What Pu'er Are You Drinking

Puerh and other heicha
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Stephen
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Wed Feb 10, 2021 12:24 am

Today I brewed the 2011 Mandala Old Tea Nugget Brick for the first time in maybe 6 years. It's changed. Before the taste was of
paper or old book along with some fermentation. Now the taste is of plum or sugarcane sweetness and lots of clarity - a real pleasure to drink.

Next up was the 2000 CNNP Bu Lang Zhang Xiang sheng pu. It certainly lives up to it's name. It's almost heady with camphor aroma, and the Bu Lang strength comes through. It lacks some in thickness, but I wouldn't want to go heavy with this one - it's got strength
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OCTO
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Wed Feb 10, 2021 1:24 am

Stephen wrote:
Wed Feb 10, 2021 12:22 am
OCTO Lovely color to that tea soup. How did you add the salt? Haven't heard of that before.
hi @Stephen.. It's not salt per se..... but rather a pinch of 60s Traditionally Rolled DanCong (茶米).... :D :D :D

Cheers!
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Stephen
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Wed Feb 10, 2021 2:06 am

OCTO wrote:
Wed Feb 10, 2021 1:24 am
hi Stephen.. It's not salt per se..... but rather a pinch of 60s Traditionally Rolled DanCong (茶米).... :D :D :D

Cheers!
Okay! I thought you meant real salt. Your version sounds better. And from the 60s...it has some years!
polezaivsani
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Wed Feb 10, 2021 2:13 am

@Stephen, unless It's already too late to ask, would you mind sharing the source of that zhang xiang cake? Anyway it sounds like you had a nice party there, at least accounts of several pus in a row always puts a happy smile onto my face!
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Stephen
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Wed Feb 10, 2021 1:21 pm

@polezaivsani That tea was from Yunnan Sourcing, but I don't think it is available now. They might have something similar if you ask. Essence of Tea might also have something similar. And yes, I always enjoy when I have time for 2 teas in the morning! :)
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Maerskian
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Sat Feb 13, 2021 2:47 pm

Tea Encounter 2020 Tong Qing He ( test cake, still not for sale anyways ) : same as 2020 TE's Bang Dong this one has been through strong shaqing therefore it feels more like a chinese green tea and as a matter of fact smells very much like one .

The smell from the wet leaf is very much like boiled broccoli ( and i do love my broccoli, the smell... not so much ) while the taste is more delicate if we compare it with the Bang Dong version ( which is only natural for i know genuine Bang Dong teas to be relatively strong ) ... still remains within the flavor range of chinese green teas... which i find hard to evaluate properly as green teas are at the very bottom of my preferences ( with chinese ones always below japanese ) .

This is part of some personal therapy where i force myself to drink teas i usually wouldn't ( bought five 2020 Bang Dong cakes now i have to add this one ) for walking the path of knowledge always requires sacrifice as well and indeed is bringing forth some interesting reflections related to the ripples derived by some recent discussion on different communities around FarmerLeaf cakes which i also revisited related to it.

Feels to me like these strong shaqing TE cakes are way way way better teas for the desired end product ( teas to drink now & finish ASAP, which seems to be FL's direction ) which seems to be where mid-range FL cakes are positioned ( Miyun, Tian Xian & similar ) .

Also revisited recently pre-FarmerLeaf's 2014 Hekai Gushu which has improved a lot ( bought through Teamania ) after recovery from that über-dry Swiss storage which took longer than expected ( first taste was 6 months after delivery, now it's been way more than one full year ) and thought it was completed after those initial 6 months but in the end looks like it needed to breathe even more humidity to be back in full bloom.

Don't know much about the banacha ( pre-FL ) days, the processing is definitely different to FL brand cakes although back then they probably were focused on selling other people's productions rather than their own.
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LeoFox
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Mon Feb 15, 2021 8:45 am

A foolhardy venture into young sheng territory, hahaha!

Brewed this 8 gram kunlu mountain (困鹿山) dragon ball in the gaiwan. The dry leaf was flowery. Did a hard 30s rinse to break open the ball. And then was forced to do less than 10s infusions to control the bitterness! :evil:

Moving beyond the harsh flavors, the tea tasted a bit like a garden soup with savory herbs and celery, a little like Hojo's jubuzan zairai sencha:

viewtopic.php?p=32829#p32829

Additionally, i tasted some hints of blueberry jam.

