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SOTD- sheng of the day

I had Cloud's blend from '07 yesterday. It's a very pleasant tea, but it's pretty clearly plantation and of limited charms. Good body, there is some aroma, and there are some sneaky good aftertastes available. Not really worth chasing.

Today, I had the '11 Feng Zhi Qing Dao He from Nada. I genuinely enjoyed this tea. Great body, and good, strong, taste. Good aroma, and a little bit of qi that is positive, like XZH Xishangmeishao. Decent durability. There is a hint of bad green tea taste, but only showed up in one, maybe two brews. The price seems too high for me, but it's something I'd definitely consider buying, but if I were to be spending so much money, I suppose I'd just spend the $20 extra dollars for the '08 Feng. At this point, not knowing the region is a real bummer, since I can't make guesses at how it will age. I think it will be fine, but still...could be Manzhuang just as much Mengsong, almost.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
Xiang Dong Tea Brick, Douji 2009.

I bought this one blind off e-bay, and lucked out I think. I have no pretension to knowing what I'm talking about with pu-erh, but this I enjoy. I'm about 2/3 the way through it, and I think it's giving me a nice "baseline" to start learning about sheng.
 
2009 Meng Song "Dai Tribe" Bamboo Raw Pu-erh

Compression is ultra-dense... I think I need to buy a new needle-style puerh pick just to drink the rest of this. I created a LOT of tea dust and almost bent my current pick trying to get enough leaf for one pot.

Lives up to the YS description quite well... floral, golden/dark yellow brew with zero smoke. Sweetness was stronger in early brews, while mouth watering action increased over several infusions. Bamboo flavour is minimal, bordering on non-existent when compared with liu an, but this might depend on how much of the "cake" outside layer is in the teapot. No vegetable or bitter flavours so far, despite the youth. Overall a light and pleasant tea.

pic is from Yunnan Sourcing.

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2003 You Le Mountain Round Cake. YS, LLC.
You Le Shan Millennial Tea Tree Tea Factory

The last of a sample unearthed in the burgeoning sample heap. Very nice beverage: dry mandarin orange, red clover hay, the smallest suggestion of Spark Plug chaw, all with a satisfying bitterness. Mouth watering rather than mouth-drying, a positive characteristic. Thick in the mouth. This is a self-drinking adolescent tea; I look down, and the cup's empty. In the late finish there is a sugary note, almost of cane in the field. This is a fine, evocative tea. Overall, I think 2003 is a good vintage for many pu'ers. Best to all, ~grasshopper
 
2010 Nadacha Bangwei. It was pretty good. Thinner than the B33, taste volume is less, but the qi isn't that much less, and gives good throatfeel.

Mail came in, and I apparently was as deserving of a Sampletea Yiwu xiaobing as Hobbes. So I tried that one out. Hobbes undersold this one, I think. Main weakness is the thin body. There isn't very much dynamic change over a session, and the leaves are slightly oolonged and dies a bit that way, but not bothersome. Dry leaves, and dry heated leaves, smells very nice. Good soup aroma, taste is classical Yiwu, with a plasticty edge on the leather aspect that put me off for a bit. I think this is a nice DingJiaZhai plantation. Lightly and pleasantly astringent, not particularly bitter, but it has sweet flavors and a sweet finish on the tongue. Cooling, of course. Also has light qi. Beats the snot out of the TeaUrching LuolShuiDong maocha or YS '09 DingJiaZhai, and isn't too far behind the likes of the Taochaju Yiwu or the XZH Zhangjiawan. The first because of the better body and slightly fuller taste. The second because of better body and better/more complex best flavors and aromas. The XZH is a very unstable puerh in character from session to session, however. Sampletea Yiwu feels like it will be a good deliverer of tasty brews. Also a good illustration of just how inferior not-the-best mengkus are. Also beats the snot out of the YS Mushucha as well. They do a great job with plantation Yiwu down there.
 
Drinking from an older, lesser known sheng cake I picked up on Taobao on MarshalN's recommendation. Very nice stuff--has seen more humid storage and is nicely aged, and for a very nice price. Still has some sheng character with very little in the way of bitterness. I like it!
 

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Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
Drinking from an older, lesser known sheng cake I picked up on Taobao on MarshalN's recommendation. Very nice stuff--has seen more humid storage and is nicely aged, and for a very nice price. Still has some sheng character with very little in the way of bitterness. I like it!

Welcome aboard!
 
