SOTD- sheng of the day

shah8 said:

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.

Click to expand...

Haven't stopped by for awhile. I tinned up an entire cake of the 1990's HK style for about two months. I mean, really tinned it up. Surgically dismantled that cake. Came back to it yesterday and it tastes like a completely different tea. Given what I've experienced of that Bangwei cake, I think it might be a lot better if taken apart and rested for a month or two. Thoughts?

Oh, and SOTD is this 2006 Fangcha which i am in the process of getting boxes for. Really legit tea. B&B EXCLUSIVE PHOTOGRAPH OF TEA IN A CUP.

Monkeyboy said:

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.

Click to expand...

If this keeps happening, try some slightly older raws that have smoothed out a bit more. Or, you could try brewing your younger raws at a slightly lower temp (~90 C) and less of that harsh tannic feel and/or bitterness will come out. Less leaf might also aid in making raws less rough and tumble.

But, 2008ish Menghai teas will generally be as you described. Especially big factory stuff.

Yes, that's pretty much true, but I think it's just a matter of the cake resting in a non-store climate, whether be too dry in an air-condition shop or in some dank corner of the warehouse. Breaking it up accelerates the process, but storing it with some care tends to moderate the faults of previous storage.

shah8 said:

Yes, that's pretty much true, but I think it's just a matter of the cake resting in a non-store climate, whether be too dry in an air-condition shop or in some dank corner of the warehouse. Breaking it up accelerates the process, but storing it with some care tends to moderate the faults of previous storage.

Click to expand...

The care to moderate faults works but take a lengthier amount of time in my experience. I am still holding on to some wetter stored cakes that a year + in Beijing hasn't moderated. Some come down after a year or so though.

Tinning up this 1990's HK was a big transformation.

2010 Gu Ming Xiang LaoBanZhang Gu Shu from YS: Curious about the "pesticide" testing method mentioned at Tea Heavenly, tried it with this tea. Results? Pesticide was found! For someone like Hai Lang (owner of Hai lang Hao), a tea of this caliber shouldn't have happened to have pesticide. What a shame. We the tea drinkers really have to equip ourselves better.

bbclj said:

2010 Gu Ming Xiang LaoBanZhang Gu Shu from YS: Curious about the "pesticide" testing method mentioned at Tea Heavenly, tried it with this tea. Results? Pesticide was found! For someone like Hai Lang (owner of Hai lang Hao), a tea of this caliber shouldn't have happened to have pesticide. What a shame. We the tea drinkers really have to equip ourselves better.

Click to expand...

Is this your shop bbclj? I had a look, but can't see the pesticide testing method you refer to.

I think most people would be shocked if they started analysing the teas that they're drinking. It seems agrochemical use is more and more the norm in Yunnan and beyond. We really have a hard time every year finding teas that come up with no detectable pesticide residues. Everyone says their teas don't have them, but in my experience the lab tests often say otherwise.

How worried should a tea drinker be about these pesticides? I don't get many food items from China, but I am concerned about horticultural and food processing practices there.

StillShaving said:

How worried should a tea drinker be about these pesticides? I don't get many food items from China, but I am concerned about horticultural and food processing practices there.

Click to expand...

That really depends - a lot of these levels of pesticides still fall within the regulatory boundaries (MRL's) set by western countries. How worried are you about the pesticides you eat day to day in your fruit and vegetables? If the answer to that is 'not at all', then I guess you shouldn't worry too much more about the tea you're drinking. If the answer is 'a little', 'quite a bit' or 'very', then it might be prudent to select the teas you drink carefully.

Agrochemical use in plantation teas is standard practice. It's also relatively common in old tree teas. Barring expensive lab tests, you could try to stick to certified organic teas, teas with comprehensive pesticide test reports, or try to learn to taste for pesticides - though this takes a little time.

Disclaimer: I sell tea & test for pesticides. This is in no way meant to be a promotion of my teas - just responding to an issue that I feel is quite important & goes largely unnoticed by many tea drinkers. Pesticides are designed to kill. Whether they act only in a short time frame on insects or whether their effects can be cumulative with ingestion over a prolonged period in larger animals (us) is a matter for scientists to debate. I tend to favour the latter & prefer to drink naturally grown teas.

Appreciate the response regarding pesticides. I rinse my tea in hopes of removing enough of the pesticides, assuming that some might be present. But I try not to worry about it too much.

StillShaving said:

Appreciate the response regarding pesticides. I rinse my tea in hopes of removing enough of the pesticides, assuming that some might be present. But I try not to worry about it too much.

Click to expand...

I'm slightly less optimistic that you I'm afraid. I don't think a rinse or two is going to get rid of them. I'm sure it's better than nothing though!

