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SOTD- sheng of the day

Some quick notes:

Mengsong tea ball that was paired with the good Mengsong in the white2tea tea club--not very good. Had some stewed veggie taste and was otherwise fairly generic, with a decent viscosity.

Green shroom from the white2tea tea club--this is a product that's similar to a 7542 and is rather made well. There isn't the qi of great gushu or anything, but it has guts and a solid flavor, and is exactly the sort of tea that you stock up on by the tong to drink at least fifteen years later. I suspect it's too expensive, were it actually for sale in quantity to really do that.

Today, I had one of my own teas, the '07 XZH 8582. Really good--it's basically about the caliber of the Qixiang or so. Early brews were acidic and kind of strong, and needed sort brewing times longer than I usually give it. Top taste was a very nice papery wood that's followed by a northern bulang aged sweetness, a tiny bit like Xishishenpin, but with a sort of fruit almost apricot edge. A little high on drying astringency, but it's productive in generating a lasting mouthcoat. The mouthfeel was really good with good viscosity and a characteristic texture (that's also present in the XZH Longfeng as well). The original taste dies down fairly quick, as usual, but I stayed drinking because there was a good light residual taste still happening. Aroma was good, and lasts past the time the rich taste part is over. XZH has a big time lead over other premium tea makers in terms of consistent teas with great aromas. Qi was mild to moderate. Aftertaste didn't really penetrate the throat, but it it does hit the top of the throat, and there is a little feeling going down.
 
I never thought about it, really. I take a number of pauses to take in what I have--to be on the tea, so to speak.

yes, that makes alot of sense and as much as it isn't meditation it is mindfulness surely. Thanks for your input.

2001 GU PU'ER "YIN HAO TUO" RAW PU-ERH TEA

This tea is from Yunnan Sourcing, dry aged material from Simao. Its a 50 gram tuo for 12 dollars which seems cheap but really, its a 50 dollars 200 gram cake or about a 80 dollar 357 gram cake so its affordable but definitely not a steal when its factored in with how I feel about it. Another interesting tea, learning experience wise, for a still young puerh taster.

It has a linen, sortve drying texture. Its not a linen I associate with a good yiwu, but more of a cotton mouth or what coffee nerds would find in an over extracted drip brew. Its decently comfortable is what I am saying, rather than being wholly enjoyable, which I have found in all "Guangfengzhai" I have tried. There are some dried fruit flavors in the first steeps and a decently thick body. There is not much aftertaste and obviously no qi, which I did not expect.

When I first got this I was happy with it. I was thinking of buying more. But having had more sessions and time with it have exposed more of it as a wholly uninteresting option, and when thought about in price/gram terms, there are just better options. There is a lot of drinkable older cakes on Yunnan Sourcing for only a little more money for a whole 357/400 gram cake, and white 2 tea still has a 2009 yiwu for 65 dollars and the 2005 Gaoshan Qingbing. Its hard to dig around in Yunnan Sourcing and Chawangshop back catalog, except for the ones that get press like the 2007 bamboo naka at Chawang or the 2002 yiwu ancient spirit at yunnan, but I guess most of the time it does not hurt, it is just 12 dollars. But a couple +-100 dollar +-10 year old cakes to get that puerh collection is alot better than this tuo.
 
Okay, some notes:

Did a retaste of the EoT Wild Wuliang the other day, and it was more balanced, in that it wasn't as savory as my first time, and enjoyable. Had good thickness and decent qi.

Did a retaste of EoT Wuliang H today, and my good opinion of it is unchanged. As northern tea goes, white2tea's Tyler is indubitably a stronger and more featured taste. They both have good viscosity, but this tea has fairly good qi. The aftertastes are also somewhat better. The top taste is rather subtle and slightly off the beaten path compared to more well known teas. I do think that the not!Tai Lian has a rather similar profile, but stronger and sharper in taste, with less viscosity, aftertaste, and qi. If I ever have reason to buy from EoT in the near future, I think I'm likely to add a couple of cakes of this to an order. I'll also seriously consider stamp collecting the kunlu wild.

