Page 2 of 3
Re: Anyone know what this is??? (plastic in cake)
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2019 10:05 pm
by Baisao
If you dislike astringency you may want to stay clear of dry stored pu. I have some dry aged sheng from the 80s that’s still too astringent for me.
On the other hand, I’ve had unaged gushu maocha that was marvelously delicious— sweet and with very little astringency.
I guess it depends on the pick, and that has changed since the 80s. Some believe that the newer cakes that are delicious while young will not age as well as the punchier cakes of the 80s and earlier.
Re: Anyone know what this is??? (plastic in cake)
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2019 10:27 pm
by Hachachacha
Guy Juan wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2019 11:58 pm
This is the Blue Mark from Global Tea Hut. Would you consider this a low quality puerh?
Guy, I also bought the blue mark tribute cake from GTH. I'm curious, can you describe how your blue mark smells? I did not find any plastic in mine, but I sent some samples of my cake to a friend to try and labeled it with a skull and crossbones. I find the storage smell almost unbearable. I rinsed it four times and still couldn't get past it.
Thanks!
Re: Anyone know what this is??? (plastic in cake)
Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 12:01 am
by Victoria
Hachachacha wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 10:27 pm
Guy Juan wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2019 11:58 pm
This is the Blue Mark from Global Tea Hut. Would you consider this a low quality puerh?
Guy, I also bought the blue mark tribute cake from GTH. I'm curious, can you describe how your blue mark smells? I did not find any plastic in mine, but I sent some samples of my cake to a friend to try and labeled it with a skull and crossbones. I find the storage smell almost unbearable. I rinsed it four times and still couldn't get past it.
Thanks!
Curious, maybe the cake needs to rest a while or you don’t like that particular ‘sheng smell’. When a group of us (including some very knowledgable pu’erh types) tried it here in LA we
found it;
Victoria wrote: ↑Tue May 21, 2019 12:24 am
....very clean and crisp Taiwan stored sheng, with lots of energetic rich complex notes of spice and fruit. Members got a little Qi high on this one.
Re: Anyone know what this is??? (plastic in cake)
Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 12:12 am
by pedant
definitely try breaking it up and letting it air out. should help with the storage smell
Re: Anyone know what this is??? (plastic in cake)
Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 2:01 am
by Guy Juan
Baisao wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 10:05 pm
If you dislike astringency you may want to stay clear of dry stored pu. I have some dry aged sheng from the 80s that’s still too astringent for me.
On the other hand, I’ve had unaged gushu maocha that was marvelously delicious— sweet and with very little astringency.
I guess it depends on the pick, and that has changed since the 80s. Some believe that the newer cakes that are delicious while young will not age as well as the punchier cakes of the 80s and earlier.
I think I DO like the astringency. The young Sheng I had was astringent after the first couple brews and I loved that astringency. I pushed it until there was no more astringency then stopped.
Re: Anyone know what this is??? (plastic in cake)
Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 2:03 am
by Guy Juan
Hachachacha wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 10:27 pm
Guy Juan wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2019 11:58 pm
This is the Blue Mark from Global Tea Hut. Would you consider this a low quality puerh?
Guy, I also bought the blue mark tribute cake from GTH. I'm curious, can you describe how your blue mark smells? I did not find any plastic in mine, but I sent some samples of my cake to a friend to try and labeled it with a skull and crossbones. I find the storage smell almost unbearable. I rinsed it four times and still couldn't get past it.
Thanks!
Literally like an attic or basement...more like an attic. Old antique wood that had water dripping on it. That’s the best I can describe....and it’s spot on lol.
Re: Anyone know what this is??? (plastic in cake)
Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 2:05 am
by Guy Juan
@Hachachacha and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing btw. It’s not my favorite but I will say it has a strong physical effect of relaxation after a few cups. First time I’ve experienced that.
Re: Anyone know what this is??? (plastic in cake)
Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 6:59 am
by Hachachacha
Victoria wrote: ↑Sat Jul 27, 2019 12:01 am
Hachachacha wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 10:27 pm
Guy Juan wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2019 11:58 pm
This is the Blue Mark from Global Tea Hut. Would you consider this a low quality puerh?
Guy, I also bought the blue mark tribute cake from GTH. I'm curious, can you describe how your blue mark smells? I did not find any plastic in mine, but I sent some samples of my cake to a friend to try and labeled it with a skull and crossbones. I find the storage smell almost unbearable. I rinsed it four times and still couldn't get past it.
Thanks!
Curious, maybe the cake needs to rest a while or you don’t like that particular ‘sheng smell’. When a group of us (including some very knowledgable pu’erh types) tried it here in LA we
found it;
Victoria wrote: ↑Tue May 21, 2019 12:24 am
....very clean and crisp Taiwan stored sheng, with lots of energetic rich complex notes of spice and fruit. Members got a little Qi high on this one.
