SOTD- sheng of the day

[P_K]

2010 Shi Kun Mu - Pin Jian -

This cake reminds me a lot of the Douji Yu Dou. Lots of grain notes with some mushroom and sweetness. Yum.

[P_K]

03 Hong Shun Hui Ming Shan -

I'm afraid this one is too wet stored for me. I've tried it three times...even with throwing out the first two brews (which were long)...I just can't get into it.

2010 XZH Manning -

Seems fantastic compared to the Hong Shun.

[shah8]

Three shengs of the day...

1) YS'10 Yongxueshan. Hard on the stomach and not that great.

2) Best Tea House '08 Treasures of Five Mountains. If you put '06 SE Memorial on one end and XZH '07 Xue Shan Chuen Lu on the other, this tea will fall in the spectrum between. A fairly light tea, low on qi, huigans, but is quite nice. It has a well blended lincang taste with the depth and complexity afforded by Banna big-leaf teas. Good thickness and texture There were plenty of layers to be perceived with each delicate sip. Bitter, moderate durability. I'd buy it if it was substantially lower than $38/200g. The biggest part of the appeal is the lasting coat of flavors in the mouth.

2) Wistaria '06 Longpa Youle. Does have a similar taste to the XZH I'm fond of. Some warming qi, and a bit of relaxing qi, but does not squeeze or smack any body parts senseless. The dry leaf is much less aromatic than the XZH, and the wet leaf/soup is lightly aromatic. The taste is much less soft-woody, quieter, thinner, and is fruitier with dried chinese jujube and maraschino cherry hints. About the same spice in mouth and pungency in the nose. More prone to be bitter and metallic in the latter part of the session. No strong huigans. Wasn't the most ideal circumstance in the third session of the day, so no firm impressions were made. It is somewhat boring, and I suspect most Youle is a bit boring. I think the XZH would be a bit boring most of the time, without the qi.

[Hobbesoxon]

Interviewing school-leavers who want to be undergraduates for my college is a gruelling process that calls for tea to calm the nerves.

2011 YS "Banpo" - nice Nannuo, if a bit light on flavour. Strong bitterness... but not a whole lot to really enjoy.

2011 YS "Badashan" - grassy, sweet, long-lived, and rather inexpensive. A solid little number that gives a very decent session.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[shah8]

Three shengs of the day

1) Sunsing '06 Yiwu brick. Not a yiwu. Very flat tasting, with an edge of something that feels suspicious. Sweet, cooling, camphor, though. Lots of caffeine. Prolly good for trashy morning pickmeup.

2) '11 YS Wuliang. Sencha pu. Very vegetal, nuts, sage. Something out of left field for me, and while it is interesting, it would take a while for something like this to grow on me. Tends to be astringent. Durable, about the same potency as the '10 YS lincang offerings. Orchid taste happened very late in the session close to death. $20 is about what it's worth, I think.

3) '97/'98 Hualien brick. ODB made of coarse Bulang leaves. Tastes like a 5-8 yo Bulang, not very ripe. Sweet, very dry, extremely high in caffeine. A bit flat. While initial taste is more appealing and less offensive than ODB, ODB is more, eh, *funky*. Later brews has some of the camphor flavor that makes this a sought out tea in EAsia.

[arghblech]

2007 HLH Bulang Mountain Wild Arbor.

[EdoB]

SOTD: 2006 XZH brick - first brews again remind me of sweetened iced tea. Reasonably strong bitterness is also present. Slightly drying. Pretty durable. Good, not too strong qi. I have recently been increasing the amount of dry leaf I use so that I can feel the qi more often. I had been using 5.0 - 5.5 gms in a 120ml gaiwan and have increased that by about 1 gram, sometimes more. I weigh about 160 lbs and I assume that, similar to alcohol, strength of tea and body weight, along with speed of consumption are what matter.

[shah8]

Three shengs of the day...

