Suitable brewing methods for Sheng Puerh

[xiaobai]

There is an interesting discussion going on here

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=20577

on the properties of a suitable brewing vessel for for yancha.

I just thought it would be interesting to have a parallel discussion
on sheng.

The reason is the following. I have been attending classes by two different
teachers in Taiwan.

One has taught me to brew Sheng using a well pre-heated flat Yixing pot, with water at full boiling (preferably from a tetsubin). The goal is to produce a period of intense heat followed by rapid cooling. This approach is similar to yancha and emphasizes that Sheng must be drunk as hot as possible to fully enjoy its aromatics and qi.

Another teacher argues that Sheng must be brewed in a gaiwan. I am still beginning to study this method, but I have seen it employed and recommended by various people. The approach treats, I believe,
Sheng as a green/white tea.

Of course, not all Sheng out there is good enough to undergo the stress test of the first method. You need high quality leaves for that, otherwise you risk ending up with an extremely bitter/astringent tea soup. The first method may be also recommended when the tea has aged a bit.

Nevertheless, in your experience and assuming that you've got good leaves, which method do you think would make a session with
Sheng most enjoyable?

Please, let us know what are the properties of your favorite vessel
Gaiwan (porcelain vs. clay)? Yixing pot (tall/flat/clay type)? Japanese clay?

[shah82]

Gaiwan is unforgiving of mediocre or bad leaves.

In order to enjoy aromatics from sheng, such as that its, the proper selection and use of cups is what's most important.

The flavor and aroma of puerh changes as the temperature changes. Plus, it's hard to taste things really hot, and long term, super hot water drinking may increase the chances of cancer.

I know, to each their own, but puerh, using banna leaves, should not be treated as a green tea. Northern tea has more of a tradition and practice of puerh as green tea, like Wuliang...

Puerh does make really good white tea, and there will be products that are explicitly marketed as such.

[steanze]

There is an interesting discussion going on here

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=20577

on the properties of a suitable brewing vessel for for yancha.

I just thought it would be interesting to have a parallel discussion
on sheng.

The reason is the following. I have been attending classes by two different
teachers in Taiwan.

One has taught me to brew Sheng using a well pre-heated flat Yixing pot, with water at full boiling (preferably from a tetsubin). The goal is to produce a period of intense heat followed by rapid cooling. This approach is similar to yancha and emphasizes that Sheng must be drunk as hot as possible to fully enjoy its aromatics and qi.

Another teacher argues that Sheng must be brewed in a gaiwan. I am still beginning to study this method, but I have seen it employed and recommended by various people. The approach treats, I believe,
Sheng as a green/white tea.

Of course, not all Sheng out there is good enough to undergo the stress test of the first method. You need high quality leaves for that, otherwise you risk ending up with an extremely bitter/astringent tea soup. The first method may be also recommended when the tea has aged a bit.

Nevertheless, in your experience and assuming that you've got good leaves, which method do you think would make a session with
Sheng most enjoyable?

Please, let us know what are the properties of your favorite vessel
Gaiwan (porcelain vs. clay)? Yixing pot (tall/flat/clay type)? Japanese clay?

How old is the sheng?
Sheng tends to be the tea I brew in most different ways, depending on the day/what I want to achieve...

[xiaobai]

How old is the sheng?
Sheng tends to be the tea I brew in most different ways, depending on the day/what I want to achieve...

I am thinking of relatively young sheng (< 5 years). I also use different ways, it depends on the tea and the place I am. For instance, on the go, I rely more on a gaiwan, at home, more on teapots.

How does the brewing method depend on what you want to achieve?

[xiaobai]

Gaiwan is unforgiving of mediocre or bad leaves.

In order to enjoy aromatics from sheng, such as that its, the proper selection and use of cups is what's most important.

The flavor and aroma of puerh changes as the temperature changes. Plus, it's hard to taste things really hot, and long term, super hot water drinking may increase the chances of cancer.

I know, to each their own, but puerh, using banna leaves, should not be treated as a green tea. Northern tea has more of a tradition and practice of puerh as green tea, like Wuliang...

Puerh does make really good white tea, and there will be products that are explicitly marketed as such.

Thanks for your interesting comments.

I was referring to the teapot method using extremely hot water and rather long steeping times. That method is even more unforgiving of bad leaves.
However, I have observed that it can sometimes make reasonably good leaves into an extremely bitter drink. For those cases, I use a gaiwan and lower the temperature or shorten the steeping time.

I am not talking about Yunnan white or greens here. Just of steeping methods that treat young sheng in the same way as those genres of tea. This means using lower temperature water and a gaiwan rather than a teapot.

And yes, you are right, drinking hot drinks for a prolonged time boosts one's chances of getting esophagus cancer. The point with yancha and puerh
(or any other tea) is to enjoy it hot without burning yourself. You can wait until the soup cools down, but meanwhile it is easier to enjoy the tea's aroma as long as it is served as hot as possible. If you treat the tea as a green tea, you have to lower the temperature, which means the soup will be served cooler.

[steanze]

I agree with shah82 that using a gaiwan is unforgiving for mediocre tea.

For good quality tea <5 years of age a porcelain gaiwan is a great tool IMO. I use boiling water. I use a gaiwan if I want to emphasize the aromas of the tea, young pu erh can have a really nice and complex aroma and I think the gaiwan does a great job at bringing that out. However, if the tea has a not so great aftertaste you are going to get all of it in your face, while a yixing pot can help to take away some of that.

