Shou Pu'er: How do I reliably find the flavors I prefer?

Puerh and other heicha
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S_B
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Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:25 am

I cracked into a Crimson Lotus sampler pack, experiencing widely different flavors in the 4 I have tried so far. Iron Forge and the Mini-mushroom seemed more earthy and extremely thick (although they absolutely need more time to rest as I impatiently began drinking all of these early) while Stormbreaker and Black Gold were delicious- Black gold being very woody and sweet, and Stormbreaker full of coco, cream, and a wonderful sweetness on par with BG. While the earthier shous I have tried to date seem to be reliably thick, creamy, and silky, I am not a huge fan of the more fertile soil and mineral notes found in these shous. I love their body and the way the tea coats the whole mouth, but their overall flavors are not as desirable to me as the rich woody and coco flavors I found in the other two I have tried. I fell in love fast and hard, but being so very new to this market I am a wee bit lost.

All of this lead me to ponder: How do I (somewhat) reliably buy for the flavors I desire?
One much more experienced drinker suggested a few things to look for based on the flavors I prefer- more woody, nutty, chocolaty, silky smooth, and sweet- and did mention that these are all simply factors and do not necessarily happen all at once all in one cake. The recommendation was:

Heavily fermented, wet storage, and blends with heavier bud percentage. It was discussed that while generally woody flavors are commonly found in dry storage, the creamy smooth flavors and notes might be more reliably found in wetter stored shous. Heavily fermented shous seem to be somewhat easy to eyeball, as they appear much darker than their lightly fermented counterparts (almost black vs a darker brown). I also notice that at least on surface level, cakes with a blend of larger leaf definitely seem obvious at glance. This may be incorrect, but I'm assuming the orange twisties I see in a cake might be bud?

Vendors will sometimes mention whether or not a cake is bud heavy, or made leaning towards whatever grade, but I'm still not sure if there are some clues I can acquire through experience?

I just fell down this rabbit hole, and am loving the journey so far. Any tips and suggestions, or recommendations based on the flavors I seek and how to more accurately sort them out of the giant market are welcome. I am still building a very early foundation, and thank you in advance for the guidance!
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mrmopu
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Sun Jan 07, 2018 10:32 am

A lot of Dayi cakes will fit the profile. The older BoYou's such as a 0508 or a 0509 will probably hit the spot too. I would sample a lot till you find the ones. After that you can amass the collection.
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S_B
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Sun Jan 07, 2018 12:26 pm

mrmopu wrote:
Sun Jan 07, 2018 10:32 am
A lot of Dayi cakes will fit the profile. The older BoYou's such as a 0508 or a 0509 will probably hit the spot too. I would sample a lot till you find the ones. After that you can amass the collection.
Thank you for the recommendations! I will definitely have to do lots more drinking before I completely gain an accurate and secure understanding my palate...poor me!
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mrmopu
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Sun Jan 07, 2018 6:01 pm

Oolong_Nug wrote:
Sun Jan 07, 2018 12:26 pm
mrmopu wrote:
Sun Jan 07, 2018 10:32 am
A lot of Dayi cakes will fit the profile. The older BoYou's such as a 0508 or a 0509 will probably hit the spot too. I would sample a lot till you find the ones. After that you can amass the collection.
Thank you for the recommendations! I will definitely have to do lots more drinking before I completely gain an accurate and secure understanding my palate...poor me!
You will be fine. Once you find the ones that are in the zone then you can grab full cakes. If you find something you like hit me up as I usually know where the best pricing is.
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tealifehk
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Wed Jan 10, 2018 3:26 am

mrmopu wrote:
Sun Jan 07, 2018 10:32 am
A lot of Dayi cakes will fit the profile. The older BoYou's such as a 0508 or a 0509 will probably hit the spot too. I would sample a lot till you find the ones. After that you can amass the collection.
This is the advice I was going to give you! Sample widely; when you find something you like, buy cakes of it. I've found CNNP 7581 bricks (dry storage) to really give me the sweeter flavors that I too enjoy! More humid dry storage sometimes brings out camphor, so IMO, buy from the exact source you buy the sample from!
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d.manuk
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Wed Jan 10, 2018 8:50 am

I'm trying to sell the Stormbreaker and Black Gold cakes I bought... willing to sell at a heavy discount since I broke down the cakes for airing out in my crocks.
Let me know if you're interested!
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