pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

2007 YQH Qizhong last night. 7g 100ml gaiwan. Wet leaf aroma had strawberries which reminded me of young sheng which was an indication something wasn’t right. I was right, it was too strong and bitter. Lots of power on this one, although it’s the antique wood and dark fruit profile that I want, better luck next time.

2007 Spring Peacock cake.
Bought this one in a sample from Tea Masters. I got a part near the middle of the cake. A little compressed but nothing to worry about. Started with a 10 gram chunk to start with. I gave a 15 second rinse to let it break up a bit.
Ist steep about 5 seconds showed some orange color and a sweetness of the tea.
2nd steep orange as well a little bit darker. Some of the floral came into the cup as a secondary note. There was some bitterness as well.
Subsequent steeps were pretty close to the second steep. I haven’t fully steeped it out yet. All steeps were right off boiling on the water.
I think this is a decently priced mid tier tea from the Kunming/CNNP factory. I think storage has been good enough to take most of the harsh edge off. I think it will develop more as time goes on. For the price on this one it isn’t all that exciting but you could put it in your rotation without breaking the bank on cost per gram.

Flavors: Bitter, Floral, Sweet

Hi gang, I just purchased a tRuth ripe puerh tribute cake dedicated to the memory of Ruth Bader Ginsburg from Mandala Tea. Proceeds of tea sales from the 200 cakes made go to a Women’s Shelter. Artwork is lovely on the wrapper, but I have not tried the tea yet (it was pressed on 11/15/2020). I got several cakes as wintertime presents for friends especially since I have had good experiences with Mandala Teas ripe puerh in the past. Peace, Jim

Mandala’s Antwerp’s Placebo again. It’s a young ripe. I’ve yet to really grok any pu-erh and so I rarely drink them. Antwerp has become my winter morning tea 4 days out of seven. Call me a philistine (and I will admit to that) but I brew this Western and very strong. It brews up quite dark but there’s no fishiness or barn yard-iness to it. If anything, it has hints of bitter chocolate and a touch of that almost vanillic old book smell.

This year, I’ve managed to sample all my Simao and Yiwu region teas. Over the past month or so I took a ‘Trip to Changtai.’

These are the teas I tried:
1) https://steepster.com/teas/changtai-tea-factory/87651-2018-changtai-wild-menghai
2) https://steepster.com/teas/yunnan-sourcing/90402-2006-changtai-65th-anniversary-of-tong-an-teahouse-raw-pu-erh
3) https://steepster.com/teas/yunnan-sourcing/91266-2006-changtai-tian-xia-tong-an-gold-edition-raw-pu-erh
4) https://steepster.com/teas/changtai-tea-factory/88923-2006-changtai-si-pu-yuan
5) https://steepster.com/teas/crimson-lotus-tea/63626-2005-changtai-yun-pu-zhi-dian-slash-top-of-the-clouds
6) https://steepster.com/teas/changtai-tea-factory/89357-2004-changtai-banna-yunwu-cloud-cake
7) https://steepster.com/teas/changtai-tea-group/91790-2006-changtai-lao-chen-de-cha-ban-zhang
8) https://steepster.com/derk/posts/412286

Overall, I’d say I can appreciate Changtai teas. There were several solid mid-aged picks including the 65th Anniversary, Tian Xia Tong An Gold Edition and Yun Pu Zhi Dian. I found that Guangzhou dry/natural storage seems like a good avenue to explore. I wasn’t a fan of the wet storage character of Banna Yunwu Cloud cake. The last tea, a supposed Lao Ban Zhang, I have no information for. That one was definitely my favorite. Bang for buck, the Tian Xia got me hands down.

I was going to dip into Lincang teas next but my collection of Menghai teas is much larger so I’m probably going to start chipping away at that.

Bana Tea Company 2003 Small Tribute ripe puerh – what a calming, relaxing, mellow, flavorful tea. Flavors are primarily woodsy, with a hint of olive, and a following cocoa and citrus flavor. It is just quite pleasant to drink on a rainy afternoon. I could not find it on the Bana Tea website any longer (or on Amazon where I originally got a sample before purchasing a cake from Bana), but if you have some, or know Linda at Bana Tea and can get some, this is quite nice at the moment.

2011 Menghai Dayi Golden Phoenix Tribute raw.

I’m enjoying my second session this evening. Also had earlier this week and it was so powerful I had to spread the steeping across two days. There’s an acidic-metallic drying tinge early on but it’s somewhat balanced by a complex character in the mouth, moderate camphor, a strong returning sweetness quick to show and a lingering buttery caramel-floral plum aftertaste that rises in the sinuses. This seems dry stored to me. I bet this adolescent leaf will be very pleasant eventually.

Some tea I found in a daiso tin. I – don’t remember putting anything terribly old in here, but this is looking mature, nice red color, could mistake it for shu if you weren’t careful, but shu is rarely this clean. Anyways, it’s tasty, and hopefully an example of something mid-aged turning the corner, and not my forgetfulness.

Today I finished up a mystery sample from Houde that I bought in probably 2007 or so and never opened and whose label fell off. I brewed 5 grams in the gaiwan (110 ml or so). Five steeps yesterday. I’m feeling too lazy to go look at my tasting notes. A nice tea with nothing that really stood out except some qi during the first steep and a lot of mouth dryness plus some sweetness. This morning I stacked the last five steeps and put them in the fridge to chill. A clean, slightly bitter and refreshing brew. I’ve got a 6 gram chunk that I’ll try later. I was thinking of brewing it in the Yixing teapot, but the tea didn’t seem very complex and so that might be a waste.

Got a sample of shou from YS as well as some liubao brick from chawangshop that would pass as shou.