What Pu'er Are You Drinking

[Bok]

MarshallN wrote about that 07 cake. Back when it was an under $20 cake.

Prices for most of their puerh have skyrocketed beyond their worth.

Thanks!

I believe my friend got it a long time ago. The 2007 is pleasant, but not something I would actively seek out. The 2010 does have much more character. Or I am catching the 2007 in not a good moment in its evolution... Probably just leave it be for now.

[wave_code]

after having all of my stuff, including tea, in storage for 4 months its nice to get back into things... after ordering a ton of new liu bao and waiting for it to arrive its been heavy shou time. its been quite cold, grey and raining almost every day for almost a month so good weather for it.

recently went through another orange of the Golden Horse pu-erh, the ones from Jay at TeaLifeHK. I love these for rainy days. Not having had others I can't compare how big a difference the storage makes other than I really like these. The orange is there, but not too overpowering, and later steeps get a hint of some salty seawater like flavors that I really like and make it not just a boring fruit tea like you would get blended at a shop. I'm curious to try the other ones, not sure if they are different orange breeds, blends, or what.

Menghai 7562 from Kunst Des Tees. 2008 cake that was stored in HK until 2015. To me its a really nice value for money and its very nice for me that orders from KDS show up at my door in about 24-48 hours . Very clean and with a richer more pleasing taste than other shou I have had in similar or higher price ranges.

V93 from 2016. First time finally getting to try one of these! The jury is still out, but I'm underwhelmed in some ways... not particularly long lasting, but some steeps do get this roasty coffee like bitterness that I actually quite like, though I suspect that diminishes over time. I guess the whole point of this blend is to be a value shou anyway. I need to try some older tuos I think to see if it goes in a direction I might find more interesting later.

next up to try are the Ming Sheng Hao Gu Shu Yan cake and a Nan Jian 2010 iron cake...

[There is no self]

First snow of the season today, just enough to cover the roofs and to put me in the mood for something warm and hearty. I dug up some leftover shu and made Mongolian milky tea with salt, milk, and butter - cow milk and butter, since there aren't many yaks around here. It was so good, salty and creamy with earthy notes!

[thommes]

Hey I think this might be my first contribution to this thread!? Received an order a day early (there is a santa clause!). Having a cup of Golden Melon from YS. It's a 12 year shu pu.

[Bok]

Tea gathering with some friends. They pulled out a Sheng that they bought together a few years back for 6000NT per cake, roughly 200$, now it’s worth 600$... tell you what it still did no taste like 200 nor 600... lesson in expensive-does-not-equal-good. Ok, not unpleasant, but not mind and money blowing good.

In the same session one guy pulled out some factory teas, which was terrible to my tastebuds. Seemed to me that many tea heads in Taiwan have a general dislike of factory tea. Lots of unpleasantness going on in those teas. At least in the samples I had.

[Chadrinkincat]

Tea gathering with some friends. They pulled out a Sheng that they bought together a few years back for 6000NT per cake, roughly 200$, now it’s worth 600$... tell you what it still did no taste like 200 nor 600... lesson in expensive-does-not-equal-good. Ok, not unpleasant, but not mind and money blowing good.

In the same session one guy pulled out some factory teas, which was terrible to my tastebuds. Seemed to me that many tea heads in Taiwan have a general dislike of factory tea. Lots of unpleasantness going on in those teas. At least in the samples I had.

Similar experience I had when I bought this tea in 2011 for $100. I felt it wasn’t even worth $100 then so certainly not anywhere near $1000 now.

[oolongfan]

1980s CNNP Yellow Mark sheng from Norbu - Forest floor, peat, Baba Rhum, carmel, and brown sugar. Smooth yet has profound depth; I get many steeps out of this. Even the last few steeps, while smoother, still have energy and depth. Starts out relaxing to drink but by the end of a session, I am full of energy. CNNP branded from unknown/unidentified factory. Easily the best tea that I own. I bought two of the last cakes from Norbu, underpriced for both the quality and storage.

I had occasion to taste this alongside samples of Norbu's 1990s era CNNP Green Mark (using an 8582 recipe), a wonderful education in aging - even if not a direct comparison. More earthy forest floor, less carmel and baba rhum, not as smooth, more tannins. My only regret is that I missed out on buying the last 1990s Green Mark.

