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Ripe/Cooked Puerh of the Night

Had a session of my frequent tea, 90s Zhongcha Ripe.
One of my fav ripe so far... possibly due to its storage as well.

Strong camphor aroma and taste, medium broth and honey-like towards the end. Medium to long session of infusion.
Much enjoyable :biggrin:
 
Had a session of my frequent tea, 90s Zhongcha Ripe.
One of my fav ripe so far... possibly due to its storage as well.

Strong camphor aroma and taste, medium broth and honey-like towards the end. Medium to long session of infusion.
Much enjoyable :biggrin:

They must have changed cooker puerh process in 2000s or so. I also have some 90s zhongcha and none of them are nothing like the new 05-08 cooked cakes.
 
Why do you do the long 3 min rinse for this tea? Is it just based on experience with the particular tea? I am a neophyte but had only read about rinse times in the 30 second range or less.

Thanks in advance,

Sorry for the late reply. I missed the post.

This brewing came highly recommended by some of the tea reviewers in Asia. The 3 minutes - 5 minutes are how long it takes to soak the chatus. Even with 3-5 min rinsing, 20 infusions or so are not hard.
 
Sorry for the late reply. I missed the post.

This brewing came highly recommended by some of the tea reviewers in Asia. The 3 minutes - 5 minutes are how long it takes to soak the chatus. Even with 3-5 min rinsing, 20 infusions or so are not hard.

Thanks for the feedback!
I am going to have to start experimenting more with the cooked pu in the future. I had avoided them mostly due to some feedback that they all tasted very much alike. However, I have very much enjoyed some 2000 vintage teas that I have.
 
Thanks for the feedback!
I am going to have to start experimenting more with the cooked pu in the future. I had avoided them mostly due to some feedback that they all tasted very much alike. However, I have very much enjoyed some 2000 vintage teas that I have.

which 2000 tea? raw or ripe?
 
so I take it you prefer those 90s as to the 05-08s?

Yes, for sure. I even think that they used to have a different "cooking" process during pre-2000 years. I think some people like the new shu puerh better because it is thicker, smoother, sweeter but I like earthier, more foresty, cleaner tasting shu. I wonder if this is just a storage effect. When shu puerh gets wet-stored, maybe they go through another post-fermentation process and that's what makes these older shu taste so different.
 
Has a noticeable fermentation taste and smell but really quite enjoyable. I think I like luibao much more than 05-08 ripe cakes of the usual factories.
 
Has a noticeable fermentation taste and smell but really quite enjoyable. I think I like luibao much more than 05-08 ripe cakes of the usual factories.
I assume that is the one from Yunnan Sourcing. Have you tried the 2002? Or any of the 3 Cranes tuo of Liu Bao? It so, I would love to hear your thoughts. I think I may have to dig out my tuo and have some of the 3 Cranes brand tonight! It's been quite a while.
 
I assume that is the one from Yunnan Sourcing. Have you tried the 2002? Or any of the 3 Cranes tuo of Liu Bao? It so, I would love to hear your thoughts. I think I may have to dig out my tuo and have some of the 3 Cranes brand tonight! It's been quite a while.

I actually have some small portions left after splitting the purchase with our local tea friends. I think I have 08 Luibao beeng and 02. ALso 98 Luian.

I haven't got to drinking these samples yet. Only 05 one cuz I have a lot of it, like 250gs or so. I will post my brief notes here when I get around.

05 one still has a considerable fermentation taste and smell which makes me not want to try 08 one for the time being. I will give 02 a try soon. I am afraid I will be disappointed... but we will see.
 
I went back to my 2000 3 Cranes tuo of Liu Bao last night and it has pretty much zero fermentation taste that I can detect. A very nice drink. That makes me think that the 2002 may be much better than the 2005, with the 2005 best laid down for a few more years.

But I am just guessing, of course.
 
I went back to my 2000 3 Cranes tuo of Liu Bao last night and it has pretty much zero fermentation taste that I can detect. A very nice drink. That makes me think that the 2002 may be much better than the 2005, with the 2005 best laid down for a few more years.

But I am just guessing, of course.

When I came home, I could not wait to brew up the 02 liubao portion I have been keeping around.

I am really surprised at how nice this tea is. There is a faintest smell of fermentation but no trace of fermentation in its tea taste. It is somewhat herbal in its taste. Almost woody fragrant. It reminded of my years at a Zen Temple I used to live.

This tea took me back to those years of mountain life. I was a little kid then. I used to run away to the nearest town which took about 2 hours of hiking off the mountain. I would go buy this cheap imitation chicken leg snack and eat to my full stomach's capacity. Then I always ended up throwing up. Deep fried fake meat was too much for mountain vege stuffed stomach but I loved this snack so much I would run away from the monastery coupe times a year. After eating the snack, I would get very scared of the town's busy-ness and started regertting.

