My first sheng experience

[oolongfan]

I read a few of his notes and just tried to get it in the ballpark. Sometimes you nail it and others not as well. I agree on too much tea and not enough time. In terms of aging some like it dank and wet and others dry. Just kind of depends on the person. And about the saline notes, ever get pepper from shou?

And life is too short to drink a lot of bad tea. Been down that road too.

I have not yet had a shou with pepper notes...that sounds very intriguing. I would love to try a shou with pepper notes. I am even newer to shou though..still getting my feet wet so to speak.

I have had one sheng though, that had pepper notes..specifical a wonderful delicate white pepper. It was a 2004 Xiaguan Fang Zhuan from Norbu tea. Greg had told me about its unique pepper notes and atypical (for Xiaguan) lack of smoke. It had a lovely parchment bamboo hay flavors over which there was this lovely unique (to me) white pepper note and delicate astringnecy. These were balanced by a faint sweetness on the very back end along with a hint of menthol in later steeps. This little brick has become one of my favorite teas and I have quite a few in my collection. The only drawback is the compression. It practically required a jackhammer to pry apart - even for the small amount required for my iddy biddy teapots. Perhaps this is a good thing as it forces me to keep some back for aging.

Yes - life is far too short for bad tea. Add to that that I am limited to only 1-2 tea sessions per week due to health issues...my tolerance for bad or boring tea becomes even less

[mrmopu]

@oolongfan, hopefully you can keep away from the bad stuff.Sorry to hear your health only allows a few sessions a week. I guess those of us who can brew all week should consider ourselves blessed.

[oolongfan]

oolongfan, hopefully you can keep away from the bad stuff.Sorry to hear your health only allows a few sessions a week. I guess those of us who can brew all week should consider ourselves blessed.

Thanks for the kind words. I try to remind myself that at least I can drink tea. when first diagnosed with kidney disease, my nephrologist banned me from tea. After a few years of dramatically improved kidney function (due to treating hypothyroidism), I was given the green light to have tea again -albeit in moderation. Many people with kidney disease are not so lucky as their kidney function does not improve the way mine did. So I try to remember that whenever I get fustrated by my limitations. In the meantime, I live vicarously through the rest of you The 'What are you drinking' threads are my favorite....I try to imagine what it must be like to have occasion to try so many teas...so many times.

I forgot to ask, have you ever gotten pepper notes from shou? Your question has me wondering if there is a peppery shou out there....

[John_B]

This last line of discussion about health issues reminds me of something I'm experiencing, just second hand. I'll visit the States for a wedding in May and wanted to bring my niece (getting married) some interesting tea, probably sheng, shu, and black, since sheng and shu present well and black is a more natural starting point.

More related, I wanted to bring my brother tea too, but remembered that due to a heart condition he can't ingest much caffeine. Tisanes can be nice too, I guess.

On the theme of exploring sheng I'm at an odd place related to that. I've been through a broad range of basics, and have tried a lot of teas of varying ages, from lots of source areas, across quality levels, stored in different places, etc. I just don't have a great budget for ramping exploration up to a typical next level, to buy the next 100 cakes and see how those change over time, or even a few dozen, per my wife's preference. I'll take it bit by bit instead of quitting, I'm sure, but the more natural path does seem to be submerging deeper.

[Rui]

I hope I converted him. I sent him a package of samples to try.

Don't you want to reconvert me?

[mrmopu]

I hope I converted him. I sent him a package of samples to try.

Don't you want to reconvert me?

I think you are in hook line and sinker like I am.

[thommes]

thommes Just curious, did you find some good sheng?
I hope you did, and that the comments above didn't scare you away from young sheng puerh tea

i did find some mr mopar sent me some samples which were quite good. i need to remember quick steeps!

[thommes]

I hope I converted him. I sent him a package of samples to try.

i think i still have a few yet to open!

[mrmopu]

I hope I converted him. I sent him a package of samples to try.

i think i still have a few yet to open!

Hopefully you will find a couple that you like in there.

[thommes]

I hope I converted him. I sent him a package of samples to try.

i think i still have a few yet to open!

Hopefully you will find a couple that you like in there.

I have already. I think a big part of it is steeping too long. That's likely my problem with greens and oolongs as well. I just tried an oolong for the first time since I went strict pu and it had a bit of green taste to it.

[klepto]

My first experience was a blind buy from Tea Urchin, Yiwu Snake Blend 2013 Spring. It was nothing like the fishy shou puerh samples that were
free samples from various vendors. Then per pantry's advice I tried a raw sample from Bana Tea and got really hooked. I'm learning that I like
raw puerh that is a bit young, older shengs are kind of too aggressive for me. Now I have tossed my beloved Oolongs aside for raw puerh. @debunix said that it was going to take my, "tea heart".

[thommes]

Same here. I pretty much gave up all other teas and have gone exclusively pu. Prefer shou but trying to brew sheng better? I recently bought an oolong from same company that I bought pu from. To ME green, sheng, and oolongs all have the same basic taste. OK not all shengs, but young shengs. That's why I think I need to learn to brew better. Might be using too hot of temp. Today I only heated water to 200 for the oolong and will try maybe 190 next time? But I hear you and understand when you say that pu took your tea heart.

[klepto]

Same here. I pretty much gave up all other teas and have gone exclusively pu. Prefer shou but trying to brew sheng better? I recently bought an oolong from same company that I bought pu from. To ME green, sheng, and oolongs all have the same basic taste. OK not all shengs, but young shengs. That's why I think I need to learn to brew better. Might be using too hot of temp. Today I only heated water to 200 for the oolong and will try maybe 190 next time? But I hear you and understand when you say that pu took your tea heart.

I'm no where near a tea aficionado but I brew at 195F(for puerh/oolong), although I started at 185F and getting acclimated to boiling. I am not sure how much stronger puerh gets at boiling but I will find out

[thommes]

Same here. I pretty much gave up all other teas and have gone exclusively pu. Prefer shou but trying to brew sheng better? I recently bought an oolong from same company that I bought pu from. To ME green, sheng, and oolongs all have the same basic taste. OK not all shengs, but young shengs. That's why I think I need to learn to brew better. Might be using too hot of temp. Today I only heated water to 200 for the oolong and will try maybe 190 next time? But I hear you and understand when you say that pu took your tea heart.

I'm no where near a tea aficionado but I brew at 195F(for puerh/oolong), although I started at 185F and getting acclimated to boiling. I am not sure how much stronger puerh gets at boiling but I will find out

is that shou or sheng? i do shou at 210... and most teas at 210... because that's what the kettle is set at. I just recently made a conscious decision to lower the temps for sheng and oolong.

[pantry]

Same here. I pretty much gave up all other teas and have gone exclusively pu. Prefer shou but trying to brew sheng better? I recently bought an oolong from same company that I bought pu from. To ME green, sheng, and oolongs all have the same basic taste. OK not all shengs, but young shengs. That's why I think I need to learn to brew better. Might be using too hot of temp. Today I only heated water to 200 for the oolong and will try maybe 190 next time? But I hear you and understand when you say that pu took your tea heart.

I'm no where near a tea aficionado but I brew at 195F(for puerh/oolong), although I started at 185F and getting acclimated to boiling. I am not sure how much stronger puerh gets at boiling but I will find out

is that shou or sheng? i do shou at 210... and most teas at 210... because that's what the kettle is set at. I just recently made a conscious decision to lower the temps for sheng and oolong.

Good tea is not afraid of heat (not sure how true that is but I keep hearing that phrase )
I've been brewing sheng even the very fresh tea at 100 C. Generally materials from older trees like gushu can take heat quite well!