help me with my expensive sheng!

One of the intentionally aged teas, Pu-Erh has a loyal following.


Jul 19th, '08, 12:03
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by drumhum » Jul 19th, '08, 12:03

hob goblin,

and presumably a cake with uniform overall compression is a sign of a well made cake, as well as being well looked-after during storage/aging. (?)

I mean a good quality 8 year-old cake could look as good as a brand new one (?)

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Jul 19th, '08, 14:24
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by hop_goblin » Jul 19th, '08, 14:24

drumhum wrote:hob goblin,

and presumably a cake with uniform overall compression is a sign of a well made cake, as well as being well looked-after during storage/aging. (?)

I mean a good quality 8 year-old cake could look as good as a brand new one (?)

Well uniformaty is not really necessary to be a well produced cake. As for being looked after during the aging process, I was only trying to make an example about loose leaves. In fact, many of the beengs that we get here in the states which are ding-up a bit have nothing to do with storage in China, it was a result of the transit from china.

I don't understand your question about the "8 year old" cake. If you want information about your beeng, do a taste smell and sight test. That is all of the information you need. I know that is the answer that most newbies don't want to hear or read but it is the truth. You can't really go by vendors descpritions to begin with. Compare your impression with that of the vendors. Do they match to what is known about the particular growing area, vendor, processing methods, flavor profiles.. etc?

From the vendors notes, it is interesting that he or she would describe the beeng has having the umami taste. I have never tasted a YiWu beeng that had this flavor profile. With YiWi, there is an unmistakble sweetness which last long after the swallow; it should be somewhat floral especially for a beeng only 8 years old.

Cheers

Jul 19th, '08, 16:40
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by drumhum » Jul 19th, '08, 16:40

drumhum wrote:
The colour I was describing were the leaves but the brew is very similar - very far from earthy or amber!
I've just had another go at this tea and I don't know why I said that! The brew is indeed quite a pleasant amber. Perhaps I'm just down on this tea.

This time I used a good 8 or 9 g in my 150ml pot and went for very short brew times (5 to 10s). Perhaps its all your words of encouragement but I think I may be warming to this tea a bit.

Hob goblin,
My comment about "8 year old [tea] cake" was just confirming what you were saying really: that you can't tell the age from the look of a tea cake.

I take your point about smell, taste and sight test but all this reveals to the "newbie" is whether or not s/he likes the tea and perhaps what to look out for next time. It takes far longer to learn by trial and error. Its good to learn from other tea drinkers and to do this the newbie needs to learn their jargon and work out the un-said "common knowledge". Your tips and advice have been very useful.

Indeed I've learned a great deal from this discussion in general.

Cheers for that!

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Jul 19th, '08, 17:16
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by hop_goblin » Jul 19th, '08, 17:16

drumhum wrote:
drumhum wrote:
The colour I was describing were the leaves but the brew is very similar - very far from earthy or amber!
I've just had another go at this tea and I don't know why I said that! The brew is indeed quite a pleasant amber. Perhaps I'm just down on this tea.

This time I used a good 8 or 9 g in my 150ml pot and went for very short brew times (5 to 10s). Perhaps its all your words of encouragement but I think I may be warming to this tea a bit.

Hob goblin,
My comment about "8 year old [tea] cake" was just confirming what you were saying really: that you can't tell the age from the look of a tea cake.

I take your point about smell, taste and sight test but all this reveals to the "newbie" is whether or not s/he likes the tea and perhaps what to look out for next time. It takes far longer to learn by trial and error. Its good to learn from other tea drinkers and to do this the newbie needs to learn their jargon and work out the un-said "common knowledge". Your tips and advice have been very useful.


Indeed I've learned a great deal from this discussion in general.

Cheers for that!

Well, thank you for your vote of confidence in me. I am still learning myself. However, I have conconcentrated approx 95% of my tea drinking and learning to Puerh for so sometime now and now I am becomming quite comforable with at least the rudementory aspects of it. Yes, you are correct about adding more leaf in the case of older sheng and shu. Don't you just love discoveries!

