Official Pu of the day

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


Mar 1st, '14, 10:01
Posts: 307
Joined: Aug 20th, '13, 08:58
Location: Chiang Mai

Re: Official Pu of the day

by Puerlife » Mar 1st, '14, 10:01

Tea Urchin Gao Shan Zhai 2011 Autumn – Wonderful dry leaf fruity aroma in the packet. First couple infusions had a creaminess. But after infusing, the aroma changes to a warning. After two easy, pleasant infusions because the leaves were still compacted(this sheng stuff is a piece of cake, who says newbies can’t handle it?), aaakkk a sharp bitterness takes over. Woke me up, though.

User avatar
Mar 3rd, '14, 18:54
Posts: 223
Joined: Feb 17th, '08, 13:01
Location: New Jersey

Re: Official Pu of the day

by insanitylater » Mar 3rd, '14, 18:54

2007 Golden Melon Tribute Tuocha

bland shu unless i did something wrong. can't complain because i got a free sample

"In a blind tasting session in Kunming, this tea won against a so called 'vintage 50-60 aged tea', and a famous brand vintage 2005 ripe tea, both costed 10 times more!"

feel like i need to start a second tea to save this day

User avatar
Mar 3rd, '14, 22:04
Posts: 2061
Joined: Mar 15th, '06, 17:43
Contact: MarshalN

Re: Official Pu of the day

by MarshalN » Mar 3rd, '14, 22:04

insanitylater wrote:2007 Golden Melon Tribute Tuocha

bland shu unless i did something wrong. can't complain because i got a free sample

"In a blind tasting session in Kunming, this tea won against a so called 'vintage 50-60 aged tea', and a famous brand vintage 2005 ripe tea, both costed 10 times more!"

feel like i need to start a second tea to save this day
A 50-60 years old tea that only cost 10 times more than this melon cannot possibly be very good. The price should be about 1000x or more.

User avatar
Mar 3rd, '14, 22:26
Posts: 1885
Joined: Mar 22nd, '08, 22:26
Location: Yixing

Re: Official Pu of the day

by chrl42 » Mar 3rd, '14, 22:26

insanitylater wrote:2007 Golden Melon Tribute Tuocha

bland shu unless i did something wrong. can't complain because i got a free sample

"In a blind tasting session in Kunming, this tea won against a so called 'vintage 50-60 aged tea', and a famous brand vintage 2005 ripe tea, both costed 10 times more!"

feel like i need to start a second tea to save this day
tasting done by whom? :roll:

User avatar
Mar 3rd, '14, 22:35
Posts: 2061
Joined: Mar 15th, '06, 17:43
Contact: MarshalN

Re: Official Pu of the day

by MarshalN » Mar 3rd, '14, 22:35

chrl42 wrote:
insanitylater wrote:2007 Golden Melon Tribute Tuocha

bland shu unless i did something wrong. can't complain because i got a free sample

"In a blind tasting session in Kunming, this tea won against a so called 'vintage 50-60 aged tea', and a famous brand vintage 2005 ripe tea, both costed 10 times more!"

feel like i need to start a second tea to save this day
tasting done by whom? :roll:
Probably the vendor selling this tea, lol

User avatar
Mar 7th, '14, 23:42
Posts: 702
Joined: Sep 4th, '10, 18:25
Scrolling: scrolling
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Official Pu of the day

by the_economist » Mar 7th, '14, 23:42

2000 commissioned 8582, HK storage. Easy to drink, not a bad tea for a daily dose in the office.

Image

The two Qingyin pots are photobombing.

User avatar
Mar 8th, '14, 15:57
Posts: 149
Joined: Nov 8th, '10, 09:21
Location: Basel (Switzerland), Slovakia

Re: Official Pu of the day

by solitude » Mar 8th, '14, 15:57

2011 YS Wuliang
You might remember this one. Hobbes was thrilled by it and later it suddenly sold completely out from the YS site creating a kind of a myth around this sheng. I was lucky enough to buy a cake and taste it by myself. After three years most of the bitterness is gone, together with some of the huigan. The smell of the wet leaves is captivating with tobacco, grass and also with the residue of the higher notes from its youth. The characters from the smell are also present in the liquor however in combination with a dominant vegetal flavor. The thickness and the mouthfeel is good, though. In the early infusions I noticed some citric taste of which I am not a fond of. It is not a bad tea, especially considering its original price but I can not see it turn into a typical aged sheng pu.

