kindly given to us by Keng. This cake was so nice (and well-priced) that I had to buy a tong, which arrived this morning. Frighteningly good.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/1995-CNNP-Keng-01b.jpg


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Thank you :blushing: and likewise :thumbup1: congratulations on the little one :thumbup:

[ambrose]

08 Menghai Bu Lang Early Spring

you dont mess with bu lang !

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy20/ambroseshave/bulang.jpg

[tea goober]

Some more 2010 Nadacha "Bulang" punishment today. I don't like the price, but I like the tea. Some fruit, some tobacco, plenty of aggression.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

The prices? Ouch! Having seen the price list of Nada's new offering's I,m afraid I,m gonna have to pass on them. With the cost of shipping it puts them into the category of "When Pigs Fly" just not in my budget.

[Hobbesoxon]

The prices? Ouch! Having seen the price list of Nada's new offering's I,m afraid I,m gonna have to pass on them. With the cost of shipping it puts them into the category of "When Pigs Fly" just not in my budget.

The Bulang is fairly brutal compared to last year, for sure. Sadly, it's the nicest, but the price put me off, too.

The three tong that I mentioned (Mansai, Bangwei, and Manmai/Bada) were good value, though, in my opinion. £25 for high-content laoshu tea, being both reliably sourced and produced, is really very decent. I had to ask myself: what else can I get for the same price?

I recognise the fact that (for once!) I am fortunate with regards to shipping, being inside the UK, so maybe that accounts for a big difference.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[Hobbesoxon]

SotD: two cakes generously provided by Keng.

The 2004 Dayi 7532 is potent and woody - cause for celebration for all of us who have bought Dayi recipe-cakes for the past years.

A 200something 6FTM "Jingmai Yesheng" has "Pangxiejiao" on its wrapper, which usually means that the "crab-feet" vines from the trunk of the pu'er tree have been included. However, it looked like 100% pu'er leaf to me. The result, nonetheless, was very decent - woody and sharp. Slightly simple, but aged very nicely. A great example of simple, properly raw shengpu turning into something nice.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[tea goober]

Yeah, the cost of the tea is fair enough (I guess) but you add on that shipping and the sky looms dark and brooding.

[thanks]

2005 Changtai Golden Bamboo Mountain.

This is uninspired. The scent of the wet leaves is great, the liquor thick, but besides that it's lacking heart and soul. Almost completely lacking raw strength, it needs to be pushed to reveal a decent character or flavor. This only further cements my belief that I dislike all Changtai tea made in 05 or later.

[tea goober]

2005 Changtai Golden Bamboo Mountain.

This is uninspired. The scent of the wet leaves is great, the liquor thick, but besides that it's lacking heart and soul. Almost completely lacking raw strength, it needs to be pushed to reveal a decent character or flavor. This only further cements my belief that I dislike all Changtai tea made in 05 or later.

I bought one of those several months ago. My first impression was, ah...it's O.K. But lately Ive been enjoying it. Now, Ive no plans on buyng another, but Ive no regrets for the money spent either. For my tastes the Chang Tai Menghai Qiao cakes are exellent.

[thanks]

I bought one of those several months ago. My first impression was, ah...it's O.K. But lately Ive been enjoying it. Now, Ive no plans on buyng another, but Ive no regrets for the money spent either. For my tastes the Chang Tai Menghai Qiao cakes are exellent.

Changtai definitely has it's fans, so it's probably me that's missing something. I guess their more recent offerings are just not my style. The few Changtai teas I've had pre-05 have all been quite excellent, however. If all the 05 cakes that I've tried were about 15$ or more cheaper, I'd probably buy up a few of them, but as it stands I just don't see the value in them.

[tea goober]

I,m coming to the end of this cake, it's been fun, gonna miss you.
109886

109887

109888

[P_K]

08 Menghai 0622 -

Nice round mouthfeel and a hint of florals on the finish. Brews darker than other recipes. I have not fallen in love with this one but it seems to be improving.

[Hobbesoxon]

SotYesterday: 2008 Yangpinhao "Ganlu".
SotD: 2008 Yubang "Mengku Qiaomuwang"

Both nice, both a blend of red leaves and properly raw leaves, both kindly provided by Keng. They have, I believe, the backbone to mature into something, given that the majority component in each blend is raw leaf. Simple, sharp, refreshing.

Lucha-otD: 2010 Xinyang Maojian, celebrating my wife's birthday with a tea (one of the shi da mingcha, no less) from her home. You can take the girl out of China...


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[ouch]

On Monday, my normal tea routine will finally resume. :thumbup1:

Been a looooooooooooooooong time.

[Hobbesoxon]

SotD: a tiny 2005 sphere of tea, thanks to Keng!

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2005-JingguHeli-Yifu-02b.jpg

It's about 3cm in diameter, and is made by the "Jinggu Heli" [her-lee] company. Delicious, woody, clean, and it runs a mile.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Miscellany/LOYS.gif


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[Hobbesoxon]

A bit more SotD: it's boiling hot on a Friday afternoon, and I'm writing a paper at home. The birds are singing, the scents of the garden are filling the house. It's time for some refreshing tea.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2009-Shouyixuan-Ziyawang-03b.jpg#

This is the 2009 "Soyi" (apparently short for Shouyixuan) purple-buds cake ["ziya", pronounced "zer-yah"] from China Chadao. It's fresh, fruity, sweet, and absolutely perfect for a hot afternoon. Heartily enjoyable.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2009-Shouyixuan-Ziyawang-05b.jpg


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[netsurfr]

Wow, that is a beautiful purple bud. Reminds me that I need to have another session of my red bud. After I finish up my morning green, that is next on the tea menu.

[arghblech]

About to drink some 70's ZhiYe loose leaf from Nada's shop (which is currently down).

Woody and rich. Lots of dust early on. Cooling in the early to middle infusions. Pleasant huigan develops as the infusions go on. Not overly complex and not much cha qi. Still a tasty cup!

[apache]

About to drink some 70's ZhiYe loose leaf from Nada's shop (which is currently down).

It's up and updated now, same old price which is nice!

[ouch]

Bada Bing! I'm back!

Today's sheng-
bada bing. :thumbup1:

[JEEP]

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e259/Jakobeep/Tea/Raw_Puerh_GongFu_02.jpg


10 year old Yunnan Jing Mai Mountain wild puerh. One of my favourite raw puerh teas; very mild and earthy.

Using my new glass pitcher and one of four white celadon cups from www.jas-etea.com


Regards.

Jakob

[tieguanyin]

After being out of action for a while (vacation + getting over a cold), I decided to jump back in with the subject offering. I actually brewed the parts that fell out of the wrapper when unpacking the bing in a gaiwan. I know, it is not necessarily the best part (mostly bits and crushed leaves) but the result was good none the less. The first four steaps were basically flash rinse that yield deep colored soups. It took about three steaps to shake off the Taiwanese wet-storage (which has not tampered with the yumminess of the cake). This tea has good durability and leaves a good feel in the mouth and tongue. I look forward to trying this one again with proper leaves in a clay teapot :biggrin:!

[tieguanyin]

Ok, where is everybody (Watching Paraguay battling it out with Japan in the World Cup)? Looks like this is going to be back-to-back post on SOTD. Anyway, I am enjoying the 2005 Purple Brick :biggrin:! Despite its 5 years of age (approximately), it still has some nice fruitiness to it. Note to self - need to compare it to its 2008 and 2010 incarnation (another puerh to be purchased - so much puerh so little time...).

[JEEP]

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e259/Jakobeep/Tea/2008_Menghai_7542_01.jpg


2008 Menghai 7542 puerh sample from www.jas-etea.com


Regards.

Jakob

[ambrose]

I can almost smell the sweet nectar goodness from that pic Jakob .

[JEEP]

It is indeed a very good puerh. The best I have had so far.


Regards.

Jakob

[arghblech]

1996 Menghai 8582 - Dry leaves smell very much like shu. Moderately woody. Sweetness develops and the funky shu-ness fades after a few infusions.

[Sp1key]

sounds like wet stored, I've a similar version coming your way =)

[arghblech]

sounds like wet stored, I've a similar version coming your way =)

I figured that's what it was. It's a lot stronger in that tea than the thick-papered YYX. I also had tons of interruptions and meetings which damaged the session. That said, the last 8 or so infusions were really very nice.

[Hobbesoxon]

Ok, where is everybody (Watching Paraguay battling it out with Japan in the World Cup)?

I'm stuck in Lyon (France), but have some miscellaneous Simao maocha from a 2007 trip to Beijing for my SotD. It's ridiculously hot here, and I'm dressed like an Englishman (i.e., too many clothes), so this cooling shengpu is very welcome :chinese:


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[ouch]

It is my understanding that even the English birthday suit involves too many clothes.

[tieguanyin]

I'm stuck in Lyon (France), but have some miscellaneous Simao maocha from a 2007 trip to Beijing for my SotD. It's ridiculously hot here, and I'm dressed like an Englishman (i.e., too many clothes), so this cooling shengpu is very welcome :chinese:


Toodlepip,

Hobbes


It is my understanding that even the English birthday suit involves too many clothes.

So... to avoid "It's getting hot in here...let's take off all our clothes" (yes that tune Nelly sang :ihih:), Hobbes proposes the ultra cooling miscellaneous 2007 Simao Maocha. Any other recommendations out there for cooling maocha or puerh :biggrin:?

[Maitre_Tea]

1996 Menghai 8582 - Dry leaves smell very much like shu. Moderately woody. Sweetness develops and the funky shu-ness fades after a few infusions.

I'm guessing that this came from Nada? My sessions with this have been mixed. Some have been good, while others have left me feeling "meh." By the sample was done it was 2-3 and my wallet was saved this additional expense.

[arghblech]

I'm guessing that this came from Nada? My sessions with this have been mixed. Some have been good, while others have left me feeling "meh." By the sample was done it was 2-3 and my wallet was saved this additional expense.

You are correct. This is from Nada. I bought enough for 5-6 sessions so I could play with the parameters a bit.

[tea goober]

Maitre, didn't you send me some of this a while ago? I think it was you. Anyways, I remember liking the tea. It was a very stout and robust tea. Not much wet storage but also not very complex. It's a good tea but again, once you add on the shipping costs it's not really worth it in my opinion.

[Maitre_Tea]

Maitre, didn't you send me some of this a while ago? I think it was you. Anyways, I remember liking the tea. It was a very stout and robust tea. Not much wet storage but also not very complex. It's a good tea but again, once you add on the shipping costs it's not really worth it in my opinion.

Maybe, it might have been me...

For an aged sheng from a western-oriented vendor, I think it's a pretty good deal.

For an aged sheng from anywhere else (including Asia), it's still an alright deal.

[tea goober]

Maybe I,m just cheap. $140.00 including shipping, too rich for me. Now if it were an exceptionally good tea I could talk myself into it.

[tieguanyin]

A year old, I am still liking this one. Preparing it nonchalantly in a gaiwan at my desk. Even if you are not brewing this one carefully, you can still get a nice cup out of it. I tend to find slight liquorice notes (nothing overwhelming and quite enjoyable). I have brewed it for guests who have never tasted puerh and they have all enjoyed it. This one is a sure bet in my book :biggrin:!

[netsurfr]

Mengku Mangbo Maocha, 2007 Fall harvest. Light and refreshing. Earthy with hint of floral. Nice moderate touch of astringency remaining that balances the tea. good mouthfeel considering the youth of the tea. Overall, very enjoyable.

[Hobbesoxon]

SotD: random unnamed shengpu in an over-priced Lyon teashop. Better than nothing!

[P_K]

09 Menku Ancient Puerh cake -

Decided to brew this one due to its lighter nature. Straw and a touch of mushroom. Nice as the heat begins to abate.

[ouch]

'08 Xiaguan Duling Fengsao, to match my all sandalwood shave.

It's winter in July!

[Hobbesoxon]

My test purchase from Taobaofocus.com just arrived (very well packed).

I can thoroughly recommend Taobaofocus.com for buying pu'er. They have the cheapest shipping, and probably the best service of any Taobao handler I've tried. They send a photograph of your order to you once they have collected it together in their warehouse, and the shipping was prompt. I sent by cheap old airmail, and it arrived in just over 10 days, trackable by tracking web-site at every point in its journey. Combining their rock-bottom airmail prices and the low cost of Taobao makes it almost impossible for me not to use them. They charge a 10% handling fee (as is the norm), but this is more than swallowed by the other discounts. Great stuff.

Taobao is as safe as eBay - just buy from a huge vendor (of which there are very many).

My test purchases for your reference, all of which look and smell to be the real thing:

i.
2001 Dingxing - $30 (was double or triple this at Essence of Tea)
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=2390561266

I enjoyed this from Essence of Tea, and MarshalN recently reviewed it positively. Almost a decade old for $30, and tasty too? I am helpless before such bargains.


ii.
2003 Quanji Bulang (a.k.a. "Male Urine") - $26
http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_detail-0db1-3d64f54074e9c8b90b420f5e1cec67da.htm

A delicious cake that has been doing the rounds for some years - my thoughts here (http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2007/07/2003-quanji-bulang.html). $26 for this would require brain surgery not to purchase.



iii.
2006 Yongpinhao Yiwu - $10 (!)
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=4810706353
Solid and reliable, the YPH cakes are usually cheap but very cheerful. For RMB65, it's a crime not to buy it.


iv.
2003 Manluo Yiwu - $25
http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_detail-0db1-1fb4a771d6e60b5b9c9b0360869e6cd8.jhtml

My old favourite from Maliandao, with which I am stocking up. My notes here (http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2007/10/2003-manluo-yiwu-zhengshan.html). Ask yourself what you can buy from Western vendors for $25. A beautiful cake, now seven years old? Stunning.


v.
2004 Yiwu Mahei - $19
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=4715395966&ad_id=&am_id=&cm_id=&pm_id=

Recommended by MarshalN - I've not tried it yet, but it looks and smells decent.


vi.
2005 Dayi "Zaochun 501" Tuocha - $13
http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_detail-0db1-dcd0a1599608cf65f03b89de5d00da29.jhtml?cm_cat=5000 3862

My old warrior (notes here (http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2009/08/2005-menghai-dayi-zaochun-501.html)). Most people are not entirely thrilled by Dayi - they're more stalwarts for reliable aging (pre-2006 vintage for preference, no idea about 2006+ vintages), but this tuocha is darned good. So woody and potent. I have tubes of this stuff.


There are some vast bargains to be had out there.

1. Hit Babelcarp to find the Chinese characters for your search terms.
2. Go to Taobao and use the search terms
3. Scroll through teas, finding vendors with big sales numbers and 99%+ ratings
4. Copy-and-paste the URLs into Taobaofocus.com, pay by Paypal
5. Get surprised by a huge box filled with inexpensive tea a week or so later.

What's not to like?


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[JEEP]

2007 Menghai 8582 sample from Jas-eTea.

Very yummy :w00t:


Regards.

