2013 YS Nanpozhai. This was my best session of Nanpozhai either from '11 or '13. It did a little special stuff, but very minute and subtle. A little qi, a little bit of an interesting aftertaste after the bitter, especially on the back end. One has to concentrate on the tea. Not really worth chasing after with lots of money, but can give at least a little happy.
SOTD- sheng of the day
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1998 Red Label 8582. Although this is too browned for me for my personal tastes, I did enjoy this one. Expecting the heavy storage and the greater liveliness from getting a rest and breathing time made a difference. The tea had a bit of qi, a lengthy taste into a certain sort of aftertaste, and I felt good while drinking it. The top taste had limited excitement, but there were a couple of tropical fruit toned sips here and there, a little nice wood. Mostly just earth and dog biscuitty taste though. People who like a lot of clean humidity should enjoy this cake, at least.
I finished off most of the rest of my Last Thoughts sample, 4g in a gaiwan. I'd still be inclined to buy this tea.
It's not as dark tasting, and there were no chocolate or menghai tones. There was also less muscatel. It was just much more essence of Yiwu. There was less astringency than I'd expected, though the bitterness is still pretty firm, if not that bitter, and it stays about 10 brews. Much less strength in bitterness than the XZH Jinggu Nu'ercha, when it's of a mind to be bitter, for example. The note that I thought of as resin is just the classical Yiwu leather element, just with more nice oomph to it, as well as with some rock character. The tea doesn't really have a strong top taste or strong top aroma, and without the dark notes, is even more similar to Yangqinghao Yiwus. For all of that, there was still some decent depth, with flavors to find in the layers. The qi is gentle and pretty good. Not too strong, but gripping and warming. The aftertastes and lingering taste in the mouth is what is spectacular about this tea. Very floral in the superlative way that the XZH Jingmai is, only less dry, less spice, and more fleshy, lush. The endurance is okay, I stopped at eight like I thought I should and continued later. The show's still over at about eleven or twelve, but I had at least three more cups of flavor, and I put the gaiwan in the fridge for the night. The late infusions had superlative velvety texture, even though the tea is never that thick. I do wonder what this will be like in eight years.
It's not as dark tasting, and there were no chocolate or menghai tones. There was also less muscatel. It was just much more essence of Yiwu. There was less astringency than I'd expected, though the bitterness is still pretty firm, if not that bitter, and it stays about 10 brews. Much less strength in bitterness than the XZH Jinggu Nu'ercha, when it's of a mind to be bitter, for example. The note that I thought of as resin is just the classical Yiwu leather element, just with more nice oomph to it, as well as with some rock character. The tea doesn't really have a strong top taste or strong top aroma, and without the dark notes, is even more similar to Yangqinghao Yiwus. For all of that, there was still some decent depth, with flavors to find in the layers. The qi is gentle and pretty good. Not too strong, but gripping and warming. The aftertastes and lingering taste in the mouth is what is spectacular about this tea. Very floral in the superlative way that the XZH Jingmai is, only less dry, less spice, and more fleshy, lush. The endurance is okay, I stopped at eight like I thought I should and continued later. The show's still over at about eleven or twelve, but I had at least three more cups of flavor, and I put the gaiwan in the fridge for the night. The late infusions had superlative velvety texture, even though the tea is never that thick. I do wonder what this will be like in eight years.
2007 Wild Tea from Henry Trade Corp.: It tastes nice. Easy entry in the mouth. No astringency, simple, and straight. It is a drink-it-now, don't-look-for-any-complexity tea. An office tea. There are a lot of tea like this from the 2004-2010 (maybe even now) period. I believe it is a technique introduced to wow newbies/people-who-come-from-green/oolong/black-tea. Most of these tea made with it, if not all, fall into the category of drink-it-now.
finished off the Last Thoughts, about five more brews. Not much flavor, some texture, sweetness, and qi. Since it was smooth all the way though, I drank and enjoyed these light infusions.
2002 Zhongcha 7542. Having broken it up, it finally feels like it's awake and mellowed, maybe. Was not as sharp as it usually is, and of course, the aftertaste wasn't as complex, but it's much easier to drink and enjoy. The back end had a great deal of plum on offer.
2002 Zhongcha 7542. Having broken it up, it finally feels like it's awake and mellowed, maybe. Was not as sharp as it usually is, and of course, the aftertaste wasn't as complex, but it's much easier to drink and enjoy. The back end had a great deal of plum on offer.
White Whale today. I mostly just like it. Pot dampens the oily feel and sharpness of green camphor, compared to gaiwan. Has more caffeine the qi, but still a pretty good and even burn. Lasts in mouth and throat. Later brews had a slight plummy tone. Drying astringency early on, and this really could use another decade...
An Xiang sheng, a very good session, with good body in taste and texture. Very fruity for something not soggy, and the soup was thick and soft. The anti-ADD mind clarity happened, and a slight bit of qi. Some feeling did sink into the throat. Just still a bit green and bitter. The back end of the session was very sweet. I think this has had a handful of Menghai Dayi's banzhang area eco-tea, and there was more of it in this set of leaves I brewed than usual. This is clearly going to be a good aged tea, and I bet people storing in slightly more humid places are enjoying this even more.
Two teas of the day...
I started off by brewing some TU LSD maocha, which, in its first two brews, was really quite decent this time, only to spot the mailman leaving a nice parcel from the UK. Which turned out to be maocha from Essence of Tea pressings. Three of them, labeled Yuan Wei, Long Lan Xu, and Du Quan. I just picked the LSD out of the pot and started up the Yuan Wei...
Before receiving this package, communications with Nada revealed that these maocha had been in the car while his house was being painted, for several, hot, days. Afterwards, the maocha tasted flat and the brew was darker than it should be. We communicated about how this could happen, whether the tea was shaqinged properly in the first place, yada, yada, yada. It came up that all three maocha was done from different areas and processed by different teams, and the fact that they all suffered to detriment indicated that you could cook maocha permanently by leaving them in hot cars...