A bunch of samples came in, and the first actually new tea is the 2008 XZH Lao Banzhang. This one was slightly disappointing. This seems to be a more bitter leaf version of lbz, and it has a lot of aromatic wood in aroma and taste, rather similar to the YQH 666, except this has a broader taste-stage with easily detected subtle notes around the broad floral wood note, and not as dense and dark tasting. Unlike the Taichi, Xishishenpin, or 666, this tea is not prone to being very sweet in that nutmeat fashion, more of a wine/fruit-tone sweetness in the finish. Like the 666, but less so, the '08 has a definite bitterness, but it's not that productive. The viscosity is okay, but not that impressive, and the texture wasn't as good as that '07 XZH 8582, for example. Thinking on how I didn't appreciate the lack of an interesting texture in the Xishishenpin, and how both the '08 LBZ and Xishishenpin sort got a more tactile feel late made me wonder if the texture I enjoy is an artifact of my own storage rather than an innate property of my teas. The tea does generate a lot of electric mouthfeel early, and at various points of the session there is a pleasurable evolution of feeling in the mouth involving cooling, sweet sensations and other things. Generally, the best thing about the tea is the quality of the qi. Not as strong as the Taichi or Xishishenpin, but it's very comfortable for me, particularly a bit later in the session. The worst thing about the tea is that the top taste dies very quickly into a small neutron star after about eight brews. Even then, I don't get *that* many more brews with light taste. It was pretty done by brew seventeen or eighteen, and I do mean pretty done. This is very nice tea but it's not really up to the standard where you have tea in the Venn Diagram intersection of "LBZ Teas" and "XZH Teas". The '06 Youle is, I think, a better tea in Menghai terms than this '08, never mind Taichi.
 
2004 Changtai Banzhang, sold by Farwenwha. This is a blend of about a quarter banzhang, forty percent lao man'e and the rest being bulang, I think. It's also a relatively well known and reviewed tea. I'm not much of a fan of this tea. It has a very solid flavor and aroma, but it's pretty full of retired smoke, with the rest being floral wood. Lots of depth, but not much complexity or sweetness. Okay viscosity. Not much in the way of aftertaste or qi. Entirely drinkable and enjoyable, but there are better things to spend money on.

Today, I had two very expensive teas...

The first was the 2007 YQH 600y Tree. This was something of a disappointment, taking price into consideration. I'll start with the fact that viscosity and mouthfeel are rather exceptional, though. Not quite super thick, but the mouthfeel has many similarities to the White2tea Untitled02, in how squishy marshmellow-y it is. The value proposition demands more than great mouthfeel. This tea doesn't have an interesting aroma, and the taste is rather subtle, especially in earlier brews. It's not that subtle in an eyecatching way, and it's not a tea that showed much in the way of nice aging in the taste. A bit deeper into the session, there is a nice camphor/floral wood note, but it's fairly light. The back end of the session had a very nice melon note to start, but that fades in subsequent brews. I've seen that some people believe it's bitter. There is bitterness, but it's not that strong, and actually less than what was in the '08 XZH LBZ, never mind Tiancang or 666. There's some good cooling, but the aftertastes are just as understated and mainly in the back of the mouth. The qi is not strong, either, ranging from low to moderate and with a bit of sneakiness, which is good. I've got some sense either that this tea wasn't the best processed or that it's asleep, even though it's more than nine and a half years old now. I'd consider a fair price to be a bit above what the Tiancang is. So maybe $450-$550? Certainly not what it is now.

The second tea today was the 2003 ChenYuanHao Yesheng. This is another tea that is well reviewed in a number of places, and it's famous for being one of the first modern gushu cakes. I wasn't particularly impressed by this tea, but others seriously like this tea a lot. I find that this tea has similarities to the 2001 and 2007 CYH teas I've had before, and I feel that this 2003 also has an overoxidation issue, like the 2001, but much less damaged. What was notable for me was that the early brews had relatively strong qi. The taste and aroma is dominated (even if on the thin side) by a deep fruit character. Plumminess with wine and barnyard notes, for example in the early session aroma, and premium Ceylon style dark fig notes in the taste. The viscosity is also decent to good in the early going. Thins mid-session, and improves to a nice mouthfeel in the long brews. The taste also thins, becomes more floral (in a way that recalls aged Yibang and YQH Tianpin, actually), but also because somewhat tart (a distinct honey taste also shows up) for a few brews, before steadying itself into a light slightly aged taste in the longer brews. The aftertaste game is limited to a decent mouthcoat that lingers for a bit. Overall, I wasn't as impressed with this tea as I was with the 2007 CYH Ziwang, which was a more consisently good brewer and had a good aftertaste game to go with it. Doesn't have as strong qi, though. Just a better all around tea. It would be...interesting, to put this Yesheng up against the YQH Tianpin. The florals in the Yesheng aren't tar like aged Yibang florals tend to be, but it does sort of feel like Yibang character.