Cheers

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Jul 20th, '08, 17:23
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Re: help me with my expensive sheng!

by augie » Jul 20th, '08, 17:23

drumhum wrote:I went a bit wild a few weeks (months?) ago and bought a cake of this...
Ah, another tea shopper after my own heart! I do this as well and it always ends up in tears! sorry you don' like it.
drumhum wrote:It can also be pretty hard on the stomach - I've had a few cramps from this stuff!
I have had that same experience with asam and other black tea. SO bad I almost had to hurl. I have never had that experience with shu, but have had the tasting experience with sheng you describe. Does the cooked pu give you stomach cramps? Like HD said, maybe you just weren't meant to drink green pu ehr . . .

Jul 20th, '08, 18:03
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by drumhum » Jul 20th, '08, 18:03

Augie,

As I said previously, I'm kind of warming to the the stuff a bit now.

I really don't believe this tea is a bad tea. perhaps I gave the wrong impression with some of my comments. Its more about getting my head around this raw stuff I think.

Shu is much easier on the stomach in my experience - indeed it can feel positively settling.

I think many teas can have adverse effects on the tummy if over-brewed or stewed... and one can make some horrid concoctions when learning!

Aug 1st, '08, 21:34
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by drumhum » Aug 1st, '08, 21:34

I've had a reply from Jingtea.com (UK site) and I feel its only right to report back.

I wrote asking for more info about my purchase shown here...
http://tinyurl.com/59tscv

The reply was very polite and up-beat but just repeated the info on the website. I responded with thanks but with a request for yet further info.

Who should reply but Edward Eisler - the main guy behind Jingtea. He's the one I've heard on radio, tv and read about in the press. I was very happy to get his response. In case anyone is considering this tea his info might be useful...

The 2000 Yi Wu Spring Buds (a literal translation of the characters written on the paper wrapping) is composed, as the name suggested of tea leaves and buds, picked in spring in the year 2000 from Yi Wu Mountain. Yi Wu is in Xisuanbanna in the far South West of Yunnan Province. The leaves are from wild tea trees growing deep in the mountains and the blending and compressing of the tea was done in Menghai Factory.

Yi Wu mountain is considered by many to produce some of the best tea leaves for making puerh tea. It is very remote and take about 4 hours to get to the tea areas there from Jin Hong (the nearest major city). The tea is characteristic of the tea from Yi Wu – extremely thickly textured and glycerous in the mouth, with sweetness and warmth. The warmth and fullness also come from the aging of the tea which you can see in the redness of the leaf and the colour of the infusion – when first compressed, the tea was completely green in colour. The redness will increase with further aging.


That certainly ticks the box for more info, I think!

Since I wrote my first post I have made many more brews of this stuff and I think I have finally "got" this tea. It was my first raw puerh and I needed time with it. The words from Edward Eisler make perfect sense and seem accurate to me.

I say this as there has been a slight suggestion that Jing might have supplied some dodgy tea but I am convinced this is not the case. I am also convinced that Jing (UK) is very reputable company selling very high quality tea. They are a "posh shop".

Now that I've found out how to enjoy this tea and had that reply, I just kind of feel bad in thinking Jing might have supplied me with a dud! I don't know if this tea can be found cheaper elsewhere but Jing have done the legwork and the choosing for me and I'm happy with my brew.

I'm looking forward to using this tea as my (first) benchmark for Sheng!

Anyway, thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread.

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Aug 1st, '08, 22:15
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by Salsero » Aug 1st, '08, 22:15

drumhum wrote: Who should reply but Edward Eisler - the main guy behind Jingtea. ... I think I have finally "got" this tea. It was my first raw puerh and I needed time with it. ... Anyway, thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread.
Thanks for the follow up report. It's good to hear that your experience with this vendor turned out well and even better to hear that you have come to enjoy sheng puerh.

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