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SOTD- sheng of the day

Retried the cake version of the EoT Yuanwei. I've decided I don't particularly care for it--essentially in the same way I don't care for Hekai teas, especially like the Puersom Hekais. Used eight grams because I've gotten in the habit since last Monday, and this resolved a bit of the tasting issues. The taste was still weirdly elusive. It still has that corn note that I associate with that Hunan black tea, but after having had that Dinjin Nu'er, definitely not a hongchapu. There is a light bit of qi that is relaxing. Some cooling, and a bit of finish and shallow aftertaste. The best feature is that the taste is somewhat complex. However, I don't find it to have a strong personality that grounds me into the tea experience. Good tea is pretty much what makes my day, so I pretty much demand something that captures my attention. The whatever Bangwei I have doesn't have classically good taste, but I enjoy its rusticity and humidity, even though it's still bitter and needs more years of drying out and aging. Thing is, I remember my first try of the maocha to be a richer and fuller experience, so maybe somehow there is something wrong with this particular chunk of tea. Will keep it in mind when I finish the maocha off.

Since I didn't feel satisfied with the Yuan Wei, I decided to risk it and brew the last four grams of TeaUrchin 2013 Lao Banzhang. I had a pleasant time. This tea is broad and has depth with a relatively singular note of essentially sheng-mushroom-squash without nuttiness. So I had a real theme to drink to, and it does some subtle development over the session, verging towards citric, or to more honey, or to producing a slightly fruity yun for a couple of cups, etc. This is not a very exciting tea, and it's not very complex. A bit of cooling, and a touch of qi. Aroma is actually fairly low, and relatively barnyard. A good tea, but frankly, it's not especially superior to the 2013 TU Nahan which has a similar MO with better soup viscosity and aroma, for instance. Many better teas out there for the original $320 price. A good LBZ is really worthwhile, but I'm not sure how much for sale it is, anymore. Sanhetang hasn't done a LBZ since 2009, for example.
 
Finished off the 2014 TU LBZ. Compared to the 2013, it has the better aroma. The taste is a bit thinner and greener. There are some bursts of floral woods in the mouth, but this kind is very irregular and happens in some good tea without reliability. In general, the taste is more complex. The amount of aftertaste is about the same, but not distinctly of any character in this tea. Less qi. Same viscosity. Cooling effects were a little engaging. About the same propensity for sweetness. Mellow, enjoyable session Not sure if either tea offers more than EoT Du Quan or GFZ, and this tea is yet more expensive than the GFZ.
 
1996 Menghai 8582 from Houde: Traditionally wet-stored, there are wood, cola, and a hint of some Chinese herbs. Simple and sweet broth. It has remind me of a pretty dry-stored ripe puerh of the same year. I don't know how to make of it. Treat it like a raw or a cooked puerh? A light sweet aftertaste. Oh well, another day-to-day office drink I guess. Nothing too excited.
 
Today I finished off the '03 Big Zhong 7542 from Teaclassico. Much settled from when I first got it, not particularly odd in taste, little astringency, some bitterness. However, it wasn't all that interesting, with mostly a solid fermented tea taste in brews. Some brews had a good aged plum note. One had a little something going on with cooling. Definitely only for quieter tea days. I wouldn't personally be very interested in this tea at $129. In general, I don't really find factory blends to be all that awesome in aging. If you get one of the better productions, like the '96 Purple or the Lan Yins, or the 2001 Simplified, they offer some complexity and sophistication, but they also cost tremendous amounts of money. Makes me curious as to the actual history of White Whale.

Guang at Houde is trolling for money again, and is offering the '06 XZH Black Wrapper LBZ for $265. Sanhetang has a retail setting of a little over $1700. It's certainly cheaper than LBZ ever had been on TeaUrchin or any of the other tea places started after 2010. Mind that it's a distinctly unusual LBZ, and it has its oddities that some do not like, like a certain flatness in taste.
 
Yesterday was finishing off most of the rest of 2012 Che Ma Xuan Naka from TeaUrchin. I enjoyed it, a little rich with some nice hidden floral notes. It's a fairly mengsong-y sort of tea. There was a slight huigan a couple of times, and a little qi early on. The bitterness is roughly the same as Lao Man'E kucha, only it's not medicinal. However, it's not all that productive, either. I'm not inclined to value this tea highly, since while I like it now better than I really like the two LBZ offered by TU because of complex, strong flavor, I think that this will age much like the 2003 Qingteng from Wisteria, which isn't especially interesting to me, due to the certain sort of hollowness of taste common to many Mengsong teas. The LBZ should age much better. Also noted, the finished leaf pile had many leaves with oxidized rims of leaves, suggesting some sort of oolong process. I didn't get any hack throat feeling, so I don't think I really care, but...