Jakob

[ouch]

2008 Dream of the Red Chamber

Possibly my favorite tuo. :thumbup1:

[Maitre_Tea]

Just to be a devil's advocate, but I was a little let down by the 2003 Quanji, since my expectations had been built up by both MarshalN and Hobbes. I'm not denying that it's a good cake...it's probably one of my top 5 picks from the dozens upon dozens of things I've tried in the past half year. But after reading MarshalN's review of it, I thought it would be like the second coming or something. Goes to show how subjective all of this pu-erh business is.

It's got that sort of vegetal bitterness and good strength, though I didn't really find it to be that complex. I think if you subscribe to the school of thought that only strength (whatever that means) leads to good aged cakes, then this might be the one for you.

IMO, it's on par in terms of strength and bitterness to the 2006 2nd SouthEast Asia Puerh Trade Memorial Cake (which I bought before Hou De slashed the quantity discounts), which has garnered mixed feelings amongst various influential pu heads out there.

[Hobbesoxon]

Just to be a devil's advocate, but I was a little let down by the 2003 Quanji, since my expectations had been built up by both MarshalN and Hobbes. I'm not denying that it's a good cake...it's probably one of my top 5 picks from the dozens upon dozens of things I've tried in the past half year. But after reading MarshalN's review of it, I thought it would be like the second coming or something. Goes to show how subjective all of this pu-erh business is.

I recall writing about its component of red leaves, I think. However, at twenty-six dollars for a very solid seven-year-old cake? That's the cost of a dodgy, mainstream 2009-2010 cake.

Baffling!


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[Maitre_Tea]

I recall writing about its component of red leaves, I think. However, at twenty-six dollars for a very solid seven-year-old cake? That's the cost of a dodgy, mainstream 2009-2010 cake.

Baffling!


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

oh yeah, it's definitely a good deal, but the thing is: at least for the sample I tasted, it didn't behave like a 7-year old tea though...maybe a 3 year old one. As you can probably attest to, just because a tea is how old it is in actual years doesn't mean it actually acts its age. That green-boxed CIB Xiaguan Tuocha (which you've tasted, no?) is from the mid-80s, but because it's been so dry-stored (in the box), it tastes really green.

My analysis of it was disregarding the price and just focusing on the tea itself. Personally, if I was ordering something else from Tao Bao I might grab a few, but I wouldn't order it just for that tea. I think I was going to buy this, but was a little peeved by the price increase (around 50 RMB, which isn't that much for us westerners, but having lived in China for a while I know how far 50 RMB can get you...).

[ouch]

7542 <802>

I can't believe how bland this one is compared to the <801>.

[Hobbesoxon]

2004 Xingshunxiang "Yiwu Mahei", 128 RMB ($19) from 贡马旗舰店 [Gongma Qijian Dian] available here (http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=4715395966&ad_id=&am_id=&cm_id=&pm_id=).

http://www24.babidou.com/pic/2008/5/9/mengla00/n3/1.jpg

Woody, sweet, aging nicely, and a huge bargain for pre-2006 tea. I'll be tong'ing this within the week. :chinese:


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[Hobbesoxon]

oh yeah, it's definitely a good deal, but the thing is: at least for the sample I tasted, it didn't behave like a 7-year old tea though...maybe a 3 year old one. As you can probably attest to, just because a tea is how old it is in actual years doesn't mean it actually acts its age. That green-boxed CIB Xiaguan Tuocha (which you've tasted, no?) is from the mid-80s, but because it's been so dry-stored (in the box), it tastes really green.

The CIB was really slow to mature, yes indeed!

Perhaps it underlines the subjectivity of tea, but I found the Quanji Bulang to be fairly well matured. It was sharp, and had plenty of kuwei remaining, but it had turned something of a corner. Perhaps mine was stored somewhere less dry than yours. :)


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[apache]

Drinking 2002 Hai Lang Hao * Mengku Wild Arbor today, and I was told this is the first cake Hai Lang Hao made. This cannot be more different from 2008 Lao Ban Zhang & Man'E Ancient. I find the Mengku is a little bit like Nan Jian Tulin "902", a bit on the mild side. It seems much younger than I expected from an eight year old tea, might be it was stored in very dry places or it only will age very slowly. Nevertheless, it is smooth and easy to drink.

[tea goober]

A year later and still beany, nutty and yammy. A tad woodsier than last year with bitterness has become more assertive since they were freshly made.
112402

112403

[Hobbesoxon]

SotD: 2001 Dingxing, from 999 Wo Xin Yijiu, on Taobao (http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=2390561266), $30.

(Cake: "ding shing", vendor: "999 woh shin ee-jeeoh")

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2001-Dingxing-Yiwu-01b.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2001-Dingxing-Yiwu-02b.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2001-Dingxing-Yiwu-03b.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2001-Dingxing-Yiwu-04b.jpg

Heavy woodiness; excellent aging, with some strong kuwei remaining; spiciness, some floral notes in the aroma (justifying the vendor's description as lanxiang - "orchid scent"). Very complex, and seemingly impossible to exhaust. It runs and runs.

A modernday cake that tasted this good for $30 would be remarkable. A nine-year-old cake that tastes this good for $30... unthinkable. I'll be buying a tong imminently.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[tieguanyin]

SotD: 2001 Dingxing, from 999 Wo Xin Yijiu, on Taobao (http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=2390561266), $30.

(Cake: "ding shing", vendor: "999 woh shin ee-jeeoh")

A modernday cake that tasted this good for $30 would be remarkable. A nine-year-old cake that tastes this good for $30... unthinkable. I'll be buying a tong imminently.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Anyone interested in doing a group buy of this puerh on TB before Hobbes buys up the whole stock :ihih:?

[arghblech]

Anyone interested in doing a group buy of this puerh on TB before Hobbes buys up the whole stock :ihih:?

I'm in.

[arghblech]

Some 80's WangZi loose leaf from Nada. It's good. I'm not seeing anything spectacular but this is my first shot at this tea.

[Hobbesoxon]

I'm in.

Check your e-mail inboxes, gentlemen! More links await you inside.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[ouch]

Douji micro mini zepto yocto brick.


Cutest sheng ever.

[Erik]

Anyone interested in doing a group buy of this puerh on TB before Hobbes buys up the whole stock :ihih:?

I would be interested.

[kimble22]

I would love to take part as well ;-)

[Heatwaves]

Even though I'm more of a "lurker" here on B&B (I tend to be more of a participant on teachat), I too would love to be included. Given my low number of posts here, I understand if I'm left out. <shrugging shoulders and sheepishly kicking the dirt>

[Shogun89]

I would definitely be highly interested in buying some stuff from there! Can we please do this, and soon! :tongue_sm:tongue_sm:tongue_sm:thumbup::thumbup:

[Shogun89]

oh and if there is a post requirement, could my TeaChat account be used as validation. Im an old timer there and many of you know me from there, just havnt had much time on my hands with schooling and stuff to post much round here. Otherwise I'll get posting like crazy! haha :lol:

[arghblech]

That's a lot more interest than expected. I suppose we should maybe start up a separate thread for this. Then we can sort out details.

[Shogun89]

I suppose we should maybe start up a separate thread for this. Then we can sort out details.

agreed. the excitement is killing me. :thumbup1::thumbup1::thumbup1::thumbup1:

[Socoturdman]

Anyone interested in doing a group buy of this puerh on TB before Hobbes buys up the whole stock :ihih:?

Count me in!

[Hobbesoxon]

SotD: 2006 Yongpinhao "Yiwu", from Taobao's 聚今古茶庄 [Jiujin Guchazhuang, jeeoh-jin goocha djooang], $10.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2006-Yongpinhao-Yiwu-01b.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2006-Yongpinhao-Yiwu-02b.jpg

This tea looks amazing. For 65 RMB, I was stunned. It has beautiful, thick, whole leaves that I have trouble getting into the pot. The aroma was immensely strong, even on opening the wrapper. The first infusions are creamy, sweet, and reminiscent of the lovely little Douji brick that Ouch mentioned above.

Unfortunately, by the third infusion, it hollows out and becomes rough and sour. Its plantation origins become more obvious.

Even at 65 RMB, even given the true delight of its first infusions, I can't see myself buying more. It's just too sour and rough.

This reminds me why I don't have any of this type of Yongpinhao - they always disappoint. I remember Yunnan Sourcing selling them for over $25.

Taobao group-buyers, you might want to overlook this one. :chinese:


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[Hobbesoxon]

The 2001 Dingxing that I mentioned above is from the vendor "999 Wo Xin Yijiu", which literally means "My heart continues / remains". However, it just struck me that this is probably intended to mean "my heart will always go on".

I don't know if I can buy from someone that names themselves after Celine Dion / Titanic.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[thanks]

The 2001 Dingxing that I mentioned above is from the vendor "999 Wo Xin Yijiu", which literally means "My heart continues / remains". However, it just struck me that this is probably intended to mean "my heart will always go on".

I don't know if I can buy from someone that names themselves after Celine Dion / Titanic.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

:lol:

Good point.

[tieguanyin]

That's a lot more interest than expected. I suppose we should maybe start up a separate thread for this. Then we can sort out details.

Separate thread has been posted and can be found here (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=157154) :w00t:!

[ouch]

SotD: 2006 Yongpinhao "Yiwu", from Taobao's 聚今古茶庄 [Jiujin Guchazhuang, jeeoh-jin goocha djooang], $10.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2006-Yongpinhao-Yiwu-01b.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2006-Yongpinhao-Yiwu-02b.jpg

This tea looks amazing. For 65 RMB, I was stunned. It has beautiful, thick, whole leaves that I have trouble getting into the pot. The aroma was immensely strong, even on opening the wrapper. The first infusions are creamy, sweet, and reminiscent of the lovely little Douji brick that Ouch mentioned above.

Unfortunately, by the third infusion, it hollows out and becomes rough and sour. Its plantation origins become more obvious.

Even at 65 RMB, even given the true delight of its first infusions, I can't see myself buying more. It's just too sour and rough.

This reminds me why I don't have any of this type of Yongpinhao - they always disappoint. I remember Yunnan Sourcing selling them for over $25.

Taobao group-buyers, you might want to overlook this one. :chinese:


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Those are my exact thoughts regarding Yongpinhao- I love their gentle stone pressing and the leaves look wonderful, but they all seem to lack the necessary backbone to keep me interested for more than a few minutes. The only one I really enjoyed is the one with the pretty wrapper that looks like a picture you once drew.


The 2001 Dingxing that I mentioned above is from the vendor "999 Wo Xin Yijiu", which literally means "My heart continues / remains". However, it just struck me that this is probably intended to mean "my heart will always go on".

I don't know if I can buy from someone that names themselves after Celine Dion / Titanic.Hobbes

Celien Dion walks into a bar. Bartender says, "So why the long face?"

[tieguanyin]

I don't know if I can buy from someone that names themselves after Celine Dion / Titanic.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Ah yes a movie I have boycotted since it first came out (never saw, never will); still my SWMBO has been campaigning for me to see it. This one is getting my Chinese veto :thumbdown! As for the vendor, it may be pre-mature to write him/her off just for that (although it is a major transgression). Are there any TB vendor with names culled from the Wu-Tang Clan hiphop band :biggrin:?

[Hobbesoxon]

Those are my exact thoughts regarding Yongpinhao- I love their gentle stone pressing and the leaves look wonderful, but they all seem to lack the necessary backbone to keep me interested for more than a few minutes. The only one I really enjoyed is the one with the pretty wrapper that looks like a picture you once drew.

You know, that's the only YPH cake I own... and it turns out that its a Guanzizai cake! YPN and GZZ are siblings, apparently, and Scott erroneously sold the nice flowery one (Lanxiang) as YPH. So, after all, YPH still haven't produced an impressive tea :ihih:

[ouch]

You know, that's the only YPH cake I own... and it turns out that its a Guanzizai cake! YPN and GZZ are siblings, apparently, and Scott erroneously sold the nice flowery one (Lanxiang) as YPH. So, after all, YPH still haven't produced an impressive tea :ihih:

See? :lol:

That explains it.

[tieguanyin]

You know, that's the only YPH cake I own... and it turns out that its a Guanzizai cake! YPN and GZZ are siblings, apparently, and Scott erroneously sold the nice flowery one (Lanxiang) as YPH. So, after all, YPH still haven't produced an impressive tea :ihih:

Hobbes, do you maintain a list of puerh producers that have yet to impress you :lol:? Care to share :wink2:?

[Shogun89]

2005 Ming-Yuan Hao Yi-Wu Wild Old Tree

Just got 2 of these from Hou De. I implore one to find a prettier cake than this. Astringency in the beginning then smoothing out as infusions continue. A good purchase indeed :thumbup1:

[alexo]

2008 Gong Ting

Smooth and fruity, very tolerant - doesn't get bitter, delicate tannins (mildly dry dust feeling in the mouth like good red wine). Overall, I'm happy I bid on it and got it for $39.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Purple-Golden-Bud-Soften-Blood-Vessels-Purifies-Blood-/150436052873?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2306afff89

[Hobbesoxon]

SotD: http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2010/07/2003-changdahao-yiwu-zhengshan.html - woody and tar-like, but not hugely enduring.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2003-Changdahao-Yiwu-01b.jpg


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[JEEP]

2009 Menghai 7542 sample from Jas e-Tea.

Very nice!


Regards.

Jakob

[ouch]

2007 Muyechun 002

Keeps getting betterer and betterer. :thumbup1:

[shah8]

The sheng of my day...

XZH gift set jinggu sheng.

It was one of the very bestest session I've had with a tea.

I've had this tea 4 times now, and I have never had a bad or even mediocre session with it.

So, let me tell you why my knee aches and my butt is sore (and why some of you will see the pimp hand come out of your monitor and slap you silly should Hou De restock and you find an interest).

1) This is definitly at least partially Pu Zheng, as it shares in the whole King of the Legumes ethos, flavor-wise...Both the 2007 and gift set strongly echoes Banzhang without teeth.

2) I am strongly pressed to believe that this is the best sheng XZH has put out since 2006 and easily matches the current lincang in quality and crushes it in value.

3) This tea, like the 2007 Pu Zheng, will last forever, and before I put it in the refrigerator, 12th serving was a ten minute brew--watery but still characteristic taste and huigan still present.

4) For all that this jinggu pales in power comparison to Banzhang, it still has real ku and a complex, ever-developing huigan. It's got waaaaaay more finesse than any non quality BZ laoshu.

5) In the five months I have had it in its tin, it has developed. The richness has broken up into multifaceted swirls of complexity. The soup has thickened to unbelievable levels, and three clear flavor stages are present by brews. The first is the usual tobacco smoke-honey-bit o' beans. The second is a kind of sweet floral and beans (very much like a pleasant version of the way kudzu smells). The third goes back to sweet, sweet legumes.

