Telling the difference between sheng and shu when both have been stored Hong Kong style?

[karma]

Shou, sheng, sheng, shou?

Gonna be real, telling the dry leaf apart is mostly a coin flip for me. The wet leaf on 3 though is noticeably greener than the wet leaf on 4.

But if I’m wrong I’m happy to learn why.

[karma]

This is a great test and very informative too. I’m not well versed in Sheng/Shu, they looks so similar... eenie meenie miney mo.. Ripe, Raw, then they look the same ..Raw Ripe

Ah beat me to it!

[pedant]

So the first to ID all four pictures correctly* in terms of Ripe or Raw (eg, Raw, Ripe, Raw, Ripe) gets a pat on the back. (Admins Victoria pedant Chip please let me know if I'm allowed to give pats on the back )

interesting. my guess is:

1,2,3,4: ripe,raw,raw,ripe

as for the back pats, i'll have a chat with HR and get back to you

[Iizuki]

I'm going to go with ripe, raw, raw, ripe too.

My reasoning with the dry samples is the damaged looking smudgy part in the first picture. I'm thinking that kind of damage would most likely happen in wodui, making this one ripe.
With the wet leaves, the 3rd image has one quite light colored big leaf which makes me think that it's sheng.
(And the rest goes with meta-information that the leftover samples are of the other kind.)

I laid this out here because I'm far more interested in discussing the reasoning than just getting right/wrong answers. What do you make of this?

[Tea Adventures]

Difficult, but interesting question! I’ll go with sheng-shou-shou-sheng

Might be completely off, but eager to know why.

[moose]

I'm thinking shou, sheng, sheng, shou. I may be imagining things but I think I see just the tiniest hint of green in the 2nd image.

[YeeOnTeaCo]

Interesting conclusions Lets let it run for a few more days

interesting. my guess is:

1,2,3,4: ripe,raw,raw,ripe

as for the back pats, i'll have a chat with HR and get back to you

[Victoria]

Interesting conclusions Lets let it run for a few more days

interesting. my guess is:

1,2,3,4: ripe,raw,raw,ripe

as for the back pats, i'll have a chat with HR and get back to you

HR here, maybe a group hug

[Maerskian]

At this very moment not 100% sure on the wet leaves ( redshift activated, harder to teall ) but for the time being : sheng - shu - shu - sheng . Need to take a second look tomorrow.

Very ( very ) very interesting game by the way.

[Bok]

Not a Pupu-man, but my half-educated guess would be Sheng-Shu-the rest looks the same to me

[YeeOnTeaCo]

Alright I think we have this running long enough (partly because I kind of forgotten about it ).....so the winner of the pat on the back competition goes to......... @Tea Adventures

Correct Answer: Raw, Ripe, Ripe, Raw

FYI, the Raw is a 8582, and the Ripe is a 8592

This little experiment was based on the fact that the OP wanted to know the difference between Raw and Ripe, which have been through HK storage. When you take into account what a Ripe is trying to achieve in term of taste, body and flavour, the difference is somewhat muted when both ripe and raw have been through at least 15-20+ years storage. And in this case over 30 years.

Although the 8592 is sold as a Ripe, the initial fermentation of this recipe is very light; hence you might be confused by just looking at just the tea leaves. Some leaves might still look raw/green, but if you look closely, the darker leaves are slightly darker and slightly less malleable.

These two are fairly close in terms of after-taste and body and to an extent the flavour. The defining character though is still the Wo Diu taste in the Ripe. Although very very very light in this case for the 8592, it's easily identifiable when you compare these two teas side by side.

[Tea Adventures]

Alright I think we have this running long enough (partly because I kind of forgotten about it ).....so the winner of the pat on the back competition goes to......... Tea Adventures

Correct Answer: Raw, Ripe, Ripe, Raw

FYI, the Raw is a 8582, and the Ripe is a 8592

This little experiment was based on the fact that the OP wanted to know the difference between Raw and Ripe, which have been through HK storage. When you take into account what a Ripe is trying to achieve in term of taste, body and flavour, the difference is somewhat muted when both ripe and raw have been through at least 15-20+ years storage. And in this case over 30 years.

Although the 8592 is sold as a Ripe, the initial fermentation of this recipe is very light; hence you might be confused by just looking at just the tea leaves. Some leaves might still look raw/green, but if you look closely, the darker leaves are slightly darker and slightly less malleable.

These two are fairly close in terms of after-taste and body and to an extent the flavour. The defining character though is still the Wo Diu taste in the Ripe. Although very very very light in this case for the 8592, it's easily identifiable when you compare these two teas side by side.

Wow. Virtual pat received! Thanks for clarifying and this was a fun little game.

[karma]

Fun game indeed!

[Victoria]

Alright I think we have this running long enough (partly because I kind of forgotten about it ).....so the winner of the pat on the back competition goes to......... Tea Adventures

Correct Answer: Raw, Ripe, Ripe, Raw

This was an interesting exercise, thanks for posting it ... still seeing Ripe, Raw, Raw, Ripe .. guess 8592 is closer to Sheng than Shou in appearance. Congrats to @Tea Adventures

[Tea Adventures]

Alright I think we have this running long enough (partly because I kind of forgotten about it ).....so the winner of the pat on the back competition goes to......... Tea Adventures

Correct Answer: Raw, Ripe, Ripe, Raw

This was an interesting exercise, thanks for posting it ... still seeing Ripe, Raw, Raw, Ripe .. guess 8592 is closer to Sheng than Shou in appearance. Congrats to Tea Adventures

My virtual medal is shining really bright. Will put it on the wall so all my friends can see my online achievements