Hi Jay. I bought two tongs of WAK with the exact same production date from the greenteaguru two years ago (he got them from Scott) and my cakes are full of Mengku (Bingdao/DXS) flavor and on top of that the aroma, especially the complex, perfumy leng xiang in the empty cup is one of the most expressive I've ever experienced and stays in the cup for days! Anyway, I found it a bit diva-esque to brew and it definitely benefits a lot from the right water and so, after some initial trials to make this tea sing I ended up brewing it at slightly lower temperatures (initial 88-90 deg C.) and preferably in a flatter celadon gaiwan in order to keep the profile balanced and to bring out more of those perfumey notes in the cup.tealifehk wrote: ↑Sat Jul 28, 2018 12:29 pm
Tried the cake above today. Barely any flavor at this point: just bitterness. Smooth and clean though! And the start of aged flavors. This is a cake I need to wait on. Hopefully it'll be more interesting in a year or two! I'm pretty sure it will be, and since this material is Mengku, I'm curious to see what kind of aged flavors will develop.
What Pu'er Are You Drinking
Hi there. Thank you very much for the Mengku pointers as they are always much appreciated for me to expand my tea knowledge (and expand my stash).Ken wrote: ↑Tue Oct 23, 2018 2:10 amHi Rui. (I'm ex-kuanglong from teachat). Nice to see you and some other teachatters posting here. I'm glad you like your Mengku. I finished another pot of 2016 YS Big Snow Mountain Wild Arbor last night. Despite being from the same area it tastes pretty different from the '1974' or any Mengku Shuangjiang in my stash but has some nice energy, a northern profile with a touch of florals and dark honey, decent mouthfeel and it's surprisingly sweet after a couple months in storage. I bought two tongs of this stuff for a friend, great bang for the buck IMO.
I do have other Mengku teas in my stash including some wild teas. I do like that region but I tend to sip it only after a few years have elapsed as I am really a Yiwu sheng tea boy. LOL
2018 Yunnan Sourcing "Xiang Chun Lin" Yi Wu Old Arbor sheng tea. Another very smooth and yummy young sheng that I enjoy sipping and getting the lovely aroma. Unfortunately it is a bit beyond my tea expenditure ratio at the moment so I only got a 25gms sample. Probably I'll be posting a picture of it on Sunday when I am planning to try it again in more controlled conditions.
I hear you, Rui. I still have a pretty soft spot for Mengku/DXS sheng after all, especially wild leaves.Rui wrote: ↑Fri Oct 26, 2018 2:01 amHi there. Thank you very much for the Mengku pointers as they are always much appreciated for me to expand my tea knowledge (and expand my stash).Ken wrote: ↑Tue Oct 23, 2018 2:10 amHi Rui. (I'm ex-kuanglong from teachat). Nice to see you and some other teachatters posting here. I'm glad you like your Mengku
I do have other Mengku teas in my stash including some wild teas. I do like that region but I tend to sip it only after a few years have elapsed as I am really a Yiwu sheng tea boy. LOL
(Sipping some Campesino yerba mate right now, looking forward to an extended sheng session tonite).
Sipping xiaguan "horse road/back" 2007 toucha. It has improved a lot in 6 months in my pumidor. Really smooth, some minerality at the back and sweet aftertaste with very little peatlike smoke hints
- IMG_20181026_195742.jpg (233.98 KiB) Viewed 7730 times
Fermenting on horseback leads to minerality at the back.
Drank some taiwan 90s sheng(white label? blue mark? honestly don't remember or care) that I split with a friend. It was my first taste since getting it and was decently impressed. Quite a good tea despite being almost too smooth that if I brewed it like shou I would be having a hard time to discern it was aged sheng. it had that wonderful immediate coloring/steeping like shou and just a great mouthfeel and depth. there was only a little bit of brown on the wet leaves, but almost fully fermented. It was also good enough to drink now without too much dankness. I think I probably should have gotten more(that was the plan but things happen), but oh well.
A friend in tea treated me to some Puerh, which I rarely drink and never buy.
A Sheng from 2001, from a no name wild tree brick.
The special thing about this tea was that it had hints of charcoal fire. Apparently back in that period, some wild tree Puerh was still dried over charcoal fire still up in the mountains, as the way back was long and this way the tea could last until being carried back for further processing. It is in no way similar to the smokey Lapsang kind. A very subtle hint only, which makes for an almost whiskey-like drinking experience. As the tea is still comparatively young, brew was a deep clear orange. Very nice tea!
Second treat was a half-shou, half-sheng mushroom, something which I, in my Puerh ignorance did not know exists. Alas, I liked it a lot less... still not as other shous which had always put me off, but yet not something I would invest time and money in.