Now, I had the expectation that this may well be underwhelming, but I was still very curious (and not much to lose, should have samples from cakes at a later point). So, how did it come out? Well, first of all, the tea had a strong vegetal corn note, very similar to this black tea from Camellia Sinensis: http://camellia-sinensis.com/en/tea/black/jin-die-biologique . This note was strong throughout the session. It wasn't malty, but it also had chocolate notes. I wasn't really sure if I was drinking black tea, because while it was sort of soft, it wasn't quite soggy. I then entertained the wild notion that it was 1/100th of the way to being shu or something. It wasn't sour or exhibited any other note of fermentation. While the corn theme was prominent, it did have some other, more floral notes lurking around in there. I was generally thinking Simao tea, guessing that this is stuff from the area to the west of Jingmai and Manging. I also was thinking about Xigui, in the sense that this tended to have a strong theme and other stuff lurking around. The aroma mostly was as the taste, and the soup texture was decent viscosity, nothing amazing, but fairly smooth. For a stretch of the session the tea promoted a lot of cooling. I'm not sure I encountered any aftertastes. There wasn't any real pharma qi (and this wasn't helped by having had some Yiwu LSD before), but this tea did warm my body a great deal. The session did not last that long, about 8-10 brews, and the leaves were pretty small, so afterwards, I asked if this was lobular or just early spring. The answer I got was early spring, and that this was from a new Mengsong area (I immediately thought of Nanben). Right now, I'm pretty noncommittal...Chocolate tones from Mengsong area teas relieved me of thinking more Dian hong-ish, since many Menghai area teas have chocolate tones in the flavor. I'm told it's a lot more spritely and lively, etc. I have issues with all the small leaves in terms of aging. Compared to the Pu-erh.sk Naka, which was very classically Menghai and refined, this had more things going on and was a bit odder. Less bitter and fruity as well.
I then went back to the LSD, and enjoyed some more brews. Relatively sweet flavors, yiwu style, etc. Good texture and smoothness.
I started off by brewing some TU LSD maocha, which, in its first two brews, was really quite decent this time, only to spot the mailman leaving a nice parcel from the UK. Which turned out to be maocha from Essence of Tea pressings. Three of them, labeled Yuan Wei, Long Lan Xu, and Du Quan. I just picked the LSD out of the pot and started up the Yuan Wei...
Before receiving this package, communications with Nada revealed that these maocha had been in the car while his house was being painted, for several, hot, days. Afterwards, the maocha tasted flat and the brew was darker than it should be. We communicated about how this could happen, whether the tea was shaqinged properly in the first place, yada, yada, yada. It came up that all three maocha was done from different areas and processed by different teams, and the fact that they all suffered to detriment indicated that you could cook maocha permanently by leaving them in hot cars...
Now, I had the expectation that this may well be underwhelming, but I was still very curious (and not much to lose, should have samples from cakes at a later point). So, how did it come out? Well, first of all, the tea had a strong vegetal corn note, very similar to this black tea from Camellia Sinensis: http://camellia-sinensis.com/en/tea/black/jin-die-biologique . This note was strong throughout the session. It wasn't malty, but it also had chocolate notes. I wasn't really sure if I was drinking black tea, because while it was sort of soft, it wasn't quite soggy. I then entertained the wild notion that it was 1/100th of the way to being shu or something. It wasn't sour or exhibited any other note of fermentation. While the corn theme was prominent, it did have some other, more floral notes lurking around in there. I was generally thinking Simao tea, guessing that this is stuff from the area to the west of Jingmai and Manging. I also was thinking about Xigui, in the sense that this tended to have a strong theme and other stuff lurking around. The aroma mostly was as the taste, and the soup texture was decent viscosity, nothing amazing, but fairly smooth. For a stretch of the session the tea promoted a lot of cooling. I'm not sure I encountered any aftertastes. There wasn't any real pharma qi (and this wasn't helped by having had some Yiwu LSD before), but this tea did warm my body a great deal. The session did not last that long, about 8-10 brews, and the leaves were pretty small, so afterwards, I asked if this was lobular or just early spring. The answer I got was early spring, and that this was from a new Mengsong area (I immediately thought of Nanben). Right now, I'm pretty noncommittal...Chocolate tones from Mengsong area teas relieved me of thinking more Dian hong-ish, since many Menghai area teas have chocolate tones in the flavor. I'm told it's a lot more spritely and lively, etc. I have issues with all the small leaves in terms of aging. Compared to the Pu-erh.sk Naka, which was very classically Menghai and refined, this had more things going on and was a bit odder. Less bitter and fruity as well.
I then went back to the LSD, and enjoyed some more brews. Relatively sweet flavors, yiwu style, etc. Good texture and smoothness.
The next EoT maocha I tried was the Long Lan Xu. It has the dry cloth floral element that I associate with Jingmai and some other Simao teas. It's a bit sweeter floral than Jingmai usually is in taste and aroma. There is definitely a strong sweetness to the finish. Not a whole lot in the way of feeling and taste in the throat, but it lingers in the mouth decently. I got a hint here and there of qi. It's not too thick in terms of viscosity, and five or six brews in, it started having some strongly drying astringency. I didn't really get much of a sense of damage from this tea, other than vivacity being pressed down a bit. The back end was pretty pleasant and about the same strength and liveliness of any normal tea. Based on broad parameters, and taking stuff into account, I do not believe that this tea would make a very good long term aging candidate. Doesn't really have the oomph in qi or aftertaste, and it does have the sort of taste profile that inclines me to believe that it will become thin and sweet, like the '07 XZH JingGu Nu'er, but without the sort of character/body that let's you know you're drinking TEA. However, in one-three years, this probably would be a very delicious tea. I suspect that it will be pretty expensive, though. It's about as refined an experience as the pu-erh.sk Naka, maybe without the deep bitterness or high quality Menghai floral mouth aroma, but with many of the good aspects of further north tea.
If damage to the maocha is equal to all three teas, this makes me a bit more positive about the Yuan Wei, since it has a relatively solid taste with depth, sort of like a Xigui, and since it's Menghai, could age pretty nicely, lobular leaf or not.
If damage to the maocha is equal to all three teas, this makes me a bit more positive about the Yuan Wei, since it has a relatively solid taste with depth, sort of like a Xigui, and since it's Menghai, could age pretty nicely, lobular leaf or not.
The last is the Du Quan. This tea has a lot of elegance, sort of like the Long Lan Xu, but a bit more solid. In early brews I was gratified with a bit of expression in the throat and some light-moderate qi, but this didn't seem to continue past the first three or four brews. In general, the character of the tea reminded me of GFZ or something something eastern Mengla--has that sort of taste and aroma. Soup viscosity is not very thick, and the tea wasn't very catchy in terms of holding my attention well (especially after the first few brews). If it is GFZ, it's not as good as last year's EoT in terms of potency in taste and qi. The back end of the session, much as with the Long Lan Xu, was substantially the same performance as with teas that haven't been abused, and was very pleasant. Particularly in being nicely fruity.