I sort of knew this already, but ChenYuanHao is just not really my thing, but I've got one more tea to try at some point later on. I would much, much rather drink the '04 Dingji or '06 Wushang Miaopin than this '03 Yesheng. XZH Yiwus are also much better, though really different.
 
Today's star was the 2006 XZH White Wrapper Taichi "Yang". I really enjoyed it. Very light taste and aroma, which marks the chief reasons for inferiority to Black Wrapper (though when younger in 2010, they were roughly equally strong). Much lighter in taste/aroma than '08 XZH LBZ and for the YQH 600y. The taste is a sort of high sugar/green stem, soil, wood, as opposed to BW's nutmeat. It has really, really good qi, somewhat higher quality than the '08 and clearly better than the 600y. Didn't feel very drunk as is traditional for me, but very Zen. It was also very highly accomplished in aftertaste, and that stuff lingered so long. Much longer than the '08 LBZ and generally more elegant. Delivered pungent huigans, too, better than the Black Wrapper, which is lighter and less frequent. While the activity in the mouth/throat was good, the viscosity/texture is relatively inferior to BW and by far the 600y. It was still notably astringent also, but this astringency was productive for aftertastes. Durability seems to be good, but I haven't pushed too far along, and put it in the fridge.
 
I woke up too early, so I decided I had time to drink the YS 2016 Bingdao Laozhai. I had in mind comparing with the White2tea Heart of the City, but this tea is much more comparable to the Essence of Tea Wuliang H. The quality wasn't that good, considering the price, but I had to expect that since $170/400g is a very low price for anything Bingdao. The Chenyuanhao Bingdao is basically the same tea, but somewhat better, and with more qi. Okay, The aroma for the tea was decent at the start, tending to be green, floral, nut, with some trailing incense notes in various proportions through the first four or so brews. The taste is predominantly a deep, choco-tone, green, much like the EoT Wuliang '16 teas. This is a dynamic tea, and the session changes around that core greenness alot, finding tobacco, nuts, incens-y florals, some fruit tones, light caramel/rock sugar. Like with the 2006 EoT Bingdao, I do not find this tea to be very fruity, and am bewildered to read reports of it being so. There is a bit of bitterness in the first three or so brews, but it's fairly proper. What's a bit more disconcerting is the relatively strong drying astringency that makes its presence felt for much longer. The viscosity is a bit more than acceptable, and the tea does feel like warm whole milk in the mouth and throat. Early brews have an interesting cooling feel with its own aftertaste, but generally, this tea is left with that rock sugar finish/yiwu-style huigan as its best aftertaste, and not that strongly. I've found some nice very quick incense aftertastes. The qi isn't very strong. Just mild to moderate. Durability does seem to be pretty good, though I'm around 13 before typing this up before leaving for work.

Bottom line:
You really should spend more for the Eot 2006, Mr Feng's Selected Trees, or the CYH Bingdao rather than this, if you want a similar tea. The Wuliang H seems to be about 60% of the price and isn't much less inferior, and has aspects that is superior, like more qi. If you want great northern tea, one should scrounge around for the XZH '07, there are still some floating around. A Hungarian outfit has perhaps problematically dry-stored Huangshanlin (and 8582), and a Taiwanese oolong seller is selling off a tong of Xishangmeishao (for $300 a cake, I think?).
 
Two very nice teas of the day today.

The first is a 4g sample of the 2009 YQH 888 Gongpin. Overall, it is rather similar to the 2004 Zhencang Chawang and the 2003 Chen Yuan Hao Yesheng. The tea is more of a standard aged plumminess that I've found in the ZC rather than the more strong fruitiness found in the Yesheng. On the other hand, the energy in the mouth and throat is more aggressive and wild with evaporative cooling feel more similar to the Yesheng. Anyways, going to what the broad qualities are like... The early aroma is plummy with a relatively nice, floral wood background to it, and this feature lasts about four to five brews. That tended to be in the taste as well. However, the taste is relatively long and does some shimmering in flavors, sort of like that '07 CYH Ziwang. At around the same point in the session as the Yesheng, about the sixth brew, some bitter tart creeps in (also a quick moment of light vegetal sourness). Eventually, in the longer brews, the taste is a light yiwu plum with some kinks in the depths, such as it is. The viscosity is moderate to good, and it has a very good texture, sort of pudding, sort of oil. There is a tendency for some drying astringency. There is some cooling, almost as if it was a Bingdao or something, along with other mouth activity, and it also makes for a very strong feeling down the throat. The aftertastes aren't that impressive, mostly with a light vanilla yiwu-style huigan that is similar to how the ZC does it, but not as strongly. Qi is roughly moderate level, but of a very good quality, easing the body and a little action in the head as well, with little overtness. The durability is good, roughly about the same as the Zhencang, maybe about 15-18 brews or so, with an option to push for thirty if you really want, on a good set of leaves.

