Official Pu of the day

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


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Sep 22nd, '14, 17:02
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by puerhking » Sep 22nd, '14, 17:02

2013 Yunnan Sourcing Feng Chun -

This has a bit more punch in the flavor and the chaqi department. Herbs and leather dominate with some vegetal notes thrown in for good measure. Good session. I'm going through all of my YS puerhs to see where they are at.

Sep 22nd, '14, 20:59
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by mr mopu » Sep 22nd, '14, 20:59

puerhking wrote:2013 Yunnan Sourcing Feng Chun -

This has a bit more punch in the flavor and the chaqi department. Herbs and leather dominate with some vegetal notes thrown in for good measure. Good session. I'm going through all of my YS puerhs to see where they are at.
I liked this also. A sample led to a cake of this. How are you storing your teas if I may ask. Temp/Humidity variables.

Sep 22nd, '14, 21:42
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Rdeitz » Sep 22nd, '14, 21:42

puerhking wrote:2013 Yunnan Sourcing Feng Chun -

This has a bit more punch in the flavor and the chaqi department. Herbs and leather dominate with some vegetal notes thrown in for good measure. Good session. I'm going through all of my YS puerhs to see where they are at.
Ditto, I own this cake and like it a lot. A good cake at a reasonable price.

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Sep 23rd, '14, 11:47
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by puerhking » Sep 23rd, '14, 11:47

mr mopu wrote: I liked this also. A sample led to a cake of this. How are you storing your teas if I may ask. Temp/Humidity variables.
I haven't done anything elaborate. I have some cakes that I want to age faster by a window that I keep cracked most of the year. Then I have a drawer that I keep the teas I don't want to age fast. Midwest USA dry storage.

I know it's heresy, but I'm not as big a fan of aged teas. I drink them about 25% of the time. I prefer young puerh in general. If I want age I buy it because I don't have any idea how these teas are going to age in my climate over a 10-20 year span.

How do you store yours?

Sep 23rd, '14, 16:23
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by BW85 » Sep 23rd, '14, 16:23

Sipping the 2014 light meets life cake from global tea hut, just arrived today. Gotta say, I'm very impressed! I've never had a sheng this young be so smooth, which I guess you could attribute to the 1000+ year old trees used. Great flavor, no smoke. And again, very very smooth. strong and soothing qi, very grounding.
A+

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Re: Official Pu of the day

by mr mopu » Sep 23rd, '14, 19:08

puerhking wrote:
mr mopu wrote: I liked this also. A sample led to a cake of this. How are you storing your teas if I may ask. Temp/Humidity variables.
I haven't done anything elaborate. I have some cakes that I want to age faster by a window that I keep cracked most of the year. Then I have a drawer that I keep the teas I don't want to age fast. Midwest USA dry storage.

I know it's heresy, but I'm not as big a fan of aged teas. I drink them about 25% of the time. I prefer young puerh in general. If I want age I buy it because I don't have any idea how these teas are going to age in my climate over a 10-20 year span.

How do you store yours?
I have an old refrigerator with cigar humidifier electronic devices and I try to maintain 70% rh on the sheng cakes and 65% on the shou. They are kept separate from each other. Temp is usually 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. So far so good no issues with anything yet. Fingers crossed.
:D

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Sep 24th, '14, 04:22
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Jaymo » Sep 24th, '14, 04:22

BW85 wrote:Sipping the 2014 light meets life cake from global tea hut, just arrived today. Gotta say, I'm very impressed! I've never had a sheng this young be so smooth, which I guess you could attribute to the 1000+ year old trees used. Great flavor, no smoke. And again, very very smooth. strong and soothing qi, very grounding.
A+

I just discovered their website/videos and was looking over this cake and wondering how it was. I'm tempted to make a donation and pick one up while they're available!

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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Balthazar » Sep 24th, '14, 05:15

BW85 wrote:Sipping the 2014 light meets life cake from global tea hut, just arrived today. Gotta say, I'm very impressed! I've never had a sheng this young be so smooth, which I guess you could attribute to the 1000+ year old trees used. Great flavor, no smoke. And again, very very smooth. strong and soothing qi, very grounding.
A+
How did you brew it?

