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I’ve had my pumidor for a month now so my teas have had some time to recover, still a good amount to go most likely but I can’t wait any longer.

This week I had 2 Hai Lang Hao shous. The first was 2017 Hai Lang Hao "Yi Shan Mo" Yiwu material and I liked it a lot. I bought a 75g sample and I am glad I tried it out even though it was the least expensive 2017 HLH shou YS was selling. It had a nice brightness in the background which is a characteristic I like. The forefront had a black currant flavor.

The second I had was a re-visit of my 2017 Hai Lang Hao "Lao Ban Zhang“ cake. I still don’t like this tea very much. It’s very strong on the stomach, it doesn’t taste very good, there is no discernible flavor other than dirt and I think it needs more time to rest.

I still have a few more Hai Lang Hao samples but they didn’t smell particularly enticing yet so I left them alone for now.

So I've revisited conscientious prescription a few times and am having it now, and it does indeed have a nice mild, relaxing qi. Also the taste is really really nice. First infusion is very woody, and then on it's sweet aged goodness. I have this and two cakes of green peacock from EoT. Of which one will probably be the first cake I finish, as I really enjoy these two teas.

It's Friday and my desk is still out of yancha. I got out my 2017 danzhu from Farmer-Leaf. I'm always happy to drink this tea. It has nice character, good sweetness and leaves you feeling fresh.

2011 Bao He Xiang Yi Wu Qiu Lan sheng from Yunnan Sourcing. A smooth tea for a sunny Monday morning.

2014 Jingmai Shengtai from Farmerleaf. Catching up with the teas I have accumulated while I was buying far too much tea. This tea is now very pleasant with a sweet taste.

2018 Da Xue Shan from Hojo.

Dry leaf smell: Very wonderful, aromatic, sharp tangerine, esp after being in my pumidor (I now have a second one, one for shou one for sheng)
Tastes like lightly bitter citrus-tangerine, with a long lingering aftertaste. I don't remember very well how the 2017 one tasted but overall this seems pretty similar.

2016 Mi Jing sheng from Farmerleaf. Quite an interesting tea with floral aroma and yummy taste. This is a free sample that I received sometime ago with a purchase.

Lao cha tou I bought in Kunming back in 2016 and have had at my home since then! It's aged wonderfully and is much smoother and easier on the tummy, with sweet and floral notes. It was good when purchased and is even better now.

Shine Magical wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 27, 2018 6:45 pm

2018 Da Xue Shan from Hojo.

Dry leaf smell: Very wonderful, aromatic, sharp tangerine, esp after being in my pumidor (I now have a second one, one for shou one for sheng)
Tastes like lightly bitter citrus-tangerine, with a long lingering aftertaste. I don't remember very well how the 2017 one tasted but overall this seems pretty similar.

My friend had some of the 2017 one left so we compared. It had darker notes to it that we didn’t enjoy that much, we preferred the 2018 one.

Drinking this Jasmine Pu'er today. This arrived in the mail recently, and I love this tea so far! I don't usually spring for loose pu'ers, but this one sounded interesting enough.

The leaves we're aged for ten years with a small number of Jasmine flowers. The Jasmine was then removed, leaving just the seasoned tea leaves.

The Jasmine is definitely the first note that hits you, both in the nose and on the tongue. Underneath that is Pu'er flavor. There's not any bitterness, even with the rinse (which I'll usually try). It goes down extremely smoothly and the Jasmine smell lingers around for a bit in my nose after swallowing. As the description on the website says, it has very strong nostalgic properties that knocks me back into thought upon first sip.

I think I'll be taking some of this to the office to keep me calm on stressful days.

100 ml, 3.5g, flash steeped until the flavor fades, then I add about five seconds between steeps.
Edit: Forgot to say the temp! 205-207 F.

I'm having 2014 He Kai Shan Raw Puerh, sold by my friend MyTeaGuy.

This tea is bitter in a good way. It's my favorite tea that he sells. His Ban Zhang is pretty good too though I like this tea more.

2016 Teadontlie
Excellent tea. The depth is coming out on this one. I did my usual 10grams to 100ml of water just off boiling and one rinse. The florality aroma of this one comes early. Sweetness almsxt like a gum taste comes in early. The later steeps lose much of the florality and the tea gets heavier and almost a touch viscous. Later steeps had the bitter aspects coming in. I played around in the leaves and would guess a couple of years leaf in this one. Nice leaf, and mostly 2 leaves and a bud. Found a couple that were almost able to stretch across my palm. Good tea to celebrate a bit with.

Happy Fourth of July to all. Let us remember the ones who gave us our freedom and still are on point to protect it.

Flavors: Floral, Heavy, Sweet, Thick

Now about 2 years deep into my tea journey, I've decided that I no longer really enjoy shou.

I'm sticking to well-kept non-bitter sheng and other teas that are lighter on the spectrum like gaoshan, white tea, and green teas. I wonder if I'll crave shou this upcoming winter or if these greener teas will satisfy me then too.

Currently drinking 2015 cha tou zhuan ripe from hojo. It's nice and not very deeply fermented. However, I feel like my body is rejecting the underlying nature of this tea type.


This entire week I've spent weeding out things from my life that no longer fit me: some teas, things in my apartment, things at work, things in my mind. I guess it's just another one of those times in my life where I'm concentrating who I am at my core before I start branching out into other things.

2014 Dayi Platinum 60g square raw pu! Guangdong dry storage. Still a little bitter, but the smoke and bitterness have both mellowed significantly. I get mint and butter from this tea, as well as the wildflower note that I would get from young Dayi 7542. Nice daily drinker for a nice price, and would age well here. I'd buy a lot more of this tea if I had the funds as it's very good value!

Shine Magical wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 11, 2018 6:32 pm

Now about 2 years deep into my tea journey, I've decided that I no longer really enjoy shou.

I'm sticking to well-kept non-bitter sheng and other teas that are lighter on the spectrum like gaoshan, white tea, and green teas. I wonder if I'll crave shou this upcoming winter or if these greener teas will satisfy me then too.

Currently drinking 2015 cha tou zhuan ripe from hojo. It's nice and not very deeply fermented. However, I feel like my body is rejecting the underlying nature of this tea type.

This entire week I've spent weeding out things from my life that no longer fit me: some teas, things in my apartment, things at work, things in my mind. I guess it's just another one of those times in my life where I'm concentrating who I am at my core before I start branching out into other things.

A profound week for you. I also prefer aged sheng over most shu, and have been confronting myself this past week, like a mirror saying ‘you can let those negative thoughts go’, by seeing in a different way... a mind bender week, like going through a worm hole.