User avatar
Mar 8th, '14, 22:25
Posts: 4536
Joined: Apr 1st, '09, 00:48
Location: Bangkok

Re: Official Pu of the day

by Tead Off » Mar 8th, '14, 22:25

solitude wrote:2011 YS Wuliang
It is not a bad tea, especially considering its original price but I can not see it turn into a typical aged sheng pu.
May I ask what you mean by this?

User avatar
Mar 9th, '14, 05:23
Posts: 149
Joined: Nov 8th, '10, 09:21
Location: Basel (Switzerland), Slovakia

Re: Official Pu of the day

by solitude » Mar 9th, '14, 05:23

Tead Off wrote:
solitude wrote:2011 YS Wuliang
It is not a bad tea, especially considering its original price but I can not see it turn into a typical aged sheng pu.
May I ask what you mean by this?
Too much greenness and vegetal character, I miss the punch. On the other hand I am quite new in the ageing so I might be wrong. Actually I would be happy if this cake would turn into something good after a decade or so. :wink:

I just read the notes from the YS blind tasting events which was done last year and the participants mentioned a green tea property for the 2013 wuliang. I know, it is not the exact same tea but the overall character should be similar. It was the kappa sample.

http://jakubtomek.blogspot.sk/2013/07/y ... to-nu.html

http://www.twodogteablog.com/?s=kappa&submit=Search

http://half-dipper.blogspot.sk/2013/07/ ... kappa.html see the comments

User avatar
Mar 9th, '14, 10:43
Posts: 682
Joined: Mar 10th, '11, 08:17
Location: on top of a mountain.

Re: Official Pu of the day

by gasninja » Mar 9th, '14, 10:43

2010 Mansai in my $2.75 thrift store 200 ml fangu zisha. This pot is great. I can't believe I found a yixing of this high quality at a thrift shop. I wish I could Upload pics. Anyway the tea is nice. Excellent aftertaste. The tea has some flaws it is fairly drying and astringent . This could be from sun drying but the broken leaf of the mansai doesn't help either. But this is balanced out by the strong aftertaste. I'm happy with how this is coming along. Allot of these 2010 eot teas seemed to be going down hill for a while. This had me worried as they where heavily represented in my tea cabinet. But lately I they Have been performing well.

I placed an extra 2 grams if 2005 tongqing hao in the pot. This is a tea that is all mouthfeel qi and throatiness. It really smoothed things out. I need to blend more. I have several teas that I have bought specifically for blending 2003 7582(Sunsing) this 05 tong Qing (puer shop)hao even the 05 yan Qing hao falls into this category. Teas that have some excellent aspects but are severely lacking in others. These examples have excellent mouthfeel aftertaste and qi but very
Ittle flavor or ku wei. These teas can usually be found for pretty cheap. Then when combined with a brash slightly rough flavorful tea it can yield surprisingly good results. Plus it's fun to experiment.

User avatar
Mar 9th, '14, 11:30
Posts: 4536
Joined: Apr 1st, '09, 00:48
Location: Bangkok

Re: Official Pu of the day

by Tead Off » Mar 9th, '14, 11:30

solitude wrote:
Tead Off wrote:
solitude wrote:2011 YS Wuliang
It is not a bad tea, especially considering its original price but I can not see it turn into a typical aged sheng pu.
May I ask what you mean by this?
Too much greenness and vegetal character, I miss the punch. On the other hand I am quite new in the ageing so I might be wrong. Actually I would be happy if this cake would turn into something good after a decade or so. :wink:
For myself, I am not happy if a tea turns into a typical aged sheng. Most aged shengs are just ordinary teas. I want something that pulls me into it, that makes me go wow, or ahh. If a young tea doesn't have that wow or ahh, I'm not buying it. Price is not the factor for me, not that I'll spend any amount on a tea. I won't buy a tea because it's a bargain. I am way past that point on this journey.