6) It's action jackson in the mouth and body. Qi has appeared in monster levels that didn't exist in previous tries. Huigan is very present in many brews and is not the same flavor from cup to cup. Lots of cooling and a little face-buzz energy is present. One thing that was really unique today was that in the second stage, as the soup got just a tad rough, there was still some ku and some cooling and the tannins felt like I had just eaten something with peppercorns in it--Spicy and not sandpapery!


I love food and this tea just about forced me to let my dinner cool while I got two more weak brews. It was that awesome today.

[Hobbesoxon]

SotD: the charming 2006 Xingshunxiang "Yiwu Zhengshan" from 禅逸茶居 (http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_detail-0db1-da0315b04e6343aeffa290e6c9f1b188.jhtml?cm_cat=5000 3862) [Chanyi Chaju, Zen-escape Teahouse] for $11 (my notes here (http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2007/06/2004-xingshunxiang-yiwu-zhengshan.html)).

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2006-XSX-Yiwu-Taobao-01b.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2006-XSX-Yiwu-Taobao-02b.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2006-XSX-Yiwu-Taobao-03b.jpg

Sweet and candy-like, combined with straw and gentle wood. Some bitterness remaining, but you get the idea that this tea can build even further with age - it has a good amount of sheer content on which the maturing process can act. It lasts quite a long time, which is an oft-overlooked but key indicator of potency and potential for aging (I believe).

For $11... it's not much of a decision. MarshalN bought me two cakes of this while in Shanghai, back in 2007, and I've been enjoying it ever since. SWMBO told me to buy two tongs of it when we drank it this morning... and, well, she must be obeyed :ihih:

I would definitely add this to your group purchase, given the offensively low price, and very decent performance.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Miscellany/LOYS.gif


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[JEEP]

10 year old Yunnan loose leaf Jing Mai Mountain wild puerh.


Regards.

Jakob

[netsurfr]

2007 maocha. Have forgotten the region it was harvested from but it gave me a buzz that lasted for 3 hours.

[thanks]

1996 Orange In Orange.

Probably my favorite tea of all time, and most definitely my favorite 90's tea. I just wish a cake wasn't so expensive.

[ambrose]

siete cinco tres dos

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy20/ambroseshave/SOTD.jpg

[Sp1key]

2003 Chang tai Jinzhu mountain..... impressive

[Hobbesoxon]

2003 Chang tai Jinzhu mountain..... impressive

A friend in Singapore kindly sent me a cake of this recently, by chance - I'll head downstairs to try it, now that you've got me in the mood :)


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[Sp1key]

How nice..... just when I'm still stuck at work. This tea have aged nicely, fine smooth and sweet broth.

[Hobbesoxon]

How nice..... just when I'm still stuck at work. This tea have aged nicely, fine smooth and sweet broth.

E-mail sent in reponse to your PM! :chinese:

[Hobbesoxon]

SotD: 2005 Yichanghao "Junlin Tianxia" [The Emperor Rules Everything Under Heaven]. Deliciously sweet, seriously huge leaves. Clearly a very special production.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2005-Yichanghao-JunlinTianxia-01b.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2005-Yichanghao-JunlinTianxia-03b.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2005-Yichanghao-JunlinTianxia-05b.jpg

It becomes reticent by the fifth infusion, at which point lots of leaves and long infusion times are required to coax its full character out. The whole cake is very elegant and refined, but perhaps a touch too reticent to make it a good candidate for long-term storage.

Thanks to Keng for this mighty cake.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

P.s. Available for about 250 RMB on Taobao - search for 易昌号 君临天下 (http://s.taobao.com/search?q=&#37;D2%D7%B2%FD%BA%C5+%BE%FD%C1%D9%CC%EC%CF% C2&commend=all&ssid=s5-e&search_type=item&atype=&filterFineness=)

[arghblech]

2001 YYX Thin-paper.

I brewed this with almost the exact same parameters and the thick-paper version and got two startlingly dissimilar results. This one tastes much younger with far less woodiness and earth. What it did have in common was a lasting sweetness. The thin still has some sourness and astringency that isn't present in the thick.

[shah8]

Had 2 shengs of the day:

1) Douji Banzhang 09. It was okay, but this tea is seriously overpriced for what it delivers. If I go by what the sample offered, then at least 10&#37; of the bing is unbrewable fannings, and of the rest, it's basically a handfull of good leaves with a bunch of tea suited for $20 a bing tea. Plenty of power and characteristic banzhang tea gives at least a few pretty decent cups somewheres around the second stage. The Douji Jingmai is very much the same, but cleaner with higher quality base leaf. In any event, the thinness of quality taste really bugs me. I would much rather buy Menghai/Mengsong tea (which is not sooooo different) either at the higher end, like Huangshanlin (which I've done) or at the lower end with 2005/08 peacocks.

2) HLH Ban'E. Welp, this tea is v*i*l*e. At first brewing a few weeks ago, I was whimpering from the asprin bitterness. This time, with a gimlet eye in all stages, I got the best leaf with no fannings, seperated it carefully, and brewed with extreme conservative sensibility. This time, I had an enjoyable session with bitterness mostly under control and full-on-out banzhang flavor on display. This tea is much more worth the $60 at jase-teas (scott has raised to $66). Drinking this tea is much like eating a durian--survive lots of the intense vile to eat up the yummy, and there was a great deal of interesting flavors present. I have doubts that age would ever erode away that nasty bitterness, and this will always be a tea that can't be drunk casually. It should also be noted that this is a relatively heavy pre-oxidised tea. Given that this is not fruity, I'd say the oxidation was neccesary just for it to be drinkable at all.

In general, I want mediocre leaf mediocre tea, and good leaf good tea. There is no way I'd pay money for any of these punk banzhangs that are good leaf on mediocre. HLH succeeds because the Man'E leaf isn't really of lower quality for what it is. If you want something good, suck it up and pay the $150 a bing, if you want BZ. Then suck it up and admit you paid $150 for 400gm of tea and drink some.

On the other hand, I suspect that house Douji mixed like Yudou or Shangdou are probably going to be a good value without really having to scramble for good leaf from some particular spot.

[Maitre_Tea]

Drinking this tea is much like eating a durian--survive lots of the intense vile to eat up the yummy, and there was a great deal of interesting flavors present.

Growing up, Durian was one of my favorite treats in the summer...maybe explains why I love the HLH Ban'E:001_rolle

[tieguanyin]

Enjoying a sample of this in a gaiwan. I am brewing this at lower temperatures. Not bad so far. Still has that green kick found in young puerh :biggrin:! Will need to explore this one further.

[Maitre_Tea]

Enjoying a sample of this in a gaiwan. I am brewing this at lower temperatures. Not bad so far. Still has that green kick found in young puerh :biggrin:! Will need to explore this one further.

This is probably one of my favorite Bu Lang area teas...I like to think of it as the poor man's LBZ

[Shogun89]

2008 CNNP Bulang Blue Print;

Enjoyable, not the best but at the price I paid I cannot rightfully complain.

[grasshopper]

30 Yrs Yun Lai
Clouds Arriving
Aged Sheng
From Sunsing
This sheng was more than 30yo I think when it arrived five years ago. It was great back then and has improved. Astounding. I believe I have enough for two more sessions. Comnpletely clean flavor and aroma. No negatives. :-)

[shah8]

Sheng today: HK Henry, brewed up the last of the sample, a bing is definitly on the to-buy list. Easy drinking and very pleasant tea with tasty wood.

Yesterday, I had jing gu yang ta from yunnan sourcing. Quite the forgettable tea that deserves MarshalN's ire. It's rich, and it's sweet, with some bitterness, but everything is by the numbers with anything interesting needing extra leaf and waiting for brew 6-8. Wish I got the Yiwu 2010 as a sample instead of this, or maybe the more brusk jingmai and bulang house stuff they've got going.

[arghblech]

Today I tried some wet stored late 90's Menghai 8582 that Sp1key sent me.

The dry leaves smelled strangely of stuff. I enjoyed this tea even though the wet storage seems fairly strong. I had a very strange day at the office and couldn't pay much attention to my tea today so I really don't want to comment too much on this just yet.

[ouch]

2008 XG Dali tuo.

This wasn't my favorite when I first tried it about a year ago, but it's really nice. A competent and tasty tuo with typical Xiaguan compression, ie: ridiculous.

[apache]

2009 Yuan Heng Li Zhen YiWu Mahei, Henry Trading Company HK.

Very tasty!

[shah8]

Today was Nanjian Zhaizipo.

I had a pretty good session for what it was. I took mostly complete leaf, brewed more aggresively than I usually do, and I got faint complexity and wood and some interesting huigan and lite tea drunkedness, good for the novel I was reading. This was a good tasting tea once upon a time. This and that Old Chen's Bulang are really good reminders why I wouldn't really want the HLH Ban'E. Too much aggressive tea to drink before it fades.

[tieguanyin]

I missed out on the YS 2009 purple bud cakes that were for sale last year. YS is carrying a 2010 loose leaf (maocha?) purple bud (http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/product.php?id_product=1216). From speaking with Scott, the leaves are from the source from which 2009 cakes were made.

The description is accurate in that the bitterness factor is amped up on this tea; however, the huigan is nice and fruity on the back-end. Purple bud varieties like this one and the purple bud Dehong bricks (http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/product.php?id_product=1324) YS carries are nice every day shengpu. I know these are often criticized for being rather uni-dimensional with middling aging potential. That being said, I find them to be great "drink now" teas, not difficult to brew with guaranteed fruitiness on the back-end :biggrin:!

[Maitre_Tea]

Cakes from Nada just came in...there goes my day. About to start the Man Sai (the one I bought cakes of). Keeping my fingers crossed

[arghblech]

2003 Lincang from Prague

I received this from our Oxford Contingent* in a sample swap some time ago. I was rifling through my sample box this morning and there it was at the very bottom.

Light and crisp with nice energy and mouthfeel. Very clean on the palate. This one is hard for me to describe as it doesn't have so many of the "big" flavors (smoke, leather, straw, bean, medicinal). There is some library, straw, and a hint of leather but they are very well blended with nothing dominant. I am very much enjoying this as it is my first Lincang (that I recall).


* Hobbes... maybe he's more "Our Man in Oxford" or the Oxford Bureau.

[Hobbesoxon]

2003 Lincang from Prague

I received this from our Oxford Contingent* in a sample swap some time ago. I was rifling through my sample box this morning and there it was at the very bottom.


Thanks are due to TA, of the Tuochatea blog (http://tuochatea.blogspot.com/), for that one!

SotD for me: the 2005 Manluo - Changdahao "Yiwu Zhengshan" (http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2007/10/2003-manluo-yiwu-zhengshan.html) that's currently being considered for the Taobao group buy.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2005-Manluo-YiwuAgain-01b.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2003-Manluo-RevisitedAug09-03b.jpg

It's a very decent tea. I should buy more of these before you clear the Taobao vendors out of them. :ihih:


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[Maitre_Tea]

So I've tried the Nan Nuo, the Man Mai (Ba Da), the Bu Lang, and the Man Sai from Nada's 2010 productions. I'm not sure which Nan Nuo this is, because IIRC in his email he mentioned two. Hopefully the one I tasted is the slightly cheaper one, because I was pretty impressed. My first round of tasting a tea is more casual than analytical, so these are just my initial impressions.

I'm not blown away, but I'm impressed. It's pretty hard to find decent examples of sheng these days, so even if something doesn't blow me away, as long as there aren't any flaws it's already golden in my book. What struck me most about these teas so far is how "clean" they taste. Not clean in terms of storage or anything, but "clean" in how clear these teas are in flavor, mouth feel, and aftertaste. Each tea had its own distinctive qualities that I'll probably elaborate on analytically in my second round of tasting.

Even though these teas are pretty pricey (I want to say that the exchange rate has gotten worse since I pre-ordered so I guess I lucked out on that), they compete well with other top-tier producers. I only wished that since Nada was doing the buying himself, that perhaps that these teas would be a much better deal. But perhaps that is the drought's fault.

I've tasted things equally as good or better, but TBH, you'll be hard-pressed to find such good tea from the same place (and in mostly the same price bracket). So if you don't feel like swimming through the sea of crap to find a golden gem, buying blind from Nada is a pretty good choice.

[shah8]

heh, I'm fearing the shipping costs, mostly! It will be interesting to directly compare Nada with Zhimingdu.

Anyways, shengs of the day:

Mengsong 2005 peacock--finished up the sample. Nice rich flavor, weak huigan, not so many good brew, but didn't go wild on me either.

Douji Banzhang--I've pretty much concluded I got a bad 25gms. Really boring, and really dirty. Out of 3 tries, only a few mouthfuls of delights, which is a contrast to other people's reviews, and I *know* I enjoy banzhang terrior--xzh nuercha brick, HLH Ban'E, etc, etc.

Today was just a reminder that the ZhaiZiPo xiaobing was just what it was, mediocre, and sometimes, that is a good thing if you're not drowning in better bings.

[Hobbesoxon]

I'm not sure which Nan Nuo this is, because IIRC in his email he mentioned two. Hopefully the one I tasted is the slightly cheaper one, because I was pretty impressed.

I believe that the Nannuo is the same farmer as last year, which was featured on Nada's blog. I might be wrong!


I'm not blown away, but I'm impressed. What struck me most about these teas so far is how "clean" they taste. Not clean in terms of storage or anything, but "clean" in how clear these teas are in flavor, mouth feel, and aftertaste.

I get the impression that Nada likes "clean", "crisp" teas. My criticism of a few of the 2010s is that they are almost too clean and elegant. This is just personal preference - I prefer big, fat, content-laden cakes that really assault the senses. Not bitter and aggressive, but at least packed with goodies, such that they have a good chance of retaining character through the years, as the maturing process works on them. I'm not entirely convinced how the elegant, "porcelain"-charactered cakes will age. I would classify two of the 2010 Nada cakes as being in this latter "elegant" bracket, with one or two being at the beefier end of the spectrum.


Even though these teas are pretty pricey (I want to say that the exchange rate has gotten worse since I pre-ordered so I guess I lucked out on that), they compete well with other top-tier producers. I only wished that since Nada was doing the buying himself, that perhaps that these teas would be a much better deal. But perhaps that is the drought's fault.

I'm not sure how far &#163;25 would go at most other vendors - let alone for hand-selected cakes. They are an increment on last year's prices, of course, but I don't think they've reached the "difficult" Houde-esque style pricing yet. Hence, my order!


heh, I'm fearing the shipping costs, mostly! It will be interesting to directly compare Nada with Zhimingdu.

To me, Nadacha and Zhimingdu are like night and day - ZMD are solid, but they're very mainstream. The xiaobing rapidly become simple and quickly show their plantation origins. In comparison, the Nadacha cakes don't crack or get ugly - they just deliver a good body and then fade gradually and gracefully. The two series of cakes are markedly different in quality, in my opinion, with Nadacha being like the good end of YS' hand productions, while ZMD feel like Mengyang Guoyan on a good day.

