Yunnan sourcing cakes

[solitude]

And what about these puer teas?
I have tried a few samples and some of them were really impressive. Since I am still a kind a beginer in the world of puer I would like to know opinions of more experienced sheng drinkers.

[bearsbearsbears]

I would like to know opinions of more experienced sheng drinkers.

Hobbes has been reviewing quite a few of YS's productions on his blog, half-dipper.blogspot.com

[MarshalN]

I think some of them are good value for money, although not all of them equally good

[Winnie_ther_pu]

If you mean the cakes that Scott presses under the Yunnan Sourcing label, then I can attest to the wonderful, unique and balanced qualities of most of those cakes. Of his sheng cakes, I haven't had one that I disliked. I have not tried the shu offerings. My current favorites of his cakes are the 2010 Dehong brick, the 2011 Silver Needle (not for aging more than 10 years), and the 2010 Wu Liang Shan.

If you are talking about the endless number of offerings that he has from other companies... Wow, there are so many. The Hai Lang Hao (not ming xiang ya yuan) branded cakes are a delight. If you want sheng then I like Nan jian (in particular the 2010 "Cert Organic Mini Brick). There are plenty that are not-so-good or just not to everyone's taste, beyond that, search the web for reviews...there should be a million of em

I (heart) YS

FamilyAndTea

[TIM]

Why did you said: the 2011 Silver Needle (not for aging more than 10 years)? Do you have experiences about the progression? Or have you tasted one which is aged properly for 10 years? Please kindly share your view with us. Thank you in advice ~ Toki

[Winnie_ther_pu]

Hey Toki. I have a very similar cake to the 2011 Silver Needle from 2005 and, though I still love it and how it has aged thus far, judging by its progression I don't think that it will substantially develop the camphory goodness or earthy tones associated with the beloved aged puers currently in my collection. I have been aging my own puer for 10 years, have cakes, aged by acquaintances, up to 35yo and have had the opportunity to sample cakes up to 60yo. One thing I do know: 'proper' aging is in the eye of the beholder (so long as there are no yellow or white spots ) Of course, all of this said, the 2011 Silver Needle may age very well, since my cake from 2005 wasn't produced by Scott/YS.

[bagua7]

I haven't bought any of the shu variety from this vendor as of yet.

Any recommendations?

[solitude]

Thanks guys. Scott has a large selection in deed. Among the samples I have tried those from hai lang hao and mengyang guoyan impressed me the most. From the cakes under the YS label I like the 2010 "autumn mang fei", "nan nuo ya kou" and "Bu lang jie liang".
I enjoy when a young sheng (1-3years) has strong floral - sweet character but I am not sure if this is enough for aging, for me there has to be a as well a reasonable amount of bitterness and some astringency, and the tea has to be infusable. Once the floral-fruity notes are gone there still has to be something what can be "transformed".
But perhaps I am wrong , so any comments welcomed.

[bagua7]

Have you ever had a + 60 year old tea? If you do, then you'll understand the meaning of old cha qi (wise) is and the complexity of an aged puerh. IMO, young sheng is a vastly overrated tea, even though there are some good young sheng but still the earth element character is missing.

[Winnie_ther_pu]

You know, with so much mis-information out there it is difficult, nay, impossible to say accurately what sort of cake will age well. All of the 'facts' about puer have been created partly from experience and mostly for the purposes of marketing. On top of that, all of these 'facts' have been noted/created over just the last 20 years or so, a period which has seen the greatest shift in puer producing ideologies since puer was originally thought up. In my ten years I have collected older cakes and let my own young purchases age. I have found some very nice surprises in cakes that I thought may amount to nothing and have been mildly disappointed by cakes that promised to please. Rule of thumb: Never discount something because of what you think might influence the future development of the flavor. I have always just bought what I like, and a little of everything else to hedge my bets It has worked out quite well!

And to stay with the YS theme: He has some of the standard/high-end Menghai and Xiaguan productions at VERY fair prices that have recipes that have not changed in decades in some cases. Having a few of these in your collection can act as a sort of control against which to judge the performance of other aging cakes, regardless of your taste preferences.

Oh, there was a new post as I was writing. So...young sheng is overrated... I wonder how there could be old sheng, without aging? I have teas that I have personally aged from their youth to just twelve years and already the 'earth element' is present. You can have a fine chunk of aged puer by buying an 'overrated' sheng and aging it yourself. Buying sheng puer over 15yo is risky at best. Most people (and I would say all internet sites) that offer sheng teas older than this are simply lying about the age or the origin of the cake. So many 'aged puers' I have tried have ended up being aged shu in a sheng wrapper. I have drunk real 60yo puer and it is something you too can have by investing in and aging your own sheng responsibly.

[solitude]

I had a few samples from 90s, so my background in aged shengs is poor. Recently I am drinking quite frequently 1-10 years old shengs and it may sound weird but I somehow prefer these more. I like the sticky heavy sweetness, bitterness which comes back sweet and remains in the throat, and if there is something floral-fruity that’s just a nice addition. For the most of the people these teas are strong and undrinkable, at least for those around me
I am planning to sample more YS labeled cakes and also the EOT production.

[solitude]

You know, with so much mis-information out there it is difficult, nay, impossible to say accurately what sort of cake will age well.

I agree , to tell what will age good and what no is really difficult, there have to be decades of experience. I usually listen my intuition, will see how this work out.

[TeaJunky]

I have only tasted 2 cakes and both were impressive. For a ready to drink Pu-erh the 2008 Autumn Pasha Mountain cake was (quaffed the cake already so no photos available) a splendid thing. The cake had everything going for it, medium compression, plenty of bold fat leaves along with a more than generous amount of long downy shoots, and a fresh clean aroma. The cup was deliciously smooth and the Cha Qi was about as well balanced as any I have encountered without concentrating in any place it filled me with a gentle warmth, though it did take surprisingly long to get the full effects, maybe five minutes rather than the very instant it entered the mouth. If he has any of these left (I am uncertain of the specific year, but it was an Autumn Pasha Mountain tea for certain) I would strongly recommend it as a tea that is more than ready to drink right now. I am still to new at the ageing game to give it a guess as to how it will age, the best stuff I have aged since around 2002 when I first encountered Pu-erh has been much stronger tea, but again I am a neophyte to ageing so I probably should not even make any comments at all.
As an aside I would heartily recommend Scott's Wu Liang Mountain 'Jin Xin' (Gold Heart) black tea, it is one of the best overall Yunnan Black teas that I can remember tasting. It has gorgeous long tight leaves with just a smattering of tips that seem to be twisted in with each individual larger leaf. An artisan tea for certain, and one that cups up dreamily. I recommend pairing it with Amedei's Chuao Dark Chocolate for an orgasmic wake up call.

[shah82]

If you've been aging tea since 2002, you're a grandpappy here (or mommy). I think the earliest active serious internet commenters in the west started in late 2004. Cloud, for instance, peeps can correct me, started writing about puerh on the web around when you started. You have a wealth of personal experience that most puerh bloggers active don't have. Please, when the spirit strikes you, speak up! I mean, what sort of brands/recipes did you like? How did you get access to them? So on, so forth.

I think you're talking about 2010 Pasha Autumn and not 2008. I don't think Scott released very much from 2008 other than a Dehong brick and couple of other things. There's nothing now, so I can't check...

[MarshalN]

Cloud started drinking long before that. So did a lot of us. The whole idea of blogging (outside of techies) about something didn't start until the mid 2000s but it doesn't mean people weren't drinking/aging tea before that.