TeaChat

brandon wrote:My pu week.



"80's TongQingHao" / 7532 Orange in Orange / 2006 Yiwu by Mandarin

Seems to me that the aged puerh experience is enhanced by the ability to take slightly larger sips/gulps than you would an oolong. I always enjoy them in a larger cup with a wider orientation. Just thought I'd put that out there after seeing the wonderful tea bowl you were drinking yours from!

I tend to use a smaller pot for aged tea as that sh** is expensive and I like as high a leaf to water ratio as I can get and still allow the leaves to open up for a concentration of qi. The draw back is the loss of heat in later brews.

gasninja wrote:I tend to use a smaller pot for aged tea as that sh** is expensive and I like as high a leaf to water ratio as I can get and still allow the leaves to open up for a concentration of qi. The draw back is the loss of heat in later brews.

I agree 100% with everything you just said and brew my aged pu exactly the same way, but in my last post I was talking about the vessel that the puerh is drank from and that I prefer a more wide & shallow "bowl" like cup instead of the "thin tasting cups that I would normally use for an oolong" B-. I actually even like to drink from gaiwan cups with no lid as I feel the flare is perfect for aeration while sipping.

Late 80s early 90s Purple sky 8592 shu. Very strong sandlewood aroma and flavor. One of the better shus that I have had but. The 80s lotus shu is about a third of the price and has stronger cha qi. Really good stuff . I would even consider purchasing one if the price was more in line with the quality of the tea and not it's star status.

gasninja wrote:I would even consider purchasing one if the price was more in line with the quality of the tea and not it's star status.

This is a bit of a shame when this happens. The all-stars always have such a big price tag that living up to the inflated price is tough. Some can do it, but many fall short.

Most of the all-stars are more famous than good.

Post 1985 or so, I think the best teas will predominantly be from 2003-2007, with the best teas from before being whittled down to just the best ones.

Continuing my run on aged shu yesterday I tried the 98 duahzhi. This tea almost the polar opposite of the purple sky. Having almost no upfront flavor at all but a strong cooling aftertaste and Lasting quite a few infusions.

shah82 wrote:Most of the all-stars are more famous than good.

It all boils down to expectations. If I pay $500+ for a famous tea, you expect that it will be $500-good, but that is a tough mark to hit. Some of the famous teas area excellent, but don't warrant their bloated famous price tag.

Famous teas from before 2006 generally costs more than $300. From 1999 and before, it tends to cost well more than $500.

YYX is 170 dollars at bana tea company

Orange in orange and I am fairly certain the orange in orange can be had for less than 300 dollars

gasninja wrote:YYX is 170 dollars at bana tea company

Orange in orange and I am fairly certain the orange in orange can be had for less than 300 dollars

Orange in orange is not very good. YYX is better.... but the prices have stalled for a reason.

gasninja wrote: Orange in orange and I am fairly certain the orange in orange can be had for less than 300 dollars

The 1996 orange-in-orange I got recently from a source in Taiwan (which was probably about $250 a couple years back) was above $300 this year, and that's not a particularly dry-stored one. This source generally has things at a fair price (not bargain basement, but quite reasonable). I think it's good tea, and bought it because I regretted not buying it after trying the sample several times. But I do think you pay a bit of a premium that's based on the tea's name and not its taste.

I think sampletea sells theirs (much drier stored) for ~ $250-280, but I can't speak to its authenticity. But either way, I think it's possible to get for < $300, especially if you're buying larger quantities.

I got some Yuanyexiang (thin paper) for closer to $90/piece in 2010. Time will tell how effective Cloud's hype machine is.

However, there are plenty of less famous 90s teas that can still be had for < $300.

1960s LLL 367 Lui Bao this tea is great. Very similar to the 50's pu tian LB but maybe a touch wetter stored. It's up front flavor may even be more interesting having some interesting dark cane sugar notes added to the medicinal woodiness.With the pu tian you are paying extra for the excellent mouthfeel, after taste and powerful cha qi. The LLL 367 is really not lacking in any of those areas either but the pu tian is in a different league. As it should be for double the price.

70s Liao Fu San Cha
This just popped back up at houde. The highlight of this tea is the strong cooling aftertaste. It has a few rough edges like a little bit of astringency on the middle of the tongue ( hopefully from storage and not excessive fertilizers/pesticides when grown) and some storage flavor for the first few infusions. But the qi is very present and seems to be in a constant state of movement.
For fifty cents a gram it's seems like a pretty good deal for a tea with this much age on it.
But I would be interested to hear someone with more experience opinion on this tea. As to where the roughness in it came from.

Essence of Tea/ Nada 88 Qing Bing
8.5 g in a 90 ml pot
Tetsubin tap water

Very smooth enveloping flavor. A bit malty in the beginning. Around brew 5-6 I pushed it a bit more to get some aroma impressing bite.

What impressed me about this tea most is the way it melds to your mouth. There was an impressive cohesion with the saliva giving it that "thick" feeling about which I have read. I'd say the neutrality heightens that sensation.

On a side note, this tea really gave our local water here in Cleveland a chance to shine. Filtered, it works wonderfully with this tea.

I sampled the final drops at the end of the session. Great intensity with nearly no astringency.

EDIT: add photos