1) '09 Fall YS Ding Jia Zhai. Has some nice elements to it, but it's like the '05 YQH in terms of how the middle is missing. There is no or little mushroom holding the disparate flavors together. Did deliver good yuns on a couple of brews. Not durable, and generally does need overbrewing as Hobbes described, which doesn't give good results in terms of bitterness or roughness. Wildly expensive for what it is @ YS. However, remember what a Dayi '09 Yiwu costs. This leads me to note that all across the board, with the exception of the changtai '05, virtually all of HouDe's Yiwu teas are underpriced. Not that these ones left over were ever especially exciting.

2) '03 Sunsing Bada. Wet-stored. Maybe the mengku Yuanyexiang thick is better, but this is the second best wet pu I've had (Henlichang Bulang '97). Of course, it's still somewhat bitter and astringent, and perhaps that is one reason why I liked it. Anyways, this tea still has some degree of character, with a bunch of tastes to it. It has a very nice warming qi, and one can still get huigans to go. It does smooth out like all wet pu into somewhat boring tea after about 6 infusions, but I definitely enjoyed this. I think this is a good example of available 2000-2004 tea being better than what you can get easily from the '90s. Way better than the 90s Hualien for me, and better than something like the late nineties little yellow mark that Nada sells (on account of qi, but which is *much* smoother and sweeter).

3) '11 Puersom Hekai maocha. Extremely similar to nadacha douyizhai, so best to talk about differences. First, the hekai has much more qi. The nadacha is much thicker in liquer. The hekai is more dynamic over the course of the session. The nadacha has a much denser and more umami taste. The hekai generally has much easier to taste nuances. The nadacha session lasts much longer without the roughness and citric tang of the hekai. The hekai does a bit better on aroma, while the nadacha has better huigans. This Puersom has much less of the traditional sharp flower/tobacco accent to the taste that I associate with Hekai, and it only shows up here and there. Great tea, but a bit on the expensive side. Although, I'm thinking there has to be a Xishangmeishao rule. If the tea is really agreeable and has real positive qualities to it, despite the flaws, it will almost always make up whatever overpaying that you did to acquire it. As I drink along this new stash, I'm finding myself thinking that the cost for the BTH Treasures of Five Mountains isn't especially unreasonable--at least in comparison to getting tea from areas that are in high demand. It's good tea, just not that overwhelming in certain areas...but it's just getting harder and harder to buy simply good tea. Not particularly special new Dayi sheng being $30? Oh hell no.

[GN?]

SOTD: 96 7582 I am not sure if this is the same recipe as the 06 which is supposedly a mix of Yi Wu and Bada. But its definitly possible I have never knowingly tried any aged Bada (o3 bada at sunsing looks interesting )but I definitly pick up on some a slight yi wu leathery camaphor taste. It has a nice thick aftertaste that expands to fill your whole mouth and some times a minor hui gan. I Just got this tea in the mail yesterday so I know its not giving its all. Can't wait to try it again in a few weeks.

[P_K]

06 Mengyang Guoyan Nannuo meets Youle - tasty.

08 CNNP Special Blue label - not so tasty.

[shah8]

Three shengs of the day...

1) '11 Puersom Yibang. A bit more dense in taste than the Xikong, but is relatively flat and not that interesting. The aroma isn't as good, and there aren't that many nuances. Decent energy, and perhaps a huigan or two. Little qi. Much less durable. This is good tea, btw, but $66/200g good is pretty much out of the question.

2) '06 (pressed in '11 by Zhu Ke Cheng) Manzhuang. Different taste, like it's wet, but not. Later in the session I concluded this is probably similar to the YS '09 Bulang Shan Yun, where the maocha is somewhat humid-stored and then pressed. Aside from this, it's very similar to the '04 ZhaiZiPo. Flat top taste, not quite dead, but pretty empty. Lots of things that go on in the throat, however, and plenty of qi. Later infusions do not have a wood taste, but a more general cereal and honey notes ontop of the broad flavor. This is 600RMB a cake. I have come to forgive XZH for the pricing of the 2010 Manlin. Geez.

