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This afternoon's was the 2009 Lao Ban Zhang from Yunnan Sourcing (Spring, produced by members of Mengku Shuangjiang Tea Factory). Wet leaves smell strongly fruity/raisiny. It has an edge, then huigan and a long, lingering cooling mouthfeel. Very nice to drink. Makes itself known for a long time afte...

I got out all my 200X sheng puerh (a surprising amount once you add all the samples up) and have been working my way through my 'Ban Zhangs'. 2004 Banzhang from Liquid Proust - this one had a smoky taste, while the wet leaves smelled humid and sweetish. Some huigan. Mad King 2006 Spring Ban Zhang Qi...

2003 Yuanjiutang Ban Zhang from tea-encounter.com (they make clear that they can't confirm provenance and it is priced accordingly). Whatever it is, it is a very mellow tea with camphor taste and smooth feel. Next I'll need to decide whether to dig out some of my other teenaged teas for comparison, ...

2013 Fangmingyuan Nannuo sheng puerh from tea-encounter.com. I thought the scent of the wet leaves might have had a hint of damp forest smoke at the start, but not fully certain as it was fleeting. This one has quite a lot of green astringency at the start - at steep 3 it got very nice as you could ...

I've been working my way through some samples from tea-encounter.com (am writing out the whole address because they are not very googleable otherwise...) 2008 Fengmingyuan Nannuo: Smooth drinking, has old books taste and a long menthol-ish edge. Can take longer brews right at the start. Tingle on mi...

I finally got around to making my first matcha! This is O-Cha's Kiri-No-Mori. I am really enjoying it, it has a lovely creamy texture and a good taste. (I don't mind bitter in teas - definitely none here though!) Now I've opened it, I'm having one bowl a day. Two in a row tends to give me jitters - ...

I use tap water (London, SE). What this topic made me look up and I did not realise, is that Thames Water give postcoded water quality reports that you can download. Calcium carbonate(CaCO3): 249 ppm Other hardness measurements Degrees Clarke:17 Degrees German(DH):14 Degrees French:25 You also get a...

I thought I'd track what was going on in my sheng puerh chest before I get round to adding a salt solution: at the moment, UK winter, my hygrometer reads 18.9C and 46% RH.

I'm mostly looking at keeping it drinkable, not real long-term aging.

Temporary solution: drink tea in a nice hot bath

Looking good!

By the way, it would be helpful to include on your About Me page where you are shipping from. (From the in-basket shipping cost, I am assuming the US, but it doesn't say that anywhere else).

I actually just logged on to specifically look for this topic. I am curious what this will do to the market. All pu from 2018 or earlier, you now have to be suspect of. Im curious on how to inspect a cake to insure it hasnt been soaked. One would think the wrapper would be telltale, but honestly, I...

4g of usually sheng, brewed over 3-4 days, had when at home so evenings and weekends. If shou it is probably down to 2 days as that doesn't usually go as long. 3-4g of something in a brew basket at work, 2+ days depending (sticky rice oolong goes for a whole week). ~5g Chinese green or oolong cold b...

I don't put dust in, and the smallest bits tend to come straight back out again with the rinse, so it is really just the loose but not too tiny bits that go in.

I use it alongside the main chunk - I don't think I've had a noticeable problem with it adding lots of astringency, but it is a much smaller proportion of what's in my pot.

There have only been one or two teas where it has made any difference for me - I can drink most things up to midnight no problem (bedtime is around 1am).