What HeiCha are you drinking

Puerh and other heicha
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Sat Jul 10, 2021 6:20 am

Bok wrote:
Fri Jul 09, 2021 7:19 pm
Andrew S I’ve never really gotten into Liubao and related teas, but your reviews make it sound worth exploring more!

Liubao seems like one of those teas where people are either really passionately into them or not at all.
True- it doesn't seem like the kind of tea many people tend to casually drink infrequently- people seem to either get very into it, or maybe they try it once or twice as a novelty and decide 'its kinda like shu' and thats the end of it before they find how varied of a tea it can really be. I don't know if its just that my knowledge of where to get it grew, but I really feel like when I first started getting into it there weren't so many western facing vendors that had it, or at least not particularly good examples of it at prices that weren't intimidating for a tea you knew nothing about. Recently it seems like the options have expanded in a big way, both a lot more bad/meh examples but also a much greater availability of better processing and storage.

I just got the same samples as you @Andrew S... had a look at the leaf and thats it so far - very curious to try them out but waiting for the right moment. I'm thinking I actually might want to try these out in heavy porcelain to avoid losing or muting the character of them.

After a miserable sleep week and wanting to avoid caffeine I opted for some Three Cranes liu bao stems yesterday afternoon, which looked like stuffing a birds nest into a pot. There were a few bits of leaf mixed in that probably would be considered yellow, and the stems I'm guessing are the result of someone having separated out a large basket to make a higher grade/price tea. The wet storage character was really nice, expected petrichor type notes but also something really fresh, almost like green peas. It went for quite a few rounds and was surprisingly thick for a tea with almost zero leaves. I've had actual liu bao that gives out quicker than these stems did.
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Tea Adventures
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Sat Jul 10, 2021 8:45 am

The hot and humid weather from this morning has changed and it’s raining with a thunderstorm coming my way… Perfect weather for one of my favourite Liu Bao teas: a 4 gold coins from 2007.

The year is not that important as I like all the different ones I have tried.
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LeoFox
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Sun Jul 11, 2021 3:55 pm

Hot, muggy sunny day. So broke out Late 1990s "Farmer Style" Heishi Mountain Large Tree Aged Raw Liu Bao from three bears tea:

https://www.threebearstea.com/collectio ... aw-liu-bao

Since I'm a newbie with this kind of tea, will keep things simple.

Leaves smelled like shou. They looked kinda big

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Threw in 5g in my 100 mL pot. A rinse then started with 20s.

Taste is kind of straight forward: very sweet and was like clean shou. The aftertaste had a hint of petrichor. Guess it was also a little mushroomy.

After three infusions...started to feel it...

Just felt very chilled... 8-)

So chilled - didn't mind going out to do the yardwork, taking up the the bark and tree debris from the recent tropical storm...

Just so chilled..didnt even mind when the swarm of little flying bugs rose up like a cloud when I raked some of the bark - and attacked me..went up my nose and in my ears. Covered me really ...Whatever...

Just very chilled and hazy.

Oh, the astringency also built up in the belly, but just didn't really matter. Got 3 steeps before flavor suddenly plummeted. But kept going for the relaxing times.
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Andrew S
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Sun Jul 11, 2021 4:43 pm

@LeoFox: sounds like a nice session and an interesting tea. I'll have to try some of the offerings from Three Bears eventually.

And glad to hear that you felt chilled enough to survive a bug attack. Some of these teas could use the surgeon general's warning on them.

Andrew
slipshod
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Sun Jul 11, 2021 5:51 pm

I ended picking up 3208 as next try, the other options being 3108, 0222 and 2301

https://steepster.com/teas/tealife2015- ... -teas-230g

There is as well 0207, 8312, 8003 and 0322 but how do you connect with spirit dwelling inside the offer telepathically

Wrapper design gives me a clue if it is something I want to look at before deciding what to drink
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LeoFox
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Mon Jul 12, 2021 3:07 pm

Andrew S wrote:
Sun Jul 11, 2021 4:43 pm
LeoFox: sounds like a nice session and an interesting tea. I'll have to try some of the offerings from Three Bears eventually.

And glad to hear that you felt chilled enough to survive a bug attack. Some of these teas could use the surgeon general's warning on them.

Andrew
There is definitely some odd narcotic effect hahaha.
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Balthazar
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Sat Jul 17, 2021 2:11 pm

BSX 2007 Qianliangcha (or “Pagoda” as per GTH’s rebranding)

Say what you will about the eccentricities of GTH, they have done a big service though their magazine, the translated articles in particular. Their 2019 issue on QLC is probably the best publication about these teas available in English.

