pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou
Fellow steepstarians, I would like to report an assult. ‘14 Bulang Beauty, TU. Maybe I’ll have chance to try again but appauling. Maybe I’m just too much a lightweight.
Lately I have been questioning dry storage opposed to my pumidor if conditions during the winter won’t hold up so I pulled out the 1999 Dayi from the last Pubertea because I know it quite well.
A time to test my storage; somewhat frightening because what if it sucks?
So what I’ve realized is that I shouldn’t worry as much. I check my pumidor daily and keep it operating around 68 to 74 degrees with the same humidity level because it makes it easy to think in my head ‘just do a 70 70 rule Andrew’
So this is actually aging more than I want it to right now… I am going to switch it to dry storage in a crock from now on. Anybody else have a tea get to that peak point of humid storage conditions over the years where you just want to level out the taste and get a smoother session going through a progress of what I will call dedanking it?
Yup, I search for these kind of teas. Easy to drink, and easy to store. You might try a drier tea from your pumidor as well; it may be a sterner test.
Right now I only have dry stored ripe and dry stored raw with smoke essence to them. Since I’m still in a very early stage of puerh learning, even though it has been accelerated with the help of others, I would think the best to gauge it would be newer stuff… but I lack the experience of having anything fresh stored in my possession for over a year.
I think what I will do is look for some newer stuff from the last year and start to write down developing notes or a direction of change for what was already there.
Well, to be more specific:
Wetter teas may need to be stored dry enough to loose humidity fast enough to arrest aging, if that’s what you’re after.
While a drier tea may need to have humidity added as a correction, and may be able to handle and/or want a sizeable amount of it.
It’s not necessarily one size fits all, although that may be something worth shooting for.
I have no idea, but from the story about how wet-stored came about, I wonder how much variation in the conditions matter. Many productions are subjected to the elements as far as variation in the weather is concerned. These variations create stressors that tend to be good.
In that tale, Mr Mou-mou moved his stash from basement to attic depending on the HK season. In Maylaysia you’re not going to get any variation. Beijing too dry and cold for too long, so in between, there’s plenty opportunity for stress: hot, cold, wet, dry. I think some waxing and waning of these factors is probably more conducive to a lively result, all things considered.
2016 Chawangshop Hekai I bought this a while back and finally got to it after having on my storage for a few months. This is dank-ish, not in a bad way or good way, just in a unique way. It has notes that I would put in between most descriptors I use, herbaceous, woody (but not sure), tobacco (but not really… maybe medicinal) with a share of astringency.
As you go on with your steeps it seems to get ‘cleaner’ notes, something noteworthy is its richness and thickness through all the steeps. This is still pretty green, but not unpleasant. I’ll let this one rest for a while maybe 6-8 more months before I come back to it to see its progress. I will recommend it, because it reminded me to some other good gushu I’ve had before.
Thanks to two different people here I tried the 2006 Spring of Menghai from Dayi… whoever invested in these years ago, you lucky lucky person/s.
2006 Spring Gobstopper
Mrmopar: How does this compare to the 2008 Spring of Menghai?
I believe you’ve tried that one too.
@Sqt, I think the Spring is better if I recall correctly. Or at least the one I have. I may have to dig a 7532 out and see since it has been a while.
@mrmopar, sorry I guess I wasn’t clear in my question. How does the 2006 Spring of Menghai compare to the 2008 Spring of Menghai? Much difference beyond the extra 2 years of aging?
Having 2016 Chawangpu Nannuo Shan Gushu tonight.
I remember sampling a bit when it first came in to see where to store it.
I pulled 10 grams out to brew with. Cake is looser now that it has had time to settle a bit. I tossed the leaf in a warmed brewer and it gave an almost sweet alfalfa note. I rinsed it and got brewing.
First infusion quick steep, comes across sweet and aromatic. Light on the palate as it is still opening up. Let it sit about 30 minutes after this.
Second infusion, a bit more punch to it . Some astringency, maybe a hint of tart and metallic. Let it cool slightly and the sweetness comes back. An almost mint note to it.
Third infusion, still quick steeps. A little more bite/bitter in there. Sweetness still on the last note on the tongue. Gets thicker and has the lingering in the throat a bit. Seems to be good material. Not sure about pricing since it has climbed since I purchased it.
Drinking another interesting sheng (2009 Nan Nuo Shan) which, according to the seller, was stored lose at the farmer’s place since 2009 and pressed in 2017. Amazing fruitiness (plum, peach, cherry notes), but also a strong bitterness that I am struggling to brew around. Interesting, though. Not boring.
