TeaForum.org

Bok wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 23, 2020 5:57 pm

Yes most, if not all of them. This brown and the red ones are particular heavy cases.

Okay, thanks. Good to know. I do enjoy this cup. But I guess I'll enjoy it much less often now!

gregcss wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 23, 2020 9:04 am

wave_code wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 16, 2020 2:33 am

gregcss I like the looks of that pot - is it one of the ones from Crimson Lotus?

Yes it is. Good eye.

I've been checking them out... I recently got another jianshui pot I was planning to have for shu but I've been disappointed with its performance. the CL ones are looking much nicer and better made making me think I should give it another go. everything looks more balanced with placement of the handle, spout, spout shape, makes me curious how the clays compare too.

Funny thing - been thinking of dedicating this cold season to darker, aged and fermented stuff, but guess i'm not that good at execution and got sidetracked with young puers instead. I begun when i occasionally stumbled at a vendor having on offer a tea from a place i've been excited about last winter and decided to try his version along with some other leaves.

It is Mark aka Puerist and the place that started it all was Hua Zhu liang zi. That location didn't reach to the levels of vivid memories i had of it, in part also due to a particularly delicious exemplar from north of Yi Shan Mo, Xiang Chun Lin from 2017. When binge sampling the whole lot i noticed there to be something interesting about, though was too drunk by then. Having a clear room experiment, or experience should i say, showed it all - nice woody smell from the rinsed leaves. Like birch or aspen, with leaves, branches and all the fiber. Went with a bit longer steeps to get a really thick dried fruits stew in the cup (apples and some apricots maybe) with a lovely matte coating. And there's a cherry to the top - turns out to be good deal relaxing and meditative substance, which i was really surprised to see in a young cake. Been quite wound up before one session yet found myself completely relaxed afterwards, with some meditative easy going afterglow.

Sun's a rare thing around here now, but the leaves like it make up for it alright!

klepto wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 08, 2020 2:37 am

2006 XiaGuan "Yu Shang" (Royal Tuo):

I was better off dropping this tuo off the empire state building than the normal method to breakup a puerh cake.
Even the toughest puerh cake are no match for this..
Great tea though, raw honey with a smokey cinnamon & apple flavor
Thick liquor that coated my throat.
Good stuff!!

I love this stuff, I powered through 500g of it (finished the last of it today). Must order some more soon, I think I should have some 2012 someplace...

Tea Encounter 2020 Bang Dong , stong sha qing, very different to the 2019 version and apparently a new option Tiago seems to be working on for the future given that he is already exploring sheng processed this way from different locations like the experimental TongQingHe i received on my last order.

Necessary context: i'm not really into greens, even less into chinese greens so this was a bet on Tiago's impeccable choices so far .

24g on a 400-450ml czech stoneware teapot ( not sure who did this one, it was a gift ) gives me around 250-300ml once leaves expand a little bit.

Today it was my second session ( 1,8 l for the first one, 1,6 l the one i just finished ) .

Nothing to add to what i was warned about... this is very - chinese - green, quite strong on the first session then milder ... but certainly remind me all the chinese greens i've tasted with all those strong vegetal notes i don't really like that much.

It's a little bit of self-inflicted punishment but sometimes this is the way to find out one's own limits. Have 5 cakes + the TongQingHe ( hope it's noticeable different ) so it's going to be a long ride over the next 2 years.

Time from another Tea-Encounter tea today ( shouldn't be surprising given the size of that order ) : 2019 Laos gushu, a blend of Laos gushu material and Guan Feng Zhai's "regular" grade leaf.

I remember Mattcha received an early experimental sample with 60% Laos / 40% GFZ ( ?!? ) ... although the final version was more like 50/50 .

Almost 15g on a 310ml Lin's Ceramics pot , 200ml cups filled to the brim. 8 full cups.

Started this session later than i planned but went for it anyways, fearing i won't get any sleep tonight >__> .

Given the fact that i'm not too much into young sheng must say - once again - i'm pretty satisfied with the overall feeling. Still can't put my finger on the dominant tone and only can keep thinking about eucaliptus, pine even... it has some of that fresh lightly mentolated mildly strong character but not exactly that range, not finding the right reference at this moment.