As for how any of these teas rank, I think I need a retry of all of them (the abused maocha), and I'd have to gauge against prices. The Long Lan Xu is probably the worst bet for long term aging, but will be ready to drink soonest. The Yuan Wei has the most flavor and complexity, maybe decent on the qi as well. Du Quan has a balance between elegance and robustness. Yuan Wei and Du Quan do not seem to have clear separation in overall quality. Going by my judgement of pu-erh.sk and TU prices, I'd guess proper pricing of the Long Lan Xu to be around $70-$100/400g. Yuan Wei to be about $150/400g, and Du Quan, if it's what I think it is, I don't know. If I had money, unless these teas are cheaper than I think they'd likely be, I'd just be going to Houde and buying the latest XZH, they're cheaper, weirdly enough, than 2014 teas from personal brands. /me shakes head. When you start talking about $175/400g as cheaper...That pu-erh.sk yibang is $180/250g, the white2tea manzhuang is $122/200g. Tea has gotten incredibly expensive to this poor fellow.
As for how any of these teas rank, I think I need a retry of all of them (the abused maocha), and I'd have to gauge against prices. The Long Lan Xu is probably the worst bet for long term aging, but will be ready to drink soonest. The Yuan Wei has the most flavor and complexity, maybe decent on the qi as well. Du Quan has a balance between elegance and robustness. Yuan Wei and Du Quan do not seem to have clear separation in overall quality. Going by my judgement of pu-erh.sk and TU prices, I'd guess proper pricing of the Long Lan Xu to be around $70-$100/400g. Yuan Wei to be about $150/400g, and Du Quan, if it's what I think it is, I don't know. If I had money, unless these teas are cheaper than I think they'd likely be, I'd just be going to Houde and buying the latest XZH, they're cheaper, weirdly enough, than 2014 teas from personal brands. /me shakes head. When you start talking about $175/400g as cheaper...That pu-erh.sk yibang is $180/250g, the white2tea manzhuang is $122/200g. Tea has gotten incredibly expensive to this poor fellow.
Okay, the first sample of the series is from a chunk of fairly dark leaves. No distinct aroma from dry leaves other than generic humid aroma. The leaves look fairly whole, large, and rather glossy/furry, grade eights and nine, with a few tips. I will generally be using 8g for this series, and pried out 8.1g today. When I brewed the first cup, the soup aroma and taste had a distinct, relatively Mengku attitude. That taste has a heavy, if mellow sourness, but not very much going on in the top taste. The soup viscosity, however was pretty good, thick, smooth, and soft. The best part of the first brew was the long taste (and some cooling feel) left in the mouth at the top of the throat and a bit further up the tongue, which was lightly floral and fruity. Savoring this aftertaste slowed my drinking. The second brew made for stronger flavors and aroma, largely in the same vein. The soup viscosity is a bit less. Thing is, after the third brew, the flavor really starts to drop off along with the viscosity, and the astringency (and general unpleasantness) increases every brew afterwards. There may have been a hint of qi.
I had been thinking something something Mengku mebbe Bingdao area. You know the deal by now... This was the 2001 Chen Yuan Hao. MarshalN gave bad reviews to this, and the following 2002 tea, and it's very easy to see why. The taste essentially has imploded, and it's actually inferior to the anon Bangwei I recently got. I had theorized that this was overcooked and was aged green tea because of the constant downward path of brew quality after brew three, but one look at the reddish brown finished leaves sez no, it's just all hongchapu, and of the bad kind. My supplier thought that this was a good example of how gushu tea is a mistake (and poorly processed), and that most such tea should be drunk up relatively soon.
I think this is a poor example because:
1) I've had a lot of teas that were supposed to have old tree leaves in it from around this time that was much nicer, like: http://www.sampletea.com/product/2001-qian-nian-gu-cha-shu-by-mr-he-shihua-tea-cake-green which was lobular as well, and aged like it. So I have some basis for resisting gushu-bad.
2) I really do not think this is Yiwu, or if it does have Yiwu in it, that there is very much in it. If it does, cue me doing the Keanu from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure-->
Bill: Whoa! Ted! You're alive!
Ted: Yeah! I fell out of my suit when I hit the floor.
[they hug]
Bill, Ted: [to each other] Fag!
---
tsk tsk tsk
Anyways, it's not like the '99 Song Charactered or the Dadugang Yuanbao, etc.
Sanhetang updated their pricing regimen, so for some of the oldsters, I thought I'd make a few comparisons.
For example, this tea: http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=48&products_id=1356 might not have exactly sold very many cakes at Houde, but Sanhetang thinks http://www.xizihao.com/tea/tea-pic/2010-2/1378.html is worth $732 and not $125. And in turn, that Manlin is worth more than http://www.xizihao.com/tea/tea-pic/2009-2/1346.html . Even though the Manlin did not get one good review around here, and the Jingmai got several. In my book, the Jingmai is vastly better. One thing that generally seems to hold true is that everything from Mengla County is worth more than every other area except for the Fengqing Diangu. That means that the Menghai Yuanshilin (well, the Hekai stuff, supposedly, that you can sample at jaseteas) is worth a thousand RMB than the Huangshanlin, and I wasn't impressed with the Yuanshilin any more than I was with the '10 Manlin. Another thousand RMB more for the Mengla Yuanshilin (from Manlin). Another thing from looking at the new prices is that there's a lot of pushed to the max equilibrium going on. The Puzhen, Huangshanlin, and Xishangmeishao are all the same prices at about a thousand dollars. Similar items have similar prices relations. One interesting thing is that Osanzhai has a slight notch extra up on prices compared to other Xiao JingGu teas, when this didn't use to be true. For 2014 teas, there are a number of replicas of the classic HongYin, Lanyin, Huangyin, LuYin, LanYin iron--and the various Red marks are enormously expensive! What the heck is in them?
gossip gossip gossip, that's all I do, eh?
I had been thinking something something Mengku mebbe Bingdao area. You know the deal by now... This was the 2001 Chen Yuan Hao. MarshalN gave bad reviews to this, and the following 2002 tea, and it's very easy to see why. The taste essentially has imploded, and it's actually inferior to the anon Bangwei I recently got. I had theorized that this was overcooked and was aged green tea because of the constant downward path of brew quality after brew three, but one look at the reddish brown finished leaves sez no, it's just all hongchapu, and of the bad kind. My supplier thought that this was a good example of how gushu tea is a mistake (and poorly processed), and that most such tea should be drunk up relatively soon.