On of the thing that really comes up trying out superpremium tea is that past a certain level, it gets pretty hard to say anything is definitively better than anything else. I was doing a lot of comparing with my last session of the Zhencang Chawang, and I think, overall, I'd rather have the Zhencang Chawang, or at least mine. It's a bit more solidly sweet, and performs a bit better on aftertastes--both pungent and yiwu-style. The viscosity is a bit better and smoother, and it's stronger in terms of qi. The 888 has better aroma, has a nice woodiness that the ZC does not have. It is more energetic in mouth and throat. It's also more of a complex tasting tea in subtle ways. 888 is better than the CYHs, less wonky than the '03, and broader taste-stage than the '07 Ziwang, but '07 Ziwang has better aftertastes, I think.

The second tea was the 2006 YQH Longtuan Fengjian. This is some sort of northern tea. I at first thought Bingdao area, but vacillated, and now, with the aid of the YQH product description, I'm inclined toward Qianjiazhai. I liked it a lot, and I think it would complement my stash of northern tea because it's much less focused on sweetness than all of my XZH teas. It's too expensive for me to buy unless I give up on the idea of buying other stuff I intended to buy, and I'm not sure I *like* it enough like that... Okay, the aroma tends to be fairly low, alot like how the '04 Dingji is, but after the first brew, the aroma also has this really nice floral-wood-chicory note which definitely carries into the taste. The taste is fairly deep and dark, with that afor-mentioned note, and there tends to be many flavor notes lurking in the depth, including fruit and rock sugar notes, hence reminding me of Bingdao, especially early. After about six to eight brews the nice wood note is gone as a firm character in the soup, and it becomes relatively vague but rich depth. Bitterness does show up in spurts, eventually, but not strongly. This is a thick tea, if not quite as thick as the 600y, but not especially expressive in texture. Mouth activity isn't too special, but this tea also punches down throat well. Aftertaste seems to be limited to that sort of northern tea trick of turning sweet, but not as expressively as XZH northern tea can. I don't remember much else, though. The qi is strong, but is a bit lower quality than the earlier tea today. The durability is quite indefinite, particularly the viscosity, but I don't find the long infusions as desirable to drink as the 888 or the white taichi, even though especially the latter was weaker in flavor. This is roughly around the same quality level of the XZH Jinggu Nuercha or the '09 gift set sheng, but is a much more savory tea. I vaguely think that the '07 YQH mushroom is very slightly similar to this.
 
Another day filled with nice and quite potent teas! The first tea of the day was the YQH 2012 Tianshan Yizhen. To put it short, this was a big, broad, and very pure tasting southern Bulang (Manmu, Mannuo, around there) relatively close to, say, the EoT offerings. Nada, I think, would find this tea very appealing.

Okay, from the top... The aroma isn't a huge factor with this tea, and to the extent that it's there, it has some nice barnyard and other typical Bulang-y smells. The taste is very Bulang with a sort of choco depth that provides the background for what is a big and magnificent woody bitterness. As one gets into the session a bit, a very nice tobacco character also shows up. After about five or six brews, everything softens up and there are a few more layers with hints of sweet Menghai flavors. This is not a sweet tea. It's not austere, but it's not as sweet as the smaller and narrower EoT Bulangs, for instance. Not even in terms of the winey notes one can find in southern Bulangs. It's a very classy tea that's like driving one of those huge boxy luxury Buicks. The viscosity is very good, and only slightly less than the 600y, but there isn't an interesting texture like that tea. A bit of a drying finish The primary weakness of this tea is that there is very little aftertaste. A bit of a sweet finish, maybe a bit of mouthcoat, but that's it. There is some feeling down the throat, but the qi is quite good for about ten or so brews, and then sort of moderates down. The durability seems to be good, but I haven't really gotten that deep into it, with no back end to the brew.