I tried this one as well, a few days ago. I probably went a bit overboard with the amount of tea I put in my gaiwan (tea dry leaves filled about 50% of it, a bit more than usual for me). So the first few flash-brews were fairly unpleasant to my still rather untrained palate. After I removed a bit of leaf it got much more enjoyable. Definitely strong in the energy compartment throughout, and it had a lot of stamina, overall I must have brewed it close to 20 times... I moved the leaves over to a yixing pot after brew 7 or so, and found it even more pleasant after that. (I rarely move my tea between vessels during a session, but I felt an urge to try this time, since the Wu De recommends brewing this one in a pot.)

I was, however, a bit surprised to see the cut of this tea. Not that I'm one to put a particular emphasis on unbroken tea leaves.

Image
Image

I'm not sure whether or not this is "really" Bingdao (and a few zjol-posters seem to have doubt regarding this brand) or from some nearby area, and I don't particularly care (the only "Bingdao" I've had previously is a sample from TeaUrchin, and I don't know if this is "really" Bingdao either - sorry for all the quotation marks). But I am very glad GTH is honest about the factory so the buyer is actually able to verify the claims made.

It is, as you say, a very nice tea, and I also found it less harsh than its age would suggest. Particularly smooth I did not find it (happily), rather intense, in a good way.

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Sep 24th, '14, 05:37
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Tead Off » Sep 24th, '14, 05:37

Balthazar wrote:
BW85 wrote:Sipping the 2014 light meets life cake from global tea hut, just arrived today. Gotta say, I'm very impressed! I've never had a sheng this young be so smooth, which I guess you could attribute to the 1000+ year old trees used. Great flavor, no smoke. And again, very very smooth. strong and soothing qi, very grounding.
A+
How did you brew it?

I tried this one as well, a few days ago. I probably went a bit overboard with the amount of tea I put in my gaiwan (tea dry leaves filled about 50% of it, a bit more than usual for me). So the first few flash-brews were fairly unpleasant to my still rather untrained palate. After I removed a bit of leaf it got much more enjoyable. Definitely strong in the energy compartment throughout, and it had a lot of stamina, overall I must have brewed it close to 20 times... I moved the leaves over to a yixing pot after brew 7 or so, and found it even more pleasant after that. (I rarely move my tea between vessels during a session, but I felt an urge to try this time, since the Wu De recommends brewing this one in a pot.)

I was, however, a bit surprised to see the cut of this tea. Not that I'm one to put a particular emphasis on unbroken tea leaves.

I'm not sure whether or not this is "really" Bingdao (and a few zjol-posters seem to have doubt regarding this brand) or from some nearby area, and I don't particularly care (the only "Bingdao" I've had previously is a sample from TeaUrchin, and I don't know if this is "really" Bingdao either - sorry for all the quotation marks). But I am very glad GTH is honest about the factory so the buyer is actually able to verify the claims made.

It is, as you say, a very nice tea, and I also found it less harsh than its age would suggest. Particularly smooth I did not find it (happily), rather intense, in a good way.
Keep in mind that there are very different grades of Bingdao. If you get a cake that contains chopped up leaves vs. broken ones, chances are that it is either leftovers from being picked through for the higher grade leaves, or it is a blend. Many producers will blend some old tree with plantation leaves. The only way you can really know is by looking at the leaves and analyzing them. This takes a lot of experience. But, more importantly, if you a like a tea, then you are happy about buying it.

Another factor is the cost of Bingdao cakes. The older trees are very expensive. A single, old tree is megabucks! Always try to sample before you buy an expensive tea. Don't believe anyone or anything shown on youtube talking about their teas or reviewing a tea. MarshalN in his blog, says he's pretty much given up reviewing teas. The variables, water, vessel, state of mind, whatever, are so vast that there is really no standard for referencing all these opinions. It's great to take someone's suggestion to heart, but to make an investment in something you don't try first is a silly way to spend money.

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Sep 24th, '14, 06:09
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Balthazar » Sep 24th, '14, 06:09

Yup, not trying to spread doubts about this cake, and definitely not the one to say anything about whether this (or anything else, for that matter), is "real" or "fake" this-or-that. What matters is of course the drinking experience, and I was pleased by this tea (but for budgetary reasons would not consider making a purchase, if they are even for sale).