SotD: the 2008 Fangmingyuan (http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2010/04/2008-fengmingyuan-nannuo.html) - a hand-made production from Xiaomei in Maliandao.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2008-Fengmingyuan-Nannuo-01b.jpg

A wonderful way to spend 130 RMB / $20. This is a clean, charming Nannuo with plenty of variety, and decent endurance.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2008-Fengmingyuan-Nannuo-02b.jpg


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[shah8]

Ah, I just remembered that Hobbes preferred Zhimingdu Bada to the Nada version...

Mostly, I'm on a mission to get one good cake out of all the famous mountains. Expensive way to start this hobby, then I can start getting cheaper stuff I can drink everyday.

[Scotto]

Packing for vacation tea: 2006 Menghai 8582. No longer an infant, this toddler is showing some very nice aging already. It has lost its light, fruity character and has become almost Ceylon-like in its aspect. A very nice tea indeed.

[Shogun89]

Packing for vacation tea: 2006 Menghai 8582. No longer an infant, this toddler is showing some very nice aging already. It has lost its light, fruity character and has become almost Ceylon-like in its aspect. A very nice tea indeed.


Something Im glad to hear right there. I have 4 '08 8582's put away in storage now, hopefully they will come out nicely.

[grasshopper]

Sheng of Yesterday: Blue Circle 2001 Ding Xing Beeng. From 999 Wo Xin Yijiu of Taobao via TaobaoFocus. Just as Hobbes describes it, but the cake that came is a tad bit greener than those depicted in photographs. The flavor is powerful (but good) and complex, displaying intersteep evolution. The age becomes apparent in later infusions. I ordered another for comparison through TaobaoNow agency. We shall see what we shall see. Thus far, I can say that TaobaoFocus seems both faster and mnore efficient.

Sheng of Today: 2005 Qing Yun Hao, a sample sent by noble Yat of Grand Tea. Yat writes that "[t]he mouth feel is typical Yiwu, soft and gentle, aroma has a chararistic woody taste of wild tree," to which I'd add sweet, a touch a mushroom, and a hint of cigar.

[shah8]

Had four shengs of the day:

2004 Changtai Jing Gu. Very round, based on honey instead of Yiwu plums, slight woodiness. Quite drinkable if not memorable.

2007 XiZiHao Ku Zhu. About the most boring old tree leaves around. Sort of good for about 4 brews, but never very complex. Powerful huigan early on. Probably the worst deal available for $84.

2007 XiZiHao XiShangMeiShao. This one also does not last very long, but the empty soup leaves flavors to suck from your cheeks for a couple brew past 6. Structurally, very much like Yan Shing limited edition cake. Very energetic, hits deep into throat, lots of flavors, then cracks/fades pretty quick to tasty goodness. A really good example why leaves from different areas can help make for a good brew. There should be more of these, really.

2007 Da Xue Shan maocha. Definitly going on more Cha Dao's review than Hobbes here. Very fragrant, mildly energetic, with decent huigan. Flavors pop in and out everywheres. A good tea to sip and savor. Major league ChaQi. Tasted some wood with my sample, as well as salt, and strong mushrooms late.

[Hobbesoxon]

Sheng of Yesterday: Blue Circle 2001 Ding Xing Beeng. From 999 Wo Xin Yijiu of Taobao via TaobaoFocus. Just as Hobbes describes it, but the cake that came is a tad bit greener than those depicted in photographs. The flavor is powerful (but good) and complex, displaying intersteep evolution. The age becomes apparent in later infusions.

What a relief!

[Maitre_Tea]

What a relief!

I've heard much better things about this than Nada's version, at least according to BBB, who has tasted both the 999 version and the Nada version. Looking forward to nabbing a sample soon. Really shows the power of storage, I guess.

I also noticed different colored wrappers, but in the same style. I couldn't decipher any difference in the product description, and they seem to be selling for the same price as the "original" purple wrapper.

Thoughts?

[apache]

What a relief!


Sheng of Yesterday: Blue Circle 2001 Ding Xing Beeng. From 999 Wo Xin Yijiu of Taobao via TaobaoFocus. Just as Hobbes describes it, but the cake that came is a tad bit greener than those depicted in photographs. The flavor is powerful (but good) and complex, displaying intersteep evolution. The age becomes apparent in later infusions. ...


This seems from the same vendor in TB, you can have both fake and genuine stuff. I think you have to take each item on TB on its own merit.

[Hobbesoxon]

SotD: 2005 Yisheng "Yiwu Zhengshan" (http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2007/10/2005-yisheng-yiwu-zhengshan.html) - one of my favourite cakes. When I first went to Maliandao, I was clutching a print-out of this cake's wrapper (kindly supplied by MarshalN) so that I could find it.

http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2005-Yisheng-Again-03b.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2005-Yisheng-Again-02b.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2005-Yisheng-Again-04b.jpg

There's always a good session to be had with this charming cake. It would be well worth searching Taobao for this one.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[ouch]

It's been ridiculously hot, so I've been avoiding the "winter blends". Today was a 7542 <901>. This bing is evolving faster than any other I've ever tried. Very nice.

[shah8]

Had five more shengs of the day...

2005 first puerh trade fair. This was pretty mild, but pretty good, muscavado as Hobbes described. It takes awhile to ramp up in taste. Coincidentally, Yunnan Sourcing has just added Tai lian 2002 bing that's the same blend for the same purpose. $49 doesn't seem a bad price for it if the original maocha is as good or better.

2001 MingYuanHao Yiwu. It was ok. Does need a wash as the first brew has a not so great soy sauce tinge. Not especially powerful, and not so interesting wood (with a lot of camphor). This tea does linger in the mouth for a very long time.

2006 Second Puerh Trade Fair. This tasted pretty good for all of four brews and collapsed. Lots of interesting fruit notes on top of honey, nuts, and tobacco. Soup was fairly thin and too orange. It feels too processed.

2005 JianCheng Gushu Chawang. Unique fruit taste, mostly like jujube fruit. Not very chawang in terms of huigan or energy. Flavor does last in the mouth. I'll give this one another chance when it will be the only sheng of the day, but this is probably one of those poor deals at $50+

2007 XZH Longfeng. I know I'm a xzh fanboi as I relax into this brew. The flavor is very thin and the leaves are very compressed and chopped. However, the soup is thick, plenty of energy in mouth and body and a touch of relaxation. The brew never cracks either and does last beyond what one might think given how little flavor there is.

Going through all of these samples over the past two days has pretty much tought me that there are very few teas worth having in that mid-thirties bracket at Hou De. So far, it's really just the 2005 Mengsong Peacock that performs and might continue to do so. I am rather profoundly jealous of people who were around in 2006 and 2007. I'd have loved to buy a cake or two of XZH longfeng for morning coffee purposes, but $51 at jase-teas is quite abit, and there seemed to have been a ton of truly good stuff cheap available to the western market even among all the dross of the boom.

[Luva]

I am new here but bave been a lurker for quite a while. Tried the TaoBao by TaobaoFocus and would like to give some reference if anyone wants.

Thanks to Hobbes' recommendation for TaoBaoFocus, which I have just tried it out the first time. The experience was good enough so far. The only drawback for us tea lovers is the packaging of the tea, which left a strong plastic smell on the tea. As most of us, if not all, know that tea is like a sponge and would absorb any smell. I recommend anyone who wants to use TaoBaoFocus makes some comments to TaoBaoFocus so that they wrap the tea with some clean and less smelly plastic bags.

[Luva]

2004 Yiwu Mahei (from Hobbes' list)
-- Plain, Simple, no sign of YiWu. It's messy and seemingly dirty-looking spent tea leaves which were quite green and some very small black tea leaves. The latter made the tea broth look like red (so to give impression of age I guess). The first brew used tea leaves from the edge of the cake, and second brew used some from within the cake. This was a mix of green tea leaves with red tea leaves, and it tasted like a red tea. I had concern of the tea hygiene here that I only took some sips in the mouth and saw what it tasted like. I didn't drink it. I spitted it out. My thought? A waste of time and money (and maybe your health too if you drink it). Always make sure the material inside the cake is also clean and consistent (not from the edge, front or back of the cake but inside the cake). Be afraid!

Did I get a different cake? The one showed on the website doesn't have an NeiFei but mine has one which says the same brandname as on the wrapper. Well, beware when you buy it.

[ambrose]

2000 Fu Hai

Had some of this with a good friend, as he came to visit yesterday. It was good but I remembered it being better :blink:

[Hobbesoxon]

2004 Yiwu Mahei (from Hobbes' list)
-- Plain, Simple, no sign of YiWu. It's messy and seemingly dirty-looking spent tea leaves which were quite green and some very small black tea leaves. The latter made the tea broth look like red (so to give impression of age I guess). The first brew used tea leaves from the edge of the cake, and second brew used some from within the cake. This was a mix of green tea leaves with red tea leaves, and it tasted like a red tea. I had concern of the tea hygiene here that I only took some sips in the mouth and saw what it tasted like. I didn't drink it. I spitted it out. My thought? A waste of time and money (and maybe your health too if you drink it). Always make sure the material inside the cake is also clean and consistent (not from the edge, front or back of the cake but inside the cake). Be afraid!

Did I get a different cake? The one showed on the website doesn't have an NeiFei but mine has one which says the same brandname as on the wrapper. Well, beware when you buy it.

Sounds grim! I've still not had the time to try my version yet, but, given your cautionary tale, I will go carefully! I'll see if I can find MarshalN's original
recommendation. It goes to show that we all have different tastes: I appreciated the 2001 Dingxing, but didn't enjoy the cheap Yongpinhao.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[shah8]

Sheng of the day:

2005 1rst annual puerh trade fair. A very butch nuer cha, like one of those middle aged lesbians who's a bit craggy but really sweet-hearted. While it sez Mengsa, Jing Gu, and Menghai tips, this is basically a Jing Gu of good breeding. I can recognize that honey round at 50 paces these days. Mengsa leaves gave it lots of subtle floral elements. Menghai only provides thickness and a teeny bit of flavor in the beginning. This tea takes a bit longer to wake up. It's really gentle, but good. Very little huigan, cha qi, or face buzz, though.

Finished out another round of Da Xue Shan maocha from yesterday (tried to share with mom, realized it was a waste of time and put it up). Blows my earlier tea out of the water~I think this is actually something like a good deal @ 15 per 56g. Delicious and utterly sophisticated.

[Hobbesoxon]

2005 1rst annual puerh trade fair. A very butch nuer cha, like one of those middle aged lesbians who's a bit craggy but really sweet-hearted. While it sez Mengsa, Jing Gu, and Menghai tips, this is basically a Jing Gu of good breeding.

I remember thoroughly enjoying this cake - the second was not as good. You previously mentioned that this was a similar blend to the 2002 (?) Tailian cake listed at YS, though the product description there indicates that it is a blend from different mountains - and, presumably, made by different blenders. Is there a connection between the two, other than that they were used for the same event (albeit in different years)? It would be lovely, if so, given that I cannot find the 1st trade-fair cake for sale anywhere, these days.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[tieguanyin]

SoTd: American Hao 901 from Puerh Shop. Nothing sublime but a nice reliably chunky puerh :biggrin:!

[shah8]

2 shengs of the day...

Did a retaste of XZH Ku Zhu Shan with more leaf. Again, the early rounds were okay, with powerful huigan and an interesting if ethereal complexity. Past round four, interesting flavors are subsumed under the broad honey taste. Lasts about 9 rounds, with most of the second half being more refreshing than anything else. Not a bad tea, especially to give to business guests or something like that without having to give any of your *good* stuff.

So I figured I'm being generous, so why don't I pull out that Pu Zheng '07 and take it for a spin? Well, in short, that tea really shows off how mediocre and insipid my first tea session was.

It was so erotic. How can it not be, when cooling sensation on your tongue happens as you sip, feeling like an ice-cube tongue doing a little french kissing? How can it not be, when the front of your chest is warmed from the water and the shoulder blades is warmed from the qi? Oh, how can it not be, when the yun feels like a deep laugh arising from a neck next to your own? At one point, I felt the strength of my heart-beat in my right thumb and fore-finger as they held the celadon. At another point, I was using my tongue to lick the roof of my mouth and felt/tasted sweet butter wrested from its nestled spot. In the end, I felt like I had been made love to, by a good woman, and I sought every last scent and every last taste left behind. The memory requested by the telling leaves me with good cheer as I type this.

I think the world of this tea. It's not super powerful in any one direction, but man, it's the epitome of "it's not about the size of your wang, but what you do with it". Any new teas from the area, I will put to the front of the wishlist. I want to get laid more often. One small tip, make sure that you don't have too many big, whole leaves, ensure than you have plenty of smaller and fragmented leaf for best effect.


Hobbes, I was pretty much doing some wishful thinking...Simao could mean burly JingMai instead of soft Jing Gu, but I had enjoyed that 2005 special edition and was thinking I'd like more when I saw that.

[Tofu Miso]

In the aroma and flavour profiles I found notes of orchard fruit , cream , nuts - almonds , tobacco - that had a faint smokiness to it , and some vegetal notes . It had a lovely soft syrupy sweetness to the aroma and flavour and a wonderful smooth , gloopy texture . A very nice , long huigan , and a vibrant clean energy . I found this to be a powerful sheng . By playing around with the infusion times I discovered that short infusions gave the best results , as they produced a soup with a little less intensity there by allowing all of the complexities to really shine ! In the voice of the cartoon character Homer Simpson ------ Hmmmmmmmmmmmm B a n g w a i !!!!!!

[shah8]

2 shengs of the day...

2004 Changtai Jing Gu. I tried this again today with a mindset upon generosity. It's really not too bad. Wood, sage, honey. Not a whole lot of reason to drink this one vs a hong cha or oolong, but if it's $30, then it's a good lite drinker. I suspect it's not $30 bucks.

2005 Jiang Chen Gu Shu Chawang. I found out after drinking that the bing has sold out after I bought my sample. The flaws first. It has a weak flavor, very little chaqi-you ain't gonna get drunk on it, and little power--much of it rushes into primary tasting before you realize the rebound. The reason why one would drink this tea are two fold...It has a pretty good mouth effect, got some of that electric feeling gushus are supposed to have, and it's effective at cooling sensations. The other reason is that the flavor is extraodinarily complex, in cups and between brews. The tastes lingers and changes on the order of 10-20 minutes. It starts off with, as I have described before, as jujubes, but since this time I did not have a zillion teas before and after, I could taste more of what is a mild soup. I got such items as rubber, jackfruit, butterscotch, wood, florals, various other fruits--particularly tropical fruits like longan, etc, etc. I enjoyed this tea much as a dog hanging his nose outside a car window enjoys the scents. At first I thought $57 was too much for this tea, but as I drank more of it (and it is more durable than expected) I could see how some might this this is worthwhile. Much of the fun of something like Ban'E without any of the aggression (or pharm fun either). This is something that's off the beaten path.

