My first sheng experience

[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

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.

I only drink raw puerh, currently at 195F. New tea addicts like me have to get used to drinking super hot boiling water

[mrmopu]

I do sheng and shou at the same temperature. I do a quick rinse and then let the tea sit for 5-10 minutes. I find that wait time lets the tea open up. I normally start at 5 seconds for each brew and adjust up and down from there. Once you find that sweet spot you will stay after it.

[gregcss]

I'll have to try the waiting for 5-10min technique. I do a flash rinse then go 20sec, 15sec, 20sec, 25sec, +5sec up to around 40 then maybe a +10-20 depending on strength. I typically don't go beyond 10 infusions and sometimes stick to 8 depending on time.

Mind you I do 2 infusions in rapid sequence - one in the cup and one in the pitcher. Plays a part in the sentence below.

I have noticed with ripe puer is after the first two infusions is that the 3rd infusion is almost a pour in pour out because it brews really dark (and tasty). Might be because this "second set" of infusions is sitting for several minutes while i drink the first two.

[thommes]

I'll have to try the waiting for 5-10min technique. I do a flash rinse then go 20sec, 15sec, 20sec, 25sec, +5sec up to around 40 then maybe a +10-20 depending on strength. I typically don't go beyond 10 infusions and sometimes stick to 8 depending on time.

Mind you I do 2 infusions in rapid sequence - one in the cup and one in the pitcher. Plays a part in the sentence below.

I have noticed with ripe puer is after the first two infusions is that the 3rd infusion is almost a pour in pour out because it brews really dark (and tasty). Might be because this "second set" of infusions is sitting for several minutes while i drink the first two.

MIght be because the tea is still opening up, if it was compressed. If the tea is loose leaf, well... I've been using @mrmopu's technique for a while now on most of my teas. Haven't really let the tea sit idle if it's loose leaf. I've found that some dragon balls and other mini tuos, still take a good number of steeps to fully open, even after idly sitting for 10 minutes. Also the bricks of cha tuos take longer to fully expand. I could probably increase the rest time and add another small wash to help the tuos open, but I'd rather just drink tea. Also if you leave a tiny bit of water in the brewing vessel (not with sheng) the steeping time is a lot shorter.

[aet]

The sheng puerh is a little different from green tea in processing. I'm sure you can google it , so I'm not going to write more about it.
Speak of the judging quality, is long journey for everyone. Many beginners tend to judge a puerh tea by the actual taste of the liquid only. Searching for some notes reminding fruits, flowers ..etc.
Long time puerh drinkers consider another factors, like the thickness , mineral richness and overall body feel after drinking, in Chinese called "ti gan" - body feel. Very discussed topic " Cha Qi " - energy of tea. ...lots of arguments / discussions / opinions about this are on Reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/puer/comments/ ... nd_cha_qi/
https://www.reddit.com/r/puer/comments/ ... d_a_usual/

Aside of the true quality , there is also a marketing. So the prices are not entirely dependent on above mentioned factors. You will learn that by reading , trying , purchasing tea. So don't be surprised that low quality tea from village A is 5x more expensive than some very good old tree material from village B . Chinese sometimes pay high price for village A, because it's famous and they just want to show off have money to buy that one or give a "mian zi" ..face. (cn thing though).

Read some blogs, lots about on internet. Buy samples from beginning, if like something, buy full cake / brick. Store it and come back to it few years later. It is very educational concept. Don't just search cheap tea for storage just because you don't want to invest more money to something you don't understand yet. Low quality sheng is not worth storing ( taking up the space in your room ), unless you do some investor business buying a ton of it and store for 10+ years or something ...like buying some TF brand like Dayi and wait when they lift up the prices and you are able to find buyer. ..different concept though.
Think of it as bottle of wine you store / hide / save for some special moment. It's not going to be some 5$ fake Bordeaux in cardboard box , right?

Don't be afraid to ask questions on dedicated forums , but do not take all answers as 100% true. Many things are depended on experience / knowledge , which you hardly can confirm from individuals posting on internet. Like me , you do not know who I am, so take my advice just as another piece of puzzle which will forms out in time when you read more posts from other places and other people. You will slowly learn what makes sense and what not.
It does take time, so your best friend is the patience !

have fun

[klepto]

The sheng puerh is a little different from green tea in processing. I'm sure you can google it , so I'm not going to write more about it.
Speak of the judging quality, is long journey for everyone. Many beginners tend to judge a puerh tea by the actual taste of the liquid only. Searching for some notes reminding fruits, flowers ..etc.
Long time puerh drinkers consider another factors, like the thickness , mineral richness and overall body feel after drinking, in Chinese called "ti gan" - body feel. Very discussed topic " Cha Qi " - energy of tea. ...lots of arguments / discussions / opinions about this are on Reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/puer/comments/ ... nd_cha_qi/
https://www.reddit.com/r/puer/comments/ ... d_a_usual/
have fun

I've only been drinking tea for a year now but now I primarily obsess over raw puerh. I've had the feeling of sinking in my chair, almost feeling like I am in a sauna and other strange numbness that's hard to pin down. The part you mentioned about village A being famous but having only decent tea but for high prices due to the region is what is driving me crazy when I purchase tea. I'm trying to learn about what areas make the raw puerh that I like the most but the prices are no where near consistent which throws me off.

[thommes]

I've only been drinking tea for a year now but now I primarily obsess over raw puerh. I've had the feeling of sinking in my chair, almost feeling like I am in a sauna and other strange numbness that's hard to pin down. The part you mentioned about village A being famous but having only decent tea but for high prices due to the region is what is driving me crazy when I purchase tea. I'm trying to learn about what areas make the raw puerh that I like the most but the prices are no where near consistent which throws me off.

yeah i've seen crazy prices on 2019 and 2020 teas, both sheng and shou. i've asked people on various social networks y... could be region, could be farm, could be age of tree, could be scarcity, could be first pick... yadda yadda. but when the new stuff is $$$ than older stuff, and that's another thing, older stuff is getting bought up as well...

[steanze]

I've only been drinking tea for a year now but now I primarily obsess over raw puerh. I've had the feeling of sinking in my chair, almost feeling like I am in a sauna and other strange numbness that's hard to pin down. The part you mentioned about village A being famous but having only decent tea but for high prices due to the region is what is driving me crazy when I purchase tea. I'm trying to learn about what areas make the raw puerh that I like the most but the prices are no where near consistent which throws me off.

Tea in the same area can vary vastly in quality. In the same area you can have plantations as well as isolated old trees, and the quality of processing can vary as well. One of the challenges is that in order to learn about an area, you need to know that you tried a good, representative tea from the area. For many of the famous areas this is not easy: i.e. you might find "banzhang" and "bingdao" but they will probably not be representative examples showing what made those areas famous.