Official Pu of the day

[BioHorn]

YSLLC 2010 Autumn YiWu Xi Kong

A nice offering from Scott. Maybe a little more subdued than others of a similar quality (Wu Liang, Bang Ma, Mu Shu.) It has nice durability and a certain fruity/floral element. The beginning was subdued. Later infusions opened up and intensified quite a bit. The tea did not get very bitter and revealed a nice long finish. Very nice looking leaf as is the case with many of Scott's teas. I would recommend a try.

[blairswhitaker]

Hello pu heads I drink my fair share of pu but I never spend much time on the topic, well there is no tea day thread for today so I will post my daily cup here

Yi Ban Xin Xiang 2007


Astringency - practically non existent
Smoke - nada
Dryness- some
Mouthfeel - medium
Hui gan - a bit of good sweet taste rising up
Flavor - very good
Overall value - excellent
Purchase again - yes

looks a lovely red shade in the cup, has figgy and woody taste that I love about shou, plus a great earthiness, reminds me of late fall in the midwest where I grew up surrounded by forests, when all the leaves and trees are taking on a earthy must. good day to all!

[bryan_drinks_tea]

YSLLC 2010 Autumn YiWu Xi Kong

A nice offering from Scott. Maybe a little more subdued than others of a similar quality (Wu Liang, Bang Ma, Mu Shu.) It has nice durability and a certain fruity/floral element. The beginning was subdued. Later infusions opened up and intensified quite a bit. The tea did not get very bitter and revealed a nice long finish. Very nice looking leaf as is the case with many of Scott's teas. I would recommend a try.

How about qi, and what were your brewing parameters? I've been interested in this one but haven't gotten around to it. thx.

[BioHorn]

YSLLC 2010 Autumn YiWu Xi Kong

A nice offering from Scott. Maybe a little more subdued than others of a similar quality (Wu Liang, Bang Ma, Mu Shu.) It has nice durability and a certain fruity/floral element. The beginning was subdued. Later infusions opened up and intensified quite a bit. The tea did not get very bitter and revealed a nice long finish. Very nice looking leaf as is the case with many of Scott's teas. I would recommend a try.

How about qi, and what were your brewing parameters? I've been interested in this one but haven't gotten around to it. thx.

Interesting you asked about the cha qi. It was smooth, but intense (if that makes sense.) Some high cha qi young pu's make me feel super-charged. This one made me feel more alert/awake, but in a controlled way. It was very noticeable. After that, it made me rethink the tea (as in even more positive.)

Brewing. I meant to do #1 15 sec rinse, which I throw out. I spaced and just did a flash rinse. After that I continued to do short rinses. Normally I do #2, 0 sec (first one to drink), then maybe #3, 3 sec., #4 +- 5 sec, #5 10 sec. This tea built up intensity and held a similar profile-flavor shape up until maybe 10-13th brew. Then it got interesting. Instead of pooing out, it started to go more stone-fruitish, round with a pretty good hui gan. I brewed it again today (maybe #20-25) and enjoyed the results (still a bit fruity, lingering flavor.)

[bryan_drinks_tea]

given your parameters, it seems like 8-10 grams might be a good starting point(for me). I may order a sample soon, though I love the 2010 Nannuo Ya Kou. I get the impression it's going to be quite nice in the long run.

[Drax]

Too late... I checked out of curiosity this morning, and the Xi Kong is all sold out...! The 2011 is available, though...

[shah82]

The US site has ten cakes for sale.

[gasninja]

2010 Yi Ru Chang flowing water . This tea is supposaby a blend of arbor leaves from different areas in the lancang river basin. The first infusion of this tea tasted soapy I only drank half of it and tossed it . The second infusion carried none of the soap taste and had become very floral. Later infusions the tea switches from being floral to becoming intensly (for a pu-erh) fruity. This tea is all high notes no real lower base flavors virtually no ku wei. I don't think this tea will age well but you never know. It is very tasty right now. I'm picking up a cake to drink now. I believe they will be available shortly from lifeinateacup.

[shah82]

Notes on Yi Ru Chang Flowing Water here: http://gingkobay.blogspot.com/2011/05/c ... eaves.html

Me, I prefer more meat on the bones!

[debunix]

A very nice session with 2007 Rui Cao Xiang Wu Liang Wild Arbor sheng from YS. Past the first tricky part, where careful attention is required to avoid some a tendency to bitterness, I am well into the long-lasting phase of just-a-little-more-than sweet water.

[debunix]

2008 Yi Wu bamboo-aged puerh from Norbu again this afternoon, mellow, sweet, and just right for a day of feeling punky.

[auhckw]

2011 Dayi 92 Fang Cha Raw - In year 92, Menghai released a batch of fang cha which is quite famous now. In year 2011, Dayi produced this tea and call it using the y92 name. This tea was launched in the recent tea carnival with limited quantity. The main stock is not out yet. Today I managed to get few pieces of it.

Taste? Bitter Sweet leaving good taste in the mouth and saliva flow. Not too strong, but since this is new (Nov released and just arrived), we have to evaluate it again in the next few weeks.

[pgho]

Nothing like a pot of 1998(1999?) Red Stamp Big Green Tree Yiwu to start the New Year.

[bryan_drinks_tea]

I casually sampled the Menghai Dayi V93 (250g version) tonight. Overall, it was really rather bland, and the colour of the liquor and the aroma of the dry leaves suggested that maybe the leaves weren't just fermented.



The leaves are small. It's modern dayi, what do you expect? Sorry about the white balance.



Dark stuff. I can't get my 09' hong yun to do this, but my '08 does it.

I'm just sharing this as my opinion, but I can't recommend this vintage, at least not yet. of the cooked dayi i've tried, the 08 hong yun is still the better one at this point.

[bryan_drinks_tea]

2003 Changtai Yichanghao. According to the fella at Red Lantern Tea, it was traditionally stored for 6 years. All I can say from personal experience with the tea is that it didn't taste as wet as other teas that I've sampled in the past. I've got two cakes of this, and it's pretty long lasting, with a medium qi affecting the neck, chest and face.


Some of the leaves have white frost on them, but not many. The shicang aroma has mostly dissipated, even from the inside of the cake.



This picture doesn't accurately represent the colour of the liquor. It was a good bit darker, similar to a really late infusion of shu pu when it was at it's darkest. At it's best, this tea had rich woody flavour that mixed with a fruityness and an aged creamy note, to simplify the whole thing. I'm planning on getting more, given the qi and relative easiness of brewing. I used 7 grams in a 100ml gaiwan for this session. See ya.