Official Pu of the day

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


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Apr 14th, '15, 05:40
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by bob » Apr 14th, '15, 05:40

benm3 wrote:I had a session with pu-erh.sk 1999 Haiwan "Wild" Yiwu. So good. Sooooooo good. Thick, dark, gloopy, oily, refined and energizing qi. I felt this one the next day. It's not cheap, but I just went online and bought the last beeng. I have been very impressed by older Haiwan products (both sheng and shu).
Ha, interesting, I had a session with this tea just this weekend (I got a sample). I like it a lot, it seems nicely aged to me (I'm still learning about puerh) and it's quite tasty to drink.

Apr 15th, '15, 05:43
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Puerlife » Apr 15th, '15, 05:43

I came across a suggestion last week--to pour the hot water into the teapot/gaiwan from high up in order to oxygenate the water. So I tried it and there was an obvious improvement in the taste. In fact, it has worked with every tea I've tried it with over the last several days. Today I tried one of my problem teas, 701 7262 from tuochatea. It has been consistently disappointing--weak, thin, sour... Until today with my 'new' pouring technique. Much, much better. Quite good, actually. Problem solved, it was me, not the tea :shock: And now, at the risk of posting the uncoolest gong fu photo in the history of Teachat, here is my kettle. Yeah, kind of embarrassing, especially since I've been reading lately about tetsubins and Chaozhou kettles, but it works. So now instead of picking up my teapot/gaiwan when pouring, I leave it on the tray. I can get a gentle flow by pushing on the big button on top or go for the fire hose effect by using the electric pour button. Great fun.
Edit: Funny thing is, my kettle's default temp setting is 90C and I forgot to bump it up to the normal 98 so the first two infusions were at 90 and were very good, then I bumped it up to 98 and it was slightly better, which suggests that water that's properly oxygenated in this way can make up for inadequate water temp, or that some shu can handle 90c.
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Apr 15th, '15, 07:55
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Rui » Apr 15th, '15, 07:55

shah82 wrote:Pretty much limiting myself to one session a month these days
Actually me too. I start drinking pu'er on the first of every month and finish on the last day on time to get ready for the following month.

Apr 15th, '15, 19:01
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Zacherywolf7 » Apr 15th, '15, 19:01

Puerlife wrote:I came across a suggestion last week--to pour the hot water into the teapot/gaiwan from high up in order to oxygenate the water. So I tried it and there was an obvious improvement in the taste. In fact, it has worked with every tea I've tried it with over the last several days. Today I tried one of my problem teas, 701 7262 from tuochatea. It has been consistently disappointing--weak, thin, sour... Until today with my 'new' pouring technique. Much, much better. Quite good, actually. Problem solved, it was me, not the tea :shock: And now, at the risk of posting the uncoolest gong fu photo in the history of Teachat, here is my kettle. Yeah, kind of embarrassing, especially since I've been reading lately about tetsubins and Chaozhou kettles, but it works. So now instead of picking up my teapot/gaiwan when pouring, I leave it on the tray. I can get a gentle flow by pushing on the big button on top or go for the fire hose effect by using the electric pour button. Great fun.
Edit: Funny thing is, my kettle's default temp setting is 90C and I forgot to bump it up to the normal 98 so the first two infusions were at 90 and were very good, then I bumped it up to 98 and it was slightly better, which suggests that water that's properly oxygenated in this way can make up for inadequate water temp, or that some shu can handle 90c.
Have you experimented with pouring the tea from the teapot high up into the teacup/gongbei? I have tried the technique you stated before and don't notice a difference but stuff like this is still interesting and a little nerve wracking because these are seemingly insignificant changes that can actually change the end result and there can just be so many variables!

Apr 15th, '15, 20:04
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by steanze » Apr 15th, '15, 20:04

Puerlife wrote:I came across a suggestion last week--to pour the hot water into the teapot/gaiwan from high up in order to oxygenate the water. So I tried it and there was an obvious improvement in the taste. In fact, it has worked with every tea I've tried it with over the last several days.
It's a good variable to play with. You also want to consider the tea you are brewing and on what infusion you are at. For example, if you are in the first infusions of a pu'erh I'd definitely do that, in late infusions I would pour from very low in a thick stream to prevent water from cooling down along the way. More details here in point 2): https://shuocha.wordpress.com/2015/03/0 ... g-details/

Apr 15th, '15, 23:49
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Puerlife » Apr 15th, '15, 23:49

Have you experimented with pouring the tea from the teapot high up into the teacup/gongbei? I have tried the technique you stated before and don't notice a difference but stuff like this is still interesting and a little nerve wracking because these are seemingly insignificant changes that can actually change the end result and there can just be so many variables!
No, I have not tried that yet, but from the height and force I'm using most of the tea would probably splash out of the cup. How to save your nerves--find a relatively inexpensive yet interesting tea to tea around with :D
It's a good variable to play with. You also want to consider the tea you are brewing and on what infusion you are at. For example, if you are in the first infusions of a pu'erh I'd definitely do that, in late infusions I would pour from very low in a thick stream to prevent water from cooling down along the way. More details here in point 2): https://shuocha.wordpress.com/2015/03/0 ... g-details/
It's the hot season here, as it is for most of the year actually, so teapots and tea in cups and probably water in the air stays hotter than it would in a winter setting, but during our cool season I do notice a big change. I'll play around with that. Is that your blog? Nice. Thank you for sharing.