[Luva]

SOTD: 2003 Manluo Yiwu (from Hobbes' list)
http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_...869e6cd8.jhtml

Sweet dried prune from the tea broth and spent tea leaves...Hmm... In the mouth, it tasted simple on the entry, having an empty mid-palate, and simple, short and shallow after-taste. All in all, it's a modern day tweaked drink-it-now light oolong(Dare I use this word!) version of Puerh. Would it age? Probably, but I doubt it would age into a magical puerh like those from old days, because no substance is there. (I use "age into" here because all teas, be it green, black, oolong, puerh,etc., would age but into something bad or good is a different story. For example, green tea would age into craps if you leave your tea in contact with air for more than 2 years.). This tea is easy on my nose because all raw puerh substance are gone, which usually is hard on my body. I would choose a black tea over this tea anyday. Another dud, Darn!

The above link doesn't have photos of the cake. After checking Hobbes blog, his cake has an neifei but mine doesn't. Hard to tell on the photo but it seems my cake looks different from his too. And different tasting notes. A different cake?

Question to Hobbes:
Did you buy any cake from this vendor of the link above? If yes, does it have an neifii like your other same cakes from other vendors?

Buying from Taobao doesn't seem to be an easy thing after all.

[bongoman]

2010 Yunnan Sourcing "Nan Nuo Ya Kou"

To my untrained and unsophisticated palette, I find this tea very enjoyable. Stewed apricots with a hint of umami.

[shah8]

two shengs of the day.

Finished off the sample of 1980s chung cha 8582. Some wood, some chinese medicine, but all it's really good for is cha qi.

Douji Banzhang Wild Arbor. Finished this one off as well. Best session, of course, with 8gms of fannings and an unpromising chunk dumped in. Of course, it hit a brick wall at 6 infusions, but the 6 were pretty good and what you should get with a banzhang.

[singpuerh888]

An outstanding photo - really lovely.

My wife has recently discovered that if she breaks her ban on tea, and has a tiny cup or two in the morning with me, then it helps her morning sickness - I bet it's similarly healing for you, too :)

SotD: the 1995 CNNP so kindly given to us by Keng. This cake was so nice (and well-priced) that I had to buy a tong, which arrived this morning. Frighteningly good.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/1995-CNNP-Keng-01b.jpg


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Hi,

I am from Singapore, new to this forum and quite new to puerh tea. As I just bought a few tongs of this tea, I would like to share a bing with fellow members. If you are interested, please email at [email protected] with your name and address. I will send a sample (while stock last) for you to try out. For info, each bing is US$85.00 including shipping to U.S. and Europe.

Best Regards,

Keng :thumbup:

[Sp1key]

Hi Keng, welcome to the forum! =)

[singpuerh888]

Hi Keng, welcome to the forum! =)
Hi, thanks. I did not know about this forum until you mentioned it. Regards, Keng.

[Hobbesoxon]

SOTD: 2003 Manluo Yiwu (from Hobbes' list)
http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_...869e6cd8.jhtml

Sweet dried prune from the tea broth and spent tea leaves...Hmm... In the mouth, it tasted simple on the entry, having an empty mid-palate, and simple, short and shallow after-taste. All in all, it's a modern day tweaked drink-it-now light oolong(Dare I use this word!) version of Puerh. Would it age? Probably, but I doubt it would age into a magical puerh like those from old days, because no substance is there. (I use "age into" here because all teas, be it green, black, oolong, puerh,etc., would age but into something bad or good is a different story. For example, green tea would age into craps if you leave your tea in contact with air for more than 2 years.). This tea is easy on my nose because all raw puerh substance are gone, which usually is hard on my body. I would choose a black tea over this tea anyday. Another dud, Darn!

The above link doesn't have photos of the cake. After checking Hobbes blog, his cake has an neifei but mine doesn't. Hard to tell on the photo but it seems my cake looks different from his too. And different tasting notes. A different cake?

Question to Hobbes:
Did you buy any cake from this vendor of the link above? If yes, does it have an neifii like your other same cakes from other vendors?

Buying from Taobao doesn't seem to be an easy thing after all.

Hi, Luva - I can't tell which vendor this is, as the link is broken. I'm sorry to read that you had such a negative experience! The cakes I have are some of my favourite, and sound very different to that which you've described. I wonder if you have a different year, or a dodgy supplier?

The cake I'm referring to is the 2005 Manluo (http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2007/10/2003-manluo-yiwu-zhengshan.html) - a real classic, I believe, and also recommended by the ever-reliabel Xiaomei of Maliandao. Your 2003 may be a different cake.


I can still taste the woody, flint-like character of my cakes if I close my eyes... :chinese:


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[Luva]

My test purchase from Taobaofocus.com just arrived (very well packed).

I can thoroughly recommend Taobaofocus.com for buying pu'er. They have the cheapest shipping, and probably the best service of any Taobao handler I've tried. They send a photograph of your order to you once they have collected it together in their warehouse, and the shipping was prompt. I sent by cheap old airmail, and it arrived in just over 10 days, trackable by tracking web-site at every point in its journey. Combining their rock-bottom airmail prices and the low cost of Taobao makes it almost impossible for me not to use them. They charge a 10&#37; handling fee (as is the norm), but this is more than swallowed by the other discounts. Great stuff.

Taobao is as safe as eBay - just buy from a huge vendor (of which there are very many).

My test purchases for your reference, all of which look and smell to be the real thing:

i.
2001 Dingxing - $30 (was double or triple this at Essence of Tea)
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=2390561266

I enjoyed this from Essence of Tea, and MarshalN recently reviewed it positively. Almost a decade old for $30, and tasty too? I am helpless before such bargains.


ii.
2003 Quanji Bulang (a.k.a. "Male Urine") - $26
http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_detail-0db1-3d64f54074e9c8b90b420f5e1cec67da.htm

A delicious cake that has been doing the rounds for some years - my thoughts here (http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2007/07/2003-quanji-bulang.html). $26 for this would require brain surgery not to purchase.



iii.
2006 Yongpinhao Yiwu - $10 (!)
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=4810706353
Solid and reliable, the YPH cakes are usually cheap but very cheerful. For RMB65, it's a crime not to buy it.


iv.
2003 Manluo Yiwu - $25
http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_detail-0db1-1fb4a771d6e60b5b9c9b0360869e6cd8.jhtml

My old favourite from Maliandao, with which I am stocking up. My notes here (http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2007/10/2003-manluo-yiwu-zhengshan.html). Ask yourself what you can buy from Western vendors for $25. A beautiful cake, now seven years old? Stunning.


v.
2004 Yiwu Mahei - $19
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=4715395966&ad_id=&am_id=&cm_id=&pm_id=

Recommended by MarshalN - I've not tried it yet, but it looks and smells decent.


vi.
2005 Dayi "Zaochun 501" Tuocha - $13
http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_detail-0db1-dcd0a1599608cf65f03b89de5d00da29.jhtml?cm_cat=5000 3862

My old warrior (notes here (http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2009/08/2005-menghai-dayi-zaochun-501.html)). Most people are not entirely thrilled by Dayi - they're more stalwarts for reliable aging (pre-2006 vintage for preference, no idea about 2006+ vintages), but this tuocha is darned good. So woody and potent. I have tubes of this stuff.


There are some vast bargains to be had out there.

1. Hit Babelcarp to find the Chinese characters for your search terms.
2. Go to Taobao and use the search terms
3. Scroll through teas, finding vendors with big sales numbers and 99%+ ratings
4. Copy-and-paste the URLs into Taobaofocus.com, pay by Paypal
5. Get surprised by a huge box filled with inexpensive tea a week or so later.

What's not to like?


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Hi Hobbes,

All my cakes were from the same vendors listed in your post above. I wonder if you bought any cakes from any, or you just listed them because you did a search on TaoBao and found them? Which vendor did you buy cakes from on your list? I should try to stick with those.

Thanks.

[Hobbesoxon]

Hi Hobbes,

All my cakes were from the same vendors listed in your post above. I wonder if you bought any cakes from any, or you just listed them because you did a search on TaoBao and found them? Which vendor did you buy cakes from on your list? I should try to stick with those.

Thanks.

Hi, Luva - I've bought all of those linked. Some of them are my old favourites, some of them are untried recommendations from MarshalN (which I still haven't tried, more's the pity...).

However, I bought a 2005 Manluo, which was the cake that I linked in my original post. However, in that original post (as you quoted), I incorrectly listed it as a "2003". I was very happy with the 2005 Manluo (a.k.a. Chengdahao) from that link - it was just the same as that which Xiaomei sold to me in Maliandao: quite thick, good pu'er. It certainly sounds different to that which you described!


All the best,

Hobbes

[Shogun89]

Luva,

Your posts have taken an interest to me as I too have bought from the selected list and should have them soon. Out of curiosity could you provide us with your brewing parameters? That could definitely be the problem. Also maybe these simply aren't "your cup of tea". I cant tell you how many people I know frown at current 7542 recipes yet I love them. I find it hard to believe you have stuck out on 2 teas from the same source that Hobbes spoke so fondly of.

[Shogun89]

Is this the famous Keng that provides Hobbes with all those delicious teas we read about I assume? Glad to have you here, welcome!!! :thumbup:

-Shogun

[shah8]

Today was Nada Cha day, so four shengs of the day today, plus at least two tomorrow.

First was Banpen. I noted the citric tang Hobbes mentioned earlier. I didn't mind and enjoyed it. However, the tea was a bit thinner than it really should be, and the flavor was not nearly as dynamic as banzhang tea. Booming huigan though. Probably the least value of the sheng Nada created, because it's pretty expensive and it's not hard to reach for better booming shengs like xzh xishangmeishao, and you can directly compare to Douji Banzhang and HLH Ban'E. It's cleaner and more drinkable than the latter two, but not as good as the Douji on its best day (but then again, I only got a sample and there might be a better day for Banpen as well).

Next was Mansai (Mansai and Manmai stamps are very hard to tell apart unless you ignore the roman script and read the chinese characters). This is exceptionally good, and if I had money, I'd seriously consider tonging this one. It's not expensive, and it does most everything an expensive sheng should do. It could use more huigan and chaqi, but the chief flaw is the general one Nada teas have of not having a whole lot of theme tea flavor (what other people mention as "chunky"). I didn't have too much of a problem with that, especially with all the complexity of flavor and the loooooooooooooooonng taste in the mouth >30min.

The third tea was Bangwai. This one was an experience pretty darn similar to sampling certain expensive spirits..."Hey! This first brew doesn't taste like anything!" WHAM I'm stumbling around like a drunk. This tea is *very* minimalist in terms of taste, some wood, tobacco, and nuts. Tons of chaqi, though. This is also the most laoshu (and pretty leaf) of the teas, and getting to the ku, which you want, so you can have huigan help with the flavor, requires brewing with a fairly firm hand. This isn't nearly as elegant as the xzh jingmai. It also doesn't cost $92. I think we all need to get past thinking that there are great hidden deals around. Most people who sell puerh have a good idea of how to price their bings/maocha these days. Everyone needs to make a living and we should have realistic expectations.

Fourth tea was Manmai. Ad said it's nice and accessible. I'm like, I've fallen for that before. It's never just accessible. Either it's so good that even a dolt can recognize it, like the 2009 gift pu zheng, or it's so boring that it's bland and inoffensive/green tea/pleasant fruits, like the YS Yang Ta jing gu. This is more along the lines of the pu zheng. I can recognize the elements of the 2005 Sheng Nong yesheng bada from Imen Shan in this Manmai. It's good, and it's got the guts to age very well. Maybe it won't be as powerful as the 2005, but it should be quite decent in a couple of years of ageing away young green tea taste (which was kind of a relief after the bangwai).

I will try the bulang tomorrow as well as the Nannuo, but the current ranking is
Mansai, Manmai, Bangwai, Ban Pen.

[singpuerh888]

Is this the famous Keng that provides Hobbes with all those delicious teas we read about I assume? Glad to have you here, welcome!!! :thumbup:

-Shogun

Hi, yes, that's right, Keng from Singapore. I am very glad to be part of this family, and hope to be able to share some good puerh sold here with you guys. Regards, Keng. :001_smile

[Luva]

Hi, Luva - I've bought all of those linked. Some of them are my old favourites, some of them are untried recommendations from MarshalN (which I still haven't tried, more's the pity...).

However, I bought a 2005 Manluo, which was the cake that I linked in my original post. However, in that original post (as you quoted), I incorrectly listed it as a "2003". I was very happy with the 2005 Manluo (a.k.a. Chengdahao) from that link - it was just the same as that which Xiaomei sold to me in Maliandao: quite thick, good pu'er. It certainly sounds different to that which you described!


All the best,

Hobbes

Hi Hobbes,

So you did taste the tea from this vendor and it compared similarly to your others? On your blog you mentioned wet-storage. Does it apply to the cake from this vendor too? Your tea also has an neifei as others? Maybe we should exchange a sample of these 2 tea and see if they are really that different or they are actually the same/similar but we have totally different taste on tea?

I did compare my cake to yours on your blog and they did look different on the front, in term of the arrangement of the tea leave and neifei vs. no neifei. I was trying to post a pic of mine here but the pixels and dimension are too big. I need to find a way to shrink them before being able to post it.

Thanks

[Luva]

Luva,

Your posts have taken an interest to me as I too have bought from the selected list and should have them soon. Out of curiosity could you provide us with your brewing parameters? That could definitely be the problem. Also maybe these simply aren't "your cup of tea". I cant tell you how many people I know frown at current 7542 recipes yet I love them. I find it hard to believe you have stuck out on 2 teas from the same source that Hobbes spoke so fondly of.

Hi Shogun89,

The 2 cakes of interest do look different from those of Hobbes. I need to shrink the pics of them before I could post them here.

For this particular cake 2005 Manluo, brewing parameters are as follows:
I don't weigh my tea for a session. I think maybe 3g-4g with 4oz boiling water (house reverse-osmosis double filtered water) in a small 4oz cup.
10s for rinsing, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 2 minutes, and 5 minutes.
For each individual brew, taste 1 or 2 kungfu cups when it's warm, and the rest when it cools down to room temperature (which could tell you a lot about the tea. When it's hot some aspects are covered up.). The 2 minute, 5 minute brews could tell you if there is substance for aging like a classic puerh.

If your cakes arrive looking like Hobbes', you shouldn't be alarmed like me and chances are you get the right cakes. At this point I am leaning to believe my cakes are different.

Good luck!

[Luva]

With the help of TaoBaoFocus, the 2 individual vendors confirmed that they did have two versions of the cakes 2004 Mahei and 2005 Manluo. They claimed the 2 versions were the same tea but one with neifei and the other without. What??? I requested they sent me the ones I don't have. We will see.

[Luva]

Pictures of my 2004 Mahei and 2005 Manluo. Compared to:
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=4715395966&ad_id=&am_id=&cm_id=&pm_id=
http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2007/10/2003-manluo-yiwu-zhengshan.html

[netsurfr]

Welcome, Keng -
Glad to have you participating in the forum.
It it truly wonderful what a diverse group that we have.