Pleasing aftertaste, at least it'll keep me company until deep into the owl hours.

This might have been my 5th session of this 2008 Fangmingyuan Bama sheng from Tea-Encounter and i rarely drink the same tea so many times... not for the time being with so much on my storage i still need to taste for the first time.

Can't deny one of the main reasons is the horrible state of my storage... so i'm reaching for teas that are easier to access ( most of my latest orders came from Tea-Encounter so those aren't as buried as others ) but there's also something about this particular one i find enticing the more i drink it, something i never suspected on my first session where i went through the Fangmingyuan's offerings from TE and this Bama cake didn't stand out as much as the 2013 Nannuo did... but then... providence made this cake one of easiest to reach on my storage ... the second session was something else, the third session even better, now i keep loving it more & more on each new session.

Today was on a - relative - rush and therefore had to reach for it again, had almost 2L of tea ( Bama + 2011 Ching Yuen Cha – Tea of 250 Year Old Man | Bi Jia Qing Yuan ) and certainly feeling almost intoxicated... barely could drink the last cup... but once again fascinated with it.

drinking the debris that came off of the serious formula cake i split for an experiment. yum.

pedant wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 19, 2020 1:08 am

drinking the debris that came off of the serious formula cake i split for an experiment. yum.

Just the dust alone or did you mix it with some of those random leaves ?

Since some months ( 4-6 ) ago i started throwing the dust/debris/random leaves ( mostly broken, some whole that are left behind under the tea tray and can't remember where they came from ) inside one tin can .

It's a mix of "everything compressed" ( sheng, shou, white, black, oolong, hei cha ) and at some point in time will dare to try it although when that day comes i'll keep something close in case i need to spit it out plus a phone with the hospital number one tap away plus something else to help throwing that out just in case .

Maerskian wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 19, 2020 8:07 am

pedant wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 19, 2020 1:08 am

drinking the debris that came off of the serious formula cake i split for an experiment. yum.

Just the dust alone or did you mix it with some of those random leaves ?

haha. i brewed the leaves a few times first, and then i removed them, added the sawdust to the bottom of the gaiwan, and put the leaves back on top to act as a filter. i'd then pour the water into the gaiwan gently to not disturb the dust too much. i'd also empty the gaiwan gently into my cup.

i was actually expecting an instant overbrew, but i guess it was only about a gram of dust, and i think the dust is so fine that it actually doesn't extract efficiently without mixing. when i cleaned out the gaiwan, i saw a thick sludge in the bottom.

Maerskian wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 19, 2020 8:07 am

Since some months ( 4-6 ) ago i started throwing the dust/debris/random leaves ( mostly broken, some whole that are left behind under the tea tray and can't remember where they came from ) inside one tin can .

It's a mix of "everything compressed" ( sheng, shou, white, black, oolong, hei cha ) and at some point in time will dare to try it although when that day comes i'll keep something close in case i need to spit it out plus a phone with the hospital number one tap away plus something else to help throwing that out just in case .

lmk how that goes. i think i'm done with maintaining mystery blend piles. i've done it in the past when i was just starting out with tea, so the quality of the teas wasn't as good, but i ended up tossing it all because the direction of the blend ran away on me.

after i break up a bunch of cakes, i always brew up the debris blend then and there.

Brewing some YS sheng puerh about 20 years old. The brick was about 250 gram, probably had wet storage with super strong earthy taste at first. After about 2 years in US, the storage taste is minimal now. Brewing it in a TWL antique zini pot probably also help. Cheers!

2006 XiaGuan Xiao Ma FT7513. Made for Malaysian export. I think these were very tippy and made for only 2 runs I believe. Good notes and storage or blend make it seem like a budget Yan Qing Hao cake. Bitter, tart , citrusy, smoky, sweet in the finish. Very interesting.

Finally tried Yibang 2017 samples from EoT that was truly excellent. Just wish it comes in a smaller cake!

Another recent dig is a 2019 Bingdao Gushu from YMT. One of the best tea sessions we had this year!

I tried some 2006 Yinhao tuo earlier. Pretty nice stuff quite thick and goopy.

Broke open some more cheap shu to jar up

Just received this generous package from liquid proust! I have no experience with any of these teas.