3) ’10 Puersom Hekai from a cake. The differences from the ’11 version are thus: a) Stronger sweet candy/mushroom base flavor. b) Thicker soup. c) More huigans and more body-warming qi. d) More nuances and floral flavors/aroma. e) Unfortunately undone by a nasty citric/bitter tang that creeps in as the session goes on and becomes ever louder. There is some kind of processing issue or drought consequence going on (thinking of nadacha Banpen). It was really, really delicious early on, though.

[shah8]

Finished off the grab bag...

1) '11 Puersom LBZ. Less like the '08 Nadacha or the '05 XZH, and more like the '06 XZH. Not all that inclined to be fruity and is very mushroomy. Numbs lips and cheeks. Back end of the session better than the front. Pretty much brews as long as you want it. Okay qi, but is like the '05 Gan'en in that there is some kuding variant LBZ in there, so lots of caffeine, and strong bitterness at around brews 4-6. Good thickness, generally very smooth. Primary flavor is mushroom sort of like Hekai, chalk, rubber, and camphor. Some tobacco as well. Hard on the tummy. Not particularly dramatic in terms of huigans, or mouthfeel in general. Coats the mouth well. I do like this, but this isn't remotely $310 good. It's somewhat better than Puersom Hekai, and only a bit better than the ManNuo (which, recalling taste memory, really *is* a good LBZ substitute).

2) '11 YS Yangta. Vegetal and green-tea like. Some of the cooling and throat action characteristic of the mengku-xiao jing gu area, but little compelling nature. The '10 YS Yangta is better, even if I didn't really like that one either. As much as it does march to its own drum-beat, the half-the-price Wuliang is a much more solid, shengy puerh, with nuances and dynamicism in the session.

[grasshopper]

1984 Jia Ji Xia Guan Tuo Cha
from Jing Tea Shop
Purchased three tuos late in 2004, arrived Jan. 5 of 2005. One's all gone, one's almost gone, and one is still unbroken. Using my favorite aged sheng gift zisha teapot, about 95ml, ~6.5g. Up to about 30s for the next infusion. What fun! Each brew poured is like the wind hitting a prayer flag or the wrist spinning a prayer wheel.

Tomorrow I'll put 70's gift Liu Bao--arrived in 2004--in a gaiwan and alternate brews with the tuo I began this evening. Winter. Cold. Dark. Good teas and time to enjoy them--my spirits rise. Christmas lights in the dogwood and plum trees. Snow squalls erupting from the canyons, but the moon visible still, ringed and blue.

Best to all,
~grasshopper

[shah8]

Tea with a friend day...first time I got tea out of porous clay pots!

1) '06 XZH Bulang maocha. Very smooth and bitter, like the Nadacha, and not very much like the Jing Mei Tang. Light wood verging on berry. A little qi
2) '06 XZH Youle I brought. About as good as it always is, was slightly different due to the different brewing style. The wood was sharper, and stronger fruit notes.
3) '05 Yibang. Slightly wet. Opens slightly sour, and the way Yibang always does. Good effect in the throat. Deeper into the session, a strong wood-like resin/tar note becomes elevated, excellent taste, like a better kind of lapsang.
4) '02 Dayi 7542 208 special production. Pretty similar to my '01 7542, except that it seems to have been smokier--not smokey, but there is a kind of strong tar note in the beginning of the session. The sip finishes in sharpish (relative to mine) fruit/caramel note in the throat. Was really nice to drink.

Also had tea eggs made with 8582. Woody eggs!

This morning I did a bit of '09 YS Fall Ding Jia Zhai, but I wasn't serious with it. Brewed it slightly longer at each step than I otherwise would. That did an okay job with looseness. This does taste pretty good, just feels like getting a tomato sandwich when a hamburger was expected.