I had been meaning to check the Yuan Wei maocha against what the cake sample was like, so I did that today. At this point, since the other two maocha that I got did not differ much from their cake equivalent, I have to conclude that somehow, the cake equivalent sample I got for EoT Yuan Wei is quite FUBAR. I enjoyed the maocha today. It's very odd, because it the top taste is pretty strongly of Chinese congou-style hongchas--like the Sichuan tea corn taste I mentioned before, but it also had the same strong chocolate notes one finds in such teas like Sichuan and Yixing congous. There are some slight fleshy-sweet floral notes gilding the main taste, as well as some mint notes. There is not any malt taste nor is the body of the taste thin like hongcha usually is. Definitely has a measurable amount of qi, and one can find bitterness if one brews hard enough, seems to be proper. I suspect that in most cases of me having money, it would be too expensive for the value for me, but there would definitely be a price which would engender serious interest. I have also thought about how nice a little warehousing would be, since the flavors would be so friendly within the fermented, brown tea taste.
 
Finished off 2012 Manzhuang from TeaUrchin. I feel pretty much the same about the quality. Earlier infusions had a pretty strong feel in the throat, but not really the huigans I had the first time. Then again, it wasn't as bitter. Has a kind of oolong character (particularly in the aroma) in the beginning as well, but not too annoying. Settles down into a fairly heavy Yiwu character tea. Today, the last brews had some fruit notes in it. This has a little bit of qi. The viscosity is substantial and feels good in the mouth, particularly late.
 
Finished off sample g which was a 90's CNNP cake of some sort. I enjoyed it very much, mild taste (once past the starting sourness), light wood, soil, and has a really good fruit mouth huigan. Seems pretty menghai like Nannuo or banzhang, rather than mengku like I first thought. Anyways, the qi was quite nice, and there were plenty of brews.

Yesterday's tea was White Whale. Had more of that Baoyan '03 FT minidiscus sensibility, which I don't favor, so I was mostly just positive. Thinking the taste part definitely can vary with the chunk in the pot.
 
2007 8582 from YS: Surprise! It is so drinkable now! I just can't believe how easy to drink it. It has developed well beyond its age if compared to its older siblings before 2004. It tastes like 15 years of aging. It is mellow, thin and simple. Office drink. Did Dayi change its production recipe after 2004 so that it would develop faster? The taste profile is definitely different than its old siblings from 2004 and before. It lacks of strength.
 

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I think there was a huge uptick in pu'er purchasing around that time, causing manufacturers to pump out as much as they could.
 
Two days ago, was whatever Bangwei. Noted funk, bamboo, honey, soil tastes. Also noted a mouth aroma quality, as well as the sort of mouth huigans one finds in wetter stored sheng.

Yesterday was EoT Du Quan maocha. Was too green, young for me. Very floral. I think I will enjoy this sort of tea more with four years of age to it. Very durable tea.

Today was 2002 7542. Not as easy to drink as whatever Bangwei, more astringency being one reason. Not that interesting, but not unpleasant either. Not really a very durable tea.
 
A few days ago, I had the Tungchinghao chicheng from Teaclassico. It wasn't as enjoyable as I remember it because it was quite bitter for a number of brews, and I counted that as a flow since it's a '90s tea. Much of the time the bitterness did convert to sweet flavors. The taste, aroma, qi were pretty much all the same, but my greater experience with teas of this type, from the whatever-bangwei to the White Whale, and the mid-90s Zhongcha I know as sample G, have all contributed to a greater awareness of what I truly want from teas of this type. Indeed, I have a much better understanding of why the '90s 8582 Red Mark from TeaClassico could be considered good. The Tungchinghao is a mostly good-enough tea that could be better than what it is--there is a reason why it's not a number of hundreds of dollars (or if Generation Tea is the same, only $160).
 
Yesterday, I had the EoT Yunyun again. I believe I can firmly recommend this. The longer rest allowed for dissipation of some of the smoke, to my surprise, and I got a thick soup, with aftertaste, huigan, and everything else a good young puerh is supposed to have. The aroma could be nicer, being a basic Menghai aroma with some smoke... Anyways, the only real flaw here is that the taste is thinner than I'd be perfectly comfortable with, and the bitter only got by brewing a little hard.

I find this much easier to drink than the Du Quan, which is too floral and green for me right now, and much more standard than the Yuan Wei, and one of the better bets for good aging, particularly in humid climates where you can get the tea to brown with ferment taste trivially (so as to assist primary flavor). I cannot really justify the cost since these teas are more expensive than the Sanhetang 2013s available, or any of the older teas that I am aware of that do not cost $19X/400g. If you're someone that doesn't have to care about price efficiency, I'd say that it at least matches the 2011 EoT efforts and is worth buying for future consumption.
 
EoT 2011 Bulang. Pretty much drain cleaner right now. Fairly thick viscosity right now, and has a number of sweet flavors centering around honey and barnyard. A bit of qi, and some mouth huigans and a bit of sinking feel in the throat. Has medicinal bitterness like Lao Man'E, and is relatively astringent. Still some afteraffects of smoke. Definitely needs another four, five years. There are some seriously red leaves in the finished leaf pile. Mostly normal green, though, but some softness that hongcha gives is apparent.
 
