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Re: Tasting Opportunity - Flight of Wisteria Puer

Posted: Mar 7th, '13, 22:38
by TwoDog2
the_economist wrote: Qingteng - Mindblown. A cerebral exercise of epic proportions. Drink this seriously.
This makes me want to have a second session with the Qingteng

Re: Tasting Opportunity - Flight of Wisteria Puer

Posted: Mar 7th, '13, 23:50
by BioHorn
I am really liking this Zi Yin. It has good 'bones.' The leaf tastes dense and rich in flavor.
Nice layers of tobacco that seem to have floral underpinnings.

Tastes vary widely. The meng song qing teng was less revelatory, at least to me. I may be off base, but it seemed similar to tasting of a number of other mid-early 2000's Kunming stored teas.

Looking forward to trying four more!

Re: Tasting Opportunity - Flight of Wisteria Puer

Posted: Mar 9th, '13, 07:26
by JakubT
Having the Jiang Chen now. +1 to what the_economist said.

Re: Tasting Opportunity - Flight of Wisteria Puer

Posted: Mar 12th, '13, 11:09
by JakubT
Right ho, I had the Blue mark and Jinggu too... I quite like the Blue Mark (I guess there is a nontrivial portion of something-Banzhang, a component I like very much). It is still a bit rough, but I think it should safely age into a lovely tea. On the other hand, the Jinggu felt and tasted quite ordinary to me. A very above-average Jinggu, no doubt, but it's still a one-eyed king.

For me, the ordering is:
1. Yiwu(Zi Pin)
2.-3. Mengsong and Nannuo
4. Blue mark
5. Jiang Chen Yiwu
6. Jinggu

Thanks, SC!

Re: Tasting Opportunity - Flight of Wisteria Puer

Posted: Mar 12th, '13, 11:29
by the_economist
Couldn't agree more Jakub.

Re: Tasting Opportunity - Flight of Wisteria Puer

Posted: Mar 15th, '13, 07:23
by nicolas
Here are my thoughts, based on 2 brews of each sample on separate days:

No. 1
2003 Zi Yin (Nannuo)
Excellent aroma (Xiang Wei 香味) but what makes this a winner is the Hui Gan 回甘 which is long, deep, refined and powerful (and remains on the body for the longest time out of all the samples). In addition, the sweetness (Tian Wei 甜味) tells me that I will have many more enjoyable sessions to come.

No. 2
2005 Taiyue
This one has the best qi of the lot. Definitely old tree. But it loses out to the Zi Yin in terms of Xiang Wei 香味 and Tian Wei 甜味 as it is less complex. So it is No. 2.

No. 3
2007 Bluemark
Very impressive Xiang Wei 香味 in the empty glass pitcher (gong dao bei), and the source material is certainly quality (rich smell of malt and camphor) with good aging potential. Only loses out to the above teas because of less Hui Gan and Cha Qi 茶气. However, if I were to tong, this would be my choice (cheaper than the above 2). Tea soup is dark caramel. I also note that the leaves were personally selected by Zhou Yu.

No. 4.
2003 Mengsong (Qing Teng)
Amazing complexity, good aroma and Hui Gan (although 2/3 less than the Zi Yin). Its major flaw is it starts to turn sour from the 5th brew onwards and then its downhill from there. Wham, bam, then disappears - I have no interest in seeing it again.

No. 5.
2003 Zi Pin (Yiwu)
Although the Zi Pin has very good complex aroma (Xiang Wei 香味), its main flaws are:

(a) it has lingering bitterness (Ku Wei 苦味) which stays on the tongue, especially when you brew it strongly. A good yiwu should not have this quality;

(b) volatility from brew to brew (i.e. doesn't know where it wants to go); and

(c) the qi energy (Cha Qi 茶气) is off (i.e. doesn't grab you and ground you on the spot). Not something I would want to make friends with. Like a Changtai.