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Sep 24th, '14, 06:17
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Tead Off » Sep 24th, '14, 06:17

Balthazar wrote:Yup, not trying to spread doubts about this cake, and definitely not the one to say anything about whether this (or anything else, for that matter), is "real" or "fake" this-or-that. What matters is of course the drinking experience, and I was pleased by this tea (but for budgetary reasons would not consider making a purchase, if they are even for sale).
My comment was just a general reminder. We all have our opinions which are valid for only the opinion-maker. :D

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Sep 24th, '14, 10:31
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by kyarazen » Sep 24th, '14, 10:31

BW85 wrote:Sipping the 2014 light meets life cake from global tea hut, just arrived today. Gotta say, I'm very impressed! I've never had a sheng this young be so smooth, which I guess you could attribute to the 1000+ year old trees used. Great flavor, no smoke. And again, very very smooth. strong and soothing qi, very grounding.
A+
i can haz sample? :D :D :D

Sep 24th, '14, 11:32
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by BW85 » Sep 24th, '14, 11:32

Balthazar wrote:
BW85 wrote:Sipping the 2014 light meets life cake from global tea hut, just arrived today. Gotta say, I'm very impressed! I've never had a sheng this young be so smooth, which I guess you could attribute to the 1000+ year old trees used. Great flavor, no smoke. And again, very very smooth. strong and soothing qi, very grounding.
A+
How did you brew it?

I tried this one as well, a few days ago. I probably went a bit overboard with the amount of tea I put in my gaiwan (tea dry leaves filled about 50% of it, a bit more than usual for me). So the first few flash-brews were fairly unpleasant to my still rather untrained palate. After I removed a bit of leaf it got much more enjoyable. Definitely strong in the energy compartment throughout, and it had a lot of stamina, overall I must have brewed it close to 20 times... I moved the leaves over to a yixing pot after brew 7 or so, and found it even more pleasant after that. (I rarely move my tea between vessels during a session, but I felt an urge to try this time, since the Wu De recommends brewing this one in a pot.)

I was, however, a bit surprised to see the cut of this tea. Not that I'm one to put a particular emphasis on unbroken tea leaves.

Image
Image

I'm not sure whether or not this is "really" Bingdao (and a few zjol-posters seem to have doubt regarding this brand) or from some nearby area, and I don't particularly care (the only "Bingdao" I've had previously is a sample from TeaUrchin, and I don't know if this is "really" Bingdao either - sorry for all the quotation marks). But I am very glad GTH is honest about the factory so the buyer is actually able to verify the claims made.

It is, as you say, a very nice tea, and I also found it less harsh than its age would suggest. Particularly smooth I did not find it (happily), rather intense, in a good way.
The tea you are referring to is the sample sent out, the 2013 king of the Forrest or something?
I'm talking about a different tea; if you scroll down on the home page they have a "2014 light meets life" cake. The leaves are not chopped up like that, nice and whole. no bingdao claim. GTH traveled to Yunnan to personally help harvest and process the tea. The king of the Forrest tea you were talking about is just basic factory tea and is good tea but does not compare to the LML cake in my opinion. It really is a beautiful tea. It's a shame they don't send out samples of it
Last edited by BW85 on Sep 24th, '14, 12:45, edited 1 time in total.

Sep 24th, '14, 11:43
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by BW85 » Sep 24th, '14, 11:43

Jaymo wrote:
BW85 wrote:Sipping the 2014 light meets life cake from global tea hut, just arrived today. Gotta say, I'm very impressed! I've never had a sheng this young be so smooth, which I guess you could attribute to the 1000+ year old trees used. Great flavor, no smoke. And again, very very smooth. strong and soothing qi, very grounding.
A+

I just discovered their website/videos and was looking over this cake and wondering how it was. I'm tempted to make a donation and pick one up while they're available!
It's very enjoyable tea

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Sep 24th, '14, 14:32
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Balthazar » Sep 24th, '14, 14:32

BW85 wrote:The tea you are referring to is the sample sent out, the 2013 king of the Forrest or something?
I'm talking about a different tea; if you scroll down on the home page they have a "2014 light meets life" cake. The leaves are not chopped up like that, nice and whole. no bingdao claim. GTH traveled to Yunnan to personally help harvest and process the tea. The king of the Forrest tea you were talking about is just basic factory tea and is good tea but does not compare to the LML cake in my opinion. It really is a beautiful tea. It's a shame they don't send out samples of it
Ah, my bad then. Thought you were talking about the sample tea from this month.

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