Cheers,

[Shogun89]

Luva,

Thanks for getting the pictures on. Your definitely right about the 2004 Mahei, it looks completely different then the taobao picture, though still looks yummy haha. However I think you will find if you look at this picture of the Manluo from Hobbes (http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2005-Manluo-YiwuAgain-02.jpg) I think you will find that it looks fairly similar to your cake. I think the darker one he has pictured is a '03. Also I think you may want to try using more leaf (7-8g.) and see how that fares.

[shah8]

Shengs of the day...

A nannuo sample provided by Nada. It was okay, but there wasn't any similarities with the 2006 Ban Po Lao Zhai XZH maocha like there was with Nada Manmai and the excellent 2005 Bada I have had.

2010 Bulang by Nada. Pretty dang good. My very first puerh was a sample from Houde--2003 Menghai Jipin Bulang. It was quite apricotty in its leatherness, and I think that has really mislead me into believing that bulangs were more fruitier than they really were. This bulang was also alot like the Banzhang area teas, so I wouldn't be totally surprised if it was Man'E or XinBanzhang, except I know Man'E is pretty darn vile, which this tea isn't. Plenty of bitterness, yes, but all of it turns sweet and perfumey and tasty bitterness even before. Again, not as complex as Lao Banzhang, but much more well rounded a tea than any of the usual substitutes. Very expensive though, and priced to no give on quality, like the superpremium brands.

Then I started wondering about the 2005 Lao Chen bulang, so I did a last minute 9:30pm round with that. *shudder*. That was one very major bust. 8 grams, very long brews, and it still didn't bite my head off. The stuff of nightmares (Houde sells the samples for $7.50 last I checked, so it *must* have been good at one point) and plain evidence of the mid-thirties price it commands today.

So with Nada? Mansai has some give on price, and Manmai might as well. Bangwei and Bulang are priced to about norms for the quality in my book, with Ban Pen suffering from Banzhang price levels (especially in terms of opportunity costs--lots of similar teas at or below the price). I'm a pretty happy camper with my cakes, tho' not without some amount of green for those of you who got the bulang last year at 24 pounds. Dat's a stampede the hapless shopper price.

[shah8]

Still NadaChayuntime...

I ordered 7gms of 1996 Orange in Orange. Got about 9 gram chunk with neifei on top, so I chop off the neifei with prejudice and got about 7.5-8gms brewable. Tastier tea than the 1980s 8582 that I've had, same pharm grade cha qi and rather intense (as Houde descriptions sometimes put it) vibrancy on tongue in the early rounds. For some reason I got nauseaus so I packed it in after about 9 brews (pretty much straight wood and some stuff) and put the leaf in the fridge for the next day. Well worth it, though it really makes me wonder because that tea clearly has had pretty good leaf put in it, and I wonder if the leaf quality has changed for the better or worse over the years.

A second sheng of the day was a blend of half ban pen and half bulang. They work together rather well. Thicker than either of them by themselves, and fruitier. Strong broad ban pen taste with tricksier bulang complex notes, and bitterness is way down with only 4gms of bulang. However, the ban pen didn't last very long and died with a strong tea flavor after 6 infusions. The bulang was strong enough to keep going for about 4 more infusions.

[Maitre_Tea]

curious to see what your final ranking is shah8, since the Mansai is also leaning towards the top of my list too

[apache]

Tried the Nada Cha Bulang 2010 today, just use 3.5g loose leaf fell off from the cake. To me it tastes a bit like the Hai Lang Hao Lao Ban Zhang & Man'E 2008, very bitter and powerful. However, I find the Bulang much greener and much less oxidised than the Ban Zhang & Man'E. Drinking it now when it's young is definitely not for the faint hearted. I would be surprise if the Bulang tastes flat in 20 or 30 years time.

[netsurfr]

1996 Menghai 8582. Starting to get some nice age on it.

[Hobbesoxon]

You chaps drinking your Nadacha makes me thirsty, and wishing I could drink tea at home again! More house renovations is making that impossible for a month or so, more's the pity.

Until that day, it's drinking-in-the-office time for my SotD: the America Hao 904 from Puerh Shop. It's very decent, and sweet, and lasting quite a long time without cracking up and becoming unpleasant. It doesn't quite tempt me into buying any more, but it's a nice disposable treat.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[arghblech]

A bit of that 2003 Changtai Jinzhu Mountain sheng that Sp1key sent me. I can't believe that this is a 2003. It tastes a good bit older. Very clean and enjoyable.

[Sp1key]

A bit of that 2003 Changtai Jinzhu Mountain sheng that Sp1key sent me. I can't believe that this is a 2003. It tastes a good bit older. Very clean and enjoyable.

For about $57, It's still one of the best buys to me for its price/quality. The recent strength and appreciation of RMB sure is a concern :mad3:

[ambrose]

Menghai Big Classic

im feeling disappointed

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy20/ambroseshave/IMG_5833.jpg

[Hobbesoxon]

SotD: finishing up my sample of Meiguohao 904.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume2/2009-Meiguohao904-02b.jpg

Not bad at all. I seem to recall that this cake caused some controversy (http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2009/07/2009-menghaixian-juming-shengshi.html)!


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[tieguanyin]

So I've tried the Nan Nuo, the Man Mai (Ba Da), the Bu Lang, and the Man Sai from Nada's 2010 productions. I'm not sure which Nan Nuo this is, because IIRC in his email he mentioned two. Hopefully the one I tasted is the slightly cheaper one, because I was pretty impressed. My first round of tasting a tea is more casual than analytical, so these are just my initial impressions.

I'm not blown away, but I'm impressed. It's pretty hard to find decent examples of sheng these days, so even if something doesn't blow me away, as long as there aren't any flaws it's already golden in my book. What struck me most about these teas so far is how "clean" they taste. Not clean in terms of storage or anything, but "clean" in how clear these teas are in flavor, mouth feel, and aftertaste. Each tea had its own distinctive qualities that I'll probably elaborate on analytically in my second round of tasting.

Even though these teas are pretty pricey (I want to say that the exchange rate has gotten worse since I pre-ordered so I guess I lucked out on that), they compete well with other top-tier producers. I only wished that since Nada was doing the buying himself, that perhaps that these teas would be a much better deal. But perhaps that is the drought's fault.

I've tasted things equally as good or better, but TBH, you'll be hard-pressed to find such good tea from the same place (and in mostly the same price bracket). So if you don't feel like swimming through the sea of crap to find a golden gem, buying blind from Nada is a pretty good choice.

Subjectivity aside, there is just no pleasing some people :tongue_sm!

SoTD: Fanning and bits I rescued from the wrapper of the 97 Hen Li Bulang cake I have at home (trip over the Atlantic was a little rough). Brewing these leftovers in a gaiwan at my desk is enjoyable. The power of the tea still comes through as well as the wood/moss flavors. Good durability. If only more tea scraps could be this yummy :biggrin:!

[Maitre_Tea]

Subjectivity aside, there is just no pleasing some people :tongue_sm!

After trying most of these teas several times now, some opinions have changed. I'm finding the Nan Nuo to be a fickle tea, but in a good way. The first session I had with it was decent, the second one a bit lack luster, but the third one was pretty good. At it's best it has this sort of floral/orchid aroma to it, with some nice sweetness. There's definitely some nice bitterness there that can surprise you if you let it steep for too long. The Man Mai has been pretty consistent in its quality, and like someone mentioned before - it's a very accessible tea. The Ban Pen was kind of a let-down though, IMO. But the others sure do make up for it.

Besides the Man Sai (which I already have three of), I'm contemplating about buying his Nan Nuo, pending additional tastings. I wonder when he'll start selling it, and perhaps because it's still going through some turbulence it'll mean that it'll be cheaper than the rest.

[Shogun89]

'90s 7581 brick today thanks to Sp1key.
Highly enjoyable! :thumbup::thumbup:

[shah8]

I just had his nannuo as well, the last 4.5gms of it. It was pretty nice, actually, just very, very, green.

[Luva]

SOTD: 2001 Ding Xing (from Hobbes' list)

The rinsed tea broth, showing orange, indicated some age. In the first 2 brews (+ 1 rinse) there was a hint of wet-storage but only if you know what to look for because it's very very subtle. It means this is a very high quality gone-through-a-light-wet-storage tea. On the nose it showed forest floor, almond, and some other herbs. When the broth was swirled in the cup, there was a hint of the youth and spices. In the mouth, it was soft, some thickness, light grainy texture and light brown sugar. Huigan was good. In the next 2 brews, there was vibrancy, black currant, a hint of jinseng and some other herbs. By the 5th brew, honey was showing in both the broth and the smell. 6th-7th brews were more the same but started thinning out a bit. The sweetness became more and more prominent.

This session used tea leaves from inside of the cake. The previous session used tea leaves at the edge of the cake, which showed bigger and bolder in flavors, and longer in durability. The tea leaves from the edge exposed to more wet-storage and to air, post wet-storage, hence explains why the first session was better (tea leaves were more advanced in development). The difference between the two sessions could be dramatic in terms of the complexity and durability.

I think this is a very good tea. It's drinkable right now, with good potential for further aging into a complexer tea. It's a good plantation-quality tea from Yiwu. A very high-value vs. price tea nonetheless. I enjoyed it a lot!

The above tasting note therefore concludes my test-buy (3 cakes in total) from Taobao.

[Luva]

Hi hobbes,

Thanks for the recommendation of using TaobaoFocus to buy from TaoBao! It opens up another channel to a whole new world of buying opportunity on puerh tea. The test-buy was not perfect on TaoBao but I have learned from the experience and use extra care next time. I am happy with TaoBaoFocus so far. They represented me in communicating with the vendors several times and I think they did a good job. I placed another buy (a Tong) on the 2001 Dingxing with them.

Keep your reviews on your other cakes bought from TaoBao coming.

-- Luva

[Shogun89]

Luva,
Thanks for writing the review on the 2001 Ding Xing. I purchased this as well so I am happy to see you enjoyed it. I have one concern and that is when they sent me the photo the cake in the upper left corner has a wrapper on it that looks nothing like one of the cakes I ordered. Its kinda hard to tell though because of the wrapping. So I am hopping maybe the vender just wrapped it in something else and not have sent me the wrong cake. So, how where yours pictured out of curiosity?

Heres my pic
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/2136/667x.jpg

[netsurfr]

Well, my 2010 Menghai 8582 001 cakes came in today. Had to try out some this evening. It displayed some subtle floral aspects. The blending of 2008 - 2010 maocha make this tea seem to have a bit more age that a 2010 tea ordinarily might have. Very drinkable and very enjoyable this evening.

[Luva]

Luva,
Thanks for writing the review on the 2001 Ding Xing. I purchased this as well so I am happy to see you enjoyed it. I have one concern and that is when they sent me the photo the cake in the upper left corner has a wrapper on it that looks nothing like one of the cakes I ordered. Its kinda hard to tell though because of the wrapping. So I am hopping maybe the vender just wrapped it in something else and not have sent me the wrong cake. So, how where yours pictured out of curiosity?

Heres my pic
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/2136/667x.jpg

Shogun89,

The pic of mine looked alike. I couldn't access TaoBaoFocus since last week, so no pics of mine. I am trying to figure out what has happened. The website seems working fine, so there might have something to do with my internet service provider.

Good luck with your order. Let us know about your tasting of these teas and your experience using TaoBaoFocus and buying from TaoBao.

-- Luva

[ouch]

Sipping some 7542 <901> by the pool in Barcelona, drawing some seriously confused looks. Next stop- sunny olde England.

[ouch]

Well, my 2010 Menghai 8582 001 cakes came in today.

:w00t:
I'll be in touch! :thumbup:

[tieguanyin]

After trying most of these teas several times now, some opinions have changed. I'm finding the Nan Nuo to be a fickle tea, but in a good way. The first session I had with it was decent, the second one a bit lack luster, but the third one was pretty good. At it's best it has this sort of floral/orchid aroma to it, with some nice sweetness. There's definitely some nice bitterness there that can surprise you if you let it steep for too long. The Man Mai has been pretty consistent in its quality, and like someone mentioned before - it's a very accessible tea. The Ban Pen was kind of a let-down though, IMO. But the others sure do make up for it.

Besides the Man Sai (which I already have three of), I'm contemplating about buying his Nan Nuo, pending additional tastings. I wonder when he'll start selling it, and perhaps because it's still going through some turbulence it'll mean that it'll be cheaper than the rest.

As mentioned before:


Subjectivity aside, there is just no pleasing some people :tongue_sm!

Given the accuracy of the sourcing and the "clean" aspects of it compared to regular commercial outputs from the big producers, I do not have a problem paying a premium for these teas.

SoTD: YS Dehong Purple Brick 2008. A reliable, enjoyable everyday sheng. I like its fruitiness and pleasant after taste :biggrin:!

[arghblech]

Today I'm drinking some very tasty 1995 CNNP (Menghai) sent to me by Keng who, quite frankly, rocks the party.

There was some pleasant mineraliness (sort of like in a French chablis/macon village) to this tea early on. It was replaced by a very nice sweetness. I've passed over a liter of water through it and I'm still getting nice cups. Wonderfully soft mouthfeel.

[apache]

Today I tried some 2008 CNNP sample, which came with the wonderful 2009 Henry Yuan Heng Li Zhen YiWu Mahei cakes. The leaves are fairly oxidized, nothing too offensive and nothing inspiring either. After all, it's a fairly cheap tea (a fraction of the price of the Mahei) how can I expect miracle? I gave up before the tea did.

[bongoman]

2010 Yunnan Sourcing Guafengzhai.

8g in 120ml gaiwan.

How much sheng is too much? I'm new to the world of Yunnan teas and it's taken me over. I've got open bags of shincha there just gathering dust as I rock the gaiwan every day.

I don't get even a hint of the upset stomach that some people talk about in connection with young sheng. Sencha is more likely to do that to me I find.

Yesterday however I did find myself a little anxious and attribute this to too much sheng.

[Shogun89]

My TaoBao order arrived today. Everything was packaged very well, no damage on anything. All the cakes came as described. In the process of trying the teas out. I would highly recommend taobao focus, they did a great job and made everything so easy.

[Luva]

I just came across these two tea cakes on the same vendor I bought my 2005 Manluo.

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=5970845287
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=1315695505
(now they show the pics of the naked tea cakes)

Difference:
1. First one: costs 55.00元 chinese dollars while the second 160.00元.
2. The wrapping paper of the first one is thicker while that on the second cake thinner(you could see through and notice the neifei there).
3. The tea leaves arrangement on the front of the first is different than the second too.

Compared to my tea cake bought from this vendor, it looks more like the first one (cheap) than the second (expensive), except without any neifei.


I am convinced they sent me the cheap one while I paid for the expensive, either by mistake or on purpose. It sucks.

--Luva

[shah8]

Sheng of the day...

