pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

On JC’s suggestion, drinking some 2012 Ruiyuan NanNuo. Super sweet, chunky bitterness, long floral aftertaste. No more face-searing astringency. Good suggestion.

Nannuo blend today: 2004, 2010, 2010, and 2012

Slightly humid. Pumpkiny. Sweet, and bitter, but alternatingly more than bittersweet. Perfumey. Well that’s the rinse anyways. Some bodyfeel as well, and candy-like sweet returns to the throat.

2002 Tai Lian Memorial Expo today. This sample has been waiting a looooooong time for me to sample it; in retrospect I should have gotten a “cake is sample” and jumped in sooner, ah well.

The tea is decidedly factory in flavor; I’ve been drinking enough fancy-pants stuff recently that it really stands out. The factory is done well here, a bit smokey-bbq, and solid. The biggest attraction is the potency of the brew – loooong aftertaste, full, active, and penetrating pretty far into the throat. Some of this may be due to how broken up the sample is; I enjoy it nonetheless. A bit of qi as well, distinct from an also present heavily caffeinated feel. I imagine this would continue to age well, and I also find it ready to drink now.

I’m somehow not interested in picking up a cake, but given it’s age and price this strikes me as a good value, perhaps even a steal.

Got some YS 2018 ‘Lucy’ brewed in an infuser mug, ~5g/300ml. This is how I usually drink shu. I got samples of all of the YS 2018 shu and I’m starting to drink them.

It tastes like shu! Reading the YS description again I see that this is leaf that was piled in 2016 and ‘17, so it’s not really 2018 tea, which maybe explains the lack of funky tastes. I’m getting a pretty solid 2nd steep out of it, but I don’t think I’ll try for a 3rd one.

1999 7542 from Teamasters today. An I’m up at 2am, might as well have some tea while I can’t be distracted kinda session.

Very nice Goldilocks storage on this one. Definitely not dry, but I can barely detect any wetness either. Mellow, with little bitterness in spite of strong brewing, but also chunky and enduring. I’m not sure how to describe the flavor, but I like it; definitely doen’t pass the “mom test”. Yum.

2017 EoT Secret Forest
Having a sample of this one tonight.
Dumped the sample into the breaking tray. Looks to be bigger leaf and an almost purple hue to the leaf. Ye Sheng maybe? Not sure at this point. Got 10 grams out to brew with. Heated the water and pored some into the easy brewer and dumped. Tossed around. Very fruity almost like grape skin mixed with honey.
First brew after a quick rinse. Whispers of a touch of smoke. Very light. Taste very fruity and just on the tip of the tongue. Sweet on the aftertaste lingering.
Second brew, still flash steeping. Nice and sweet. A little more thickness and the mouth coating is starting. I saw a few buds mixed in so this may be some of the sweetness. I know there are two types of wild tea. Bitter version and sweet which this one seems to be. Starting to carry heaviness and some berry malt to it.
Third steep, a little more of the white grape creeps in. Starting to have a touch of bitterness mixed in as well. Very light though. Almost like drinking a sweet white wine varietal. Pretty close just without the alcohol.
I wonder if the 2018 version of this is similar.

Flavors: Berry, Bitter, Honey, Smoke, Sweet, White Grapes

Some mystery sheng I got from a w2t blind buy labeled only “Aged Raw”. It was lovely, just sorta lightly earthy/foresty, smooth, very clean, and very relaxing. I was happily yawning all afternoon while going through it.

2014 “73” Zhongcha is a lively classic recipe made famous by Factory #2, the vaunted Dayi. I’ve drunk more Zhongcha KMTF productions than any other. Though there are still a few reasonably priced productions, overall prices have reached such heights that I had to tap out about a year ago. It so happens that I ran across a non-Taobao vendor who had these at a very decent price, so I thought I’d give it a try.

I’ve been sitting on this since March. This is my third sampling. It’s developing a top layer of vanilla buttressed by lively fruit notes. Not grape or strawberry, maybe just that universally vague description “stone fruit” maybe some red delicious apple. It has quite a presence. The huigan resonates optimistically. There is both bitterness and astringency. The bitterness becomes more evident after about the fourth infusion suggesting that some of it will mellow with age. The astringency is just what it is.

Compared to the ‘14 Jade Mark, it is similarly cheery but huskier without any of the bright citrus notes. The Jade Mark is probably sweeter. The taste and presence are in marked contrast to some of their Zen type productions like the ’12 Yiwu Gushu (now selling over $100), ’12 Bulang Peacock, and the ’13 Blue Mark. That Blue Mark, which I’ve had in excess of three years, still leaves me scratching my head. It’s a shade pricey for how boring it is. Stone pressing offers no redemption.

2006 Xiaguan “Fu Lu Shou Xi” sample from finepuer. It’s not at all complex, and not the thickest, but it’s thoroughly enjoyable – clean oily smooth bright foresty goodness, makes me sleepy and yawning and happy and relaxed. It’s cheap, too =D

I’ve been drinking tealifehk’s dad’s TS sheng. Can confirm it’s good infuser mug tea, worth about 3 steeps to the fat pinch. If you like the slight dank effect. After the 2nd soak you can see it’s still fairly green, but not astringent.