Official Pu of the day

[Rui]

Sipping some Yiwu Zhengshan (sheng) 2006. Lovely deep yellowish orange colour, smooth but a bit smoky. To the clay pot it goes to dicipate funny aromas.

[William]

I heat Jinkō (沈香) almost everyday. Didnt know it had a taste.

[Tead Off]

I heat Jinkō (沈香) almost everyday. Didnt know it had a taste.

You must have missed some of the posts from Teaism and Kyarazen on adding this to teas. Kyarazen has done some very good research and analysis on these woods.

[William]

I heat Jinkō (沈香) almost everyday. Didnt know it had a taste.

You must have missed some of the posts from Teaism and Kyarazen on adding this to teas.

Must be! Will try this afternoon!

[jayinhk]

Trying out a 2005 Bailong A Grade Ripe brick sample from chawangshop. Honza saw my post about a date/jujube shu and sent me this sample with an order of raw gushu cakes without telling me! I thought that was pretty good customer service on his part. While not quite what I'm looking for, I appreciate the chance to try something that I wouldn't have ordered otherwise. It's kind of like a 7581 recipe, but a little different. Brewed in a bone porcelain pot I bought from his site--I've always wanted a porcelain pot styled after a Yixing shuiping, and while it's not quite the same as far as style goes, it makes for good comparisons.

[Rui]

To start celebrating the Chinese new lunar year I am now sipping tea from a sample of 2006 Lao Ban Zhang raw pu'er.

[Frisbeehead]

After about a half hour or so of hard work, I finally got this jincha split up .

Tasting the fruits of my labor now. 2007 Jincha from YanQingHao. After trying this, I will be ordering and trying much more pu'erh now, especially sheng. I've been drinking shu for a while, but I never really caught on to sheng. This Jincha, however, is making me realize that it is absolutely worth exploring. So here's to that.

It's tempting to go and just buy a whole YQH cake for myself, or order one of the aged sheng cakes from w2t, essence of tea, or some other vendor. To save my wallet this pain, I think I'll stick with buying samples and trying a bunch of different pu'erh for now.

Anyone have any personal sheng "staples" or know of any classic cakes that are worth trying? For shu I think I'll start with trying some different Menghai blends, since I've heard they're consistent and are a good base to start with.

[debunix]

>Anyone have any personal sheng "staples" or know of any classic cakes that are worth trying? For shu I think I'll start with trying some different Menghai blends, since I've heard they're consistent and are a good base to start with.

The tricky part about advising someone on puerh purchases is that most of what I've got in my trunk is not available from the same sellers anymore.

For steady everyday shu puerh, I love the 2009 Lao Cha Tou I got from Norbu, so much so that I bought several more bricks, and I haven't run out of it yet; this looks similar but I can't vouch for it. Menghai Golden Needle White Lotus has also been reliable, from several different years.

When I first started exploring puerh 6 or 7 years ago, I got some very nice sheng from Norbu, but Greg has cut way back on those offerings. I've also got some that seems quite good from Yunnan Sourcing and Essence of Tea, but still, different specific lots from what is now available.

[debunix]

2010 Pa Sha Zhong Zhai Mao Cha, from Norbu. One of many young shengs I wish I'd bought more of at the time--herbaceous & powerful stuff, anise and molasses, spice/sharp/sweet. I put a ridiculously small quantity of leaf into my smallest unglazed Petr Novak shibo and the leaves are still going strong hours (and many infusions) later. Love the long sweetwater phase.

[Rui]

Re-sipping Chawangshop 2015 Hekai raw pu'er. A mild but very drinkable and reilable young raw pu'er for when I do not want to adventure to something new.

[jayinhk]

Traditional storage loose shu from Ying Kee Tea House here in Hong Kong. The branch I bought this tea from is where my father bought tea for years, even if he didn't know how to brew it correctly. Apparently this is Menghai/Dayi tea. Still tastes like storage after airing out for four years, but is interesting drinking nonetheless. Good, thick mouthfeel, and sweet and sour with some mild date aroma. Slight sheng bitterness too.

[Rui]

Traditional storage loose shu from Ying Kee Tea House here in Hong Kong. The branch I bought this tea is where my father bought tea for years, even if he didn't know how to brew it correctly. Apparently this is Menghai/Dayi tea. Still tastes like storage after airing out for four years, but is interesting drinking nonetheless. Good, thick mouthfeel, and sweet and sour with some mild date aroma. Slight sheng bitterness too.

Which branch of the Ying Kee Tea House do you go to pretty please?

[jayinhk]

Rui, Sheung Wan--my dad's factory was down the street right next to it. He worked in that area for over twenty years!

[Rui]

Rui, Sheung Wan--my dad's factory was down the street right next to it. He worked in that area for over twenty years!

Brilliant thank you very much. That is very close to where my wife goes to buy silk embroidery. Next time when she goes to her shopping I'll spend my time more productively in the tea house!

[jayinhk]

I've found their oolong to be good value, but their bo lei is just OK. Still worth a visit!

EDIT: The loose "Supreme Pu'Erh" shu from Ying Kee actually appears to be primarily sheng! That explains the bitterness. The leaves are distinctly sheng in the pot, with some darker shu leaves. Very wet HK storage for sure if you can't tell if it's shu or sheng, but I should have known from the mild bitterness. I thought it was just lightly fermented shu!