I think this is a poor example because:
1) I've had a lot of teas that were supposed to have old tree leaves in it from around this time that was much nicer, like: http://www.sampletea.com/product/2001-qian-nian-gu-cha-shu-by-mr-he-shihua-tea-cake-green which was lobular as well, and aged like it. So I have some basis for resisting gushu-bad.
2) I really do not think this is Yiwu, or if it does have Yiwu in it, that there is very much in it. If it does, cue me doing the Keanu from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure-->
Bill: Whoa! Ted! You're alive!
Ted: Yeah! I fell out of my suit when I hit the floor.
[they hug]
Bill, Ted: [to each other] Fag!
---
tsk tsk tsk
Anyways, it's not like the '99 Song Charactered or the Dadugang Yuanbao, etc.
Sanhetang updated their pricing regimen, so for some of the oldsters, I thought I'd make a few comparisons.
For example, this tea: http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=48&products_id=1356 might not have exactly sold very many cakes at Houde, but Sanhetang thinks http://www.xizihao.com/tea/tea-pic/2010-2/1378.html is worth $732 and not $125. And in turn, that Manlin is worth more than http://www.xizihao.com/tea/tea-pic/2009-2/1346.html . Even though the Manlin did not get one good review around here, and the Jingmai got several. In my book, the Jingmai is vastly better. One thing that generally seems to hold true is that everything from Mengla County is worth more than every other area except for the Fengqing Diangu. That means that the Menghai Yuanshilin (well, the Hekai stuff, supposedly, that you can sample at jaseteas) is worth a thousand RMB than the Huangshanlin, and I wasn't impressed with the Yuanshilin any more than I was with the '10 Manlin. Another thousand RMB more for the Mengla Yuanshilin (from Manlin). Another thing from looking at the new prices is that there's a lot of pushed to the max equilibrium going on. The Puzhen, Huangshanlin, and Xishangmeishao are all the same prices at about a thousand dollars. Similar items have similar prices relations. One interesting thing is that Osanzhai has a slight notch extra up on prices compared to other Xiao JingGu teas, when this didn't use to be true. For 2014 teas, there are a number of replicas of the classic HongYin, Lanyin, Huangyin, LuYin, LanYin iron--and the various Red marks are enormously expensive! What the heck is in them?
gossip gossip gossip, that's all I do, eh?
2008 Organic Tea 150g from 101 Tea Plantation: Honey, honey and more honey. It is a nice drink, with a hint of a Thai iced tea, just not as sweet. No astringency. A good summer drink nonetheless.
This is Jingmai which is famous for its honey fragrance. It does lack of complexity, which is probably true for most of the single-estated teas. The body is a thin but the simple taste does last a while in the mouth, just not strong.
Drinking puerhs in the summer is a bit tricky.
This is Jingmai which is famous for its honey fragrance. It does lack of complexity, which is probably true for most of the single-estated teas. The body is a thin but the simple taste does last a while in the mouth, just not strong.
Drinking puerhs in the summer is a bit tricky.
Sample B, 7.9g: This seems to be maocha, and very pretty leaves, light colored and young looking, no dry aroma. When brewed the first time, the aroma was light and hard to describe at first (later I feel this is a variant of orchid aroma very different from Jingmai). There was no strong top taste, which was mostly generic sheng, but it did have some nuances, and sat on the top of the throat along with cooling. There wasn't much astringency, but it wasn't a very thick soup. Qi wasn't obvious, and aftertaste was light. The second brew was mostly a stronger version of the first, and I got a light pungent huigan deep in the cup. Third brew is slightly stronger version of the second, with a bit of increased astringency and more body in the soup texture. By the fourth brew, the tea starts becoming more distinct, and with stronger lingering aftertaste as well as sweetness. Fifth brew had a definable flavor, which was floral something like orchid, and there is more sweetness plus some fruit and sugar/honey hints. This tea brewed for a number of times with pleasant success, with a couple of brew that generated very long and changing aftertastes. The qi becomes obvious, and very similar to the Mengdai Bingdao qi, maybe a bit weaker. The back end of the session had at least six or so brews that were sweet and lightly tasty. This tea was never bitter, and it certainly didn't get high in terms of astringency.
I didn't really make a guess, because of you know who, but this time it really was Bingdao, from Chen Yuan Hao in 2012. In discussion, this tea was proffered as an example of tea that will not age well. Now, the issue with yesterday's tea was that it turned hongcha, but oddly enough, it had some advantages in the very early going to today's tea. Much better soup body and much stronger lingering aftertaste flavors. Had it been done right, it might have been an interesting tea. The discussion about today's tea centered on the rolling process. This tea didn't really get a strong rolling with plenty of smushed stems and cells. My sponsor was of the belief that one of the consistent shortcuts inexperienced and hasty teamakers use is to cut short the rolling process. If you do it by hand and all artisinal-like, that's going to be a big labor and time hassle for any remotely big project to do it thoroughly. The result of doing it the lazy way also gives you tea that's a lot friendlier when young, but doesn't really **ferment** thoroughly as it ages. In a sense, if you want age-worthy tea, when you sample the leaves, it should be relatively easy to provoke a strong taste with bitterness and astringency. This Bingdao did not have any real bitterness, and I believe I heard that the Baohongyinji Bingdao did have good bitterness in contrast. Not a cheap tea, though--more expensive than that Thai-brand Bingdao, at $480/357g.
This was a session that I feel as hewing close to the reports of what Bingdao is supposed to be like. At this point, I think I have a handle on Bingdao now. While it can be good, and it definitely has its place in a rotation of good teas, Bingdao doesn't have a lot to uniquely offer. Some sweetness, friendly flavors, and a high quality qi. Thing is, virtually all good teas from good places will eventually do the same when it is older. If you don't intend to drink Bingdao quickly, any LBZ, GFZ, JingGu, etc will eventually get sweet and have good quality qi. The idea that it's worth so much more than other places is very likely to be merely fashion. I'd prefer Xigui over Bingdao, frankly, and Yangta even more. But the name sells, and that's what people hear.
Say, I was thinking that people might be shocked at how high XZH prices are. So I thought I might throw out a link to Diancha: http://dc-tea.taobao.com/shop/view_shop.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.81.MDytqq&user_number_id=83513851&v=1 . Not quite as expensive, I guess, but boy, oh boy...