Ah... I miss those days.

Anyways, the tea reminded me of the autumn mountain mournings when we used to burn leaves and tree branches to make the soil rich again for the next year's farming. This burning branch smell, as I remember, was very calming when mixed with burning incense smell.

All these memories in this cup of tea...
 
This tea took me back to those years of mountain life ...
Wow, what a wonderful experience to share with us! You should write it up into a short story.

I guess I will have to order some of the 2002 now! The price of the 2002 is nearly the same as the 2005. It seems to me that good liu bao is one of the bargains in the tea world. I can remember BearsBearsBears wondering once why he bothered drinking shu when there was liu bao to drink.
 
Wow, what a wonderful experience to share with us! You should write it up into a short story.

I guess I will have to order some of the 2002 now! The price of the 2002 is nearly the same as the 2005. It seems to me that good liu bao is one of the bargains in the tea world. I can remember BearsBearsBears wondering once why he bothered drinking shu when there was liu bao to drink.

:)

I hope you won't be disappointed with the actual tea. I would whole-heartedly recommend this tea as a good subsititute for recent shu puerh. Good liubao is indeed one of good bargains in the tea world.
 
Wow, what a wonderful experience to share with us! You should write it up into a short story.

I guess I will have to order some of the 2002 now! The price of the 2002 is nearly the same as the 2005. It seems to me that good liu bao is one of the bargains in the tea world. I can remember BearsBearsBears wondering once why he bothered drinking shu when there was liu bao to drink.

Oh, by the way, thanks for mentioning this tea. I had it sitting around for a long while without trying, thinking it may not be that good. I am quite thankful to have found this tea.
 
This tea took me back to those years of mountain life. I was a little kid then. I used to run away to the nearest town which took about 2 hours of hiking off the mountain. I would go buy this cheap imitation chicken leg snack and eat to my full stomach's capacity. Then I always ended up throwing up. Deep fried fake meat was too much for mountain vege stuffed stomach but I loved this snack so much I would run away from the monastery coupe times a year. After eating the snack, I would get very scared of the town's busy-ness and started regertting.

Ah... I miss those days.

Anyways, the tea reminded me of the autumn mountain mournings when we used to burn leaves and tree branches to make the soil rich again for the next year's farming. This burning branch smell, as I remember, was very calming when mixed with burning incense smell.

All these memories in this cup of tea...

Nice post! Thanks for sharing!!!
 
When I came home, I could not wait to brew up the 02 liubao portion I have been keeping around.

I am really surprised at how nice this tea is. There is a faintest smell of fermentation but no trace of fermentation in its tea taste. It is somewhat herbal in its taste. Almost woody fragrant. It reminded of my years at a Zen Temple I used to live.

This tea took me back to those years of mountain life. I was a little kid then. I used to run away to the nearest town which took about 2 hours of hiking off the mountain. I would go buy this cheap imitation chicken leg snack and eat to my full stomach's capacity. Then I always ended up throwing up. Deep fried fake meat was too much for mountain vege stuffed stomach but I loved this snack so much I would run away from the monastery coupe times a year. After eating the snack, I would get very scared of the town's busy-ness and started regertting.

Ah... I miss those days.

Anyways, the tea reminded me of the autumn mountain mournings when we used to burn leaves and tree branches to make the soil rich again for the next year's farming. This burning branch smell, as I remember, was very calming when mixed with burning incense smell.

All these memories in this cup of tea...

Very interesting. I would like to hear more as well. It reminds me of the books by Deng Ming Dao about his master Kuan Saihung. It was a trilogy of books...The Wandering Taoist and two others I can't think of off the top of my head. Now it is known as the Chronicles of Tao...if it is still in print. Good stuff if you like a mix of Taoism and Chinese martial arts.
 
Very interesting. I would like to hear more as well. It reminds me of the books by Deng Ming Dao about his master Kuan Saihung. It was a trilogy of books...The Wandering Taoist and two others I can't think of off the top of my head. Now it is known as the Chronicles of Tao...if it is still in print. Good stuff if you like a mix of Taoism and Chinese martial arts.

I would love to read those books. Wouldn't buy new but getting a second hand set would be awesome. There are many similar books in Asian languages. I devoured those books during my early junior high years. Chigong martial art books of a huge literary genre of its own in Asia like Fantasy books here in N.A. Actual monastery life was nothing like those mystical awesome narratives though there were occasional "cool" moments. Regardless, I have say tea tastes by far the best there up in the mountain. Nothing compares.
 
This is one of the better shu I tried. It has the least fishy smell and taste among the 07-08 ripe offerings. Thick and chunky yet not so fishy or pondy. It has yet developed creaminess but maybe couple of years will do it. Funny that I can't drink my shu cakes right away. I think shu pu takes just as long.

It has a slight medicinal feel to the tea.
 
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