12 YS Nannuo Duo Yi Zhai -

Fairly narrow flavor spectrum....tobacco, wood and mushroom. A little thin on the body. Pretty good. I'll just have to see how this progresses. Hopefully something more interesting will emerge over time.
 
2008 Xiaguan "Happy Tuo"

Some nice notes on this one... floral? citrus? maybe a touch of tobacco. It feels like the name is on the tip of my tongue but it just won't come. I sniffed the wet leaves in the pot several times trying to pin it down but all I got for certain was my mouth watering a little bit. What do I know, I'm just a guy who drinks tea at work.

Body is good even with the smaller amount of leaves I used. A pleasant, energetic cup.
 
Had the sampletea Yiwu again. As JakubT sez, it's from ManXiu, which is between Yiwu town and Gaoshanzhai. Doesn't have qi. Not as impressive as I thought it was the first time. It's basically a plantation Yiwu, that's somewhat oolong'd, but otherwise not messed up. Given just how many unimpressive Yiwus there are out there, that's impressive, but there isn't any especially affirmative quality to it other than it tastes like a proper Yiwu.
 
2010 YS Fall Mangfei. It's a good tea, I think. I didn't think much of it my first try, but with immediate comparisons, it's just not that bad. A better all around tea than yesterday's sampletea Yiwu. Just doesn't have the really nice flavor of Yiwu, but it *is* better than the flavors of, say, the YS Wuliang on my buds.
 
Drinking from an older, lesser known sheng cake I picked up on Taobao on MarshalN's recommendation. Very nice stuff--has seen more humid storage and is nicely aged, and for a very nice price. Still has some sheng character with very little in the way of bitterness. I like it!

Is this the "'95 Cheshunhao"?

I just had that tea this morning. I aired out my cake (no wrapper, open space) for two months and the sharpness and pungency has gone down a lot. The session I had this morning was very pleasant. Excellent mouthfeel and a big increase in smoothness. The cake is a bit inconsistent, so sessions are hit and miss, but with that sharpness fading, it seems to be a lot more hits. Good call from Marshaln on this one
 
I found it quite pleasant from the very first brew, but then I do drink some pretty funky wet-stored HK shu! Hi TwoDog2, you might know me as jayinhk on Teachat. ;)
 
I found it quite pleasant from the very first brew, but then I do drink some pretty funky wet-stored HK shu! Hi TwoDog2, you might know me as jayinhk on Teachat. ;)

Oh, hey Jay! Welcome!

I think either I am not attuned to funk or I got a particularly funky cake -both are possible. After airing out, it is very pleasant. When I first started with it, it was still pretty sharp - not to the point of being undrinkable, but i like it better without the sharpness.
 
'11 Dayi Jin Dayi: Has excellent body and texture. Light aroma, flavor is of the smoky and savory sort, and is relatively loud for a plantation. Seems Pasha based to me. Taste very much reminds me of my grandmother's home and is comforting. No green taste, pretty much aged maocha and some creativity here. Not very dynamic, some later brews behave a bit like the 7542-208, and later infusions are nicely sweet. Plenty of cooling from all the camphor resulting from the smoke. I'm not sure about qi, but I think it has some. It's worth having around, but it's very expensive. Will beat many teas, though, good taste, awesome feel in the mouth and throat. So better than the likes of Cloud's Blend from 2007 or Puersom Jingmai and most factory stuff. Not as good as Feng's 2011 from Nada, especially in terms of aging prospects (I'm not sure Jin Dayi will age in an interesting way other than mellowing and sweetening, with more camphor taste). Rather different than standards I'd compare it to, like Taipei Commemorative '06, since it's so much darker and savory. JinDayi would beat it on body, losing on aroma, more certain high quality aging prospects, and maybe qi. They are both relatively nondynamic in session. Also very different from Secret Fragrance 701, which is much greener, but has more interesting aroma, less body, much more dynamic in session. It's relatively similar to the '06 JinSeYunXiang, and maybe the PuTiYuan.
 
Second day of brewing a 98 8582 from Henry trading co. This is hong kong storage done well. The tea is completely mellow but still interesting. This tea won't be as interesting as the same cake more dryly stored fifteen years from now but it's perfect for now. The first 12!infusions where water in water out . Day two I'm stil keeping infusions to about ten seconds. The camphor is really just starting to come into the picture. While I have started to be able to Appreciate dry stored tea It will never compare to a tea like this.
 
"Seems Pasha based to me"
Shah, don't you think there is some bada area in it? i had this feeling when i tried it a few weeks ago, but i only tried it once..
+1 on the price!
 
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