I can.Jeremy wrote:Can you drink 2008 Sheng ...
I do.
I will.
Actually, from the handful of modest recommended shengs that I've tried (ranging from 2001 - 2008) I tend to prefer the more recent offerings.
Nov 23rd, '08, 10:23
Posts: 529
Joined: Jul 23rd, '08, 17:07
Location: The Isle of Malta
Re: Hey all
I absolutely agree with pretty much everything you're saying, and given the amount of speculation involved in aging tea, I've had the same thoughts a number of times.kimble22 wrote: I don't mean to take the fun out of new cakes, but as a person who has already dumped money into lots of cakes I think I would gladly trade in all my undrinkable/unenjoyable tea for a 1950 Red Mark, or some Simplified Characters.
However, unless you've got a LOT of tea you're sitting on, even if you could find someone to sell you a genuine, well aged, 50s hong yin, I think it would probably cost more than all of your new cakes together are worth. Now something more reasonable in price might be do-able, but you still need to find someone trustworthy to sell it to you at a decent price, ideally who will also let you sample from an identical case.
And I can attest to the fact (from personal experience) that that one cake will start to go pretty fast if you drink it; and once you're sitting on tea that expensive you'll need some sort of "cellar defenders" to drink for those days where you don't feel like wasting $200 worth of tea.
I'm happy to drink some 80s or early 90s tea with maybe a little bit of "traditional hong kong" storage if it tastes good.
Re: Hey all
**Edited due to too much drama**kimble22 wrote:Sorry, I'm new here too, but I do have a few thoughts on Sheng/Shu. First off, I first had puerh about a year ago and needless to say my passion has snowballed quickly. But in my small history it seems way too many of you are excited about brand new offerings from unproven companies. Do you remember the baseball card industry when it became super popular and tons of new companies sprung up, and old companies dramatically increased their offerings? So my question is why go out and buy 50 dollar 1-2 year old cakes from a start up company (that will admittedly taste "nasty" - but oh it will age so well even tho I have no experience aging cakes and nasty tasting must equal good in 30 years mentality). I prefer quality over quantity any day, and taste and rarity will determine if the cake appreciates, not just aging. If there are shit tons of Boyou tea in 30 years and it all tastes terrible there will be hardly any appreciation.
I don't mean to take the fun out of new cakes, but as a person who has already dumped money into lots of cakes I think I would gladly trade in all my undrinkable/unenjoyable tea for a 1950 Red Mark, or some Simplified Characters.
Sorry to ramble, (but in this environment there is no point in throwing money away) but the point is buy some cheap shu that you like, and then speculate/age if you like for some fun on the side, and if you're collecting go for the good stuff that acts as a benchmark for the market as a whole.
Last edited by thanks on Nov 23rd, '08, 23:47, edited 1 time in total.
Here's what i got from YSLLLC as far as 2008 is concerned. The last one was thrown in free. They all were pretty nice but I dont think I'd buy a cake of any of them. The flavors like I said were quite soft compared to what I'm used to, especially when it comes to young sheng. I had to use a lot of leaf (~9-10 gram) to get a session that was to my taste in terms of strength.PolyhymnianMuse wrote:I had ordered a couple samples of 2008 cakes from scott a couple weeks ago. I can post a list of them. I have tried them once or twice so I still have some tasting to do but from what I've had they seem pretty light but good. I don't know if I'd buy a whole cake of any of them though
$5.50 - 2008 Mengku * Bing Dao Spring Cake * Premium Pu-erh 50g
$3.00 - 2008 Guoyan "Queen of Yi Wu" Premium Raw Pu-erh tea 25g
$3.00 - 2008 Guoyan "Deep Mountain, Old Tree" Raw Pu-erh * 25g
$3.50 - 2008 Hai Lang Hao "Star of Bu Lang" Raw tea cake * 25g
Free - 2008 Mengku * Wild Arbor King * Raw Pu-erh tea * 25g
I'm planning on possibly purchasing some yuan nian cakes from scott and also some "classic recipe" shengs.
