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Balthazar wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 23, 2022 6:10 am

mrmopu wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 21, 2022 10:16 am

Way too rich for my blood the last few years pricing. I can buy aged teas cheaper than the new ones..

Yes, the last few years' (close to a decade) prices have been insane and I don't know anyone buying those teas for drinking...

Still, I think some of the earlier ones are worth the prices they command (at least auction prices). Speaking of which I am drinking the 801 7542 today, which I consider a solid daily drinker though a bit lacking in the energy compartment.

I like the Spring of Menghai cakes and 7532's as options for high priced 7542 series. They punch well and are about a third cheaper in the wallet.

1999 Second Millennium Sun Withered Raw Pu-erh Tea (Maocha) From yee on tea.

LeoFox wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 13, 2022 9:39 am

1999 Second Millennium Sun Withered Raw Pu-erh Tea (Maocha) From yee on tea.

I have to admit, I've been getting a lot of perverse enjoyment from reading your posts about your adventures with traditional storage...

I'm having this same 1999 loose leaf tea today; I'd call it traditional storage which has tamed the underlying tea's original astringency but hasn't removed its youthful vigour, with simple flavours but a pleasant feeling. It still tastes 'raw' and hasn't been 'cooked' by the storage.

However, I can understand why you may feel differently; it must be hard to get the flavour profile of "soiled diaper" out of your mind once that description makes its way into there... I'd suggest avoiding any other traditional teas until you've recovered (unless you want to get any other samples out of the way before beginning your road to recovery).

Andrew

Exploring more of my first order from Ketlee.in....

2022 Ketlee spring gushu sheng cake:

The dry leaf has a lovely rich plummy fruity earthy scent.
4 grams of leaf in a Petr Novak treebark pot:
10 seconds boiling water and the rinse is sweet, malty, vegetal, a touch bitter, and quite nice.
10 seconds again...still sweet, malty, vegetal, herbs, hint of bitter
10 seconds again….nice….
20 seconds…still liking this one very much
20 seconds….bitter coming out a bit but still malty/earthy and pleasingly herbaceous
….and I’ve lost track of the infusions….now out to 7 or 8, still very short and dilute, because that’s how I roll, but I like this quite a bit.

debunix wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 01, 2023 11:57 pm

Exploring more of my first order from Ketlee.in....

2022 Ketlee spring gushu sheng cake:

The dry leaf has a lovely rich plummy fruity earthy scent.
4 grams of leaf in a Petr Novak treebark pot:
10 seconds boiling water and the rinse is sweet, malty, vegetal, a touch bitter, and quite nice.
10 seconds again...still sweet, malty, vegetal, herbs, hint of bitter
10 seconds again….nice….
20 seconds…still liking this one very much
20 seconds….bitter coming out a bit but still malty/earthy and pleasingly herbaceous
….and I’ve lost track of the infusions….now out to 7 or 8, still very short and dilute, because that’s how I roll, but I like this quite a bit.

Big question is how does it compare to Chinese sheng? Never encountered malt in sheng before...

I think this is definitely one I should put on the list to share our next Los Angeles tea tasting, so I can get an assessment not just from me, but from some more serious pu-heads.

More Nor Sun -- low-effort pu'er that maintains a classic taste.

2009 Ai Lao Jue Se from YS.

Lovely, easy drinking, clean tea with an expansive feeling.

The only problem is that it's almost gone...

Bingdao 2008, Gu-Shu Sheng Cha 357 grams cake. I have got little of it. That is sad

2006 FT8653 (iron cake), Taiwan storage. Nothing fancy to kick off the new rabbit year, though this tea in a very decent place right now. The epitome of a good value "daily drinker mid-aged pu" for me.

Thoroughly enjoyed this pot of 2012 Cloud Watching from EoT.

Lots going on in that liquor and I am getting the gushu vibes from it.
A good reminder to explore more out of the way productions.

Had a low leaf lazy trial brew of Ying Kee tuo I picked up out of curiosity and was somewhat pleasantly surprised. No traditional HK storage notes, this being the first pu of theirs I have tried I don't know if wetter HK style is typical for them or not... but for a tuo I felt it broke apart surprisingly easy and at just 2g or so in 80ml it was brewing up surprisingly dark orange. No age given or any details so I sort of went in assuming it would be something like a cheap Xiaguan builk tuo re-wrapped. I don't have a ton of other factory tuo experience to compare it against but I was pleasantly surprised for a cheap impulse buy and look forward to giving it a proper session. I'm still kind of doubting that Ying Kee is bothering to source and press their own material though given how many 'house' teas they offer in basically every popular style. Anyone know if they commission their cakes from particular factories?

Having my first pot of sheng in 2023. Drinking a 2005 Xiaguan Tuo brewing in a 90s Zini pot.

Still watching the clouds...

FT8653-6 (iron version) again today. I think I've mentioned before that I drink significantly less sheng puer from late autumn to early spring, because even with storage conditions that are unchanged at a macro level (i.e. taking only temp and RH into account) there is some mystery factor that makes them all feel slightly hibernated during the cold/dry season and then pick right up once spring arrives. Maybe that mystery factor is to be found in the drinker and not the tea. In any case, Xiaguan teas in general seem less affected by this. (Besides, these days I often find that I'm more in the mood for shengpu even if only at 80% of "normal enjoyment" than I am for other kinds of tea.)

Having become accustomed to using larger pots, I used a bit too much leaf today. Adjusting steep times accordingly to get the combination of plum, incense and woodiness that I enjoy from this tea (I'm starting to think I slightly prefer it to the jan/feb batch 05 thick paper T8653, though they're both very decent medium-aged Xiaguans in my book).

I'm trying something a bit different with the last few steeps today, by mixing in a tablespoon of Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa to fend off a stubborn bronchitis cough.