I usually encounter 2 main types of young pu erhs that I enjoy, some have very nice aromas but lack potency, so I feel that I can enjoy them while they are young, but they will age into something bland. They are not necessarily low quality, but they just lack what it takes to age well. For these teas, the gaiwan is my preference, using a yixing pot in these cases usually turns them into bland and uninteresting teas.

Other pu erhs, which I prefer, have in addition to the aroma a thicker body and more lasting aftertaste. I still like to brew these in a gaiwan if they are <5 years old, but they would still taste good when brewed in a yixing pot and it would give them a thicker body, so if I felt like a tea with thicker body on that particular day, I'd use a yixing pot (but then maybe I'd put at least 5-6 years old pu erh in it).

In the end, sometimes for the sake of variety you might want to brew <5 years old pu erh which is still too rough to put in a gaiwan (say 2013 Dayi 7542) in which case I'd definitely put it in a yixing pot (but one with a fast pour!), it can be quite enjoyable if you need something strong

Note though that I am NOT a tea master, I've only been drinking "real" tea for about 7 years now. So I am sure that your teachers in Taiwan have a lot more experience than me.

[hop_goblin]

I always use a Gaiwan since it doesn't retain heat as well as Yixing. Young Shengpu is in all essence green tea.

[Cwyn]

I like Yixing for older sheng that had a period of humid storage or may be in an in-between stage. I think Yixing is a shame to use with young sheng because the clay has something of its own odor and can detract from the lovely floral notes of younger leaves. Young leaves are worth seeing too, rather than hidden away in a dark teapot. I think a gaiwan is good, but also drinking tea is a time to enjoy your teaware too, there is no right and wrong about what you pick when your quiet time is at hand.

[William]

I think Yixing is a shame to use with young sheng because the clay has something of its own odor and can detract from the lovely floral notes of younger leaves.

The persistence/presence of clay odor just depends on which temperature the teapot has been fired (and/or how long). Typically, high fired Yi Xing wares do not have any clay odor inside (e.g. high fired SP from the 70s); on the contrary, this is a common feature of Japanese wares, where the firing level is generally higher.

Regards.

[bagua7]

One has taught me to brew Sheng using a well pre-heated flat Yixing pot, with water at full boiling (preferably from a tetsubin)...

Another teacher argues that Sheng must be brewed in a gaiwan...

Quality tea brews well anywhere except some modern Yixing clays (see comment below) that tend to soften the tea to much for my liking.

Yixing vs gaiwan. In my experience, Yixing masks some of the aggressive Qi of young sheng. Aged quality zini is probably the best in terms of delivering a balanced brew in terms of flavour; other clays like "duanni" erase many notes and "new zhuni" also mutes a note or two.

Gaiwan is great if you want to enjoy the captivating aroma of a sheng that is released when pouring hot water on the tea.

Temperature. I add boiling water to the tea in a Yixing pot (for gaiwan a little less than boiling) and sip the tea extra slowly.

Aged sheng...unfortunately I don't drink to many of these...can't afford them. Got a couple of cakes though (1995 and 2000) and use a small aged zini pot to brew them. Much prefer Yixing than gaiwan for this particular type of tea.

[CheekyChipmunk]

Hi All,

First post so please be gentle! I was thinking on starting a thread about red Yixing clays and sheng, but this seems like a suitable place to slot it in. I am very new to the Yixing game and my first purchase is a decent quality red Yixing 110ml or so pot. It was sold as 'Da Hong Pao' clay but after trawling the net for info on the clay it seems like the term is largely interchangeable with Hong Ni (there is a thread on this forum about this under mystical Yixing clays).

Anyway, clay classification aside, might this pot be suitable for sheng brewing? It has very good heat retention and a medium profile and pour. I brewed my first sheng in it today (it was the first sheng I have drunk). It retained the aroma very well (smelling the lid after brewing was quite enjoyable) and while the was some bitterness and astringent tones, it seemed well balanced and to my liking. I am interested to try the same tea in a gaiwan tomorrow after reading this thread. It is a young cake, around 2 yrs old. Does my description sound how sheng should taste or am I doing it wrong?

Thanks in advance,

CC

[Bef]

There is no right or wrong way to brew puerh. Try different parameters and see how you prefer to brew this tea.

There are some puerh that I always brew in different yixing pots, while I keep some other in gaiwan as I feel they're much better that way. To me, it really depends on the tea...

In any case, other parameters migth be more important: water temperature, leaf/water ratio, water being used...

So I recommend that you experiment and see how each of your teas seem to be doing better in your opinion. Avoid limiting yourself to all the rules we find everywhere.

[Zacherywolf7]

I brew young sheng in a pot and it really depends on the young sheng and even then its day to day as people have mentioned - sometimes I want the emphasis on aftertaste (which the pot seems to always do), somedays I want the smells. It slowly is getting seasoned and so the flavor is shining through a little more. Its your choice and nothing is right or wrong. As for whats recommended, if you like the taste of young sheng in your pot comparable to the gaiwan go for it .

[jayinhk]

I almost always brew sheng in one of two large zisha shuipings. I tend to use cooler water (95C) to keep the bitterness down. I go hotter with aged sheng. Hongni would be interesting for younger sheng--been meaning to try that.