I didn't really make a guess, because of you know who, but this time it really was Bingdao, from Chen Yuan Hao in 2012. In discussion, this tea was proffered as an example of tea that will not age well. Now, the issue with yesterday's tea was that it turned hongcha, but oddly enough, it had some advantages in the very early going to today's tea. Much better soup body and much stronger lingering aftertaste flavors. Had it been done right, it might have been an interesting tea. The discussion about today's tea centered on the rolling process. This tea didn't really get a strong rolling with plenty of smushed stems and cells. My sponsor was of the belief that one of the consistent shortcuts inexperienced and hasty teamakers use is to cut short the rolling process. If you do it by hand and all artisinal-like, that's going to be a big labor and time hassle for any remotely big project to do it thoroughly. The result of doing it the lazy way also gives you tea that's a lot friendlier when young, but doesn't really **ferment** thoroughly as it ages. In a sense, if you want age-worthy tea, when you sample the leaves, it should be relatively easy to provoke a strong taste with bitterness and astringency. This Bingdao did not have any real bitterness, and I believe I heard that the Baohongyinji Bingdao did have good bitterness in contrast. Not a cheap tea, though--more expensive than that Thai-brand Bingdao, at $480/357g.
This was a session that I feel as hewing close to the reports of what Bingdao is supposed to be like. At this point, I think I have a handle on Bingdao now. While it can be good, and it definitely has its place in a rotation of good teas, Bingdao doesn't have a lot to uniquely offer. Some sweetness, friendly flavors, and a high quality qi. Thing is, virtually all good teas from good places will eventually do the same when it is older. If you don't intend to drink Bingdao quickly, any LBZ, GFZ, JingGu, etc will eventually get sweet and have good quality qi. The idea that it's worth so much more than other places is very likely to be merely fashion. I'd prefer Xigui over Bingdao, frankly, and Yangta even more. But the name sells, and that's what people hear.
Say, I was thinking that people might be shocked at how high XZH prices are. So I thought I might throw out a link to Diancha: http://dc-tea.taobao.com/shop/view_shop.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.81.MDytqq&user_number_id=83513851&v=1 . Not quite as expensive, I guess, but boy, oh boy...
8 grams of Sample C looks to be a lot more normal than the first two teas, not so furry, a bit rusty with humidity, and humid scent when dry leaves are heated. I pretty much liked this tea from the first brew because, well...Brew one had a character that was similar to the XZH Youle I have. Starchy florals and a near apple juice tone to the humid taste. The taste isn't really as thick or as deep as the XZH, but it was pretty decent. There was a bit of sweetness to it, and some feeling of swallowing something sweet when gulping. Viscosity is decent, and only a bit of drying astringency in the finish. Aftertaste was of the long finish that stays in the mouth variety, without much throat action. There was just no drinking of bland initial brews like with the Bingdao yesterday, and this made me happy. The second brew was stronger, with more flavor notes, bitterness, and depth, as well as some sourness. The third brew has an increase in starchy floral aroma, a decrease of sourness and bitterness. Some citric qualities, though. These early brews had a good deal of caffeine, but qi was not quite evident. In the fourth brew, that changes a bit, and I start feeling that deep calm feeling. There was also some feeling in the throat. In the fifth brew, a mouth aroma tendency shows up (and stays for the rest of the session). This doesn't really change for many brews. Enjoyable ones.
This turns out to be a Qizibing from GuYunHai, or as I personally translate, Ancient Fog, ran by a female entreprenur who got into the pressing personal label cake game in the '02 buzz or something like that. Made in 2004 out of apparently lincang leaves. Which is both surprising and understandable. It had a taste similar to what I though of as Youle (and making me wonder whether XZH had lincang), but the aftertastes and somewhat thin taste is more like lincang teas. I do not think this is as good as the Tai Lian '02 (better than the Tai Lian Youle, though), but this is one of the better northern teas of that age range I have tried. Just by default, one of the things that lincang teas of that age usually have is smoke, and while I am quite desensitized to it, I don't think I really taste any smoke. It has a little qi, and it does a reasonably good job with providing a long aftertaste, and the soup taste isn't thin for a lincang. Still not very dynamic in session, though. Finished leaves show a slight rust, so maybe a little hongcha, but not enough to matter.
edited to add:
I am a very determined google-fu disciple...tracked down yesterday's tea... It's this one: http://www.skip4tea.com/唐...a-No-Yu-Fook-Li-Yuan-Cha/q?pid=818&doit=order which is a Fengqing area tea, blended to be like one of the old tribute teas, with spring, fall, and autumn maocha.
Am still having trouble with today's tea. Guyunhai is basically a brand setup by Deng Shi-Hai and Chen Louyun, and they made some of the very first gushu tea roughly around the time of the Zhenchunyahao. I know Baichatang was operating during the '90s then, but nobody ever seems to care. Anyways, the '95 cakes were supposedly made with Nannuo, which has a square hole in the center, and a Jingmai, which does not. Deng Shi-Hai didn't stick with this brand after 1998, and Chen Louyun kept it up. I can't find this tea at all, and cannot find any Mengkus done. Just Nannuo, Jingmai, and Yiwu. The rest are just "Green Cake". Size of the leaves (some of them very strong and resistant to tearing, btw), general character would suggest Jingmai. /Me shrugs. This would be both weaker aromatically, and far stronger than aged Jingmai usually is.
This turns out to be a Qizibing from GuYunHai, or as I personally translate, Ancient Fog, ran by a female entreprenur who got into the pressing personal label cake game in the '02 buzz or something like that. Made in 2004 out of apparently lincang leaves. Which is both surprising and understandable. It had a taste similar to what I though of as Youle (and making me wonder whether XZH had lincang), but the aftertastes and somewhat thin taste is more like lincang teas. I do not think this is as good as the Tai Lian '02 (better than the Tai Lian Youle, though), but this is one of the better northern teas of that age range I have tried. Just by default, one of the things that lincang teas of that age usually have is smoke, and while I am quite desensitized to it, I don't think I really taste any smoke. It has a little qi, and it does a reasonably good job with providing a long aftertaste, and the soup taste isn't thin for a lincang. Still not very dynamic in session, though. Finished leaves show a slight rust, so maybe a little hongcha, but not enough to matter.
edited to add:
I am a very determined google-fu disciple...tracked down yesterday's tea... It's this one: http://www.skip4tea.com/唐...a-No-Yu-Fook-Li-Yuan-Cha/q?pid=818&doit=order which is a Fengqing area tea, blended to be like one of the old tribute teas, with spring, fall, and autumn maocha.