Mar 9th, '14, 13:13
Posts: 529
Joined: Feb 17th, '13, 12:34
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Official Pu of the day

by mr mopu » Mar 9th, '14, 13:13

Tead Off wrote:
solitude wrote:
Tead Off wrote:
solitude wrote:2011 YS Wuliang
It is not a bad tea, especially considering its original price but I can not see it turn into a typical aged sheng pu.
May I ask what you mean by this?
Too much greenness and vegetal character, I miss the punch. On the other hand I am quite new in the ageing so I might be wrong. Actually I would be happy if this cake would turn into something good after a decade or so. :wink:
For myself, I am not happy if a tea turns into a typical aged sheng. Most aged shengs are just ordinary teas. I want something that pulls me into it, that makes me go wow, or ahh. If a young tea doesn't have that wow or ahh, I'm not buying it. Price is not the factor for me, not that I'll spend any amount on a tea. I won't buy a tea because it's a bargain. I am way past that point on this journey.
Have you tried any of the mid 90's Cnnp 7542's? I brewed 15 grams over 5 days and probably 15 10 oz. cups. Very nice tea.

Mar 9th, '14, 13:14
Posts: 529
Joined: Feb 17th, '13, 12:34
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Official Pu of the day

by mr mopu » Mar 9th, '14, 13:14

Had Mandala’s “Special Dark” from 2006 last night. I only did one brew with 8 grams in the yixing and only one 30 second steep so far. This is a very rich an velvety tea. It has notes of cocoa and slight hints of bittersweet chocolate also. It left me wanting another cup and I think it will eventually morph into a sweet caramel note in the later steeps. I wish I had done another cup last night while writing these notes but I will continue later today. This one has a certain “richness” that I have found only in the highest grade shous. It is a very impressive shou.

User avatar
Mar 9th, '14, 14:30
Posts: 149
Joined: Nov 8th, '10, 09:21
Location: Basel (Switzerland), Slovakia

Re: Official Pu of the day

by solitude » Mar 9th, '14, 14:30

Tead Off wrote:
solitude wrote:
Tead Off wrote:
solitude wrote:2011 YS Wuliang
It is not a bad tea, especially considering its original price but I can not see it turn into a typical aged sheng pu.
May I ask what you mean by this?
Too much greenness and vegetal character, I miss the punch. On the other hand I am quite new in the ageing so I might be wrong. Actually I would be happy if this cake would turn into something good after a decade or so. :wink:
For myself, I am not happy if a tea turns into a typical aged sheng. Most aged shengs are just ordinary teas. I want something that pulls me into it, that makes me go wow, or ahh. If a young tea doesn't have that wow or ahh, I'm not buying it. Price is not the factor for me, not that I'll spend any amount on a tea. I won't buy a tea because it's a bargain. I am way past that point on this journey.


I see what do you mean, Tead Off. I would also rather buy one expensive tea instead of several cheaper ones, if I would be confident about its qualities. But at this point, it still happens to me, that what I liked a year ago is not much to my liking now and other way around. So, it is really difficult to say how will I like a tea 5, 10, 15 years later. Therefore I prefer to put my bet on several cheaper puerhs which I find to be tasty, and hope that some of them will give me the wow sensation in the future.

User avatar
Mar 9th, '14, 22:41
Posts: 4536
Joined: Apr 1st, '09, 00:48
Location: Bangkok

Re: Official Pu of the day

by Tead Off » Mar 9th, '14, 22:41

As several others have pointed out, gushu is what many puerh drinkers seek out. It has qualities in flavor that you come to know and identify. These teas usually cost more but deliver from the beginning if processed well. Buying from good sellers who label their teas correctly, can help the learning process quickly. You begin to tell the difference. Samples save lots of money. Even cakes that are mixed with gushu should have a discernible difference. I think it's a long learning curve especially when it comes to the aging of cakes and many of us live in diverse climactic conditions. But, the main thing is the quality of the leaves and you have to pay for that these days.

+ Post Reply