OTTI Round #5 Pu-OTTI, Young Raw Pu-erh
Re: OTTI Round #5 Pu-OTTI, Young Raw Pu-erh
by the_skua » Oct 31st, '10, 11:23
Easily my favorite of this round, the MTR Yiwu.
The wet leaves opened with hot cotton, warm dryers and some bursts of intense ashy smoke. The first flavors rocked between cantaloupe and cooked strawberry and freshly smoked whitefish.
Middle steeps produced a light tartness in the vein of white cranberry flesh – but never intensely sour.
This yiwu proved dazzling in the finish, with a lovely, terse, complex bitterness holding long and giving herbal satisfaction. I enjoyed this tea’s understated, complex, and composed beauty. Wrapping up with fermented cocoa nib dryness in the throat, it was hard not to be impressed. This is my kind of sheng.
Images and full blog post at tea.theskua.com
The wet leaves opened with hot cotton, warm dryers and some bursts of intense ashy smoke. The first flavors rocked between cantaloupe and cooked strawberry and freshly smoked whitefish.
Middle steeps produced a light tartness in the vein of white cranberry flesh – but never intensely sour.
This yiwu proved dazzling in the finish, with a lovely, terse, complex bitterness holding long and giving herbal satisfaction. I enjoyed this tea’s understated, complex, and composed beauty. Wrapping up with fermented cocoa nib dryness in the throat, it was hard not to be impressed. This is my kind of sheng.
Images and full blog post at tea.theskua.com
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the_skua - Posts: 145
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Re: OTTI Round #5 Pu-OTTI, Young Raw Pu-erh
by debunix » Nov 1st, '10, 02:24
Brewed up some of the MTR YiWu again tonight, because I missed it in the group tasting last week due to lack of sufficient mini-gaiwans.
Mandarin's Tea Room YiWu 2006 Sheng puerh
2 grams, flash rinse, 30 seconds at 195 degrees (kettle cooled a bit)
Sweet, smoky, a little herby, not bitter, just delicious: wonderful first infusion
Kept it up at near boiling, 195-210 degrees over the rest of the evening, infusions gradually lengthening to a couple of minutes by the end. But I was busy cooking and stopped taking notes for each infusion. It was generally sweet, spicy, herby, and somewhere around the 3rd or 4th infusion there was one or two that were distinctly bitter, but shortly thereafter, it got wonderful again.
It's probably my favorite of the whole tasting--the first infusion of this one might have been the best balanced of all of them. But since I didn't get to do a head to head with the others, it's hard to be sure.
Mandarin's Tea Room YiWu 2006 Sheng puerh
2 grams, flash rinse, 30 seconds at 195 degrees (kettle cooled a bit)
Sweet, smoky, a little herby, not bitter, just delicious: wonderful first infusion
Kept it up at near boiling, 195-210 degrees over the rest of the evening, infusions gradually lengthening to a couple of minutes by the end. But I was busy cooking and stopped taking notes for each infusion. It was generally sweet, spicy, herby, and somewhere around the 3rd or 4th infusion there was one or two that were distinctly bitter, but shortly thereafter, it got wonderful again.
It's probably my favorite of the whole tasting--the first infusion of this one might have been the best balanced of all of them. But since I didn't get to do a head to head with the others, it's hard to be sure.
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debunix - Posts: 3973
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Re: OTTI Round #5 Pu-OTTI, Young Raw Pu-erh
by IPT » Nov 1st, '10, 04:19
That's so cool Victoria! There's nothing like finding new tea lovers and being able to share with them.
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IPT - Posts: 1556
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Re: OTTI Round #5 Pu-OTTI, Young Raw Pu-erh
by entropyembrace » Dec 5th, '10, 16:49
I kind of dropped the ball on this OTTI since I transfered some of the teas to tins and didn´t label them or make a note of which was which....
but I´ve finally gotten around to trying the Bangwai which I did leave labeled! brewed up in my new gaiwan.
I think of this OTTI it´s my fav...it has such an exquisite bitterness...long aftertaste and drying astringency...and wrapped inside there´s a wonderful ghostly sweetness.
but I´ve finally gotten around to trying the Bangwai which I did leave labeled! brewed up in my new gaiwan.
I think of this OTTI it´s my fav...it has such an exquisite bitterness...long aftertaste and drying astringency...and wrapped inside there´s a wonderful ghostly sweetness.
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Re: OTTI Round #5 Pu-OTTI, Young Raw Pu-erh
by nickE » Dec 5th, '10, 16:54
entropyembrace wrote:I think of this OTTI it´s my fav...it has such an exquisite bitterness...long aftertaste and drying astringency...and wrapped inside there´s a wonderful ghostly sweetness.
Glad you are enjoying these! I too love the Bangwai, and somewhat regret not ordering a whole cake..
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Re: OTTI Round #5 Pu-OTTI, Young Raw Pu-erh
by shah82 » Dec 5th, '10, 23:34
Hmmm? Nada's not sold out. You mean you wish you could afford a cake?
There is only one thing that makes Nada's cakes not elite (other than the Bulang) and that is longevity.
There is only one thing that makes Nada's cakes not elite (other than the Bulang) and that is longevity.
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Re: OTTI Round #5 Pu-OTTI, Young Raw Pu-erh
by nickE » Dec 5th, '10, 23:53
shah82 wrote:Hmmm? Nada's not sold out. You mean you wish you could afford a cake?
Yeah, pretty much.
Trying to decide between more EoT cakes or some of the new YS Yiwu (I love a good Yiwu).-
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Re: OTTI Round #5 Pu-OTTI, Young Raw Pu-erh
by shah82 » Dec 6th, '10, 00:58
You're probably cursing just as much as me that we can't get last year's Nada Mahei. Overall, I've bought three cakes of the Bangwei--drink enough mediocre cakes, and it's pretty obvious it's rather on the cheaper side of what the quality is. It's not super-premium, but just a good cake, with qualities that are increasingly found only in premium cakes. Do yourself a favor and sample lots of 2000-2004 cakes
I wimped out and got the Yangqinghao gushu chawang, even though that was going to impose hardship. I'm just much pickier about Yiwu, and while this isn't a Yiwu, I figure that this is close enough and probably of high enough quality, given that the 2004 YQH are rather beloved. I'm not perfectly happy with XiZiHao or ChenGuangheTang Yiwus I've had had, and my experience with YS house stuff don't fill me with security. I still wanted a Yiwu, though. I got the YQH because the writing on the wall is saying that the future in premium shengs will be loose, like Norbu does, and mini-bings, like the XZH gift set. The amount of genuinely good premium stuff making it to the West is going to decrease.
I wimped out and got the Yangqinghao gushu chawang, even though that was going to impose hardship. I'm just much pickier about Yiwu, and while this isn't a Yiwu, I figure that this is close enough and probably of high enough quality, given that the 2004 YQH are rather beloved. I'm not perfectly happy with XiZiHao or ChenGuangheTang Yiwus I've had had, and my experience with YS house stuff don't fill me with security. I still wanted a Yiwu, though. I got the YQH because the writing on the wall is saying that the future in premium shengs will be loose, like Norbu does, and mini-bings, like the XZH gift set. The amount of genuinely good premium stuff making it to the West is going to decrease.
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