Two shengs of the day, with three more in this flurry left to go...
1) Haiwan '01. This tea, along with the Mengku Yellow in Green, were among the teas in blind tastings by Puerh Teapot Magazine, presumably back in '08. I was impressed by Aaron Fisher's comments about a 2002 Haiwan Spring Tips, so I was looking forward to this tea. Let's take this review from Hobbes as the basic point of departure: http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2007/10/2000-haiwan-guhua.html . I wasn't particularly thrilled with this tea, unlike the Yellow in Green. It's basically a blend dominated by Mengsong tea, and has a lot in common with the '05 Dayi Mengsong Peacock and a little bit with the '07 XZH Mengsong, as Hobbes has linked. It has a strong aroma, not very complex, but generally pleasant. The flavor roughly approximates the kind of floral wood typical of Mengsong, but is not particularly sweet in a mushroomy way, and it also has more of a hint of pickled fruit (a dash of Bada, maybe?). Activity can be very strong, one brew was extremely pepperish, and this tea definitely can make itself felt in the throat. A light bit of qi. The flaws are mainly that it's astringent in an unpleasant, rubbery fashion, most of the session. In the early part of the session, it was also acid and sour. I didn't get very many pleasant brews before I decided to stop. It's fairly thin as well. No storage smell or taste, but this isn't tea I'd ever be interested in.
2) '11 XZH Dian Gu iron cake. This is a pretty big disappointment, in comparison to the '07 maocha and the '09 xiaobing. The flavors were generally the same, but much more muted and lower. The same with the aromas. There isn't the knockout qi that I'd expect from this sort of tea. It's much less thick than the '09 tea. Less sweet than either '09 or '07. The finish, which is one of the signature attributes, is shorter and less complex. Plus, there is a stronger bitterness that's pretty similar to the kind of bitter that saccharine has. That bitterness does resolve into activity in the throat (I even got a small huigan!). The peppery mouthfeel is also lower. The tea is more subtle, with the flavors playing a tighter game and not being all so gloriously dancong-like. The tea is generally pretty smooth, about the same as '09 and less rough than '07. It also has a slightly stronger propensity to have camphor and wood flavors. I really missed the strong peach flavors. It's worth about half of what XZH wants for it on their website, and given my collection, I'd still pass on it if I had the money and a good price.
Does seem to be more evidence of major league quality fades across the board in the puerh world. Is it environment/overharvesting/over-care (fertilizing/pesticides), or demand? Also makes Houde's purchasing decisions a bit more reasonable. It's not really all that much better than the '10 Manzhuang, and I suppose anything that happened to be better had unfriendly wholesale prices from Guang's standpoint.
Looking above, I think a certain somebody amuses the classroom with doodles on the whiteboard/transparencies with silly stuff and holiday greetings.
1) Haiwan '01. This tea, along with the Mengku Yellow in Green, were among the teas in blind tastings by Puerh Teapot Magazine, presumably back in '08. I was impressed by Aaron Fisher's comments about a 2002 Haiwan Spring Tips, so I was looking forward to this tea. Let's take this review from Hobbes as the basic point of departure: http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2007/10/2000-haiwan-guhua.html . I wasn't particularly thrilled with this tea, unlike the Yellow in Green. It's basically a blend dominated by Mengsong tea, and has a lot in common with the '05 Dayi Mengsong Peacock and a little bit with the '07 XZH Mengsong, as Hobbes has linked. It has a strong aroma, not very complex, but generally pleasant. The flavor roughly approximates the kind of floral wood typical of Mengsong, but is not particularly sweet in a mushroomy way, and it also has more of a hint of pickled fruit (a dash of Bada, maybe?). Activity can be very strong, one brew was extremely pepperish, and this tea definitely can make itself felt in the throat. A light bit of qi. The flaws are mainly that it's astringent in an unpleasant, rubbery fashion, most of the session. In the early part of the session, it was also acid and sour. I didn't get very many pleasant brews before I decided to stop. It's fairly thin as well. No storage smell or taste, but this isn't tea I'd ever be interested in.
2) '11 XZH Dian Gu iron cake. This is a pretty big disappointment, in comparison to the '07 maocha and the '09 xiaobing. The flavors were generally the same, but much more muted and lower. The same with the aromas. There isn't the knockout qi that I'd expect from this sort of tea. It's much less thick than the '09 tea. Less sweet than either '09 or '07. The finish, which is one of the signature attributes, is shorter and less complex. Plus, there is a stronger bitterness that's pretty similar to the kind of bitter that saccharine has. That bitterness does resolve into activity in the throat (I even got a small huigan!). The peppery mouthfeel is also lower. The tea is more subtle, with the flavors playing a tighter game and not being all so gloriously dancong-like. The tea is generally pretty smooth, about the same as '09 and less rough than '07. It also has a slightly stronger propensity to have camphor and wood flavors. I really missed the strong peach flavors. It's worth about half of what XZH wants for it on their website, and given my collection, I'd still pass on it if I had the money and a good price.
Does seem to be more evidence of major league quality fades across the board in the puerh world. Is it environment/overharvesting/over-care (fertilizing/pesticides), or demand? Also makes Houde's purchasing decisions a bit more reasonable. It's not really all that much better than the '10 Manzhuang, and I suppose anything that happened to be better had unfriendly wholesale prices from Guang's standpoint.
Looking above, I think a certain somebody amuses the classroom with doodles on the whiteboard/transparencies with silly stuff and holiday greetings.
