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SOTD- sheng of the day

07 7532 Menghai

I started with some pinnacle sencha and it didnt do it for me, then to the rescue 7532 :thumbup:


I could live on this tea forever, I had another outstanding session today! Amazing and complex clean crisp and balanced flavors and strong sweet cold nectar aroma coming off my hand made wood fired black magda cup. This cup is a gift from Petr Novak, and has easily become my favorite cup for sheng. Its soft to the touch and creamy on the inside. Really hit the spot and brought me to life on this hazy Sunday.


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Also like to welcome a couple of our newest members and participants in the Cafe, maikeru and nickE.
Thanks! Glad to be here. :001_smile

Also, lovely pictures Ambrose!

Finished off my sample of EoT Bangwai today. The flavors in this tea are pretty subtle, but quite nice. Here's my current lineup of faves (didn't get a Nannuo sample).
Bulang
Manmai
Mansai
Bangwai
Banpen​
I have cakes of the Manmai & Mansai. Thinking of picking up a Bulang, but I'm having trouble justifying the $60 pricetag.. Perhaps it is worth it.
 
Honestly, if I had to pick the ten worst cakes from my collection, the Zhaizipo would be in there (sure, along with most modern CNNP on my shelves). That tea can seem so exceedingly different to different people constantly amazes me.

He... did not realize this particular reached your top ten worst shengpu list :lol:! Anyway, when I first tried this one through a sample, I enjoyed it. It tasted as described by the vendor. Maybe the sample was of something else to entice customers to buy the whole xiao bing of this tea. I dunno...
 
This is either 2006 or 2007 ODB. I have some of both but I didn't label this bag appropriately.

I love ODB. It's so unpretentious and genuine. It's like a big sloppy kiss from a kind of homely but completely awesome chubby girl.
 
I tried Nada's 2010 Bangwai over the weekend. I wonder is it laced with monosodium glutamates? Very umami taste almost feel like salty. I have problem with it, as I can't smell, umami taste really accentuated for me and the taste lingering for a few days, and everything I drink and eat reminded me that taste afterward. I have a few questions, hope I'm wrong, it tastes a little salty to me, also my cake seems to fall apart easily, as the leaves don't seem to stick together, but this could be it been knocked about during transit. I think I would leave this one for the moment and try again in a later day.
 
This day's shengs:

My open/broken cakes are in file cabinets, alpha-listed by common name. Rooting around in the "L's":

90's MH Little Yellow Label. At the seventh infusion it commenced to taste quite good, showing its age and losing the bit of hair/cigar taste. I believe it's Taiwan-stored.

501 Li Ji Beeng Cha. Wow wow. I loved it then; I love it still. I am very glad I bought some. I wish to heaven I'd bought more. Mint. Grass. Herb. Sugar cane. This pu'er makes me say, "Yum." It is an aromatic, delicious, and satisfying beverage, by golly.

We'll see soon how the zhuan chas and big tuo chas are faring. I *think* they're '06.

There are more "L's" to try-- "Lao"-this and "Long"-that, &c. :)

Best always,
~grasshopper
 
Tried 2010 Shi Kun Mu "Yan Pin" today. Very drinkable as it is now, good hugain, nice texture and body, remind me a bit like Douji's cakes. The brew is very clean and clear light yellow and the spent leaves have few sign of oxidation. Will it age well, I really don't know, might be. I'm tempted to get a cake, but I need to tried other samples first.
 
This day's shengs:

My open/broken cakes are in file cabinets, alpha-listed by common name. Rooting around in the "L's":

90's MH Little Yellow Label. At the seventh infusion it commenced to taste quite good, showing its age and losing the bit of hair/cigar taste. I believe it's Taiwan-stored.

501 Li Ji Beeng Cha. Wow wow. I loved it then; I love it still. I am very glad I bought some. I wish to heaven I'd bought more. Mint. Grass. Herb. Sugar cane. This pu'er makes me say, "Yum." It is an aromatic, delicious, and satisfying beverage, by golly.

We'll see soon how the zhuan chas and big tuo chas are faring. I *think* they're '06.

There are more "L's" to try-- "Lao"-this and "Long"-that, &c. :)

Best always,
~grasshopper

Grasshopper -
You make me so jealous with your amazing selections.
Would that I had both your selection of teas and your refined palate...