Am still having trouble with today's tea. Guyunhai is basically a brand setup by Deng Shi-Hai and Chen Louyun, and they made some of the very first gushu tea roughly around the time of the Zhenchunyahao. I know Baichatang was operating during the '90s then, but nobody ever seems to care. Anyways, the '95 cakes were supposedly made with Nannuo, which has a square hole in the center, and a Jingmai, which does not. Deng Shi-Hai didn't stick with this brand after 1998, and Chen Louyun kept it up. I can't find this tea at all, and cannot find any Mengkus done. Just Nannuo, Jingmai, and Yiwu. The rest are just "Green Cake". Size of the leaves (some of them very strong and resistant to tearing, btw), general character would suggest Jingmai. /Me shrugs. This would be both weaker aromatically, and far stronger than aged Jingmai usually is.
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8g of sample D is a prettier set of leaves than sample C, and it looks darker and maybe a bit red. The heated dry leaves give off only a humid aroma, but when water is poured in an out, the soup gave off some pretty indescribable aromas. The viscosity was a bit more than enough, but the texture was definitely good, a bit on the juicy side. There wasn't much taste, aftertaste, or qi. The second brew repeated the unusual aroma, tentatively described as humidity and fleshy flowers, like maybe a humid stored rose or something. The taste is relatively flat with some low flavors like chocolate tones, wood, something like soil. There is a floral element on top that perks things up a little bit. There was a bit of feeling going down the throat and a hint of qi. Definitely some aftertastes here. Third brew cup doesn't have quite the aroma anymore, same relatively flat taste, but I noticed that if held in the mouth, there is some transformation and I could get some fleshy floral taste. Qi shows up, and there is a degree of mouth aroma for aftertaste. The fourth brew had a very sedate taste, and I had been thinking, well, this must be poorly processed and gone all hongcha, however, the qi was quite good, so I decided that it had been more worth drinking than sample A. The same with the fifth. The sixth brew was where I realized that the hongcha is about all leached away, leaving a slight, but definite taste, with some subtlety. And here I was thinking that it was like the no-name Bangwei that had lost most of its top flavor, but still, the qi was pretty strong. After a couple more brews with strong qi, my bull****-o-meter starts beeping, and I start thinking "this has very strong qi, like top stuff, and it's been going on a while, maybe this is a really good tea?" I brewed and enjoyed a few more times and set it aside. When I restarted the back end, the qi was still, and very clearly strong, and I also began to really appreciate the subtle notes, mostly dry florals, but other stuff also in the very mild soup. So I kept brewing. Eventually had to stop for late-evening weight lifting and bath, and restarted this pot yet again at thirty past midnight. Brewed like five more times until one thirty in the morning. Did not want to waste one drop. Probably brewed about twenty times.
There was an error in matching names to samples. Today's tea was the Guyunhai '04 made with a blend that involves Mengku. Yesterday's tea was a tea made by Deng Shi-Hai in '07, called Four Season, and made with lincang leaves. People probably should find this tea. Better than the '12 Chenyuanhao Bingdao by a long stretch--that one was a sweet and friendly tea. This one had magic and majesty; more or less in the same league as YangQingHao and XZH. I should have one more full serving of this tea and am glad of it.
There was an error in matching names to samples. Today's tea was the Guyunhai '04 made with a blend that involves Mengku. Yesterday's tea was a tea made by Deng Shi-Hai in '07, called Four Season, and made with lincang leaves. People probably should find this tea. Better than the '12 Chenyuanhao Bingdao by a long stretch--that one was a sweet and friendly tea. This one had magic and majesty; more or less in the same league as YangQingHao and XZH. I should have one more full serving of this tea and am glad of it.
The same grammage of E is a bit different than the others--it's rather broken. Looks fine otherwise, with only a humid smell. When put in the pot, a good aroma shows up, with a strong, dark taste as well. This comes with tartness along with sourness that is closely tied to the bitter, such that it is sharp rather than heavy. The soup body has some plumpness and some energy to it. Aftertaste builds up in the mouth and throat as I finish the cup. The second brew doesn't feel as sour, but bitterness is present. I began to think of this tea as an early 2k Menghai ChaChang premium production that has been stored with humidity. Smoke shows up in the aroma of the third brew, even though it's not as strong. It's bitter, has dark chocolate tones, with suggestive fruit notes in the depths. There are some aged sweet flavors (sweet baked good/vanilla?, honey) showing up. There is also smoke in the taste. Both aroma and taste are rather pleasant smoke for me, much as I would find in the '05 Dayi Mengsong Peacock. There is cooling and lingering flavors in the throat. Good floral mouth aromas, like what you'd get from Hekai or Pasha, shows up in the finish Viscosity is still good but astringency is high. Some qi The fourth brew continues to have a nice aroma, and the bitterness is dying down some, even as astringency keeps being high. More sweet flavors show up. Afterwards, the mouthcoat leaves good Menghai florals. Decent qi. From there on out, with varying degrees of different flavor notes (like plums) and concentration of flavors, it's the same, and the tea lasts for about 13-15 brews.
It turns out to be a Bulang blend from 2008, which has some Banzhang in it. I couldn't find anything about this tea so I attached an image in case another reader can find it.
There was a pretty heated discussion about this tea, because my sponser felt that this is exactly the sort of tea that will age very well (because of materials and how well it was processed), and ultimately better than Sample D, which has hongcha problems, etc. I felt that this tea didn't have much Banzhang in it and behaved more like how the 6FTM Hekai was. Banzhang had a unique aftertaste that I wasn't getting, and it wasn't like this tea was huge in qi, like Banzhang usually is. Then there was the argument about, I guess priorities. I felt like that Sample D was special tea, and that it was very hard to get tea of that particular quality, regardless of hongcha damage and iffy prospect for 20 year journeys. Whereas, sponsor's feeling was that rarity is no excuse for iffy tea, and that it doesn't make sense to keep such teas very long. My retort then was that this was a good tea, but ultimately mostly just a good tea. I can easily find such Bulangs of that quality and own some already. Never did make any rational opportunity cost argument. Mostly was a 'this spirited (mangy) dog (mutt) followed me home, can I keeep hiiiim?' sort of argument about sample D.
It turns out to be a Bulang blend from 2008, which has some Banzhang in it. I couldn't find anything about this tea so I attached an image in case another reader can find it.
There was a pretty heated discussion about this tea, because my sponser felt that this is exactly the sort of tea that will age very well (because of materials and how well it was processed), and ultimately better than Sample D, which has hongcha problems, etc. I felt that this tea didn't have much Banzhang in it and behaved more like how the 6FTM Hekai was. Banzhang had a unique aftertaste that I wasn't getting, and it wasn't like this tea was huge in qi, like Banzhang usually is. Then there was the argument about, I guess priorities. I felt like that Sample D was special tea, and that it was very hard to get tea of that particular quality, regardless of hongcha damage and iffy prospect for 20 year journeys. Whereas, sponsor's feeling was that rarity is no excuse for iffy tea, and that it doesn't make sense to keep such teas very long. My retort then was that this was a good tea, but ultimately mostly just a good tea. I can easily find such Bulangs of that quality and own some already. Never did make any rational opportunity cost argument. Mostly was a 'this spirited (mangy) dog (mutt) followed me home, can I keeep hiiiim?' sort of argument about sample D.