I had read a number of similar reviews, and reviews like this are exactly what led me to blind order a cake. While I haven't had hundreds of aged shengs, I've had probably a dozen or more from the 98 to 2000 range. I'm familiar with the old book, antique store, library, earthy, leaf pile kinds of aromas/tastes, but this one was very different. To me, it smelled something like how a leather shoe or purse might smell that was left in a wet closet until was covered in powdery mildew. But the cake was visibly perfect and there were no mold spores I could see inside the cake. I'll know soon enough as my friend has a lot of experience with aged cakes. Thanks!
Re: Anyone know what this is??? (plastic in cake)
Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 9:21 am
by Guy Juan
Hachachacha wrote: ↑Sat Jul 27, 2019 6:59 am
I had read a number of similar reviews, and reviews like this are exactly what led me to blind order a cake. While I haven't had hundreds of aged shengs, I've had probably a dozen or more from the 98 to 2000 range. I'm familiar with the old book, antique store, library, earthy, leaf pile kinds of aromas/tastes, but this one was very different. To me, it smelled something like how a leather shoe or purse might smell that was left in a wet closet until was covered in powdery mildew. But the cake was visibly perfect and there were no mold spores I could see inside the cake. I'll know soon enough as my friend has a lot of experience with aged cakes. Thanks!
Please let me know what your friend says. I’m also curious to know.
Re: Anyone know what this is??? (plastic in cake)
Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 10:02 am
by tealifehk
Can't comment on the aroma without trying the cake, but that green string is extremely common in pu from around 2000. That cake also looks like it was pressed by Xiaguan between iron plates...wonder if it's a T8653?
Re: Anyone know what this is??? (plastic in cake)
Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:32 pm
by Guy Juan
tealifehk wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2019 10:02 am
Can't comment on the aroma without trying the cake, but that green string is extremely common in pu from around 2000. That cake also looks like it was pressed by Xiaguan between iron plates...wonder if it's a T8653?
It’s not just the aroma. The tea literally tastes exactly like an old musty attic. I am not saying that in a negative way, just stating the fact. I’m curious to know if this is normal as I’ve had a few 2007 and 2008s that resembled nothing at all similar to this. Not a hint of this flavor in those teas, and not a hint of those teas in this flavor. Strange.
Interesting about the green string being common. Must have been slaving to get these things pressed and no time for QC.
Re: Anyone know what this is??? (plastic in cake)
Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:57 pm
by .m.
Guy Juan wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:32 pm
The tea literally tastes exactly like an old musty attic.
Not exactly sure how musty attic smells, but when it comes to storage, better musty attic than a moldy basement...
Regarding storage aromas, sometimes a gentle roasting of the tea before brewing can help a bit.
Re: Anyone know what this is??? (plastic in cake)
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 12:10 am
by Bok
Musty attic is a sign of bad storage in any kind of aged tea. For me it also leaves a kind of dusty feeling in the throat. In any case not a good sign, but depending on the individual tea, fixable.
To the Puerh connoiseurs: Does airing out in a porcelain or other jar help as it does for aged oolongs?
Guy Juan wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:32 pm
Interesting about the green string being common. Must have been slaving to get these things pressed and no time for QC.
Quality control is something someone needs to enforce, the common worker doesn't care, pay is too low. Was that around the time of the Puerh-bubble? If so, people were probably more concerned about the overall numbers and speed, rather than the quality of the product.
Re: Anyone know what this is??? (plastic in cake)
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 3:37 am
by TeaZero
Bok wrote: ↑Wed Jul 31, 2019 12:10 am
Musty attic is a sign of bad storage in any kind of aged tea. For me it also leaves a kind of dusty feeling in the throat. In any case not a good sign, but depending on the individual tea, fixable.
To the Puerh connoiseurs: Does airing out in a porcelain or other jar help as it does for aged oolongs?
Absolutely, but better in a clay jar. I had some very old cakes with too strong storage smell. So I got
this Yixing jar, and I broke up the cake and stored it in there for 2 weeks. It worked really well, the unpleasant storage smell was almost gone and I just needed a 20 second rinse to make the tea taste very well. Based on later experiments, I also find that Yixing jars also removes some smokiness. I have a few Xiaguan tuochas and they tend to be somewhat smokey, so a Yixing jar is also great for those.
Re: Anyone know what this is??? (plastic in cake)
Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 12:15 am
by tealifehk
If I have a tea that has unusual storage aroma or smoke, I just sit the whole cake somewhere for a year or two (in HK natural storage). That usually drives it off unless it's been stored so wet that it got visibly moldy.