TeaChat

I had a good time in flushing today. Saw the new year's parade (late as it was) had some dumplings, and went to Fang tea house. We tried three teas.

#1 Raw Pu-erh from "100 year old trees" big leaves aged 3 years

It was very green for the first two infusions after that quite smooth but still quite light. My husband liked this one.

#2 Cooked Pu-erh (I didn't write down the name :/)
It was very very sweet, light earthy smell, mild tase, dark reddish liquor. I liked it. But I didn't think it was good enough to justify the rather high price. It was slightly better than the "regular" cooked stuff I drink all day.

#3 Raw Pu-erh from 1989
Holy cat what a difference from #1. It did not have very big leaves, really they were tiny. But it had this mustiness for the first two infusions. It was the smell not the taste. But then it became very smooth, and slightly peppery(it is hard to explain) it had this peppery flavor on my lips.

I really like #3. But none of these are the "dream tea" -- the dream tea would be free of greenness, have only distant earth tones (but present) and all of sweetness and smoothness of #2 and #3.

has anyone else had this pepper sensation? it was odd.

You know that "pepper" I mentioned. I figured it out. It's the pepper from the lunch I had... Sichuan food, spicy sliced pork... Just had some left overs and it hit me...

It's not the tea at all!

That said the cheap ripe puerh I bought smells faintly of fish. I hope it won't taste that way... *sigh*

Yesterday was 2003 purple Dayi 7542, will post some pic next time. Rather good.

Today, Xiaguan 2008 XY 8853.

I haven't tried this for more than a year until today. Last time when I had it, I didn't think much of it. After 4 years in my storage, the soup became deep yellow orange and I can taste there is a slight hint of aged taste. It might not become great, but I think it would be very drinkable in years time.

Edit:
As the day went on more steeps, it become flat and plantation characters show up. I will leave this one to sleep and try again next year.

Lau Yu Fat 50 Ann. cake today. After 6 or 7 brews, it became almost like drinking syrup, sweet and thick. Very nice.

2005 Mengyang Guoyan autumn Lao ban zhang. This tea is made with large autumnal leaves . It still has some ku Wei but not as much as a spring tea. Strong honey flavor and a nice throatiness. It is a nice Tea for a Mengyang Guoyan production. But also not on the same level as pure old tree LBZ from that period.

Tongxing hao, from the 20s. Good tea.

MarshalN wrote:Tongxing hao, from the 20s. Good tea.

Sounds great!
Pic or it never happened

I'm on day actually three of brewing a Tong Qing Hao from the 70's. Not the same thing or even the same manufacturer as a twenties Tong Qing Hao. 90 year old tea wow. What was the cha qi like on something like that?

There does need to be a fat cat with milk on nose image.

saying You Dog!!, doesn't really seem to convey it on the internets...

300 yr old wild tree power.
Smooth sweet thick complex aromatic goodness.
Sits in water for hours with no astringency or bitterness.
Launches you to heaven.

Enjoying mystery puerh today--the batch from the back of Dad's cupboard, spicy and interesting and who knows how old.....mmm.....

2007 Mengku "Mu Ye Chun 001" today.

Slightly better than Xiaguan 2008 XY 8853, but by not a lot. I don't feel it has changed much over the last few years with rather simple pleasant enough monotonic taste. Not much of a body either. Check the price on TB, it is belong to the sub 100 RMB league whereas the 2008 Xiaguan is three times that!

Week one update on 7542 stuffed pot:
Just now getting to the middle phase of this delicious brew.
Brew times are around 20 seconds.

Teapot lid supported by leaf.

The tea is leaving a thick coating on the back of my throat.

My first session with the 2002 Nannou Bai Hao. Very smooth and clean tasting w/ a sweet after taste.

Continue the Nannuo theme.

EoT 2009 Plantation Nannuo

I had this with my work colleague this morning. It was fairly bitter and I was a bit surprise they didn't seem to mind that, might be the floral notes which I cannot sense keeping them happy.