How long were your brewing times? Also, how large was your brewing vessel? I thought the Star of Bulang was pretty strong, and I've heard the Wild Arbor King and Bing Dao were also on the strong side as well.PolyhymnianMuse wrote:Here's what i got from YSLLLC as far as 2008 is concerned. The last one was thrown in free. They all were pretty nice but I dont think I'd buy a cake of any of them. The flavors like I said were quite soft compared to what I'm used to, especially when it comes to young sheng. I had to use a lot of leaf (~9-10 gram) to get a session that was to my taste in terms of strength.PolyhymnianMuse wrote:I had ordered a couple samples of 2008 cakes from scott a couple weeks ago. I can post a list of them. I have tried them once or twice so I still have some tasting to do but from what I've had they seem pretty light but good. I don't know if I'd buy a whole cake of any of them though
$5.50 - 2008 Mengku * Bing Dao Spring Cake * Premium Pu-erh 50g
$3.00 - 2008 Guoyan "Queen of Yi Wu" Premium Raw Pu-erh tea 25g
$3.00 - 2008 Guoyan "Deep Mountain, Old Tree" Raw Pu-erh * 25g
$3.50 - 2008 Hai Lang Hao "Star of Bu Lang" Raw tea cake * 25g
Free - 2008 Mengku * Wild Arbor King * Raw Pu-erh tea * 25g
I'm planning on possibly purchasing some yuan nian cakes from scott and also some "classic recipe" shengs.
About 150ml. I started out around 30s and went from there. Some of them did turn out more on the stronger side but nothing like some other stuff I had. The Bing Dao is one that stood out in this respect it had a bit of smokiness and just a little bit of bitterness that would probably be quite good after a year or two of storage.thanks wrote:How long were your brewing times? Also, how large was your brewing vessel? I thought the Star of Bulang was pretty strong, and I've heard the Wild Arbor King and Bing Dao were also on the strong side as well.PolyhymnianMuse wrote:Here's what i got from YSLLLC as far as 2008 is concerned. The last one was thrown in free. They all were pretty nice but I dont think I'd buy a cake of any of them. The flavors like I said were quite soft compared to what I'm used to, especially when it comes to young sheng. I had to use a lot of leaf (~9-10 gram) to get a session that was to my taste in terms of strength.PolyhymnianMuse wrote:I had ordered a couple samples of 2008 cakes from scott a couple weeks ago. I can post a list of them. I have tried them once or twice so I still have some tasting to do but from what I've had they seem pretty light but good. I don't know if I'd buy a whole cake of any of them though
$5.50 - 2008 Mengku * Bing Dao Spring Cake * Premium Pu-erh 50g
$3.00 - 2008 Guoyan "Queen of Yi Wu" Premium Raw Pu-erh tea 25g
$3.00 - 2008 Guoyan "Deep Mountain, Old Tree" Raw Pu-erh * 25g
$3.50 - 2008 Hai Lang Hao "Star of Bu Lang" Raw tea cake * 25g
Free - 2008 Mengku * Wild Arbor King * Raw Pu-erh tea * 25g
I'm planning on possibly purchasing some yuan nian cakes from scott and also some "classic recipe" shengs.
Nov 23rd, '08, 22:25
Posts: 1633
Joined: Feb 15th, '08, 10:15
Location: Pennsylvania
Re: Hey all
Hehe, +1, well said Thanks!thanks wrote:I think you're missing the point. Tea is very subjective. For instance I won't like everything you like, and vice versa. Also, if you're young why not buy a bunch of cakes to forget about? What's the harm? You're acting as if you're waiting for us to say, "oh yeah, you know what? He's totally right and I'm an idiot."kimble22 wrote:Sorry, I'm new here too, but I do have a few thoughts on Sheng/Shu. First off, I first had puerh about a year ago and needless to say my passion has snowballed quickly. But in my small history it seems way too many of you are excited about brand new offerings from unproven companies. Do you remember the baseball card industry when it became super popular and tons of new companies sprung up, and old companies dramatically increased their offerings? So my question is why go out and buy 50 dollar 1-2 year old cakes from a start up company (that will admittedly taste "nasty" - but oh it will age so well even tho I have no experience aging cakes and nasty tasting must equal good in 30 years mentality). I prefer quality over quantity any day, and taste and rarity will determine if the cake appreciates, not just aging. If there are shit tons of Boyou tea in 30 years and it all tastes terrible there will be hardly any appreciation.