The second tea was the YQH 2005 Yuanshi Senlin Huangshan. I wasn't really that into this tea. Like the 888, this is pretty close (and closer) to the Zhencang Chawang, and this particular session isn't as good as my best sessions with my own tea. However, this tea does have a lot of people who are fans of it. The main reason they are fans of this is that this has a strong qi for a yiwu. It might be the strongest qi of any of YQH's yiwu production, excluding the 2010 Bohetang, which I've not had. This qi is also of a very good quality. The second thing that makes me think well of this tea is that the mouthfeel is very round, and there is almost no drying astringency, and it goes down quite easily. What makes me think poorly of the tea is that the top taste and aroma is not generally very good, aside from some very nice violet flower floral character in the aroma and taste in certain cups. The aftertastes are also not particularly impressive, with only a bit of vanilla yiwu-style huigan that lasts as a mouthcoat. So I find that this tea isn't particularly well-rounded. It's probably a good idea to show this a firm hand when brewing--longer brews did generate a bit more of a tendency to be interesting.

Would I purchase any of these recently reviewed YQH? Probably not. Almost a thousand dollars for 600y, TY, or Xishishenpin? No, when you're talking a thousand, even Xizihao straight from the source is competitive, never mind maybe trying for an older tea with some real maturity. None of these are overwhelmingly good, either. The Xishishenpin is the best, but I have comparable tea already. At $500 or less, I'd be most likely to buy the 666 were I a serious shopper. Among Yiwus, the most compelling tea for me is Wushang Miaopin, but at $840, no way. So I'd be more leaning towards, Dingji, then Shenpin, then Teji, then the '05 reviewed today, mostly out of a general interest in darker tea. I guess I'm most intrigued by yesterday's '06 Longya Fengjian, but it simply feels too expensive to me.
 
Finished up the Tianshan Yizhen, gave at least five good brews with qi before heading off to work. Really rather happy with this tea, and wish the price of cakes were lower.

Got off work early, so I decided on more tea in the evening. 2016 YS Walong. I wasn't really impressed. James of Teadb said that the EoT Manlin was a bit under the quality of the Walong, and I gotta emphasize that it's only a bit. It's got a somewhat yang element to a light floral character in the aroma, which is good for about six-seven brews. The taste is pretty consistent first half being a relative standard dark Manzhuan choco/wild honey flavor. The second half hollows out and the taste is more floral. There are some subtleties, but not very much. It takes a couple of brews for bitterness to set in for a few brews, but it's not very much, not very penetrating into the throat, and it doesn't generate that much aftertaste, which stays in mouth. So it's a good, if unexciting experience in terms of taste. The viscosity is generally pretty decent. Not superthick, but it certainly has substance, and it's smooth, early, but might get a little harsh in the throat astrigency-wise later on. Aftertastes are weak and close to the finish, not too much lingering. Not really a strength. The qi is mild-moderate, at least until about six or seven brews, making for a bit of relaxation. One nice thing was the aroma at the bottom of the finished cup in the second brew or so. Very nice and clear.

It's better than the same year Bingdao, tho' a bit more expensive per gram. In general, YS's more expensive teas do not tend to have a great quality to price ratio. The sweet spot in the YS catalog definitely tends to be the odd tea from a not that famous place from $50-$90/400g.

Also, Manzhuan area teas tend to be overhyped. Most of Manzhuan is just too low for awesome tea, and whatever that makes Xigui works out at low elevation, certainly doesn't exist there. It's really rather rare to find a Manzhuan with genuine verve, and these are probably ridiculously expensive and exclusive. Gedeng tends to be similar to Manzhuang and is usually...much more interesting (when you have a good example).
 
Depends on what a person is looking for. I quite love the punchy 2014 Manzhuan from white2tea and wish I'd purchased more than one. It's one of those teas that the bodily effects pay off more than anything. Takes the edge off the achy old girl, and with a bit of caffeine I feel twenty years younger for a little while. A few of us older folks look for teas like this, the ones with arthritis swear on certain productions as taking enough of the edge off to be able to get up and do a few things.

Enjoyable notes, guys!
 
Some quick notes

1) Bitterleaftea's Bohetang is not an acceptable product. It starts off being more interesting than the YS Walong, but within a few brews becomes erratic and florals, and after a few more brews, a very flat taste. Also, in my very limited ability to judge, I think this is summer leaves, not fall. It's fairly astringent and otherwise behaves like the few examples of summer-ish teas I've had, like the Dayi '08 Autumn Aroma. It's sort of interesting as a sample, but as a cake purchase... This should be a reminder not to chase teas from famous areas without a commitment towards paying the sort of requisite prices for them. White2tea's Last Thoughts, for example, is on the *lower* end of truly premium Yiwu teas by the border. You also need sufficient knowledge of what quality means, too, so you can both tell what's really good from premium areas, and what lesser known areas gives you what you want.

