pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

Today I revisited the ‘14 W2T New Amerykah 2, which is an assertive production with a nice backside. Took quite a spell before it bottomed out. Very nicely pressed. Clearly the most surprising thing about it is its aroma, spicy peppery, evocative of curry. I had to smell it twice to see if I was mistaken, but no it definitely smells like curry. I was expecting it to taste spicy, as the aroma reminded me of two productions I have, one from Bingdao and the other from Ailao. The brew tastes nothing like the aroma. I didn’t detect any of the curry in the taste, reminding me of a Colourful Yunnan production from the same year. I was expecting that tin-can taste but it never arrived. Confidence. I guess the name rather suits it.

I decided I’d try out my Ailao from the same year that I picked up in KM for comparison using the same vessel and parameters. It is a much fruitier smelling tea, wildly fragrant like lilies. It is much thinner too. However the taste is crazy spicy, like lineament. The second infusion was as if I’d eaten a chili. That taste especially sticks on the tongue and like a far-off siren that you can hear approaching, that chili slowly builds to a crescendo on the blade of the tongue and in the back cheeks. There’s also lots of that bubble-gum taste in the brew, the pink bubble gum that came in the yellow wrapper or like Bazooka. After two pots I became ravenously hungry. Aftertaste is quite long. The brew has thickened up as I progress with infusions 4 and 5 being around the same as the New A, maybe slightly less. No smoke notes in either production.

Today I had a nice session with the 2016 Hai Lang Hao Lao Man E rip brick. It is a very tasty puerh even if it was very expensive. Sweet with little bitterness. Today’s session was different than usual because I used my new Chaozhou Stove to heat the water with Japanese Charcoal recommended to me by Teadborg. This was actually a second attempt at getting one of these stoves to light. This time I bought an electric charcoal starter to light it. Some people use a propane stove for this purpose but my apartment complex prohibits propane. As this was only my first time heating the water like this I still am not sure if it is better than my clay boiler but it was good.
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2008 Year of Rat, SFTM:

I realky liked this one. It’s dense and chunky, and just sits all over your mouth cavity and chills for awhile. Lots of prescence, but no edge. Good longevity and tasty to boot.

2014 Zhongcha Jade Mark.

Revisiting this one, and it’s mostly confirming my memory of it. Pretty tasty and drinkable for a young raw, but there’s just a touch of stomach edge that means I wouldn’t want to drink it regularly. I’d forgotten how much of a nice mouthful this has; I’m not sure exactly how to describe it, but it’s good.

jalamteas mengsong autumn 2016 (?)

Rui gave me ‘some’ (a massive bag with over 100g in it i reckon).

‘you can have it because its not very good’

thanks

its ok, grassy/leafy taste but thats not all there is, there is another taste underneath that more fruity which isnt bad. Huigan isnt amazing on this one though.

Started my 12 year 7542 Dayi samples from LP with the 2015.

3.4g, glass-bodied gaiwan, about 80ml.

Very fragrant dry leaves. First steeps: I like this. It has an immediate cooling mouthfeel and a nice lingering flavour, some sweetness. As the steeps get stronger, the taste gets sharper and aftertaste becomes fruitier.

Yeah, I like this. Which is good to know as all the years add up to a lot of tea!

This morning I am having my first try of a recent delivery of Jiu Wan “Cube” Ripe Pu-erh Tea Tuo Cha from Yunnan Sourcing. I’m normally a raw Pu-erh drinker but this is very satisfying, and fun too – the little cubes of tea being very pretty…
https://yunnansourcing.com/products/jiu-wan-cube-ripe-pu-erh-tea-tuo-cha

CWS hekai ‘15. Lovely stuff, thick, cloying sweet, yummy.
CWS mengsong, thinner, sour apricots, leafy, punches above it’s very cheap weight imo.
Denong 16 commemorative. It’s a subtle one

2017 Beige Papadum from W2T.

This is really grassy, and a bit assertive, making me think of overbrewed green tea, but this is high quality puer after all, and somehow the tea stays in line. Plenty going on, but I found this less engaging than last years Bald Dachshund. On the other hand, I found the Dachshund undrinkable due to how much it upset my stomach, so the Papadum is ultimately the hands down winner, as it goes down easy.

2014 Yunnan Sourcing Da Xue Shan It smells and tastes like medicinal candied fruit. It gets a bit of musty notes, very pleasant. It has some richness but it is mostly crisp.