I bought a 25 g sample and I have had two sessions, with enough left for another little one. I’m fairly intrigued.
I’ve been testing shous with a newly bought (modern) zini pot, comparing it to my current (modern) aged duan ni pot that I’ve had devoted to shou for half a year. Here’s my analysis:
The zini is good for the 1990 CNNP “73 Brick” because that tea normally has a very muted flavor and it accentuated the body so it was more jelly like. It tasted really good, so I got excited about the zini! WIth a duan ni for this tea, the mouth energy of the tea is accentuated to a higher degree than in the zini, but no jelly like body so overall for this tea there’s a net negative for using the duan ni.
But with more testing, I found that the zini accentuates some of the less desirable flavors in the other shous I have that have a stronger flavor, while still having a thicker body: 2011 Menghai Dayi “100 year” tribute & 2001 Hong Kong Traditional Storage CNNP 7572. As a result, I prefer using the duan ni for these teas. The duan ni takes away some body but also takes away some funk that I think these shous will still retain even if they are aired out for a long time. I’ve already personally aired them out for 6 months. And because the duan ni takes away some of that funk some of the more subtle flavors of these teas are able to become more present now that they aren’t masked by funk. It seems that the zini provides better flavor for teas that have a funk, but only in later steeps (after 7 or so steeps).
Overall, I’m not sure what to do. I don’t know if its worthwhile devoting the zini to shou as well, since most shous will have some type of storage or fermentation scent. In my limited experience, it’s mostly aged dry storage shous that don’t have much of a funk. I’m still a shou novice and I think this exercise will be great to repeat in 1 year once the teas have aired out even more: https://imgur.com/a/H1hwt
You’re right on! I’d suggest trying lower fired 80s zini for anything funky. Duanni works well too but yeah you’ll lose some subtlety. I’d rather use muting clay for funky stuff and less muting for dry storage shou
So, I had a chance to retry the Bulang Beauty last night. I brewed it. It’s a very good production, much better when not steeped with a heavy hand and and the perfume notes can be differentiated from the sturdiness that Bulang imparts. Excellent qi, maybe perfume doesn’t last as long in mouth. Great experience. Now I know what people were talking about with regard to a “lighter.”
I love the W2Tea concept. It’s really perfect for someone about the tea and not the Chinese. The way they draw familiar images and impressions and project them onto their productions is brilliant. To be honest, it’s not for me but I love what they’re doing.
If they were just “about the tea” then they wouldn’t be creating off beat names and images for the teas. I suppose what they are, is about creating a niche market for a select audience.
Every tea vendor markets their tea. They just do it in different ways. As long as it’s not deceptive, what’s wrong with that?
I didn’t even mean to imply anything wrong with it. I was merely nit-picking on the description of the “W2T concept”. As with any vendor, as long as what they deliver is not significantly different from what is promised, I care very little for how it is marketed.
Interesting input. I find it charming, but it is difficult to understand relative, say, Changtai so-and-so or Bulang la-dee-da. Nonetheless, what they’re doing strikes me as “just about the tea” to the extent that they do not burden buyers with terriors which means learning strange Chinese names. Thence, the names and images strike me as being more direct.
Thoughts on having shou puer when you have a cold?
It sounds a bit strange, but maybe I’ll do it…?
I almost only drink shou when I have a cold. It feels comforting and I can still somewhat appreciate the taste, whereas more delicate teas taste bland.
I like to. Maybe big leaf or chatuo, brewed strong. A ripe with chenpi can be a nice too. I also brew up anything with a nice cooling/menthol effect, as this can help clear the sinuses. Maybe a throat coater if I have a sore throat.
It’s just right. Stick it in a mug and go, and have something nice and thick, where you aren’t worrying too much about missing high flavour notes.
That kind of low-effort brewing is what I got W2T’s Waffles for, and it has been handy this week where I’ve been just a bit under the weather – I broke some squares off and took them to work. (Also sticky rice shou for when you can smell something – that is my favourite comfort tea).
A really bad cold and I’ll get out the mini tuos that don’t really have much interesting in the taste, but work for feel.
I had some and it was pretty good all things considered. My respect for 1990 CNNP “73 Brick” just keeps growing. It’s such a good shou. First few brews in a zini gives it a strong coffee flavor with an almost mud like body thickness… heaven. The later brews mellow out and are probably preferable for those that don’t drink shou much (like the friend I shared with tonight). Thanks all :)
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