The YS '16 Da Qing Gushu isn't a great tea. It has a thinner taste and viscosity, and not a really great or interesting aroma. The qi tends to be mild-moderate, but it's not a great quality, and peters out after five or so brews. This tea does much better after seven or eight brews in terms of taste, viscosity, and aftertaste, so I surmise that brewing with a strong hand is probably the way to go. I got about five more "better" brews. It's just too expensive for what it really gives back, even though it's $78/400g. That's cheaper than better Jinggu from YS and elsewhere, but you're still better off buying the '11 Jinggu from YS, or the Bana Limited '08, etc, etc, etc, for a bit more money.

2003 Chen Yuan Hao DaShuCha. Fairly Mahei-ish sort of tea. Very clean and pure, especially for the time it was made. Rather balanced aged Yiwu plums and a slightly floral wood in the top taste, fairly solid taste, too. Decent viscosity, and usually very smooth and round, with little astringency. Not a huge amount of sophistication in terms of complex cups or huge dynamicism. A few cups had some very nice small notes, and the Mahei tendency towards milk notes waxed and waned after the first few brews. Not hugely durable, something like thirteen to fifteen brews before becoming unbalanced/astringent. Qi was light, but it was of good quality. This was a pleasant session, all in all. However, Mahei, or that particular blend of Yiwu aged plums and wood/soil notes, is not really my thing. If I had gotten it cheap, I'd like and enjoy it, but this is fairly expensive.
 
2008 JingMeiTang GuangBien LaoZhai bulang area tea, and has been stored in Guangdong. Not a strong taste or aroma, at least at first. Progressively gets more flavor as the session goes on. The taste is your basic northern bulang taste of grains, soil, lightly floral wood. Wood note becomes stronger to a point. Also becomes sweeter flavored deeper in the session. Viscosity is pretty good, but texture isn't remarkable. Aftertaste starts after about three brews and tends to be a winey note at the top of the throat, and maybe a sweet feeling at the tip of the tongue. Qi isn't there at the beginning, but builds to a bit later on. I didn't really go that deep into the tea. It's pleasant enough, but it's nowhere near as good as the '06 that Houde sold, and some of that has to do with storage. I think it might have been too ventilated? Much less rich and honey/grains/sweet nutmeat than I would have expected, maybe it flew away?

I would have gotten back to it, but...

I was making samples, and I wound up collecting some XZH Youle fannings, intending to make a quick comparison with all of the elite tea recently drunk. This Youle is just not very Mengla, and probably should not be compared as a Yiwu against other Mengla teas. It behaves...mostly sort of like a banzhang. Flavor is very different--base taste is essentially dried apples, a light bit of grains, floral soil. Outstanding potency in throat, recalling some of the more physical sessions I've had with the tea when younger. The huigan deep in the chest is very physical. Lots of cooling in mouth and on lips. Not super viscous, but the mouthfeel is also outstanding, sort of an oily velvet and very pleasant to hold in mouth. I spoke of the pungent huigans, which returns flavor, but there is also a strong mouthcoat game that leads to a long lasting taste in my mouth. Durability, as last time, is essentially indefinite, and late infusions have a very pleasant sweentness. Qi is moderate to strong, and of high quality (and is in every cup, even deep in the session, like last time).

It was a pretty outstanding session. Aroma could have been better--was sort of awkwardly meaty-umami this time.
 
2015 Milk, Cream and Alcohol

I bought this with the thought that I would try it about once a year and see where it goes, until its maybe 6-10 years old. Both as a way to see if my own thoughts on what makes a tea ageable is correct and a way to see where my storage takes a tea.
I really liked this when I first had it. I drank through a sample very quickly in September of 2015. A lot of menghai flavors that I usually get: pandanus, durian like prickly texture and sweet sugary grains. I remarked that it seemed like a botique vendors take on a big factory recipe, burlier and ageable when compared to the poundcake for example. Already, after a year and a half I get none of the burliness: no astringency and no smoke. It is juicy, simple and lemony, although I pick up no sourness at all which is nice. I still really like it and I could essentially drink it everyday. I almost like it more than the 2007 Repave, as this is just a smart and cheap menghai blend.
Despite being light in taste I think this still has power. Its thickened and the aftertaste is pronounced. Some oil mid session. There really is not qi coming off of it but I was not paying too much attention during the session. Overall I am more interested to see where this goes than I am excited or wanting to put it aside. Can something this yummy now age nicely? My next session will be late spring/early summer next year.
 