I might be overly cautious. Many people live long and healthy lives while ingesting agrochemicals regularly. On the other hand...

Now that we've had a cold snap down here I'm breaking into my sheng. Today's was from a sample of 2008 Xiaguan FT Mushroom tuo. My brewing needs work. I'm so very out of practice.

Dudes. I hope you're well.

I have been drinking some nasty shengpu (I think it's shengpu) courtesy of a "friend" from Malaysia. My suspicion is that he's trying to take me down from the inside, one cup at a time. However, like a ninja working up his tolerance to poison, I'm hanging in there. The tea has a "label" and a "neifei", but I think these are the clothes that belonged to a victim that he recently mugged. Good times.


Toodlepip,

hobbes

Been a while, but I've been mostly drinking from my own collection. Glad I bought all those Dayi teas before the prices went from reasonable to completely out of control. Recently got a bunch of samples of old/new teas from multiple vendors so I've been having a very pleasurable experience catching up.

White2tea White Whale - Much has been written about this tea. It's a good value for a tea of this quality and age bracket. The taste is not exactly what I prefer, but that is personal preference. I would have to agree with everyone who has some in that I'm glad I bought a handful of bricks. Teas like this will probably be astronomical in price in a very short amount of time if the rest of the market is anything to go by.

2001 Changtai Hao Red - This is good, slightly humid tea. I feel as though I've had a lot of teas like this over the years, but that is not a bad thing. The base material is better than most that are like this, and I feel the price is more than fair. Reminds me of the Longyuan Hao 03 Yiwu that I have which I also got from TwoDog a little while back, but with more content, power, and better leaf.

Yunnan Sourcing 14 Qing Mei Shan - Little to no forward flavor, really high caffeine content, good mouthfeel, decent huigan, turgid throughout the first three brews and overall a fairly clean tea. I have a decent feeling about this teas future potential, but have never encountered a young tea like it before so who knows? I also can't see into the future, so I'm just guessing here.

Yunnan Sourcing 14 Ye Xin - Hmm, if someone had given me a cup of this tea without telling me what it was supposed to be, I'd probably remark that it is a good green tea. I've had three sessions with this tea, and I have a feeling this is one of those teas that will probably go stale in a few years, rather than develop into something better. I don't think anyone can really see into the future of any tea, but in my experience teas like this don't do too well over the long haul. I really don't know. I'm very fascinated in trying this and the Qing Mei Shan at the three or five year mark. You know, for science.

The old gang!

I ***missed*** you guys!

It's almost odd everyone decided to come back around the same time!

White2Tea New Amerykah 2 - This is good. It's very good. I noticed Hobbes said it was weak, which I understand, but personally I feel it does have a dense core to it. The kuwei does exist, and builds as you go with the tea (which goes, and goes, and well, you get the idea.) It's got all those classic Menghai flavors we love, it has momentum, it's chewy, and damn it's so hard not to love. I really wish I had gotten a hold of New Amerykah 1, but this is fine tea so I'm not too miffed. Teas like this at this price point are very hard to come by. I have some Repave on the way as I missed that first time, but won't let this second pressing slip through my fingers! Thinking real hard about purchasing some of this New Amerykah 2 while it's still available.

TwoDog2 said:

The care to moderate faults works but take a lengthier amount of time in my experience. I am still holding on to some wetter stored cakes that a year + in Beijing hasn't moderated. Some come down after a year or so though.

Tinning up this 1990's HK was a big transformation.

Click to expand...

the 90s HK tinned up (in a jar for me) was a good idea. got a lot better, much cleaner profile. I'm going to be tinning/jarring a lot of my wetter teas from now on.

Just happened across B&B...and what do you know a few old timers around.

04 Tong Chang Huang Ji Yiwu Chun Jian - This is near perfect for me. Aging nicely...no sour or storage flavors.

tong chang - is that tongqing?

dt100 said:

tong chang - is that tongqing?

Click to expand...

No it's a smaller tea factory. Not sure they still exist. http://teacloset.blogspot.com/2012/10/04-tong-chang-huang-ji-yiwu.html

I was mistaken in my earlier post about the 01 Changtai Red, the tea it reminded me of was the 05 Longma Yiwu that I got through White2tea a while back. The Changtai reminding me I haven't had the Longma in a while, I decided to see how it has been coming along.

05 Longma Yiwu - Wow! Aired out, this tea is fantastic. Lasts a long time, gloopy thickness, sweet, earthy, and very stimulating. Excellent tea that makes me want to hoard wet stored teas. I need to get a hold of some of that HK 90's cake...