Attachments
Sample F 8g: The leaves looked aged and quite rusty. There was a large chunk where I could see all sorts of leaves in them, from huangpan to buds (I think). Not very much dry leaf aroma before brewing. Then magic happens. It seems that this is indeed some aged goodie. I mean that in the sense that the aroma is quite awesome, mostly like candied wood, if you can place that, or say, sugarcane and wood together, but candied wood is probably closer. The soup is kind of mild and loose in the way of large leaf shu, like 8592, and it's slightly sour. The thickness and velvety feel of the soup was quite substantial in my mouth, and when I swallow, flavors sink and paint themselves on the throat in many little tones in a combo aged huigan and yun, like a bag full of diamonds thrown on the table, sparkling. Those flavors stayed with me while I got my second brew together. Of course, the strong, body-gripping qi softened all the edges. The second brew adds fruit to the aroma of candied wood, and I admire it for a long stretch before pouring into my cup. The taste is more concentrated (and bitter!), and I could decipher notes of wood, forest soil, camphor, hints of vanilla based baked desserts. Again the tea graffiti'd my throat, and tastes stays in the mouth very well indeed. The third brew has a much more integrated and mellow aroma, but still awesome, a little fruity, a little rum, candy wood. The soup has less bitterness, but still some sourness, but weaker taste, with less soil and wood. The lasting taste and feel in the mouth and throat is still the same though, with many indescribable flavors. I began to think that this might not be 80's tea, but perhaps a late '90s tea from LBZ/Lao Man'E that has had lots of humidity, but the leaves definitely looked older than bok choy banzhang would look. The fourth brew keep weakening on taste, aroma, and thickness, but still a little bitter. Sourness gone, but aftertastes still doing their thing, with a surprise floral huigan showing up one sip. In the fifth brew, strength rebounds a bit (doubled time), and bitterness is almost gone, some citric tartness shows up, and the aftertastes starts weakening rapidly at this point. Sixth brew goes back to weakening in taste and aroma, aftertaste has died down to almost nothing, soup thickness and texture beginning to do the usual later session bulk-up. From here on out it stabilizes to a consistent aroma, which isn't that weak, but not as strong as when it started out. Some light tastes, of soil, birch, baked dessert. Light sensate sweetness. The aftertaste is generally of a light floral mouth aroma. When the cup is finished, there is some good overall feel in the throat. So I had been drinking these quickly. Qi wasn't obvious in later brews, but I had figured it would be back after some rest. I eventually stopped, and when I got back, the backend was quite enjoyable. The qi was back, and it was a obvious, soft, and enveloping kind of qi. There isn't really any more liveliness left in the soup, but there's a shimmer one sip, a bit of aftertaste in another sip, etc. However, the tea kept giving more and more of the same flavored, and thus worthwhile, soup. I eventually dug out the leaves from my pot and put it in tupperware so I could get back to it later in the week or maybe next week. Having multiple sheng pots would have been useful right now.
By the end of my session, I had been well convinced it was some laobanzhang I never heard of, because the performance is *very* similar to the 2005 Chen Guang He Tang Banzhang King, except that it was a billionity times better. It's also a lot better than the '03 Bulang Jing Pin I have as well. I though that it would be fair to say that it's better than the XZH 2006 Black Wrapper, in the sense that the start was so dramatically better, even though the '06 maintains sophisticated taste deeper in the session like the Guyunhai two days ago.
This actually turns out to be the 70's Yellow Mark (Conscientious Prescription). I was very surprised and pleased. I was pleased most because I can go back to reading Cloud's comments about this tea, and understand more fully what he's talking about. I also think that I am more dangerously minimally knowledgeable about what puerh is worth it. There were renewed discussions with sponser about whether the Guyunhao could be considered a good possibility, and also a bit more clarity on the qualities of yesterday's Bulang. I said that the 70's tea was a lot broader tasting than the '08 tea, and that if things could change that radically, even a somewhat hongchapu tea like the Guyunhao has hope, and the retort was mostly that the Bulang was "pointed in the right direction". Which I could see, but I seriously doubt it could be as good as the 70's tea, only that it be *like* the 70's tea.
So some further intuitions about puerh tea:
1) Even more convinced that if you want tea like those Masterpiece Era puerh, you're basically talking higher end Nannuo, Hekai, Pasha, Banzhang, Lao Man'E, Youle, Manzhuang?, and Yiwu. With the odd Fengqing and maybe Mengku. Cheaping out will not work. the early '90s 7542 I've had do not have this sort of BOOM in terms of broad and full aroma and taste. I don't think they ever will. The '01 Simplified I have does have some real oomph. I think this tea probably *was* good Bulang and Banzhang tea originally. It's still bitter after forty years. Main evidence for it not being LBZ is that it's not very plummy in taste.
2) However the tea tastes after about seven to eight years is pretty much how the tea will taste, I think. You can brown them of course. Today's tea was obscenely dry stored. No warehouse taste at all, any damp taste has been refined to elegant soil, which is not a big part of the taste. I actually managed to convince myself it was late '90s early 2k LBZ/Man'E tea, even though one look at the dry leaves and no hongcha character should have kept me thinking on old tea, permanently.
The age difference in terms of aroma can be broken in two. I've regularly seen that aged shu and some liu bao tends to BOOM. So one part is that tea tends to be more fragrant, rising, and expanding. The other part, specific to sheng, is that you find a depth in the aroma, like you could olfactorily rotate the aroma like as if it was a faceted gem and smell from different perspectives. This is a very different sensation from what teas like the CGHT Banzhang King '05, or more distantly similar, the '01 Yuanyexiang, which were one solid smoke (visually, not actual smell) note coming up your nose. It smells what it smells like.
Now, in terms of taste, there is a kind of taut glossiness that sort of makes the taste shine before it shimmers (like '98 Evening Fragrant Jade or '98 XZH DXS maocha or 80's Xiaguan, but *more*), and flavors tend to shatter to different notes as well as stick in your mouth and throat. As you might guess, it's not that different than really good younger tea, but it just has more depth and invites different ways of perceiving what it offers. Bad tea will never turn into anything like this. I'm inclined to think that most tea will never turn into anything like this since I strongly suspect most Masterpiece era tea to have used some genuine old tree leaves as part of the blends. Good enough tea will turn into their own version of aged, which reflects the narrow, deep, whatever quality they originally had.