Apr 17th, '15, 05:38
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Puerlife » Apr 17th, '15, 05:38

Have you experimented with pouring the tea from the teapot high up into the teacup/gongbei? I have tried the technique you stated before and don't notice a difference but stuff like this is still interesting and a little nerve wracking because these are seemingly insignificant changes that can actually change the end result and there can just be so many variables!


No, I have not tried that yet, but from the height and force I'm using most of the tea would probably splash out of the cup. How to save your nerves--find a relatively inexpensive yet interesting tea to tea around with :D
Actually, since reading your post I have been playing with high pouring into the tea cup from the chahai and I do notice a difference. How dense of me to outright reject your idea without trying it. :oops:
Observation:
When I do a double high pour (from the kettle and then from the chahai), it really livens up the tea. I feel I'm tasting the water in the tea, in a good way. But I suspect the tradeoff is that the tea has less body (viscosity). I haven't tried high pouring with a young sheng yet but the change is noticeable with semi-aged sheng and with shu.

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Apr 17th, '15, 14:53
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Balthazar » Apr 17th, '15, 14:53

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I've always preferred to pour from high when I'm brewing oolongs, but not with puer. Not that I can say I've noticed a huge difference (or that I've experimented all that much).

Today I tried the $20 shupu from Awazon ("2000 Excellent Old Aged Ripe Pu-erh Tea Brick"), which Hobbes reviewed quite recently. I like it a lot, and for the price it's pretty much unbeatable for what it is. Didn't get more than three good brews out of it, though. Which actually suits me pretty well, as I usually drink shu in the evenings (and feel wasteful when I go to bed before my tea is "spent").

Didn't find it half as dirty as I thought it would be from Hobbes' post (I know he uses it a word of endearment), though.

Apr 18th, '15, 07:10
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Puerlife » Apr 18th, '15, 07:10

Today I had a young sheng for the first time in a while and it's the most I've enjoyed young sheng in quite a while. High pour or low pour, didn't seem to matter. It was Teadezhang's 2013 Bangdong. Yum. Lots of infusions at 90c. When I finally got a hint of an offtaste with a 35-second infusion I went down to 70 and then 75C at 15 seconds and got two more good, albeit weaker infusions, then stopped. I've been doing this recently so that the last sip of a session is a pleasing one that lingers rather than a mediocre or nasty aftertaste that overshadows my memory of the whole session.

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Apr 18th, '15, 20:02
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by DVS » Apr 18th, '15, 20:02

Puerlife wrote:Teadezhang's
I am looking forward to visiting there shop in Bangkok when I get there. I have their 2013 Xigui and 2013 Bingdao that I like.

Apr 19th, '15, 12:20
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by sung8891 » Apr 19th, '15, 12:20

Rui wrote:
shah82 wrote:Pretty much limiting myself to one session a month these days
Actually me too. I start drinking pu'er on the first of every month and finish on the last day on time to get ready for the following month.
Shah , why ???

Apr 19th, '15, 15:35
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by shah82 » Apr 19th, '15, 15:35

One session of my favorite (well, not *the* favorites, but the stuff I have the most of) shu a month.

I really don't have very much shu at all, so I can't drink any of them all that often if I want them to last. Of course, I have miniscule amounts of "everyday" shu.

Apr 21st, '15, 01:11
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by z_lamp » Apr 21st, '15, 01:11

Had a nice study session with the white2tea white whale tonight. I swear, the camphor gets stronger every time...

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Apr 21st, '15, 07:30
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by gasninja » Apr 21st, '15, 07:30

Last nite the shelf holding my jars of old puerh Failed. I came home to a pile of ceramic and old puerh. I strongly suspect feline sabotage. Thankfully the jars holding my dry storred 1989 7542 and my 1986 yiwu spring buds somehow remained intact with only a little spilled. The jars containing , 1970s Tong qing hao , 70s da ye moacha, 85 8582 and 1999 broken teacake from Sunsing where not as fortunate. The real problem with this is the 1999 teacakes. They are in no way in the same league as,the other teas quality or age but They look similar enough especialy to , the 8582 that it is difficult to separate them.

This morning I am brewing a piece of what I am reasonably sure is Tong Qing Hao.

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Apr 21st, '15, 10:56
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by hobin » Apr 21st, '15, 10:56

gasninja wrote:Last nite the shelf holding my jars of old puerh Failed. I came home to a pile of ceramic and old puerh. I strongly suspect feline sabotage. Thankfully the jars holding my dry storred 1989 7542 and my 1986 yiwu spring buds somehow remained intact with only a little spilled. The jars containing , 1970s Tong qing hao , 70s da ye moacha, 85 8582 and 1999 broken teacake from Sunsing where not as fortunate. The real problem with this is the 1999 teacakes. They are in no way in the same league as,the other teas quality or age but They look similar enough especialy to , the 8582 that it is difficult to separate them.

This morning I am brewing a piece of what I am reasonably sure is Tong Qing Hao.
kill that filthy animal. :evil:

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