[shah8]

One sheng, the '95/'96 Shuangjiang Mengku production with the lipstick red wrapping. Thoroughly Mengku area in sensibility--like an aged Baoyan, but way better. Top taste is kind of funny, like a Ceylon without much tea taste or any malt. A bit empty, with a tannic note that I associate with oak, and not raisins. Very good in the throat. Reasonably good aged qi. Good endurance. Not that dynamic in session. Wet leaves are *very* coarse, but more twiggy and less big, chopped up leaves. Good for winter, and switchup on normal aged banna sheng. Has more qi, huigans, than Dayi '98 Qiaomu, definitely less diddled, but not quite as compelling taste. XZH '99 Mengsa is more big bodied woody, and has much stronger fruit and caramel notes.

I saw that BBB put up his notes for the 7542. It is definitely more dry-stored than my tea, which is rounded off a bit by a touch of initial wet-storage. I don't know about any BZ, but I would totes buy Pasha being blended in. I do wish I could try a longer session by myself so I could really push this bugger. And oh yes, pretty sure this tea is definitely closer to both EdoB's and Hobbe's tastes than the '01 Simplified Yun 7542, for different reasons.

[P_K]

2011 YS Ban Po Lao Zhai -

Grassy, herbal....freshly mown field with pretty good staying power. Not a powerhouse of a pu though. I think I would lean toward the Shang Chun over this one based on price. Would be interesting to see what some humid storage would do to these.

[shah8]

'06 Wistaria Youle, which was the only sheng of the day. Definitely not as good as the XZH. Really more like a Youle equivalent of the '05 MingYuanHao Yesheng, but some degree of better. Only a light aroma. Dominated by fizzy woods, with only a little fruit note, at least in the early going. A couple of very nice fruity huigans. The qi went straight to the head, and none of that blooming magma flow from the XZH. However, it did a couple of down the throat sizzle, which was nice. I wasn't bored by the tea this time, and I brewed aproximately 15 times. Past about 7th, there is light bitterness and astringency that never got worse.

[EdoB]

On Friday, SOTD was the XZH 2010 ManNing GuCha. I enjoyed it more this time. It isn't in the category I call "green tea" puerh and is not as sweet as some new sheng. This time it seemed more complex with the occasional fruity huigan. However it did seem to create quite a drying feeling in the mouth after awhile although this may be because I brewed it too strongly once or twice and went through the whole session a bit quickly. Yesterday SOTD was the 1999 Yiwu from Sunsing (from a sample). I enjoyed this one - it seems more aged (which it is) than say the 2003 Changtai from Red Lantern and is only slightly more expensive. It has a bit of complexity left and some decent qi. I had also tried a sample of the 1999 DaDuGong from Sunsing recently. That tea is a bit thinner and less interesting but not a bad tea for the price. Today I am drinking yet another Sunsing sample - the loose 1983 79032. I am only partway through the session but I find this tea to be almost like a cooked puerh with no real complexity. I have yet to feel any qi but perhaps that will come.

[shah8]

2011 Puersom Yibang. Broad shengy flavors. Ultra smooth and low in bitterness. Actual sweet sensation much of the time. Low qi, huigans. Good thickness and texture. There are some occasional interesting mouth effects, allowing depth, but there is little real complexity in this tea. Perfect for blending as a base tea. Have been thinking I'll try the YS '09 Yiwu with this. For all intents and purposes, more durable than you can drink in a day.

Puersom teas I've tried all have a kind of chalky subtaste in the generic sheng part of the overall taste. So I'm wondering if there is any kind of interesting processing going on. Not in the least bothersome, though, but it's definitly a distinct-to-the-brand taste.

[Doc4]

Xiang Don tea brick Douji 2009.

A nice one I picked up 'blind' off e-bay () but it seems to have turned out rather well. I'm drinking a fair bit of it now, to help develop my appr3eciation for sheng, before I delve too deeply into the more interesting samples I have in my vault.

Man, that brick is dense ... it's like I'm trying to pry chunks off of a Black Box or something. ...