Quick notes:

YS 2016 Shan Hou jinggu tea. I enjoyed this more than I did the Da Qing gushu. It had a solid aroma and taste, and good viscosity. Not much aftertaste and little/no qi. YS specifically mentioned that these were not from overpicked bushes, and I wonder if the Da Qing material did, and that's why it had the kind of problems it did with distant character. Shan Hou is more or less worth the money, same as with usual surprisingly decent lower/mid-end Mengku or Yongde cake in YS offerings from year to year.

I had a sample that was labeled '07 CYH, and was told it was the Ziwang. However, the tea was not very much like my previous sample of Ziwang. I did use about a gram more than I usually do, and I do have a very slight case of the sniffles. I don't think either should throw things this out of whack. Anyways, there was a lot of Youle sensibility, or at least what I'd consider a Youle sensibility. Had a strong aroma and a very solid taste. The performance was pretty consistent. Viscosity starts off good, and it's pretty nicely thick in the long brews. I didn't get much aftertaste at all, and only got a bit of it in the back end of the sample, and it was the same way with qi. There's not a lot to say about the uncertainty, but I would say this about the XZH Youle, in that it's like a classical Yiwu (such as you'd find in the CYH '03, etc) in the sense that a preserved fruit sensibility is at the center of the taste stage. Except where it's a certain sort of plum note, the Youle is apple (to me, can definitely be thought of as some other fruit).

The tea I had today was called Little Red Mark, dunno who made it or how old it is. Tastes like a much cleaner and nicer version of my Dingxing, so at least older than 2002, vaguely remember something something mid-80s. Who knows. It was a fairly pleasurable aged tea though, with a little of that something something aged feel and qi. Not very much, but if it doesn't cost too much, well worth having around.
 
2016 EoT Wuliang B, finished off the last bit. Still not very good, best thing about it is that it has qi and it's cheap.

2010 fall YS Xikong. I think this tea has problems deriving from the sort of processing that I find common among 2009, 2010 YS productions, and 2010 EoT production, with the most distinct feature being a problematic, almost soapy floralness. It was mostly enjoyable, though, and the base material is clearly better than that found in the 2009 Road to Yiwu productions or, say, that 2010 Youle. Had a fairly strong strawberry bent, a bit like how the XZH Jingmai does things, with woodsy florals around it. Tended to have a tang that stops just short of sour, but no bitterness, and the tang created a focus, much as a proper rod of bitterness would. Viscosity is good, and with a decent texture, generally. Does a lot of the aftertaste in the mouth, sometimes with a pleasant wine sensibility. Does do a bit of feeling down throat. Good qi early through mid session, but falls off late. Also late, it becomes less fruity and more like bad floral Ceylon. I generally enjoyed this session anyways, and even badly processed teas can still deliver some really good sessions if you're lucky with the leaf on that day.

Today was 2007 XZH 7542. The second and third brews had a bit of real sour, and the taste was generally pretty distant and delicate, so I thought I was in for some more disappointment. However, the durability of this tea (which I've always known, but forcibly reminded) is excellent, with lots of really good cups very deep into the session of at least twenty brews. Always ready to be sweet with some nutmeat, always having some foresty florals expanding in the mouth, and other delicate maneuvers. Generally the soup was thick, but not notable textured, aside from being fairly astringent. Astringency was productive, though, and generated a lot of good aftertaste. Strong feeling down throat and there was a consistent and very comfortable qi. I figured I can get another few more brews, so stuffed this pot in the fridge.

Heh, Houde had restocked a bit of that XZH '08 gongting shu, for a reasonable price of $19/2oz, and gone in two days.
 
2015 Mengsong from Chawangshop

This smells rich and fruity. The wet leaf is more cereals and lots of Menghai pungency. It starts out (steep 1-3) with a simple sugary richness. It has a citric flavor, but is not sour. Maybe some pineapple. The sweetness really peaks and builds between steeps 2 and 3 and is pretty strong. Can be cooling. A lot of side tongue activity. Bitterness and astringency come later. Also comes a little warming and eye blurriness. It also opens up in thickness (getting a little buttery and oily) and with a pronounced after taste, a typical quality menghai of pulsating waves of ripe fruit and a lot of lemon. The more citric elements are less generic menghai and more specifically mengsong, to me. It leaves the mouth feeling squeaky and the drying builds starting steep 4 and dying down again at about steep 9.

