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SOTD- sheng of the day

ouch

Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
Hope it's not a problem if I join you.

Today it is 2006 Hai Lang Hao's Laobanzhang (thanks, hster!). A really nice tea, but its charms seem to become a bit muted with oncoming brews. Will have to drink more of it.

Howdy!

Welcome aboard.
 
Had most of the rest of the 2001 Mengku Yellow in Green today. Less astringent, a bit more qi and feeling in throat, but flavor is calmer, less woody, and much less sweet. A subtle tea this time around. I like it, but I wouldn't pay *that* much for it...
 
I purchased a decent amount of this as I love the mouth feel , huigan and qi of this sheng . The flavours although still quite subtle and simple , are also very nice !
 
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I purchased a decent amount of this as I love the mouth feel , huigan and qi of this sheng . The flavours although still quite subtle and simple , are also very nice !

I tried this only once, right after the samples were first available. To me, this seemed almost like a green tea. Did you feel that way? Did you buy it to drink now or do you think it can age well? (the age-old question, I know)
 
SOTD: XZH 2010 "Risk One's Life to Pursue" (or is it "Risk One's Wallet to Pursue"?) - From a sample. I revisited this sample today. It struck me as rather sweet and light. It had good mouthfeel but did not have that much complexity. Overall it was a rather light tea although perhaps not quite as light as the HuangShanLin or KuZhuShan. Surprisingly the qi was really quite light. Durability was decent. Oh, this did not seem to be as dark as the Lao Wu Shan Gu.
FWIW - On the SanHeTang website it states: 產區: 易武正山. 蠻磚正山.倚邦正山.革登正山. 莽枝正山
So it would seem that this is a blend from Yiwu, Manzhuan, Yibang and Gedeng. (copy and paste into the MDBG website if you don't read Chinese)
 
2012 YS Man Zhuan -

Very pale tea soup with nice fruit/flower aroma. A bit light in flavor but nice with a predominance of fruit and grain. It slightly reminds me of the '11 fall Xi Kong.
 
Today was the Haiwan HOP '01. About the same as my review, but less unpleasantly astringent, with less sourness as well. Broadly speaking, a mengsong tea, but not as good as the Dayi '05 Peacock.

EdoB, It really annoys me when various vendors give conflicting information about where anything is from. I'm not sure I'd blame Guang this time, as virtually all vendors of Sanhetang product will say something different than what Sanhetang sez from time to time. Sanhetang may just be very loosey goosey about what they tell resellers. Now, I'm inclined to compare this tea with the YQH GuShu Chawang '06. That is a light tea as well, but can be substantially complex, and can have killer qi. Sounds like it's much less durable, though, in comparison to the XZH.

I do think that pretty much all of those Mengku/JingGu teas when very young tastes like green tea. QiShengGu just sounds a bit expensive for what it is. How does it compare to your memory of the YS Nanpozhai/Mushucha when new?

I found it interesting that you think the Huangshanlin is light. It is, usually, pretty light, and was *definitely* on the light side when I first purchased it. Last few brews have been lower in tastes though (compared to Puzhen, XiShangMeiShao, Kuzhushan), so it makes me think about differences in storage.
 
SotD: five of the best, with Apache. The 2003 "Jin Dayi" was the clear winner - really rather excellent. I won't terrify you by recounting how much Apache paid for it. :)


Toodlepip,

Hobbes
 
I spoiled myself today...

2002 Tai Lian. Good as usual. I really should just break open that bing some and tin it so it'd be even better, but I'm worried the cookie jar will be taunting me every time I select a tea, so, just getting my fix offa the bing is fine, I think.


2006 XZH Youle. I can tell you all that I paid $1.23 for my seven grams. There was only one real flaw--a tendency for some citric tartness. Otherwise, no bitterness, decent if not great thickness, only a touch of dryness in the finish. Good, complex aroma early on, but not too strong. The flavor was more complex than usual, with mulled cider being the base, with camphor (of the temple wood kind) and sweet florals (mostly in the finish/huigans) providing midrange and high notes. There was spice, like what you'd find in good Mengsong teas. A touch of caramel, and even some nice chocolate notes. The qi hits nearly as hard as LBZ does, and I was slightly unsteady on my feet when I got water, but much nicer--it didn't try to choke me today. Life was good. Not excepting the figs on my tree that all exploded from the excess rains we've been having in Atlanta. C'est la vie. For me, clearly better than the 2003 Wistaria tuo (well, always had been), and just not too many hedons seperate this from the 2004 YQH (more sweetness, thickness, and complexity of taste, quality of qi is better) and the 1999 Changtai Song Charactered (mostly the same as YQH, but not complex in taste).

/me knee to the altar, light the cigar and place it in the serving dish, used a capful of Aberlour 15(no peat smell, please) as libation over a tea-pet effigy of Tony Chen, carefully arraign the plastic flowers and the Penthouse mags, said my Xie Xie Ni, and carefully backs away...
 
Trudged through the last of my YS 2012 Yiwu purple sample, still really sour, as was the first session. I am not sure if it is too young or poorly processed, or where that acerbic flavor is coming from? I ditched it after about 6 steeps because I wasn't feeling it. On another forum somebody mentioned really loving this tea and was curious if anyone else here has tried it and wanted weigh in?
 
Today it is Menghai 7542 - 96 and 97 versions tasted side by side. Interesting comparison of pretty much incomparable teas.
 

ouch

Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
SotD: five of the best, with Apache. The 2003 "Jin Dayi" was the clear winner - really rather excellent. I won't terrify you by recounting how much Apache paid for it. :)


Toodlepip,

Hobbes


Go ahead- we're hard to scare.
 
My sample of the 00 kunming lan yin never had a pinesol taste, but man, my experience, even though it was the second puerh I ever had, was pretty radically different from everyone else's!

Today, I ran with my go-to shu in the morning, and 6 more infusions of Youle after dinner. I think the Man Ning actually would blend quite well with that Youle! Give it a less austere taste and receive a bit more oomph and backbone.
 
Guanzizai Yiwu mini-cake of (I think) 2005. Got that plummy, calm-but-strong character you hope for with Yiwu. The whole leaves, in amongst the chop, look about right, curvy, long and slender. I'm easily fooled, easily pleased with sheng, but this one seems like it's at least half of the real deal. A good quaff getting better.

Regards to all

Rob
 
SOTD: Xiaguan Teji Tuo from 2007. It is mellow enough, but could probably use another few years. I am drinking it because it was the easiest thing to stuff into my bag. I will probably just finish it off when i need "tea that will do in a pinch"
 
When I said it had a pinesol taste. I didn't mean it in a bad way.
sotd 06 shun sui yi Wu from tea urchin. This tea was stored in moacha form in banna. Seems to be a fair chunk of old tree in the mix. But Unfortunately. It lost allot of its kick from being stored as moacha I still enoyed the tea andnwould probably purchase it if it was a little bit cheaper.
Now I'm digging into the cabinet for some Yan qing hao to brew.


Actually this tea starts to pick up steam around infusion seven thethe Hui gan becoming stronger and the initial flavor becoming more complex. This tea is interesting. I think this actually may be worth getting a cake these later brewers are good. I like it when a tea picks up as the infusions go on rather than fading.
 
90s Menghai 8972 brick -

Hong Kong stored....it took about a year of airing out to remove the heavy "wet" storage odor and flavor. I smelled it yesterday and it reminded me of a shu....so I tried it. The tea soup is nearly the color of shu. Lots of wood notes with a touch of spice and some sweetness...with almost no storage flavor. It's actually pretty interesting. Now...I'm glad I have it.
 
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