SOTD- sheng of the day

Maybe I,m just cheap. $140.00 including shipping, too rich for me. Now if it were an exceptionally good tea I could talk myself into it.

A year old, I am still liking this one. Preparing it nonchalantly in a gaiwan at my desk. Even if you are not brewing this one carefully, you can still get a nice cup out of it. I tend to find slight liquorice notes (nothing overwhelming and quite enjoyable). I have brewed it for guests who have never tasted puerh and they have all enjoyed it. This one is a sure bet in my book !

Mengku Mangbo Maocha, 2007 Fall harvest. Light and refreshing. Earthy with hint of floral. Nice moderate touch of astringency remaining that balances the tea. good mouthfeel considering the youth of the tea. Overall, very enjoyable.

SotD: random unnamed shengpu in an over-priced Lyon teashop. Better than nothing!

09 Menku Ancient Puerh cake -

Decided to brew this one due to its lighter nature. Straw and a touch of mushroom. Nice as the heat begins to abate.

'08 Xiaguan Duling Fengsao, to match my all sandalwood shave.

It's winter in July!

My test purchase from Taobaofocus.com just arrived (very well packed).

I can thoroughly recommend Taobaofocus.com for buying pu'er. They have the cheapest shipping, and probably the best service of any Taobao handler I've tried. They send a photograph of your order to you once they have collected it together in their warehouse, and the shipping was prompt. I sent by cheap old airmail, and it arrived in just over 10 days, trackable by tracking web-site at every point in its journey. Combining their rock-bottom airmail prices and the low cost of Taobao makes it almost impossible for me not to use them. They charge a 10% handling fee (as is the norm), but this is more than swallowed by the other discounts. Great stuff.

Taobao is as safe as eBay - just buy from a huge vendor (of which there are very many).

My test purchases for your reference, all of which look and smell to be the real thing:

i.
2001 Dingxing - $30 (was double or triple this at Essence of Tea)
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=2390561266

I enjoyed this from Essence of Tea, and MarshalN recently reviewed it positively. Almost a decade old for $30, and tasty too? I am helpless before such bargains.


ii.
2003 Quanji Bulang (a.k.a. "Male Urine") - $26
http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_detail-0db1-3d64f54074e9c8b90b420f5e1cec67da.htm

A delicious cake that has been doing the rounds for some years - my thoughts here. $26 for this would require brain surgery not to purchase.



iii.
2006 Yongpinhao Yiwu - $10 (!)
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=4810706353
Solid and reliable, the YPH cakes are usually cheap but very cheerful. For RMB65, it's a crime not to buy it.


iv.
2003 Manluo Yiwu - $25
http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_detail-0db1-1fb4a771d6e60b5b9c9b0360869e6cd8.jhtml

My old favourite from Maliandao, with which I am stocking up. My notes here. Ask yourself what you can buy from Western vendors for $25. A beautiful cake, now seven years old? Stunning.


v.
2004 Yiwu Mahei - $19
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=4715395966&ad_id=&am_id=&cm_id=&pm_id=

Recommended by MarshalN - I've not tried it yet, but it looks and smells decent.


vi.
2005 Dayi "Zaochun 501" Tuocha - $13
http://item.taobao.com/auction/item...608cf65f03b89de5d00da29.jhtml?cm_cat=50003862

My old warrior (notes here). Most people are not entirely thrilled by Dayi - they're more stalwarts for reliable aging (pre-2006 vintage for preference, no idea about 2006+ vintages), but this tuocha is darned good. So woody and potent. I have tubes of this stuff.


There are some vast bargains to be had out there.

1. Hit Babelcarp to find the Chinese characters for your search terms.
2. Go to Taobao and use the search terms
3. Scroll through teas, finding vendors with big sales numbers and 99%+ ratings
4. Copy-and-paste the URLs into Taobaofocus.com, pay by Paypal
5. Get surprised by a huge box filled with inexpensive tea a week or so later.

What's not to like?


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

2007 Menghai 8582 sample from Jas-eTea.

Very yummy


Regards.

Jakob

2008 Dream of the Red Chamber

Possibly my favorite tuo.

Just to be a devil's advocate, but I was a little let down by the 2003 Quanji, since my expectations had been built up by both MarshalN and Hobbes. I'm not denying that it's a good cake...it's probably one of my top 5 picks from the dozens upon dozens of things I've tried in the past half year. But after reading MarshalN's review of it, I thought it would be like the second coming or something. Goes to show how subjective all of this pu-erh business is.

It's got that sort of vegetal bitterness and good strength, though I didn't really find it to be that complex. I think if you subscribe to the school of thought that only strength (whatever that means) leads to good aged cakes, then this might be the one for you.