2011 Hai Lang Hao "Cha Wang 2" from YS: The dried tea leaves smell somehow oily. The tea soup tastes sweet and soft. It resembles an... oolong a bit? According to the "Age and Life Cycle" at Tea Heavenly, arbor tree tea leaves should be entering the second phase of development now; not sure here ... 1 - 2 more years of aging would definitely tell what kind of tea this is.
 
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I've always been a shu fan, never really enjoyed shengs in the past. I got another sampler to work through. Just tried 2008 Menghai 'springtime water'. I stuck through it for 3, 4 infusions in a gaiwan and it was unpleasant. Very bitter, tannic, rough tea. I still have several Yunnan sourcing varieties to try out but after this one I'm not looking forward to them. Maybe I need to try some with some more aging.
 
Tea today was Chenyuanhao '01 Yiwu. Very flat, slightly sour main taste. Also has a bit of light drying astringency. Has nice aroma and finish. The viscosity is acceptable as well. Pleasant pre-football tea.

Yesterday's tea was EoT '14 GFZ. Very thick and minerally tea. Has depth in taste. Extremely durable. Has some qi, and it has some of the aftertaste qualities recognizable as classic GFZ. The aroma wasn't all that complex, and the taste is pretty laid back. Thoroughly enjoyed, and clearly a better effort than the '13 EoT GFZ. I would prefer the Last Thoughts, though, because I personally would feel more confident that it will age will, with heavier bitterness and stronger aftertaste. Not as thick, minerally, or as durable, so it's understandable if some would prefer the EoT.

Day before yesterday was whatever Bangwei. I decided to try this in the stoneware gaiwan that I used to use. The taste was a lot more bland and similar to very young ripe liu bao. The duanni pot that I usually use helps keep the tea a bit more interesting. I also found that the high quality aftertastes really only show up in longer brews. Sometimes you really do need a gaiwan to know what's up.

This focus on gaiwan was because originally, I did four grams of '02 Tai Lian, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has a very thin taste, but what there is, is quite nice in my mouth. What was really remarkable was that along with some good qi, the aftertastes were pretty strong with plum, floral, and wine notes, and consistent within cups and throughout the session. It's a really nice taste to stick in the mouth. Viscosity was okay, but it was quite nicely smooth. Strong bitterness early-middle stage.
 
Blended 1.5g EoT '07Qingshengu 1.2g Eot '08 Bulang .8g TeaUrchin '14 LBZ and 1g ChaMaGuo '12 Naka. Enjoyable blend, with a consistent sharp bitterness, incoherent but fun complexity, some plum, some viscosity. A little qi and a bit of potency in the throat early on. The Naka is the most standout flavor.

Last tea was '99 DaXueShan maocha from Sanhetang. Rather smooth, dark flavors, good qi, sweet, aftertastes aren't as big as I like, and it's not that dynamic. I resent that it was maocha for all these years and not pressed.

Tea before that was '05 Dayi Mengsong Peacock. This tea was taken from the middle of the cake, and I surprisingly found it bitter, smoky, and astringent. The qi was very good though, and late infusions had a consistent aged plum taste that coats the mouth pleasantly. When I had the maocha the next day, it was a pretty firm reminder of just how much better selected and made tea was in the mid-aughts.

Before that was the EoT LongLanXu. Essentially similar to the systematically floral Jingmais, but without molasses/nut taste. It's very good for drinking now, but it's really unlikely to age all that well, given my limited experience with Jingmai without any real Menghai backbone. A good value for new tea and drinking now, given how much everything else costs.

I had the EoT DuQuan from the pressed cake before that. Too green and not good enough to put up with it. The worst value from EoT in my book.

Blended 3.5g of XZH '11 Zhangjiawan, the last of it, with a gram of Last Thoughts. Didn't do all that well with the EoT '14 GFZ kept in mind. Much thinner taste than the GFZ and less complex. Aftertastes were a bit more complex, but the two teas just didn't cohere well.

'02 7542. Not fun to drink. Clearly shows age without the fermentation, but I never want to drink too many cups of this. I think it's odd compared to my reaction to the '02 Tai Lian, which is also dry, and does the lincang irritation of my stomach, but is overall nicer to drink. Hmphf.
 
Combined late nineties 8582 red mark with '04 Guyunhai, 6g + 2g, and I came up with a very harmonious brew that was better than either of them together, very deep, dark, complex, with good liveliness of something not over (moistly) stored, but smooth, non-bitter, and very easy to drink. The aroma wasn't that strong after the first couple, and that was it for flaws. Great huigan in the mouth and a couple good ones in the throat, some good mouth aroma late. Great qi.

I am going to do this again, not that I have anymore of this 8582, but perhaps I can blend the whatever bangwei with a couple grams of chenyunhao '01 Yiwu. It won't be as smooth or as bitter free, but it could be a really good fermented sheng drink, maybe.
 
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