pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou
I’m trying the 2016 Lincang Wild Arbor from Rasseru’s Singapore buy.
This is really nice, fruity and smooth. It even smells sweet in the cup.
I also tried the 2006 Fuhai 7536 last week – haven’t got the parameters right for that one yet. I’m not sure how to characterise the taste. Some astringency and a gummy feel in the mouth afterwards, plus a lingering taste that’s perhaps stemmy but not unpleasant. About 5-6 steeps in I got one that had sweetness at the top as riffled through the mouth, but only in that one steep. (I’m thinking I should go back to my gaiwan for this tea next time, as my small Yixing isn’t that fast a pour).
Yeah, the 7536 is super inconsistent. I had a session where it was that lovely sweetness throughout, but its been hard to find it again. It is there.
I remember I overleafed (which is what wilson says in his review) by 1 gram in my gaiwan, but cant remember how hot or time. (not too hot or it goes sour fast)
This was in my hotel room and nothing to influence the taste
I’m drinking an interesting tea. It’s a Zhong cha tuo supposedly pressed in 2003 but re-wrapped in 2012. The vendor (www.yunnancraft.com) admits that the lack of an original label means there is no evidence of its age so it’s priced accordingly. They only had a few tuo and I got curious so I bought two to check it out. By now I’ve had a few sessions with it.
The tea is very sweet with a distinct fruitiness and brews up to a dark gold or amber color. A creamy mouthfeel and a very viscous liquor. The aftertaste offers a little chocolate and a brief but not unpleasant bitterness with a little astringency at the very end. I find this tea to be an easy drinker without being simple. As for the age, my experience with 15+ year old sheng is limited, but that said, I have no problem believing that this tea is from 2003, assuming dry storage. There are no rough edges here, apart from that little astringency in the aftertaste. When pushed the bitterness increases but it’s still very drinkable. The tea goes on forever, I literally lost count of the infusions.
If you couldn’t tell I am very happy with this tea and whether or not it is actually from 2003, it is certainly worth the asking price of just under 6€ per 100g tuo. Actually I consider it a steal for that price, so I just placed an order for the rest of their stock.
Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/GPzSH
:-) I feel a little bad about first writing a glowing review and then grabbing all the tea.
Sounds like a legit Zhongcha production, but that looks like ultra-dry storage to be ’03.
The vendor is located in Kunming so possibly stored there? They admit not knowing the storage history and I didn’t ask where they acquired it from.
Those pics look not-implausible for 2003 tea stored at Kunming. Pretty fancy leaf, for a tuo.
I agree about the wholeness of the leaves, which makes me wonder all the more, because that suggests the tuo was not so tightly formed, which would suggest faster transformation. Still storage conditions can vary widely, as we all well know.
Btw, did you pour with gaiwan?
Yes, I have been using a gaiwan. 6-7 grams tea in 100ml, 100 degrees C, 1 rinse, 5/5/10/10/10/15 etc. You are correct that it is not very tightly compressed for a tuo.
I could try a pot, but so far the brewing worked out so well I didn’t see a reason to change anything.
On a sidenote: since the tea was re-wrapped in 2012 (supposedly) would that not indicate that the original wrapping was in very bad shape? I’m not sure if that says something about the storage.
I posted my tasting notes for a nice daily drinker shu today.
Hehe, no, actually. They appear to have more of this tea than I am able to buy.
Sorry about the last one. :-)
2006 7563 Fuhai, from Rasseru’s group buy.
What a barg. Smooth, mellow, tasty, calming, long huigan, great longevity.
I’m impressed by Rasseru (and William’s) tea finding abillity.
Gave this tea another go today with the same parameters (even drank while perusing the same book). Only difference is that I pushed the tea a bit more in terms of steeping times. I was curious, because factory tea can sometimes be intermittent in terms of quality. Anyways, this tea is 2/2. Pushing made the tea even better; more presence with no off-notes.
im still chasing the first time I tried it back in my hotel. every shot would be nothing, then 30 secs later a lovely rising appley huigan. I could set a watch by it. Not sure what I did to achieve that as I was being lazy with it. I havent recreated that one as yet
Mandala’s 2015 Wild Monk Reprise Raw.
Probably the definition of bitter and astringency. I was very disappointed since I knew how popular the 2012 version was. At least this was a valuable lesson in what the lack of huigan tastes like.
’07 Gu Puer Square Ripe can be gotten on the YS site. It sweeter and roastier than 7581. Very thick and clear. Packed quite tightly like all their productions. Seems to be their mo. Solid qi that glows like a warm ball in the gut, some sensation in the shoulders and nape of neck. Consistently feels like a better than average ripe experience. Oops. YS only has the raw.
I’m drinking 2013 Yiwu Special Tea Brick from Sun Sing Tea this morning. I’m really glad Liquid Proust included this in the Sheng Olympics sponsor box. Its behaving perfectly for me today delivering bitter, sweet, luscious mouthfuls that hang for quite some time.
Brewing parameters:
5 grams in 100ml of 212F water. A 10 second wash and playing with 5 to 10 second steeps after. I’m around the 6th steep and its still going strong.
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