Nada Bangwai... Had my best session with it. For my tastes, it really does need to be brewed pretty firmly, but is quite enjoyable. I still wouldn't prefer this over the Manmai, but I certainly am glad to have this. I had a previous session a couple of days ago with a piebald tongue that affected my taste. It was extremely umami for a puerh. In my fourth brew, I got olive oil, for instance. Everything was really oily tasting, and so I had things like coconut, desert avocados, very mild durians, almonds. Tasting it today left me more high notes, but I recognize more the kind of richness this tea has.

Had some Manmai over the past couple of days as well, and they were deeply satisfying and addictive.

[ouch]

Finally back from Europa, where they wouldn't know a pu'er from a claret. :thumbup:

XG Dali tuo to get back into the swing of things. It's good to be home.

[Luva]

Fresh and pure, Soft and gentle entry on the nose and the mouth. Intensity is ok. There were honey, minerals, and some tea flavors. Freshness was the theme here. This was due to a lot of tea leaves of higher grade (good amount of tea buds and very young leaves). Behind those yummy flavor and sweetness, there is also ok amount of bitterness (noticed when the tea broth was cool). Quite quenching and not bad at all penetration. All in all, a nice tea for those enjoying the higher spectrum of tea flavors and fragrance.

Now the question for the tea geek is:
Does this tea represent Nan Nuo well enough? Where is the famous Nan Nuo fragrance? I didn't notice any.

[ouch]

7582 <801>

One of the unsung heroes of the Menghai portfolio. None of the press, all of the flavor. :thumbup1:

[netsurfr]

1996 Menghai 8582. This just lasts and lasts. I have lost track of the number of infusions. The leaves seem a bit different from the more current versions in that they are chopped but not chopped as much. Does that make a difference? Probably not. Just an observation. At any rate, this makes one fine cuppa tea. Nice amber color, beautiful smooth mouthfeel, woodsey aroma.

[ouch]

Mengyang Guoyan Yiwu.

Eh.

[apache]

I have been sampling the following teas in the last few weeks:

2000 Yong Pin Hao Yi Wu Zheng Shan
2003 Yong Pin Hao Man Zhuan
2002 Hai Lang Hao "Mengku Wild Arbor"
(Yong Pin Hao samples were courtesy from Steve at JAS eTea.)

To me, all the samples seem to be a bit younger than I would expect from teas which have been aged for over 7 years, this might be due to very dry storage in Yunnan. All these three samples taste very similar, no much astringency and taste rather sweet. The 2000 Yong Pin Hao gave a very cloudy soup in the first few brews and probably tastes a bit better than the other 2 samples. I am afraid to say that the 2003 Yong Pin Hao Man Zhuan became a little bit rough in the middle session whereas the other two don't became rough. Finally, I would describe the Hai Lang Hao on the mild side.

[shah8]

Been trying out my brick of XZH menghai/banzhang nuercha. It is defnitely ageing, with notable wood notes. Not much huigan and mostly platable (can get tannic). Very flavorful, and was an enjoyable brew. Also brewing Nada cha Mansai...Not as complex as my first brew, but nice solid flavor and very nice huigan/lingering flavor. Going to try both again tomorrow, but I'd have to say that the Bangwai has increased in standing compared to the Mansai--it's just much harder to taste sometimes. Manmai has definitely poked to the top of my rankings of Nada teas.

Note to the public: Won't someone pleaz try out all of those super-expensive HLH 2010 offerings? I wanna know if that 400g LBZ gushu at $200 is better than the 500g 2005 XZH at $178.

[Luva]

SOTD: 2010 Manmai from the Essence of Tea

Upon opening the bag of the tea, there was smell of light, roasted, oily oolong dry leaves. Mmm.... Smell and taste of the tea broth went pretty much the same of a green oolong, plus some puerh characteristics. It's a green-oolong-style puerh. This was my first green oolong puerh. I don't know what to make of it. It didn't go up to the level of an usual green oolong in terms of taste and fragrance, but it didn't quite go next to the usual puerh either. It's not a bad tea. It's kind of tasty on its own.

Now comes the bottom line: will it age into something more than the present-self, like a classic puerh does?
Logical thinking: if it smells and tastes like a green oolong, it would age mostly like a green oolong. Some of the raw puerh material has already been processed into green oolong flavors. Whatever left might age like normal puerh, if the green oolong processing didn't stop/kill it all for the maturing cycle.

Mmmm... A big question mark here!

-- Luva

[Hobbesoxon]

House renovations are keeping me away from my tea-table at home. However, necessity is the mother of invention! I have found a use for the zillions of bags of samples that I have tried but not finished: drink them in the office. Each day, another half-finished sample bag. I have plenty of space in my sample hamper, now. Marvellous :chinese:

SotD: some 2009 sample from the YS house-made range. Nice, sweet, but not brilliant. I'm glad I didn't get too crazy over the non-Guafengzhai cakes from that year.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[tieguanyin]

Sample of 1995 CNNP cake, courtesy of Keng: wood and moss with a pleasant after taste - a forest in a cup :biggrin:!

[shah8]

Sheng of the day:
XZH Menghai Nuercha brick. Got mostly bits and pieces from the body (tips cover, but doesn't go throughout the body). Very much as Hobbe's review of 2006 Natural Habitat. Seriously tannic. Seriously flavorful as well.

Nada cha Mansai. Lovin' it. I think this tea will be awesome after a year or so.

Note: Houde restocked the gift set and Mengsong shu. I already bought my 4 jing gu gift set, so I feel it's pretty safe to say that if you're thinking about getting some of the most lucious 2009 eva, you should buy some before it sells out for the third time. Since it was $120 already, I went ahead and bought another XZH brick and the XZH pasha. Yes, I'm a XZH fanboi, how did you guess?

[tieguanyin]

Sheng of the day:
XZH Menghai Nuercha brick. Got mostly bits and pieces from the body (tips cover, but doesn't go throughout the body). Very much as Hobbe's review of 2006 Natural Habitat. Seriously tannic. Seriously flavorful as well.

Nada cha Mansai. Lovin' it. I think this tea will be awesome after a year or so.

Note: Houde restocked the gift set and Mengsong shu. I already bought my 4 jing gu gift set, so I feel it's pretty safe to say that if you're thinking about getting some of the most lucious 2009 eva, you should buy some before it sells out for the third time. Since it was $120 already, I went ahead and bought another XZH brick and the XZH pasha. Yes, I'm a XZH fanboi, how did you guess?

Hey are you keeping the gift set and the mengsong shu in the metal containers they came in? Or have you transfered them to some other container(s)?

[shah8]

I kept my first gift set sheng in the tin and removed the shu.

When I get my order, I will put the four shengs in two cans and the four shus in the other two cans. With the sheng, the jing-gu is extremely aromatic dry, so I figure that not so easy circulation is best to preserve aroma.

[arghblech]

2003 Jing Mai Ta Lian factory

This was one of my favorites of my first round or two of sheng samples. It's still decent and pleasant if simple.

Now I'm going to drink up this 2006 Xiaguan 8633 sample from Puerh Shop. I have no clue how long I've had this but it's time for it to go.

[shah8]

2 Shengs of the day...mostly for self education...

I had my second try of 2007 XZH Yiwu. It was burlier than I expected and got tannic brews. It was tasty nontheless, with little plum/fruit but lots of wood, vanilla, and caramel.

Next, I was careful in picking out some of the glamour leaves from my Huangshanlin bing and brewed those. In a word:KuWeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeMY! Like I could have eaten alpine strawberries with them. Very rich, sweet, and buttery, with lots of little stuff happening above and through it. Very little mushrooms or tobacco. Very high in ChaQi towards the end--was pleasantly tea drunk at 15 brews or so. Lasted ~20. While delectible, I've never had a similar experience with this tea. I've concluded that HSL is prone to very variable brewings, the most of any of my XZH.

I'm going to try my Nan nuo maocha tomorrow and compare to my memory of Nada's nan nuo.

[Hobbesoxon]

SotD: 2010 Nadacha Bangwai? 'Cause I gotta.

[Hobbesoxon]

I just decided to gamble on a tong of the lovely 2001 Dingxing from "999 My Heart Must Go On". So many correspondents have told me that they have bought single cakes from her and liked them, that I've teetered over the edge and have hit the order button. :ihih:

Pray for me!


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

P.s. I've also gone for 3 of the 2004 Xingshunxiang (http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=4715395966&ad_id=&am_id=&cm_id=&pm_id=), which I liked, and a tong of my old friend, the 2006 Xingshunxiang (http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_detail-0db1-da0315b04e6343aeffa290e6c9f1b188.jhtml?cm_cat=5000 3862), though those are from vendors with no uncertainties in their reputation.

[ouch]

Duling Fengsao.

It's a bit warm for this winter friendly blend, but it sure tastes good. :thumbup1:



As an aside, we're rapidly approaching the two year anniversary of this thread. Think we'll 5,000 posts by then? :thumbup:

[Hobbesoxon]

As an aside, we're rapidly approaching the two year anniversary of this thread. Think we'll 5,000 posts by then? :thumbup:

Has it really been two years already?!

I notice that you hold the #1 spot for contributions to this thread, with 18.7% of the total :ihih:


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[ouch]

Has it really been two years already?!

I notice that you hold the #1 spot for contributions to this thread, with 18.7% of the total :ihih:


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Really? I know I had to post a lot for quite some time to keep this thread alive, but it has picked up quite a head of steam over the years. I hardly get a chance to post now, and nobody seems to notice. That's a good thing.

I think it most be one of the longest running and successful pu'er threads on the net, thanks to all of you. :thumbup1:

[shah8]

Sheng of the day...
06 XZH Nannuo maocha. Wasn't the most interesting tea in the world, and didn't build up the nice deep throat wine like last time. Reinforces my impression that I really could go without Nada's Nannuo. It's only about as good as the Yang ta Jinggu by YS. Mebbe better on an inspired day, but while I'm not a huge fan of the Yang ta, that's mostly because I don't like bad green tea. Not much of a green tea person at all, really. They both have some good qualities, but I really can leave them.

brewed up the leftover and fannings of '07 XZH Yiwu. I brewed more carefully, even though I had less, and I had a pretty darn good time. Still very little in the way of fruit, but the wood, tobacco, and vanilla/caramel sweetness was delicious. This bing's like the '09 Jingmai. Really good, but really substitutable by other yiwus. Early rounds reminded me a very little of the Mansai in the delectible tobacco sense. And again, I remember, Mansai is pretty good.

I was looking at some of the really sky high brands at Skip4teas, has anyone tried any of them? I get the sense that Tea Impression and YinYi has something of an international reputation however slight, but no descriptions at all ruins the fun.

[thanks]

Had an amazing session with Nada's 09 Bulang today with a good friend. Sorry for the horrible cell phone picture, but it was kind of dark, and I hate the flash on this phone.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Dega8bKFOeU/TGzb4H6VCCI/AAAAAAAAAZc/iDYRX9CxP1M/s400/IMG_20100818_173319.jpg
This was overbrewed which is why it looks orange. Wow that's some powerful tea! If this doesn't age into something incredible, then I really have no clue what makes for a great aged cake.

[Hobbesoxon]

I was looking at some of the really sky high brands at Skip4teas, has anyone tried any of them? I get the sense that Tea Impression and YinYi has something of an international reputation however slight, but no descriptions at all ruins the fun.

Skip4Tea were quite expensive when I last ordered from them. Their packing was a touch on the light side, too, so my cakes suffered a little damage in the post.

"Tea Impression" sounds familiar - do you know its Chinese name?


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[apache]

Had an amazing session with Nada's 09 Bulang today with a good friend. ... Wow that's some powerful tea! If this doesn't age into something incredible, then I really have no clue what makes for a great aged cake.

I only have the 2010 version. I have great hope for it and it will be interesting to see how it develop ... :001_rolle

[Hobbesoxon]

SotD: the 2009 Hong Kong Henry "Yiwu Mahei", courtesy of the generosity of Apache - thanks again!

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2009-HKHenry-Mahei-01b.jpg

Very good Yiwu: sweet, some leather in the background, and a good cooling sensation. It is much more reticent that I remember it was when we had it together last week, and I had to use lots of leaves. For immediate drinking, it's a charmer, however.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[tieguanyin]

2005 YS Purple Brick. This version is a bit more mellow than its 2008 brethren. Still some nice sweetness coming through. A nice every day sheng :biggrin:!

[shah8]

Hobbes...Nanyanghao...

Some dude named Freddy Ng out of Malaysia did a review on the Nannuo Waxy Hill. As for YinYi, found some Czech teahouse that had a thing for those...

No way I'm buying anymore tea. When that gift set popped back up, I really went past what was safe to buy more tea @Houde. So, I figure I can wait a long time before buying more tea, mostly drinking Nada Cha--because I don't think he'll run out of the 2010s that fast and I can get the tea to put away later on. I still like to window shop tho', and brands like the ones mentioned above and ZhiZheng intrigue me. I'm also curious about whether CGT and YangQingHao is still making tea for the Taiwanese market.

[apache]

SotD: the 2009 Hong Kong Henry "Yiwu Mahei", courtesy of the generosity of Apache - thanks again!

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2009-HKHenry-Mahei-01b.jpg

Very good Yiwu: sweet, some leather in the background, and a good cooling sensation. It is much more reticent that I remember it was when we had it together last week, and I had to use lots of leaves. For immediate drinking, it's a charmer, however.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

I'm glad that you enjoy the Henry "Yiwu Mahei". It was a very enjoyable afternoon when drinking with others and sampling different teas.

[thanks]

I only have the 2010 version. I have great hope for it and it will be interesting to see how it develop ... :001_rolle

I'm fascinated to try the new Bulang, but I'm on a young sheng sabbatical. I refuse to buy anything under ten years of age, as I have more than enough at the rate I drink to enjoy them for the rest of my life.

[thanks]

Also forgot to mention that it's my annual end of summer collection check-up. It's the perfect time of year to try and assess how my collection is aging. In the spirit of things, I also tried my 08 7532 and my 08 (09? I can't quite remember off the top of my head) XG 8853. The 8853 is coming along much better than the 7532 is, although they are both coming along just fine. Drinking a Nada tea and then drinking big factory fare immediately after is unfair. I should have tried the Bulang last. I'm almost starting to think that I should just buy a tong of older 8582's and just say that it's the last pu'er tea purchase I'll ever make.

[tieguanyin]

I'm almost starting to think that I should just buy a tong of older 8582's and just say that it's the last pu'er tea purchase I'll ever make.

That is a bold statement. Best of luck if you go down that road :biggrin:! Never say never.... :ihih:?

[thanks]

That is a bold statement. Best of luck if you go down that road :biggrin:! Never say never.... :ihih:?

It's just crazy talk, but it's starting to make more and more sense to me these days. I have quite a variety to last me quite a few years, and a tong of aged 8582 someday could become a common treat.

[shah8]

Shengs of the day...

