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2020 YS Jinggu wild purple sheng. Normally, I don't drink young raw puer, but this is a cake from the "tastes good now" division. Brewed with filtered tap water + a little sea salt, boiling rinse then off-boil thereafter, 6g/110-ish ml. It's not hard on my stomach, the bitterness is of the pleasing sort and it's not astringent at all unless you push it hard. YS describes it as being sweet with fruit and floral aromas, but while the floral nature is present and accounted for, the fruit is mostly MIA, with what might be described as some grapefruit in the taste, and some sour stone fruit in the nose. Aroma of the wet leaves is floral to begin but quickly becomes rather savory, almost like lentil soup.

I'm only a few steeps in this AM, but usually this one doesn't last past 9-10 steeps, though boiling on the stove wrenches some more goodness from the leaves, including some throat and mouth cooling (which I have never gotten from it gongfu style). I suspect this one will not age well, so I will probably drink it up in the short term, though it would be interesting to see what happens. It's not expensive ($70 for 357g) so I'm happy with it as it is. Good cha qi, though there are days when it feels like a bit much, so I tend to drag those 9-10 steeps out for a while.

Also - anyone ever find a strange tea leaf in their cup that looks almost like a tea leaf potato chip? I neglected to get a photo but it looked positively deep-fried

Sent down memory lane
By this 80s shou
Remembrance of my late grandfather's library in Shanghai

Can almost smell the dusty wood shelves again
and those old volumes of russian classics that somehow survived the great leap backwards and the cultural revolution, when they were confiscated for over a decade

In a normal year it would still be too early for my sheng puer to have awoken from its winter hibernation. Yet when I opened a crock to return two rehumidified boveda packs, the irresistible smell of the cakes prompted me to grab one and have a session anyways. I was expecting to be able to say something similar to the protagonist of The Magic Mountain, (paraphrasing and replacing a cigar with tea...) "I'll sit here for a wile and drink my tea, as one does. It tastes awful but I know that it's good, and that will have to do for now."

But spring appears to have come early! At least for this tea, EoT's 2001 Mengsa Old Tree Tea, of which I have about 50 grams left. The aromas, the body, the energy, the "just the right kind of astringency"! Try as one might to console oneself in the winter months with Anhua heichas, lightly fermented shus and such, there really is no replacement for sheng puer. Spring is back, the king is back!

Edit: @LeoFox, sounds like a great session. Is the tea something passed down, or did you obtain it more recently?

Balthazar wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 15, 2021 7:39 am

Edit: LeoFox, sounds like a great session. Is the tea something passed down, or did you obtain it more recently?

It was obtained more recently. The tea was very settling and brought many memories and dreams.

Enjoying a mixed session this evening alternating between infusions of 2010 Ban Pen Sheng from Essence of Tea--a powerful sheng where a little goes a long way, even after many infusions already--and some fine Shan Lin Xi oolong from Tillerman Tea. Very different teas, but both worth drinking deep into these late long infusions....hence the alternating. The Ban Pen Sheng just reminded me that even after so many infusions, it still deserves respect with a moderately bitter infusion that I'd have diluted a bit with hot water if the kettle hadn't been refilled and reheating. Still, the herbs and sweet are there with the bitter, and the earthy is underneath. I'll give the next infusion more respect and less time.

Enjoying Hojo's 2019 Wu Liang Shan Ripe Pu-erh

In the early infusions, the tea is very chocolatey and coffee like in the front. But going down and in the aftertaste, it is very minty and has a refreshing herbal and vegetal character that reminds me more of green oolong or zairai sencha. In subsequent infusions, the taste gets more and more fruity. The aftertaste remains refreshing and the menthol effect on the chest is almost medicinal.

I can't remember a shou that left such a clean feeling before. I believe this would be a great tea after a work out. The caffeine is surprisingly strong. Usually shou makes me sleepy. This made me more awake. Too bad I drank it at midnight hahaha.

Some mid aged sheng after dinner is a nice affair...

Bok wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:46 am

Some mid aged sheng after dinner is a nice affair...

@Bok you need a larger pot....

@OCTO, I think the mere fact that @Bok is drinking pu er is reason enough to celebrate (though for all we know, he's brewing it yan cha style and not telling us).

Is the pot a colour changed pot, or just a naturally dark clay? It doesn't look like the kind of pot that has too many chemical additives...

Andrew

Andrew S wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:33 am

OCTO, I think the mere fact that Bok is drinking pu er is reason enough to celebrate!

Amen to that!!... hahahaha... finally!!

Andrew S wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:33 am

Is the pot a colour changed pot, or just a naturally dark clay? It doesn't look like the kind of pot that has too many chemical additives...

It’s a late Qing/Roc reduction fired pot, likely Qingshuini at the core and it has additional metallic shiney kiln change spots. Broken handle in two places, hairline crack in the lid ~ but I love it! Best results with Puerh for this clay. And... I’m not divulging how I brew it.

Any clues as to how to distinguish between reduction-fired clay and naturally-dark clay? Not including chemically-treated clay.

Andrew

Andrew S wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 26, 2021 11:28 am

Any clues as to how to distinguish between reduction-fired clay and naturally-dark clay? Not including chemically-treated clay.

Andrew

There is no naturally dark grey clay in Yixing. Dark brown, yes, lighter grey, yes. All dark/black looking are usually reduction fired of some kind.

Thank you. I'll post some photos of a darker-clay pot I've got in due course, and see what people think.

But, unlike yours, mine works really well for high mountain tea and not as well for pu er, despite my initial assumptions, so I might post it over in that page.

Need better light in any event...

Andrew

Another night of OCTO's quirky Puerh Blends... hahahaha..... this time round late 1990s shou puerh and 2006 sheng.... very energetic and smooth blend...

Cheers!!