Norbu's 1990s Loose Sheng - This is in between the previous two teas. Beautiful peat, brown sugar, carmel, and molasses. Smoother than the to 1990s Green Mark, with more brown sugar less earth notes. Sometimes at the end of a session of the 1980s Yellow Mark,I will throw in a few leaves of the 1990s Loose sheng. I do this when I want a few more cups but can't quite tolerate the caffeine of another complete tea session. Anathema perhaps, but the two teas compliment each other nonetheless.

[thommes]

2002 Aged Wild Liu Bao Tea "803" from Guangxi from Yunnan Sourcing. First time having this tea. Been drinking the same 7g all day. The color of the liquor has paled significantly, but still has sufficient taste for someone who likes strong tea. Tomorrow will be my first sheng pu at some point.

Edit: Actually is this tea more of a hei cha? And I know technically all shu pu is hei cha. Ah this is a hei cha. Is there a way to tell from the name that the tea is a hei cha? That's assam. This tea is my first hei cha.

[Stephen]

Is there a way to tell from the name that the tea is a hei cha?

Yes, some common types of hei cha are liu bao and liun. There's also fu cha (fu zhuan, golden flower tea) and kang zhuan (Tibetan brick tea.)

You could read more about it and see what's available on yunnan sourcing and chawangshop websites. They have good info and selection. There's also a "What hei cha are you drinking" section here on teaforum.

[thommes]

Yes, some common types of hei cha are liu bao and liun. There's also fu cha (fu zhuan, golden flower tea) and kang zhuan (Tibetan brick tea.)

You could read more about it and see what's available on yunnan sourcing and chawangshop websites. They have good info and selection. There's also a "What hei cha are you drinking" section here on teaforum.

Yep I saw the other thread. Was thinking of deleting and reposting but at this point... Thanks for the info. Npt sure if I knew that this tea was a hei cha when I bought it but I might have. I've been primarily focusing on puers but I did want to try a hei since it's fermented. I was sort of surprised for some reason of the taste. Tasted like a shu to me. I have a long way to go. I don't think I would have ordered such a large quantity but now I'm glad I did. LOL. One of the things I haven't quite figured out yet is all the liu bao, liun, fu cha, and other like terms that are in the names of tea. I fully get sheng, shuo, shu, ripe, raw, etc... but I thought things like liu bao, was either mountain or factory or farm. Thanks for this information. I need to look for a tea cheat sheet.

[Stephen]

I like that 2002 Liu Bao. Good choice. Yep, some are similar to shu puer in processing and taste.

[oolongfan]

2004 Xiaguan Fang Zhuan from Norbu – This little sheng brick is one of my favorite teas. Atypical Xiguan in that there is very little if any smoke. White pepper, bamboo, parchment, straw, perfumed tea notes. Some sweetness on the back end. There is a lovely drying astringency that compliments the pepper note. Some soft menthol camphor notes come out in later steeps. I own quite a few bricks of this tea. My only complaint is that it requires a jackhammer to break apart.

I have not tried later versions of this tea, would love to hear back from those who have 

[debunix]

Enjoying a session with some Yong De Ripe Puerh Tea, that based on the labeling, probably came from Yunnan Sourcing, maybe a sample included with an order. It's a loose leaf that resembles this current offering. Earthy, hints of camphor, a hint of sweetness, seems like it would hold up well to thermos session for a long day away from the tea station tomorrow. If I didn't have too much puerh already, I'd buy some more.

[Noonie]

I haven't had puerh for months due to a separate health issue that arose at the same time I started drinking pu, though after finally confirming it was unrelated to this tea, I'm now back on!

So I've been rotating between 2013 Yunnan Sourcing Xiang Ming Wild Arbor Raw and 2005 Changtai 'Top of the Clouds' from Crimson Lotus. They're of course very different given the 8 years and numerous other reasons, but I'm enjoying both of them. The Changtai is mellow/smooth, in a good way, though still punchy. Just ordered a second cake. I have two other cakes from 2012-2103, and the rest are more recent...and I'm going to try and age them for a few years at least. I kind of feel like I made a mistake in getting them; although they were inexpensive, I think I would rather not play the aging game and simply have a couple of cakes 'in the wings' and ready to drink...and just keep going that way. But the aging will be an interesting experiment over the next decade I guess!

[oolongfan]

So I've been rotating between 2013 Yunnan Sourcing Xiang Ming Wild Arbor Raw and 2005 Changtai 'Top of the Clouds' from Crimson Lotus. They're of course very different given the 8 years and numerous other reasons, but I'm enjoying both of them. The Changtai is mellow/smooth, in a good way, though still punchy.

I have thinking about trying both of those teas, so feel further to further eleborate