However the tea is also a lot harsher when compared to that nice sencha - there's just too much medicinal bitterness! And what strong somatic effects! After the fourth infusion, my ears were ringing! After the fifth, my forehead felt numb! It also seemed to clear my sinuses! :o

Hahaha, I still dont understand the appeal of these young sheng.
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Bok
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Mon Feb 15, 2021 9:33 am

LeoFox wrote:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 8:45 am
Hahaha, I still dont understand the appeal of these young sheng.
It’s like crocodile (caveat: don’t google that if you’re faint hearted, this is some nasty stuff!) for drug addicts - too poor to get the quality stuff, so you’re forced to drink stuff that will destroy you... :lol:
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Stephen
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Mon Feb 15, 2021 12:31 pm

@LeoFox Well, you did use 8g in what looks like a small gaiwan - that's what I consider face melting territory! Sounds like a good tea to try again in 5-10 years :D

@Bok I looked up the Krokodil. Yikes :shock:
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LeoFox
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Mon Feb 15, 2021 12:41 pm

Stephen wrote:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 12:31 pm
LeoFox Well, you did use 8g in what looks like a small gaiwan - that's what I consider face melting territory! Sounds like a good tea to try again in 5-10 years :D

Bok I looked up the Krokodil. Yikes :shock:
Yeah, I did ponder if I should have used my 150 ml vessel instead. But I was flash steeping to compensate.

Still, this fad with young sheng remains incomprehensible to me. All this marketing spiel about "high pitched bitterness" followed by deep sweetness or alpine aromas seem a bit crock hahahaha. The somatic effects definitely go beyond the pharmacodynamics of caffeine...


This was certainly not the nastiest sheng I've tried though. My notes on one of my worst experiences recently:

2003 Dry Storage Che Shen Hao Yiwu Ruigong TeaLifeHK: first infusion is peaty and flowery with some bitterness. However very soon, the bitterness and smoke became overwhelming and was not drinkable. Made me want to cry and vomit at the same time despite flash steepings with 4.5 grams in 85 mL. The bitterness is surprising, considering the 17 years of storage!
I think it's supposed to be mild according to the hardcore drinkers so maybe I'm just weak. Hahahaha
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Last edited by LeoFox on Mon Feb 15, 2021 1:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Stephen
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Mon Feb 15, 2021 1:00 pm

@LeoFox Agreed. I don't drink a lot of young sheng. I don't feel good when I do. A while back I visited Yunnan and felt okay drinking it there, my guess is that the hot and humid environment along with all the spicy food balanced out the tea. The locals in the mountains seem to mostly drink young sheng.
DailyTX
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Mon Feb 15, 2021 5:20 pm

Stephen wrote:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 1:00 pm
LeoFox Agreed. I don't drink a lot of young sheng. I don't feel good when I do. A while back I visited Yunnan and felt okay drinking it there, my guess is that the hot and humid environment along with all the spicy food balanced out the tea. The locals in the mountains seem to mostly drink young sheng.
@Stephen
It’s a random guess, I wonder by any chance you consumed qing (青)puerh rather than sheng puerh when you are in Yunnan? I only came across this term qing puerh a few times. It seems like Yunnan natives drink it like green tea. If anyone has more information, please share. Here is a video from a puerh professor who talks about it:
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Stephen
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Mon Feb 15, 2021 8:38 pm

@DailyTX I don't remember if that term was used, but I might have missed it. Is that puer processed differently or new tea? Mainly we drank fresh mao cha. It was processed but not pressed, and often recently made. Interesting video - I wish it had english subtitles! :D
DailyTX
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Mon Feb 15, 2021 9:57 pm

Stephen wrote:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 8:38 pm
DailyTX I don't remember if that term was used, but I might have missed it. Is that puer processed differently or new tea? Mainly we drank fresh mao cha. It was processed but not pressed, and often recently made. Interesting video - I wish it had english subtitles! :D
@Stephen
I am not good with translation lol. I think the professor in the video mentioned a few characteristics of qing puerh: Leaves were harvested near the boarder of Yunnan, harvested from tea plantations that have exhausted the nutrients in the soils, Guangdong area (offspring of the Yunnan puerh tea trees), and other areas in China outside of Yunnan. The tea leaves are younger of age, it has a fragrant scent, a bit sweetness, and lighter mouth feel. He went into differentiating Sheng puerh which does better with age vs. qing puerh which tea lose flavor and fragrance over time. It’s an interesting lecture that led me to rethink about the types of puerh to add to my collection.
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OCTO
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Tue Feb 16, 2021 10:11 am

Having what’s left of some calming 90s Lue Da Shu 7542 tonight.... a little pinch of 茶米 to give it a extra boost..... just perfect to wind down after a busy day.

Cheers!!

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