I browsed their store recently, and noticed that they still have more of the qianliangcha that they bought in connection to that issue. It’s really reasonably priced too, even downright cheap, at USD 125 for 800 grams (0.16 per gram). Always interested in trying more of these productions, so I went for the 150 gram sample size option (USD 0.2 per gram).

Sidenote: I can’t really get over how reasonable the price is. Yunnan Sourcing sells the same standard BSX 2007 QLC at USD 180 per 800 gram slice, or USD 0.23 per gram. 250 gram sample is available for 0.24 per gram. BSX’s own flagship store at JD.com sells the 2011 slice (oldest in stock) for USD 0.18 per gram. The more artisinal focused vendor Exquisite Leaves offers samples of the standard (I assume) BSX 2010 bailiang at USD 1.09 per gram.

Anyways. Material and processing seems really similar to the 2013 BSX shiliang I picked up earlier. Which isn’t surprising, the standard BSX huajuans are supposed to be consistent productions from year to year. With that being said, this is richer than the younger and smaller counterpart in almost all aspects. Texture and body is slightly better. Taste is richer too. Some really specific notes here: Tastes like if you sat in the innermost corner of a not very well ventilated Chinese medicine shop wile you munched on a plate of zaonigao and sipped on some red bean glutinous rice ball soup.

Not sure if it's the additional six years of age, the different size (I've heard that generally speaking the preference of experienced drinkers is qianliangs > bailiangs > shiliangs, but that's all anecdotal), the storage conditions, a combination of these or something else.

In any case, it's a nice and comforting tea if you're into this profile.

As usual for the genre: Heat and long steeps are necessary. I've hard good results with my nixing pot, which I use because it's my biggest pot. Boiling works well too.
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TeaTotaling
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Sat Jul 17, 2021 7:35 pm

Balthazar wrote:
Sat Jul 17, 2021 2:11 pm
BSX 2007 Qianliangcha (or “Pagoda” as per GTH’s rebranding)

Say what you will about the eccentricities of GTH, they have done a big service though their magazine, the translated articles in particular. Their 2019 issue on QLC is probably the best publication about these teas available in English.

I browsed their store recently, and noticed that they still have more of the qianliangcha that they bought in connection to that issue. It’s really reasonably priced too, even downright cheap, at USD 125 for 800 grams (0.16 per gram). Always interested in trying more of these productions, so I went for the 150 gram sample size option (USD 0.2 per gram).

Sidenote: I can’t really get over how reasonable the price is. Yunnan Sourcing sells the same standard BSX 2007 QLC at USD 180 per 800 gram slice, or USD 0.23 per gram. 250 gram sample is available for 0.24 per gram. BSX’s own flagship store at JD.com sells the 2011 slice (oldest in stock) for USD 0.18 per gram. The more artisinal focused vendor Exquisite Leaves offers samples of the standard (I assume) BSX 2010 bailiang at USD 1.09 per gram.

Anyways. Material and processing seems really similar to the 2013 BSX shiliang I picked up earlier. Which isn’t surprising, the standard BSX huajuans are supposed to be consistent productions from year to year. With that being said, this is richer than the younger and smaller counterpart in almost all aspects. Texture and body is slightly better. Taste is richer too. Some really specific notes here: Tastes like if you sat in the innermost corner of a not very well ventilated Chinese medicine shop wile you munched on a plate of zaonigao and sipped on some red bean glutinous rice ball soup.

Not sure if it's the additional six years of age, the different size (I've heard that generally speaking the preference of experienced drinkers is qianliangs > bailiangs > shiliangs, but that's all anecdotal), the storage conditions, a combination of these or something else.

In any case, it's a nice and comforting tea if you're into this profile.

As usual for the genre: Heat and long steeps are necessary. I've hard good results with my nixing pot, which I use because it's my biggest pot. Boiling works well too.
The Hut 🛖 coming through. It’s not all scams and nonsense, after all. People love to hate, especially when the majority are doing it. Gotta get on that bandwagon. It’s refreshing to hear a sensible, coherent analysis cut through the noise.

This tea was really being hyped on CommuniTEA. Glad to hear you are enjoying it! Sounds interesting. Cheers!
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TeaTotaling
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Sat Jul 17, 2021 7:53 pm

Andrew S wrote:
Fri Jul 09, 2021 7:13 pm
Playing with my sample of the 60s laochapo liu bao from Daxue Jiadao today. As I say, wet days require old tea.

I have no idea why anyone would have wanted to press old liu bao into bricks, but apparently that is what happened to this one more than a decade ago. At least it hasn't been pressed very hard, so it was easy to pry apart without damaging the old leaves.

Silky mouthfeel, persistent flavour, subtle 'old' aroma, a refreshing savouriness to the taste, and a cool aftertaste. There's a very nice bright buzz to it for me which feels more like old pu er than liu bao, if that makes any sense (though all of that is obviously a highly vague and subjective concept).