All brewed in a nice thick walled Qing-dynasty-zini-Japan-export-pot
A Sheng from 2001, from a no name wild tree brick.
The special thing about this tea was that it had hints of charcoal fire. Apparently back in that period, some wild tree Puerh was still dried over charcoal fire still up in the mountains, as the way back was long and this way the tea could last until being carried back for further processing. It is in no way similar to the smokey Lapsang kind. A very subtle hint only, which makes for an almost whiskey-like drinking experience. As the tea is still comparatively young, brew was a deep clear orange. Very nice tea!
Second treat was a half-shou, half-sheng mushroom, something which I, in my Puerh ignorance did not know exists. Alas, I liked it a lot less... still not as other shous which had always put me off, but yet not something I would invest time and money in.
All brewed in a nice thick walled Qing-dynasty-zini-Japan-export-pot
2016 YS Qing Mei Shan (What-cha)
One of my favs among Scott's old arbor/gushu offerings. After having tried some older spring versions of this cake I'm glad I perservered, sampled the '16 bing (and purchased a mini-tong
). This and especially the '15 version are two very different teas in pretty much any regard (side-by-side comparative tasting). If there's one thing I miss from the '15 cake it's the pronounced almost plasma like early morning dew theme that has been the center of attraction for me in the older cake but for anything else (taste profile, perfume, qi, depth, aftertaste and not at last durability) I'd pick the '16 tea. (I haven't tried the '17 harvest so far but already put a sample in my YS cart).
One of my favs among Scott's old arbor/gushu offerings. After having tried some older spring versions of this cake I'm glad I perservered, sampled the '16 bing (and purchased a mini-tong
). This and especially the '15 version are two very different teas in pretty much any regard (side-by-side comparative tasting). If there's one thing I miss from the '15 cake it's the pronounced almost plasma like early morning dew theme that has been the center of attraction for me in the older cake but for anything else (taste profile, perfume, qi, depth, aftertaste and not at last durability) I'd pick the '16 tea. (I haven't tried the '17 harvest so far but already put a sample in my YS cart).Sounds like a much gentler version of the 2015 spring cakes; the latter pack a decent bit of bitterness and astringency, albeit nicely balanced.
(I have 5 1/2 100g cakes (what-cha again) in storage and their taste profile has changed quite a bit over the last two years. There's almost nothing left of that initial, forefront fruitiness and I have no idea what they'll turn into somewhat further down the road.
时间能证明 … Time will tell
)Absolutely. Its freshness of a couple of years ago is no longer there but it is still yummy. I also agree with you on what is going to become in the future.Ken wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 9:05 amSounds like a much gentler version of the 2015 spring cakes; the latter pack a decent bit of bitterness and astringency, albeit nicely balanced.
(I have 5 1/2 100g cakes (what-cha again) in storage and their taste profile has changed quite a bit over the last two years. There's almost nothing left of that initial, forefront fruitiness and I have no idea what they'll turn into somewhat further down the road.
时间能证明 … Time will tell
Last edited by Rui on Tue Oct 30, 2018 5:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
Spoiler alert … dirt cheap shu pu
2015 Nan Jian 703 (Organic)
Bought two tongs of this shu for some friends back in Swamp county and had another session myself this morning.
I'm not much of a shu bro but in that ongoing crap weather (it's been raining for more than a week now) this stuff just delivers. Right from the get go - no rinse - there's a predominant impression of creamy, fruity black forest cherry tart topped with dark chocolate flakes (I actually prefer a pot of this tea over the real, fat and sugar laden stuff
).
Good strength and balance, slightly sweet with decent kuwei, OK viscosity and mouthfeel, more fruity, chocolatey than earthy or shroomy with no dui wei to speak of, a good dose of caffeine and finally decent durability.
Standing outside in the cold drizzle this morning with a hot bowl of this tea in my hands I couldn't have asked for anything more satisfying - an ideal match in that moment.
2015 Nan Jian 703 (Organic)
Bought two tongs of this shu for some friends back in Swamp county and had another session myself this morning.
I'm not much of a shu bro but in that ongoing crap weather (it's been raining for more than a week now) this stuff just delivers. Right from the get go - no rinse - there's a predominant impression of creamy, fruity black forest cherry tart topped with dark chocolate flakes (I actually prefer a pot of this tea over the real, fat and sugar laden stuff
). Good strength and balance, slightly sweet with decent kuwei, OK viscosity and mouthfeel, more fruity, chocolatey than earthy or shroomy with no dui wei to speak of, a good dose of caffeine and finally decent durability.
Standing outside in the cold drizzle this morning with a hot bowl of this tea in my hands I couldn't have asked for anything more satisfying - an ideal match in that moment.
Last edited by Ken on Tue Oct 30, 2018 6:07 am, edited 1 time in total.