IMO, it's on par in terms of strength and bitterness to the 2006 2nd SouthEast Asia Puerh Trade Memorial Cake (which I bought before Hou De slashed the quantity discounts), which has garnered mixed feelings amongst various influential pu heads out there.

Maitre_Tea said:

Just to be a devil's advocate, but I was a little let down by the 2003 Quanji, since my expectations had been built up by both MarshalN and Hobbes. I'm not denying that it's a good cake...it's probably one of my top 5 picks from the dozens upon dozens of things I've tried in the past half year. But after reading MarshalN's review of it, I thought it would be like the second coming or something. Goes to show how subjective all of this pu-erh business is.

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I recall writing about its component of red leaves, I think. However, at twenty-six dollars for a very solid seven-year-old cake? That's the cost of a dodgy, mainstream 2009-2010 cake.

Baffling!


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Hobbesoxon said:

I recall writing about its component of red leaves, I think. However, at twenty-six dollars for a very solid seven-year-old cake? That's the cost of a dodgy, mainstream 2009-2010 cake.

Baffling!


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

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oh yeah, it's definitely a good deal, but the thing is: at least for the sample I tasted, it didn't behave like a 7-year old tea though...maybe a 3 year old one. As you can probably attest to, just because a tea is how old it is in actual years doesn't mean it actually acts its age. That green-boxed CIB Xiaguan Tuocha (which you've tasted, no?) is from the mid-80s, but because it's been so dry-stored (in the box), it tastes really green.

My analysis of it was disregarding the price and just focusing on the tea itself. Personally, if I was ordering something else from Tao Bao I might grab a few, but I wouldn't order it just for that tea. I think I was going to buy this, but was a little peeved by the price increase (around 50 RMB, which isn't that much for us westerners, but having lived in China for a while I know how far 50 RMB can get you...).

7542 <802>

I can't believe how bland this one is compared to the <801>.

2004 Xingshunxiang "Yiwu Mahei", 128 RMB ($19) from &#36129;&#39532;&#26071;&#33328;&#24215; [Gongma Qijian Dian] available here.



Woody, sweet, aging nicely, and a huge bargain for pre-2006 tea. I'll be tong'ing this within the week.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Maitre_Tea said:

oh yeah, it's definitely a good deal, but the thing is: at least for the sample I tasted, it didn't behave like a 7-year old tea though...maybe a 3 year old one. As you can probably attest to, just because a tea is how old it is in actual years doesn't mean it actually acts its age. That green-boxed CIB Xiaguan Tuocha (which you've tasted, no?) is from the mid-80s, but because it's been so dry-stored (in the box), it tastes really green.

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The CIB was really slow to mature, yes indeed!

Perhaps it underlines the subjectivity of tea, but I found the Quanji Bulang to be fairly well matured. It was sharp, and had plenty of kuwei remaining, but it had turned something of a corner. Perhaps mine was stored somewhere less dry than yours.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Drinking 2002 Hai Lang Hao * Mengku Wild Arbor today, and I was told this is the first cake Hai Lang Hao made. This cannot be more different from 2008 Lao Ban Zhang & Man'E Ancient. I find the Mengku is a little bit like Nan Jian Tulin "902", a bit on the mild side. It seems much younger than I expected from an eight year old tea, might be it was stored in very dry places or it only will age very slowly. Nevertheless, it is smooth and easy to drink.

A year later and still beany, nutty and yammy. A tad woodsier than last year with bitterness has become more assertive since they were freshly made.
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SotD: 2001 Dingxing, from 999 Wo Xin Yijiu, on Taobao, $30.

(Cake: "ding shing", vendor: "999 woh shin ee-jeeoh")









Heavy woodiness; excellent aging, with some strong kuwei remaining; spiciness, some floral notes in the aroma (justifying the vendor's description as lanxiang - "orchid scent"). Very complex, and seemingly impossible to exhaust. It runs and runs.

A modernday cake that tasted this good for $30 would be remarkable. A nine-year-old cake that tastes this good for $30... unthinkable. I'll be buying a tong imminently.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Hobbesoxon said:

SotD: 2001 Dingxing, from 999 Wo Xin Yijiu, on Taobao, $30.

(Cake: "ding shing", vendor: "999 woh shin ee-jeeoh")

A modernday cake that tasted this good for $30 would be remarkable. A nine-year-old cake that tastes this good for $30... unthinkable. I'll be buying a tong imminently.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Click to expand...

Anyone interested in doing a group buy of this puerh on TB before Hobbes buys up the whole stock ?

tieguanyin said:

Anyone interested in doing a group buy of this puerh on TB before Hobbes buys up the whole stock ?

Click to expand...

I'm in.