XiShangMeiShao. I mostly took the loose stuff and fannings, and that turned out to be a tea that was more tobacco and less fruit or butter. Same lack of endurance. Somewhat dissappointing.

HuangShanLin. I don't know if it's because I'm brewing better or that it's aged some, but I got mostly a repeat of the previous experience. Just dodge the ku and you get some tobacco in the first two rounds, and it segues into sweet buttermilk and cream with all kinds of stuff going on. Very strong qi, very thick and round liquer that's a pleasure to swish and swallow, mild but interesting fragrance, strong aftertastes and huigan (which is why you don't need the ku), and lasting taste in the mouth after the last sip. I suspect this was actually *gasp* a deal at $85. If my results are because of age, then I think I can really look forward to something truly delectable at 15 years.

[Hobbesoxon]

SotD: 2003 Male Urine, from Quanji.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Volume3/2003-Quanji-Bulang-Taobao-01b.jpg

Fun stuff, and a snip at just $27 (188 RMB) from 一团和气 (http://store.taobao.com/shop/view_shop-5e99107cf87e9ce05913b9ae8cb536ad.htm?ssid=r11) (Yituanheji).

Bearing in mind it's $27 for a seven-year-old cake, we shouldn't expect miracles, but it is woody, sharp, and very satisfying when brewed hard.

Thanks to His Grace, the Duke of N (http://www.xanga.com/marshaln) for the pointer, for this cake is very much "his baby".

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/HobbesOxon/Miscellany/LOYS.gif


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[ouch]

Wow. The more my meager collection grows, the more incomplete it seems.

Pu'er is the only thing I enjoy about winter. :thumbup1:

[Luva]

I just decided to gamble on a tong of the lovely 2001 Dingxing from "999 My Heart Must Go On". So many correspondents have told me that they have bought single cakes from her and liked them, that I've teetered over the edge and have hit the order button. :ihih:

Pray for me!


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

P.s. I've also gone for 3 of the 2004 Xingshunxiang (http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=4715395966&ad_id=&am_id=&cm_id=&pm_id=), which I liked, and a tong of my old friend, the 2006 Xingshunxiang (http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_detail-0db1-da0315b04e6343aeffa290e6c9f1b188.jhtml?cm_cat=5000 3862), though those are from vendors with no uncertainties in their reputation.

My tong of the "2001 Dingxing " is in. This time TaoBaoFocus asked the vendor to wrap the cakes in a clean paper bag first so no nasty plastic smell. Some of the cakes have a stronger shicang smell than the others. I inspected some which there was very light white frost visually on them but others were as clean as my first cake. I have yet to taste the new cakes.
Good luck with your order!

Regarding the 2004 Mahei, the vendor sent me a free cake which doesn't have neifei. However, the material is the same. I refuse to drink dangerous/crap tea like this.

As with the 2005 Manluo, the vendor refused to send another cake with neifei for free. I called it a done deal and asked TaoBaoFocus to put some warnings in the review section on their website. TaoBaoFocus is really helpful, given how tedious and unpleasant these kinds of conflicts!

-- Luva

[ouch]

1998 Fang cha


Much better than I recall.

Thanks, Jim!

[tieguanyin]

Nada's 2009 Nannuo. Enjoying this one in a gaiwan. Clean, sweet and enjoyable as ever. Me likes :biggrin:!

PS: forgot mention, very pretty leaves to look at when unfurled!

[shah8]

So...Lucky tieguanyin, how does the the 2009 Nannuo compare to the 2010, if you've had it?

Sheng of the day: 2006 XZH Yan Lao BanZhang. I thought it was time that I had an idea of what my actual cakes tasted like. It lasts essentially forever, as I stopped somewheres past 20 brews and past 2 hours. It has the weak point of not being thick at all in its liquer, but the tastes doesn't seem to have much trouble lodging itself throughout my mouth. As far as tastes go, the lucha is much reduced from what I've tasted from the sample (I start to wonder if Xiaguan and 12GM had a point in supercompression) and I missed the big flavor. Power, on the other hand, was fairly present. Huigan wasn't all that present, as a surprise, but electric mouth def was there. So much there that much of my tongue became numb and my teeth feel like conducting current. ChaQi is roughly about as strong as the Huangshanlin, but is far more energetic and tactile than the more stoner HSL. The whole body is doing the buzzing and current shifting. As I got into about the 7th brew, the lucha taste is definitly almost gone, and an easier to taste old wood starts popping up as I dramatically increase brewing times (which does squat to endurance). It was a rather lovely wood (with a slight camphor tannic sorta ku) that changes complementary flavors from cup to cup--most often florals, maple syrup, grains, and honey. Same sort of experience with the Jiang Chen Gucha Chawang, except not as many different flavors in an even milder soup--way past what the Gucha Chawang could have brewed of course. Lao Banzhang is still in my throat three hours and snacks later.

This isn't really a tea that's more enjoyable than the Puzheng or (right now) HuangShanLin. Those are much easier to enjoy and do a snoopy dance with, not to mention without much in the way of weaknesses. This LBZ is certainly not as flavorful as the Banzhang brick, Douji '09 or especially the Ban'E early on, but I think that's mostly because it's going to sleep some. I do think I've got a preview that this is a potentially awesome aged cake waiting to happen with luck on my part.

Also, I'm beginning to think people have looked down on '07 XZH. I haven't tasted much in the way of 05 and 06 XZH, but I am relatively sure that the '07 Yiwu is better than the '06 Yiwu. The top-notch '07 production (the two special editions, HSL, Yiwu) don't really have too much in the way of weaknesses and practically, I'd rather drink them, tho' they are wierd enough that ageing might be a concern. There are just things like Yan Shin and Xishangmeishao which are expensive for what they were, fall GuaFengZhai that has QC issues, insipid cakes like Ku Zhu Shan, and outright bad cakes like that 200gm daughter cakes. There were just a lot of cakes with a sort of "why did they make THOSE" sentiment.

[tieguanyin]

So...Lucky tieguanyin, how does the the 2009 Nannuo compare to the 2010, if you've had it?

Have not had an opportunity to compare them. How about you?

[shah8]

Never had the 2009.

Mostly curious because of how Maitre_Tea is thinking about purchasing 2010 Nannuo which wasn't great shakes compared to the others to me. So I was wondering if it could get much better if the straight green taste got dimmed a bit, 'swhy I asked.

[thanks]

I only have the 2009, and only sampled the 10. I personally think the 10 is more refined, but both are subtle beauties of old tree tea. They're not in your face like the Bulang, but also I feel that the Nannuo old tree's do not need to be. Definitely a class act on their own.

[shah8]

Okay, got my last order from my crack de--er Houde. I'm pretty much out of cash so I *can't* spend any more!

Four shengs of the day.

1)2009 XZH Pasha. I got this one on impulse because I asked Nada to compare his Ban Pen to the Pasha, and he quite sensibly replied, why are you asking me that? So when I got my gift sets, I sorta flipped this one in. So, how does it taste? Well, it's not really like Ban Pen. It's much more like Nada's Bangwai, but not as good. The cake is still smokey and needs some time to settle down. One thing that *was* kinda cool was the barbeque flavor potato chip flavor in the soup in various brews. Mushrooms, potatoes, various stone fruits. Doesn't have the umami as the Bangwai. Is it worth it? Probably a better buy next year with experienced storage. I did enjoy it, though.

2) 2007 XZH Yongde Xue Shan Lue. I got a sample of this. It was pretty good--basically like the other lincang, but tends to more chalk, cream, and Pez candy sweetness. However, it does not have the energy, fragance, complexity, depth, endurance, or qi that the two other Lincangs from 2007 and 2009 had and it costs almost as much per gram as the 2007 Lincang. Very expensive for what it was. If you're a poor, luckless soul who doesn't have a nice lincang already, then it might be a better idea to overpay for this rather than the 2009 Da Xue Shan. Or just get the HLH LIncang Impression.

3) 2007 fall XZH Jing Gu Nuercha sample. A very pleasurable drink. More intrinsically interesting than the KuZhu Shan. While gentle, there is an actual ku if you really reach for it. This goes straight into the not-really-worth-it-but-happy-when-you-have-it category with the XiShangMeiShao. Not particularly dynamic or powerful in any way, just a really good tea that costs a bit too much.

4) 2003 Baoyan Jingcha. Tea suited for Sith Lords. Think that's really all I need to say. Low and dark, sweet and sour, with odd tastes and smells. Super thick and textured first brew. Very warming qi. This goes straight with the Lapsang for supreme cold, wet, days.

Well, I've check out most of the XZH 'cept for the 07 recipes, and I don't think I need to do those...

First thing is, there are few easy reach good deals on Houde these days. There are things like that huge 3Kg Youle cake that works out to an acceptable number per gram, but nobody has $545 to spend on something like that. The only other XZH are protected by high buy-in, like Puzheng and Banzhang, or that + high opportunity costs like with the '07 Yiwu and '09 Jingmai. If I were buying now, I probably would not have bought the '09 Da Xue Shan. I like my two cakes, but $150 really was too much for 500gms. I still would not say that they were $60 cakes as Hobbes has suggested, since I can look up YS and see what sort of cakes were available for $60, and think that the lincang is rather better. However, it's more like $90-$110 in performance terms in my book. I just hadn't realized at the time just how much high grade maocha has exploded in price before all the HLH stuff came out. 2009 and 2010 puerh is really just too expensive, relative to good ole oldies. I am more convinced that Nada's bings are pretty much the best value in new bings.

[tieguanyin]

Hum... Any thoughts on this one (http://www.imperialtea.com/Qi-Zi-Bing-Sheng-Puerh-Bundle-P542.htmlp)? Of course, no samples available...

[Erik]

Hum... Any thoughts on this one (http://www.imperialtea.com/Qi-Zi-Bing-Sheng-Puerh-Bundle-P542.htmlp)? Of course, no samples available...

If even comes with a free bamboo knife, while supplies last.

[shah8]

If you were going to get a bundle like that for $400, I'd rather get the Menghai Seven Sons set from the same year...Bill of Ancient Tea Horse Road reviews some of the cakes and liked them very much...

+ I've never been a huge fan of Imperial Tea Court or Roy Fong because they seem the epitome of snooty expense. I'd rather go for the Tea Gallery for that.

[ouch]

If you were going to get a bundle like that for $400, I'd rather get the Menghai Seven Sons set from the same year...Bill of Ancient Tea Horse Road reviews some of the cakes and liked them very much...

I can't understand why Bill never joined. Must be the scruffy beard thing. :lol: I love his blog.


8582 <901>
As time passes, I find myself enjoying the 8582's more than the 7542's. That is, until I drink some more 7542.

[tieguanyin]

+ I've never been a huge fan of Imperial Tea Court or Roy Fong because they seem the epitome of snooty expense. I'd rather go for the Tea Gallery for that.


You prefer East Coast snooty expenses to West Coast ones :ihih:? Just kidding :lol:!

[shah8]

In one of the posts, Hobbes noted that Taobao has the Menghai set for $200. Don't know if that's still true today, but that's something of a buy. Then again, you probably can get great versions of all of these mountains from 2006, even if you start of with one of the Tai Chi Banzhangs. That leaves $46 for each of the remainders. You need to pay more than that for pretty good Bulang and Jingmai from 2006, let's say $60. That leaves $43 each for the remainder mountains, which I think you can easily get tasty cakes from, especially from Taobao. Yeah, a budget of $400 and TaobaoNow on speeddial would result in a fantastic collection of 2006 mountain bings.

Ouch, how do you like Xiaguan Baoyan? I seriously enjoyed the leftover infusion from my mushroom this morning. As with the 1996 Orange in Orange, I am surprised at the quality of leaf in the 2003 Baoyan. Man, 2004 and before cheap bings had some really good leaf for commoner tea!

[shah8]

I'm west coast all the way! West coast! All of my favorite too-expensive-tea stores are west of me in the ATL! Houde in Houston, Tea Habitat in LA, Floating Leaves Tea in Seattle, Den's, etc, etc... I get fustrated with Imperial Tea Court sometimes because they have a favorite keemum, but most of their prices are so out of whack that I could never buy it, because I hate buying only one thing--which is a bad point with me, but still... The spat between Fong and Shan earlier with dancongs also left a bad taste in my mouth. I hear better things about Tea Gallery as an okay place to over-spend on tea not that I'd ever buy from them since I have go-to sources for just about every style of tea they have.

West coast rap all the way. Dirty South was okay untill all the silly party crunk stuff came into fashion.

[Tofu Miso]

Smooth , with a very nice aged flavour , velvety sweetness , citrus complexities , and a decent chaqi - whilst not quite as narcotic as some , it left me feeling pleasantly drunk. Most enjoyable ! Definitely worth sampling if you haven't already .

[tieguanyin]

I can't understand why Bill never joined. Must be the scruffy beard thing. :lol: I love his blog.

I think Bill might be afraid that joining might eventually lead to a B&B rendition where his beard would be shaved against his will :lol:! Just kidding.


West coast rap all the way. Dirty South was okay untill all the silly party crunk stuff came into fashion.

In your mind what sheng/tea best represents Dirty South :lol:?

SoTD = sample of 2003 Shuangxiong “Jinzhen Gongpu” courtesy of Keng. This is the fannings and leftovers of the sample (the rest is in a small jar "airing out". Enjoyable with some nice camphor notes on the lid of the gaiwan. I can see the sharpness Hobbes mentions (http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2010/07/2003-shuangxiong-jinzhen-gongpu.html) on this. Looking forward to the proper sample in a teapot :biggrin:!

[arghblech]

Friday I had some 05 Chang Tai Yiwu Zheng Pin that was in my sample box. I can't remember for the life of me who sent this to me. Please speak up if you are the fellow!

It was delicious and long lasting. Smooth in the mouth. Some fruits and a bit of mineraliness. I took the advice of he who provided it and used a bit more leaf than usual.

[P_K]

Friday I had some 05 Chang Tai Yiwu Zheng Pin that was in my sample box. I can't remember for the life of me who sent this to me. Please speak up if you are the fellow!

It was delicious and long lasting. Smooth in the mouth. Some fruits and a bit of mineraliness. I took the advice of he who provided it and used a bit more leaf than usual.

Yeah...that was me. I find that one works best in a gaiwan. My yixing takes some of the delicate notes away. It's a good one.

[tea goober]

Friday I had some 05 Chang Tai Yiwu Zheng Pin that was in my sample box. I can't remember for the life of me who sent this to me. Please speak up if you are the fellow!

It was delicious and long lasting. Smooth in the mouth. Some fruits and a bit of mineraliness. I took the advice of he who provided it and used a bit more leaf than usual.

I had sent you a 2005 Chang Tai Yiwu Zheng Pin also, Small zip lock w/ sticker label.

[ouch]

7542

Why do I bother with that 8582 crap?

[P_K]

I had sent you a 2005 Chang Tai Yiwu Zheng Pin also, Small zip lock w/ sticker label.

Lol...What are the chances! I wrote directly on the baggie.