I was inspired by Cwyn to buy some tea from chawang. I got 550 grams of tea for $70 including shipping ($13./g). That includes "gushu" huang pian that is utterly delicious and simple and tea that is soon to be 23 years old. Definitely amazing value and one can buy from chawang and feel all the philosophy of buying puerh, whether its contemplating storable tea, value tea, how much to spend $/g, etc, melt away as their answer is: cheap and delicious (and i would bet, ageable).
 
Since it was T-day, I decided on something good today, which was the Theasophie 2011 fall LBZ. Very much a kucha tea with not that much sweetness in it. Darker heavier flavor of bulang choco, grains, soil. There are subnotes of berries and florals here and there. Firm rod of bitterness, but clean and sharp like Mengsong and not aspirin-y like Lao Man'e. The viscosity tends towards a thicker soup, but not too much distinguishing texture. However, there is a relatively high level of astringency that should help that texture thing out in a decade. This astringency isn't very productive in terms of generating aftertastes. The aftertastes largely tends to be woodsy menghai florals from the bitterness in the mouth. Qi is moderate to strong and fairly relaxing and of decent to good quality. Tea lasted about eighteen brews or so before I didn't want to drink more.

This is a pretty tidy tea, at about the premium level, say baohongyinji or so. The tastestage is pretty narrow, though, and it doesn't compare all that well to superpremium brand Menghai teas, not least because they're sweeter.
 
Yesterday I had the Mannuo. Starts off with a very sweet aroma and taste that is sort of a cross between Yibang and that white2tea mengsong. The taste dies down very quickly, and later brews are fairly empty with a nice, if light, floralness. Viscosity is decent and the tea's smooth. Aftertastes are okay and the qi is good.

I decided to poke around in my storage and took a look at my EoT 2010 cakes. The edges of the cakes are coming apart and there are lots of loose tea in the wrappers. The Mansai and Manmai had lots of copper leaves, but the Banwei was...green. Were these teas processed by wholly different teams? Anyhoo, I decided to test the Bangwei with four grams. Basically green tea, sad to say. Not undrinkable, and there are likely to be better sets of leaves in the cake, but certainly tuition tea.

Today I did the '07 XZH Huangshanlin. This tea starts out, hmm, again (a theme with teas of my storage), fairly tart. Certainly would have injured poor Jakub Tomek's tongue! Anyways, the tea seems to have darkened quite a bit, and what was typically an herbal aroma was today a deep plumminess and light wood tones--not all that dissimilar to the 2007 Qishengu sold at EoT. This is in the taste a bit, but some early brews dominated by tartness, because it's not (and was never) a rich tasting tea. The tartness, however was quite productive in generated aftertastes, so it largely just played the role of bitterness. Definitely one of the very best aftertaste game I've ever gotten in puerh. Will generate feeling down throat, move around the mouth, both tactile, cooling, and flavor-wise. The flavors are complex and evolving, so many sips takes a long time to appreciate. This session is a little less spectacular than the norm with this tea, but still impressive. The viscosity is okay, but the texture tends to be slick, and as one gets deeper into the session, fairly soft and creamy. The qi was moderate to strong early on, but late in the session had a strong peak, perhaps as a cumulative effect. Durability is great. Light tasting late infusions are creamy soil minerals, sometimes with some sweetness to it, and is much like long infusions of yancha, like the last time I drank this tea. Almost certainly between twenty and twenty five brews today.

I brewed with the YQH Longya Fengjian from '06 in mind. That tea is much richer tasting and smelling than the XZH, with a little bitterness and no tart. Qi is about the same early on, maybe the YQH is a bit stonger. The YQH also is thicker viscosity. However, it doesn't have the interesting texture, is much less dynamic (and easier to get bored with), and doesn't have a real aftertaste game except for right after the finish. The qi in the XZH is more durable throughout the session, and is of somewhat higher quality.
 
Black Friday/Cyber Monday @ white2tea.com emptied my meager accrued tea budget fund...

I am very happy with Paul's new releases, I look forward to seeing how his "chocobrick" pressings pan out, If they are any good, I want to get some for my lighter tea drinking friends as gifts to see if it isn't a way to get more people going deeper without having to be afraid of committing right away to a whole gongfu setup.

I ended up going with ordering:
2016 Sister Brother set of 2 100g bricks
2016 ChocoBrick Ripe Puer 100g brick
2016 Brown Sugar 200g brick
2015 Channel Orange 100g brick

Well done Paul, you got me to order stuff I wouldn't usually order just because your stuff looks clever... Nice work on this round of advertising.
 
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