Cheers,
Steve
 
Tried 2010 Shi Kun Mu "Yan Pin" today. Very drinkable as it is now, good hugain, nice texture and body, remind me a bit like Douji's cakes. The brew is very clean and clear light yellow and the spent leaves have few sign of oxidation. Will it age well, I really don't know, might be. I'm tempted to get a cake, but I need to tried other samples first.

Funny that you would mention Douji. Take a look at the Shi Kun Mu Yun Chen cake. It has Douji on the wrapper....see the fifth pic and of course the tong box.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pu-erh-2010-Shi...629?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b26177b5
 
Funny that you would mention Douji. Take a look at the Shi Kun Mu Yun Chen cake. It has Douji on the wrapper....see the fifth pic and of course the tong box.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pu-erh-2010-Shi...629?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b26177b5

Actually, I tried this one today:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Pu-erh-2010-Shi...652?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b2614cd4
I also got the sample of the other one as well.

So those cakes are related to Douji's, a bit like Volkswagen and Skoda, I wish the price would be like between Volkswagen and Skoda, but they are NOT!
 
'05 Li Ji Gu Zhuang Large Tuo Cha

I drank and gave away most of this one several years ago, so I have only a little bit of a broken tuo left. I'm using 4g in a 100ml gaiwan. I could be making a mistake--it might be too heavy. We shall see. Waiting for the Zoji to bring the wawa up to temp. The leaves may have darkened somewhat in five years, but honestly, I cannot recall what one particular tuo cha looked like. In the dry leaf, there's just a tad of pleasant, smoky wood. After the wash, the aroma from the gaiwan's lid is very much like last night's Li Ji beeng cha, and truth be told, that bodes well indeed.

Four infusions into this, I can say I am still happy with the Li Ji house taste. The tuo carries more fruit (pineapple?) than the beeng. But the beeng carries more honey and herb. The tuo has a nice sour note, but the beeng has a nice sweet note. The beeng has the benefit of perhaps more sophistication and wider flavor band, but the tuo benefits from more power. The beeng's leaves are lighter in color and larger. The tuo's leaves are much darker and somewhat chopped--though still nicer than most tuos' leaves. However, the similarities are more striking than the differences. Tasting them both, I can tell they came from the same maker.

Is it just me, or do pu'ers with a bit of smoke create a nice cooling effect in the mouth?

In ten years I'll crack another tuo cha and compare these two again.

Steve--Many thanks for the kind words. ~grasshopper
 
'80s WangZi loose leaf from EoT.

I wanted something that tasted old but didn't require too much thinking. This fits the bill. Nice and simple.
 
Continuing with “L” in S'sOTD

’06 Lao Ban Zhang by Hai Lang Hao. Rich, big, brothy, satisfying. Oddly, some smoke. Some salt. Excellent aftertaste.

’07 Lin Bo Qin Dai Ancient Yiwu Trees
, Guan Zi Zai Tea Co. Next to the HLH above, a little thin and harsh. I’m using porcelain, and generally I brew in zisha. Clay, IMO, works best for sheng pu'er and oolongs.
 
Some 06 Yiwu from The Mandarin.

Yum.

Don't think I could justify $180 a bing but it is lovely so far. Still a little on the young side for me but I can see this being awesone in a few more years. Sticking my nose in the pot I can't help but notice a red tea charater in the scent, not present in the liquor though.

Can't really fault this tea, which isn't surprising considering the source and the man behind the production.
 
’05 Mengku Banzhang Mini-brick.
Mengku has produced some good products, and this is one. Big and aromatic. Brilliant on the exhale thrugh the nose. Still hard to break apart, it is one tight little chunk of goodness.

’03 Long Yuan Hao Man Sha Beeng Cha, Dadugang
.
A little bitter early on, but that subsides. Green apple on the sides of the tongue. This one is mouth watering, a rare attribute. Interesting mint or cooling effect. Tasty both hot and room temperature.

The trouble with alternating infusions of two pu'ers in one session: contrast is inevitable and a ranking forms in the mind--even if both teas are excellent. Of these two shengs, the Mengku is superior.
 
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