TeaChat

Hi all,

I have cake of this from vendor in Malaysia. Bought without tasting as this guy is quite reputable and there wasn't any sample left.

The first time I brew this tea, I consciously pick out a the largest patch with least tip. This brew is tasty. On the subsequent brews, I pick out the leaves as normally would. However from now onwards, the tea has the sourish inbetween teeth after taste.

Brew parameters:
7-10g, 150ml, 95-97c, 4-10sec steeping.

Does anyone else have this cake or some insights?

I suppose it could be a photo/lighting issue, but that looks REALLY green for a 2006!

Hi Drax. The color is slightly younger if compared to chopped up leaves of Dayi and Xiaguan. The other cake I bought is 2006 Mengku Arbor King. As "young" but does not have sourish end notes.

Does a young spring tip cake have sourish taste? I somehow think this cake cannot be stored "wet".

How much was it?

In my experience with this cake - 2005 version , 15 sessions of more -it is not sour at all, just sweet and smooth. I have also had a few stray "bad" sessions with it, but that happens with most any cake. No cake is 100 percent consistent.

The color of my cakes is much less green than this. The wrapper is also different for the 2005, it lacks the yellow design behind the text. If you want to see pictures, I was planning on putting it on my site at some point.

The cake costs USD 23.

For now, I'm probably consigning it to the "dry" corner of the rack and see how thing goes after some time.

Are you sure the problem is wetness as opposed to too dry a storage in the first place? That's usually the culprit of the sort of sourness you seem to be describing. Also, as others have pointed out, it looks green for its age, which points to drier, not wetter, storage.

puyuan wrote:Are you sure the problem is wetness as opposed to too dry a storage in the first place? That's usually the culprit of the sort of sourness you seem to be describing. Also, as others have pointed out, it looks green for its age, which points to drier, not wetter, storage.

Why would 'dryness' produce a sour flavor? Can you elaborate?

There are many types of sourness in tea. Some are sought after and desirable and some are undesirable. A good tea give a "nice" sourness profile. It is another lifelong topic though.

Teaism wrote:There are many types of sourness in tea. Some are sought after and desirable and some are undesirable. A good tea give a "nice" sourness profile. It is another lifelong topic though.

I quite agree and have experienced this good type of sourness. However, I got the impression that the poster was not talking about the good sourness, but the undesirable one, and he was equating it with storage.

Tead Off wrote:

Teaism wrote:There are many types of sourness in tea. Some are sought after and desirable and some are undesirable. A good tea give a "nice" sourness profile. It is another lifelong topic though.

I quite agree and have experienced this good type of sourness. However, I got the impression that the poster was not talking about the good sourness, but the undesirable one, and he was equating it with storage.

Good point my friend.
Yes a bit OT but I was saying it in general and also to raise the awareness of tasting tea in general. Sourness can be tasted at the mid and edge of both side of the tongue. Some sourness like those mild plum sourness with fruity fragrance can be desirable. I look for these unique taste especially when tasting Shui Xian.

Maybe TS could focus a bit on this taste to further evaluate rather than jumping into conclusion. New taste can be aquired. I recall my first tasting of truffles was confusing but now I am a fan of "tartufo d alba"!

Now I am really OT

Cheers!

Teaism wrote:There are many types of sourness in tea. Some are sought after and desirable and some are undesirable. A good tea give a "nice" sourness profile. It is another lifelong topic though.

being only a year into puerh, i didn't know there is "good" sourness. but thinking back, the lone 2005 Dayi Early Sping tuo do have a lesser sourness-in-between-teeth. is this actually an indication of the tea morphing?

time will tell.

Tead Off wrote:

puyuan wrote:Are you sure the problem is wetness as opposed to too dry a storage in the first place? That's usually the culprit of the sort of sourness you seem to be describing. Also, as others have pointed out, it looks green for its age, which points to drier, not wetter, storage.

Why would 'dryness' produce a sour flavor? Can you elaborate?

Nothing I can theorize past experience, but I don't think I'm alone in believing so? I've seen plenty of such reports regarding pu'er stored dry in TW, Kungming and elsewhere. I personally do think, however, that it probably has as much to do with other storage conditions, such as low temperature or the teas being left out in the open. The worst aged teas I've ever encountered were in Northeast China.

Tead Off wrote:

puyuan wrote:Are you sure the problem is wetness as opposed to too dry a storage in the first place? That's usually the culprit of the sort of sourness you seem to be describing. Also, as others have pointed out, it looks green for its age, which points to drier, not wetter, storage.

Why would 'dryness' produce a sour flavor? Can you elaborate?

I have experienced a lot of cakes that were stored too dry (10 Years+ in Beijing) that are very sour. A few people who are familiar with storage have pointed to the dryness as the culprit - although it is difficult to nail down a single factor

quikstep wrote:Hi all,

I have cake of this from vendor in Malaysia. Bought without tasting as this guy is quite reputable and there wasn't any sample left.

The first time I brew this tea, I consciously pick out a the largest patch with least tip. This brew is tasty. On the subsequent brews, I pick out the leaves as normally would. However from now onwards, the tea has the sourish inbetween teeth after taste.

Brew parameters:
7-10g, 150ml, 95-97c, 4-10sec steeping.

Does anyone else have this cake or some insights?

Hi quickstep,

Do not worry. It is a good sour taste for this mengku DXS tea. It is still in process of fermentation. It will start to turn sweet when it is approaching 10years ++/-- (depending on country/storage condition). I have the 2002 tea, it is a superb tea (1st four brews already turn sweet). Be patient.