It is perhaps simple in flavour and not especially thick in mouthfeel compared to some other old liu bao, but it feels very nice to me, and offers me a pleasant overall experience.

Out of the three that I've tried now from Daxue Jiadao (88 wild, 80s muxiang, 60s laochapo), I think I prefer the 60s and the 88 slightly over the 80s, although each is quite different in style. Perhaps those who enjoy complexity might prefer the 88, while those who enjoy mouthfeel might prefer the 80s, but they're all good teas that are worth exploring.

I look forward to hearing from anyone else who has had the chance to try them (especially since I'm not very good at describing flavour or aroma, so my comments might not be very useful for others around here).

Andrew
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Happy drinking, Andrew!

The 60’s definitely had that silky, powdery mouthfeel. Almost confectionery. Great to experience a Liu Bao with that kind of age on it. I really enjoyed it.

You have to try the ‘08 Sheng Liu Bao. Very unique, with a perfumed/incense character. I finished off a bender with 15g’s and was high as a kite 🪁 Strange session.

I think I have sampled the lot, and the 80’s is my top choice. However, they have all been a pleasure to drink. I’ll be enjoying the 80’s for a good while. Material also seems high quality.

Pour up!
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Balthazar
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Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:53 am

Thanks @TeaTotaling.

I believe the one discussed in CommuniTEA is a different one, though, a more exclusive tea that was made in 2011. From the photos I have seen it seems less fermented (more of the orginal character of the leaves retained) than the standard BSX huajuans. And I believe the member who sourced that tea said it was not from BSX, but that it had been mentioned somewhere in this GLT issue (I could not find the reference when I scanned through again).
Andrew S
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Fri Jul 23, 2021 7:59 pm

Making the most of a continuing lockdown by enjoying a little bit more of a sample of the 1970s liu an from Varat Phong. Using a small pot makes it feel more affordable.

This tea gives me a very pleasant feeling, which I'd describe as being forcefully calming, yet with a keen alertness. It tastes cleanly-stored, and 'bright', but this tea isn't about the flavour for me.

It is rather different to another 1970s liu an that I was lucky to get several years ago (and which still remains the standard against which I judge all similar teas), but is also better than some 1980s liu an that I have. This one feels more elegant and less heavy than that 1980s one, perhaps due to better storage, perhaps due to better leaves. I treat all references to decades of production with this kind of tea as general indicators rather than specific vintages, so perhaps these were all made at slightly different times.

@TeaTotaling: I'm glad to hear that we've had similar experiences when tea and drink are combined... I was wondering, though, which raw 2008 liu bao you were referring to; perhaps I missed the reference.

Andrew
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tjkdubya
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Fri Jul 23, 2021 9:22 pm

Andrew S wrote:
Fri Jul 23, 2021 7:59 pm
TeaTotaling: I'm glad to hear that we've had similar experiences when tea and drink are combined... I was wondering, though, which raw 2008 liu bao you were referring to; perhaps I missed the reference.
Hopefully I'm not misreading the reference here, but I believe @TeaTotaling is referring to our 2008 Bamboo Column Wild? We began sampling out to some people recently, but it hasn't made it officially onto our lineup yet.
Andrew S
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Fri Jul 23, 2021 9:56 pm

@tjkdubya: looks like you've already gotten a reputation for green tea, yancha, and liu bao around here.

The future looks bright

Andrew
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tjkdubya
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Sat Jul 24, 2021 12:04 am

Thank you Andrew and all the first wave of customers for giving us a chance 🙏
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Sat Jul 24, 2021 9:10 am

trying the 2017 YTS Huangshan I got from @Balthazar today. So far the most tightly compressed of these bricks I've tried, but opened up pretty quick after the rinse. Crammed 5g into 90ml jianshui. pot which filled up quite fast once the leaves opened. It still has a lot of these sort of peachy/stone fruit type flavors I've had in other hei/fu bricks especially in the first few rounds, but a little more subdued which made it more enjoyable for me. Also was able to coax a bit of astringency out of this too early on, but its kind of refreshing since its in the background. This has more going on that other hei/fu bricks I think- I was able to get more wild honey kind of character from it, later a bit of medicinal character and the slight bitterness and less oxidized/more green character has me feeling this was closer to something between a more mineral heavy white tea and a young sheng without overwhelming bitterness and without being guy crippling if you haven't had a kilo of oily noodles before drinking it. Also much less caffeine jitteriness. Typical longevity that seems to come with these bricks, but its a lot more pleasant and interesting to keep going when the flavors are more appealing and evolve a bit more. I think this might be my favorite of this style I've tried so far - would be plenty happy to drink this regularly, and with how green the tea is I could see that aging this might have more interesting results than some other more cooked seeming bricks.
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