3) If I were very rich, I'd buy some. Impossible otherwise. I liked this tea very much, but it won't cure cancer.
By the end of my session, I had been well convinced it was some laobanzhang I never heard of, because the performance is *very* similar to the 2005 Chen Guang He Tang Banzhang King, except that it was a billionity times better. It's also a lot better than the '03 Bulang Jing Pin I have as well. I though that it would be fair to say that it's better than the XZH 2006 Black Wrapper, in the sense that the start was so dramatically better, even though the '06 maintains sophisticated taste deeper in the session like the Guyunhai two days ago.
This actually turns out to be the 70's Yellow Mark (Conscientious Prescription). I was very surprised and pleased. I was pleased most because I can go back to reading Cloud's comments about this tea, and understand more fully what he's talking about. I also think that I am more dangerously minimally knowledgeable about what puerh is worth it. There were renewed discussions with sponser about whether the Guyunhao could be considered a good possibility, and also a bit more clarity on the qualities of yesterday's Bulang. I said that the 70's tea was a lot broader tasting than the '08 tea, and that if things could change that radically, even a somewhat hongchapu tea like the Guyunhao has hope, and the retort was mostly that the Bulang was "pointed in the right direction". Which I could see, but I seriously doubt it could be as good as the 70's tea, only that it be *like* the 70's tea.
So some further intuitions about puerh tea:
1) Even more convinced that if you want tea like those Masterpiece Era puerh, you're basically talking higher end Nannuo, Hekai, Pasha, Banzhang, Lao Man'E, Youle, Manzhuang?, and Yiwu. With the odd Fengqing and maybe Mengku. Cheaping out will not work. the early '90s 7542 I've had do not have this sort of BOOM in terms of broad and full aroma and taste. I don't think they ever will. The '01 Simplified I have does have some real oomph. I think this tea probably *was* good Bulang and Banzhang tea originally. It's still bitter after forty years. Main evidence for it not being LBZ is that it's not very plummy in taste.
2) However the tea tastes after about seven to eight years is pretty much how the tea will taste, I think. You can brown them of course. Today's tea was obscenely dry stored. No warehouse taste at all, any damp taste has been refined to elegant soil, which is not a big part of the taste. I actually managed to convince myself it was late '90s early 2k LBZ/Man'E tea, even though one look at the dry leaves and no hongcha character should have kept me thinking on old tea, permanently.
The age difference in terms of aroma can be broken in two. I've regularly seen that aged shu and some liu bao tends to BOOM. So one part is that tea tends to be more fragrant, rising, and expanding. The other part, specific to sheng, is that you find a depth in the aroma, like you could olfactorily rotate the aroma like as if it was a faceted gem and smell from different perspectives. This is a very different sensation from what teas like the CGHT Banzhang King '05, or more distantly similar, the '01 Yuanyexiang, which were one solid smoke (visually, not actual smell) note coming up your nose. It smells what it smells like.
Now, in terms of taste, there is a kind of taut glossiness that sort of makes the taste shine before it shimmers (like '98 Evening Fragrant Jade or '98 XZH DXS maocha or 80's Xiaguan, but *more*), and flavors tend to shatter to different notes as well as stick in your mouth and throat. As you might guess, it's not that different than really good younger tea, but it just has more depth and invites different ways of perceiving what it offers. Bad tea will never turn into anything like this. I'm inclined to think that most tea will never turn into anything like this since I strongly suspect most Masterpiece era tea to have used some genuine old tree leaves as part of the blends. Good enough tea will turn into their own version of aged, which reflects the narrow, deep, whatever quality they originally had.
3) If I were very rich, I'd buy some. Impossible otherwise. I liked this tea very much, but it won't cure cancer.
Sample G 8g: The dry leaves are pretty big, and also dark, with a purple hue. Some humidity is indicated by the heated dry leaves, but the first brew aroma is fruity. However the taste and viscosity is thin. What's worse is the sourness. Qi definitely shows, and some good cooling. The second brew has a really nice aroma of incense, fruit and wood, while the taste underperforms with some jerky awkwardness from sourness, citric. Astringency also showed up. Viscosity improves, and aftertastes generates cooling, a bit of a yun. The aroma diminishes some and consolidates with the third brew. The flavor improves, but still is covered by sourness and astringency. Aftertastes are still good, lengthy, with some mint. Fourth brew has a bit of a change in aroma to something like hot sand. Sourness is finally beginning to diminish, and some sweet flavors like dessert baked goods and fruit appear in the thin taste. Astringency remains. By the sixth brew, sourness is dimished to a small part of the flavor, which is relatively indeterminate, but good. Astringency is declining, but mouthcoating happens and a long, complex finish occurs. A few more infusions go along in this vein before I stop the front end. The back end of the session was much more enjoyable. Particularly in the sense that there isn't sourness, astringency is minimal, but also that soup viscosity stabilizes with decent texture. The taste is mild, but like, say the Zhenchunyahao, the tea brews pretty much forever, and I drink it primarily for the good and strong qi that makes for a relaxing evening drink.
This, I believe, is a relatively anonymous cake made by Shuangjiang Mengku made before they really got going, and is referred to by bright red printing "Lipstick Red". Should be made of (and behaves like) Mengku leaves. I am not a huge fan of this because it's sour and astringent during the big part of the early session. A bit like an early '90s 7542 that was sour early, but that one recovers quickly, is a bit more full in taste and viscosity and more refined overall. Of course the Lipstick Red apparently cost more than that 7542 back when it was new. Could have justified the difference without sour/astringent for so long--there is a good tea underneath it, and it's very durable. Easily possible to just dump the first six brews and still have a 15+ brew session.
This, I believe, is a relatively anonymous cake made by Shuangjiang Mengku made before they really got going, and is referred to by bright red printing "Lipstick Red". Should be made of (and behaves like) Mengku leaves. I am not a huge fan of this because it's sour and astringent during the big part of the early session. A bit like an early '90s 7542 that was sour early, but that one recovers quickly, is a bit more full in taste and viscosity and more refined overall. Of course the Lipstick Red apparently cost more than that 7542 back when it was new. Could have justified the difference without sour/astringent for so long--there is a good tea underneath it, and it's very durable. Easily possible to just dump the first six brews and still have a 15+ brew session.