I don't mean to take the fun out of new cakes, but as a person who has already dumped money into lots of cakes I think I would gladly trade in all my undrinkable/unenjoyable tea for a 1950 Red Mark, or some Simplified Characters.
Sorry to ramble, (but in this environment there is no point in throwing money away) but the point is buy some cheap shu that you like, and then speculate/age if you like for some fun on the side, and if you're collecting go for the good stuff that acts as a benchmark for the market as a whole.
"(that will admittedly taste "nasty" - but oh it will age so well even tho I have no experience aging cakes and nasty tasting must equal good in 30 years mentality)."
This is a condescending and ignorant comment. Also by yours and Wyardley's thinking, there's no point to all of us buying up young cakes for aging at all when there's a (most likely) small chance of some of them turning out to be duds. "Yeah guys, we might not win this baseball game, there's a small chance of it so let's just stay home and play video games."
"I prefer quality over quantity any day, and taste and rarity will determine if the cake appreciates, not just aging."
Well good for you. That's how you like to purchase pu-erh. Some other people like the good people of this forum have their own ways of appreciating pu-erh.
"If there are shit tons of Boyou tea in 30 years and it all tastes terrible there will be hardly any appreciation."
Have you ever in your life, or know anyone in the world who has had a 30 year old tea that "tastes terrible?" I'm curious.
Last edited by shogun89 on Nov 23rd, '08, 23:25, edited 1 time in total.
Nov 23rd, '08, 22:41
Posts: 5151
Joined: Dec 20th, '06, 23:33
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Gainesville, Florida
Re: Hey all
A little harsh there, Thanks. It's his first post, cut him some slack!thanks wrote: I think you're missing the point. ...
This is a condescending and ignorant comment.
Some other people like the good people of this forum have their own ways of appreciating pu-erh...
It sounds like you may still be in the grip of that nasty fever.Don't be put off, Kimble22, Thanks is usually a perfect gentleman (with opinions, of course) who fosters vigorous discussion. He has scouted out some great stuff, loves classic cakes, and generally seems more aligned with your point of view than many others, IMHO. He's doesn't "buy 50 dollar 1-2 year old cakes from a start up company" and frankly some of what I have learned from him lately has been not to buy so many "brand new offerings from unproven companies." I've just ordered a bunch of Menghai, Xiaguan, and CNNP cakes that I wouldn't have given a second glance at a couple months ago! As for new companies, he has introduced me to Hai Lang Hao, a new company that I find pretty exciting.
I don't think you two are all that far apart. I would suggest that you kiss and make up, but that would be disgusting. So all I ask is that you not be discouraged, Kimble22, and continue to participate in the forum. Most of us are feeling our way in the dark here just like you.
*****edit*******
...and Shogun!
Thanks so much for the kind words as always Sal. He just came off as very rude, I guess. The tone of my post was not so nice as well so instead of countering rude with mean I should just say, welcome to the forum. I hope my previous post will not discourage you from joining us in further discussions, and as Sal so kindly pointed out (he's full of wisdom and always the voice of reason) we're all kind of fumbling around in the dark.
Working sick in corporate retail this close to Black Friday while trying to quit smoking is a recipe for anyone to explode in anger at the slightest frustration. I think it's time to drink some more tea!
Working sick in corporate retail this close to Black Friday while trying to quit smoking is a recipe for anyone to explode in anger at the slightest frustration. I think it's time to drink some more tea!