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“It’s been a long time coming but I finally feel like I’m in a place where I have enough experience that I can genuinely talk about shou in a meaningful way. I got this sample over a month ago, and...” Read full tasting note
“Second tasting of the day brings us spring 2006 Longyuanhao Ji Xiang Shu. This is an interesting tea as when I got it out of the pack it was very crumbly and required 2 washes to get the particles...” Read full tasting note
“I’m still not sure how I feel about shu/ripe puerh. Over the past few months I’ve definitely gained an appreciation for sheng – especially young sheng – but shu just still feels too.. musty to me?...” Read full tasting note
In 2006 the pu’er market was nearing its highest point, incentivizing reputable producers to put an unprecedented level of quality and care into their cakes. Longyuanhao was founded in 1999 and just reaching their prime under the guidance of award-winning master Li Zhengxing, who earned his fame putting Da Du Gang pu’er on the map. He went all out with a high quality bud-heavy blend for this cake, and has aged it for over a decade in Yunnan. This combination of circumstances give this tea the name Ji Xiang, which means auspicious in Chinese. The tatami wood, dried plum and cooling aftertaste convince us that this is indeed a fitting name.
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It’s been a long time coming but I finally feel like I’m in a place where I have enough experience that I can genuinely talk about shou in a meaningful way. I got this sample over a month ago, and tried it about a week after I got it and it was not great, it was plainly boring and empty, so I let it sit for quite a while, and today I’m drinking this and I am shocked, this is probably the most distinctive shou I’ve ever had:
the first thing I noticed was the heavy compression, which is something I tend to try and avoid with puerh in general, because I love making my shou as dark and oily as possible, and the compression makes that .. difficult? Anyway, after my rinses, the first steep was a lighter colour, but when I tasted it I was overtaken with this beautiful blueberry/blackberry note, which I have not come across in shu before and is one of my favourite flavours in tea. As the session continues, the tea is creamy and milky, strawberry, chocolate, caramel, mint, an active mouthfeel with a bit of a tingle yet fat and oily even though the soup is lighter in colour. it feels like a fruity, delicate black tea met a fat, dark shou and those are my two favourite things.
Second tasting of the day brings us spring 2006 Longyuanhao Ji Xiang Shu. This is an interesting tea as when I got it out of the pack it was very crumbly and required 2 washes to get the particles out. After that with a 15 second steep, I got a dark caramel, almost chocolate colored liquor.
The first scents that hit me was smokey caramel, this was almost overpowering any other tastes or aromas. Sipping it I got a nice vegetal and mineral taste to it as well. Not as much sweetness as I would have expected considering the strong caramel aroma.
A second infusion produced very similiar results to the first, with strong emphasis on the smokey sweet flavors and aromas. There are other subtler flavors and aroma’s there, but I cant quite pick them out.
I will probably do a follow up tasting in a few more days.
Flavors: Caramel, Mineral, Smoke, Vegetal
I’m still not sure how I feel about shu/ripe puerh. Over the past few months I’ve definitely gained an appreciation for sheng – especially young sheng – but shu just still feels too.. musty to me? I don’t know. So I thought I would try a sample of an older shu to see how it goes. I got this as a sample from Verdant’s black friday sale during their “Pu-erh Monday”. When I opened the bag the sample was really crumbly, so already we’re on a bad foot…
And… I don’t know. This tea isn’t bad. It’s smooth and rich. I just think maybe it’s a little too rich? I’m getting lots of coffee and tobacco notes and it makes me think that this would be a GREAT tea to use to introduce a coffee drinker to to get them to “come to the dark side”. The tea holds up for a LOT of infusions too. I don’t know, it’s just not doing anything for me. But I also have complicated feelings about shu so don’t take my word for it.
Speaking of coffee, with my last couple infusions I decided to try my hand at making “bulletproof tea” with this since I thought it would make a good base. For those that don’t know, this is a play on Bulletproof Coffee which is coffee + MCT oil + butter and is supposed to be really good for fasting. Yeah it’s probably some BS but I thought I would give it a try. And…. still kinda meh about this tea. And now it just tastes like warm butter. Eh, I tried.
I’m also not so enthused with Shou because I find the taste one dimensional. I have yet to find the creamy and other notes that people comment on and I’ve tried a substantial amount of diff shou. But I do like the taste…it’s so nice and comforting on winter days. And surprisingly some of the best tea highs came from shou (including the best ever). You’re braver than me…I intermittent fast but never tried bulletproof tea :/
Yeah I much prefer sheng these days.
You IF, eh? I’ve heard good things about that. Do you do Keto too?
Yeah, I started 5 years ago and really like it (though for different reasons than most). I go with my intuition with it…sometimes for weeks and months on end with just a few cheat days, sometimes just after having a day of too much heavy food. Def recommend trying it. I tried keto for a few days but it put me in a foul mood so that was that.
Ahhh interesting. I’m reading about IF now and they make it sound like you practically need Keto to make it work.
When you IF do you do water only or do some things to hold you over?
Just water (and tea of course). I think you can have 15-20 cals without breaking the fast but I find it easier to eat no cals. It’s about finding the right way to schedule it to fit your lifestyle. I fast 16 hours and then eat for 8. I eat a big protein and fat meal before bed at 9pm ish and it isn’t hard for me just not eat until 1pm. If you get full easily, you could eat at 6pm and then you only have to not eat until 10am
I find that it helps my gut to repair itself after lots of bad food or drinking alcohol. Also it seems to boost my immune system so I will do it more if people around me are sick. And I’ll do it more in the summer time because it’ll keep me cooler (eating really warms me up)
The keto thing would make IF more difficult for me. I do find that eating lots of carbs at night makes hunger pains more intense in the morning which is why I do more fats and protein at night.
Ahh so you’d eat a carb heavier meal at 1 and then a fat/protein meal later? What would a typical meal be for you at night vs at lunch?
Exactly. Lunch could be scrambled eggs on toast or roast chicken with potatoes (white or sweet) or stew with bread. Dinner might be high quality sausages with rainbow chard/cauliflower or stew with squash/carrots/kale/cabbage. I don’t shy away from fat/butter/cholesterol/meaty stocks as ways of adding flavor. Personally I tolerate some heavier carbs with big meals so I’ll sometimes add something like baked potato with butter to a dinner meal but I wouldn’t just have oats by itself for dinner.
