Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

One of the intentionally aged teas, Pu-Erh has a loyal following.


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Sep 29th, '12, 15:16
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Re: Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

by debunix » Sep 29th, '12, 15:16

I've had to work to 'tame' some bitter, aggressive young shengs by a long series of flash infusions--pour hot water in, then out, as fast as I can--until it starts to mellow a bit. Or, on a few occasions, I've done a 40 second first infusion and (heresy) tossed it, then gone for 20 or so infusions, starting with flash infusions and going on to several minutes over the 20 infusions. For at least one tea, the 2009 Lao Ban Zhang from Norbu, it's been absolutely worth the trouble.

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Sep 29th, '12, 16:23
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Re: Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

by jayinhk » Sep 29th, '12, 16:23

Thanks Deb, and you're right, the '12 201 did mellow out over time and was much nicer after the first few infusions. My mistake was filling my new flask with the first two gaiwan infusions (I was at home) and taking them out with me to visit someone. They offered me a very nice little Japanese teacup to drink my pu in, and offered to make me some tea next time: I really should have taken a picture of the cup. :)

Unfortunately, I really struggled getting those first few infusions down. Well, no, I didn't, but it was pretty intense.

I told my friend about what it was and about sheng and shu, and she was actually somewhat interested after her initial disbelief that I'd brought along some Chinese tea to drink. :lol: She's from HK and was drinking Ribena (blackcurrant syrup in water).

Drinking the '05 sheng with a little wet-stored shu from across the street in my Yixing. They work beautifully together, and the Yixing really mellows out both.

The new cake tastes like Indian incense smoke smells, and the older one tastes like a good, but fresher and milder, black Assam.

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Sep 29th, '12, 16:52
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Re: Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

by jayinhk » Sep 29th, '12, 16:52

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Found these figurines under a tree on the east side of HK Island today. Sometimes spontaneous shrines sprout up; often under trees. I've even seen a multi-faith one near me, with figurines of Indian gods along with the Taoist and Buddhist ones.

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Sep 29th, '12, 22:34
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Re: Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

by MarshalN » Sep 29th, '12, 22:34

jayinhk wrote:Image

Image

Found these figurines under a tree on the east side of HK Island today. Sometimes spontaneous shrines sprout up; often under trees. I've even seen a multi-faith one near me, with figurines of Indian gods along with the Taoist and Buddhist ones.
If you ever see that again, could you take a picture, please? The Hindu god bit

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Sep 29th, '12, 23:29
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Re: Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

by jayinhk » Sep 29th, '12, 23:29

Sure, I'll take a pic if I'm up that ways. I was pretty surprised myself! I took this picture as I think Guan Gung is pretty cool. :D

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Sep 30th, '12, 05:13
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Re: Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

by jayinhk » Sep 30th, '12, 05:13

Just bought this infuser mug: been eyeing it on Taobao for quite a while.

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=4302509090

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Oct 1st, '12, 18:19
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Re: Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

by jayinhk » Oct 1st, '12, 18:19

It's now 6:10 am and I've been up since 9:30 am yesterday, aside from napping for an hour at home. Around 2 am, I decided it would be a good idea to use my largest 250ml (approx) porcelain Jingdezhen pot and load it up with the liu bao I bought the other day (around 20g).

Bad idea. I am extremely awake, although I did get much more flavor from the tea with that much in the pot. The liu bao is much less bitter than the liu'an, but with less overall flavor. It does have a hint of raisin to it, and a sweetness and sourness that is very shu. It is also quite thick. All in all, not as pleasant as the liu'an I've been drinking, but I have a lot more tea of all kinds to try. The sheer volume of tea available is a little overwhelming. :shock:

Oct 2nd, '12, 10:49
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Re: Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

by ChengduCha » Oct 2nd, '12, 10:49

It's now 6:10 am and I've been up since 9:30 am yesterday
I hope it's related to the national holidays and not to your growing tea addiction. :D
The sheer volume of tea available is a little overwhelming.
I tend to drink 2 kinds of tea a day, you can try a lot within a year, even on a budget if you stick to samples and only buy the exceptional teas in larger quantities in case of pu erhs that will get more expensive / sell out.

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Oct 2nd, '12, 12:13
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Re: Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

by jayinhk » Oct 2nd, '12, 12:13

Definitely the tea that kept me awake :shock:

Yep, it's time to start sampling and only buying known cakes of good stuff and the best loose aged sheng (I'm tiring of shu). I now realize that the discipline that is tea apprecation takes years of study and training (and drinking!) to master. :)

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Oct 2nd, '12, 23:33
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Re: Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

by jayinhk » Oct 2nd, '12, 23:33

I am planning on visiting Manila's Chinatown (Binondo) early next week. I just found out it's the world's first Chinatown, and has been around since the 1500s. Sounds like there may well be potential for finding some good, aged tea there. :)

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Oct 2nd, '12, 23:57
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Re: Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

by MarshalN » Oct 2nd, '12, 23:57

jayinhk wrote:I am planning on visiting Manila's Chinatown (Binondo) early next week. I just found out it's the world's first Chinatown, and has been around since the 1500s. Sounds like there may well be potential for finding some good, aged tea there. :)
Try to fish in the medicine shops and see if they have old liu'an.

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Re: Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

by shah82 » Oct 3rd, '12, 00:00

You might mint money, or cache your own supply...

just adding incentives...

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Oct 3rd, '12, 00:06
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Re: Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

by jayinhk » Oct 3rd, '12, 00:06

Marshal, that's a great idea, and I really enjoy liu'an! Shah, fingers crossed I find something good to take home. Even if I don't find any old tea, I know I'm going to have a lot of fun eating! :D

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Re: Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

by jayinhk » Oct 3rd, '12, 01:13

Just picked up two bowls of delicious noodles from a new place: fish balls and beef tripe. I also visited M's recommended place for aged pu. All I can say is WOW. They have everything from newer tuos up to pu from the 1940s, and cakes that cost more than a brand new car. Interestingly, none of the Yixings in there looked all that good to me, but they do have some serious aged pu!

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Re: Thoughts from a new Hong Kong bo lei drinker

by jayinhk » Oct 3rd, '12, 02:15

Well, it appears we had a little communication issue this morning: I ended up buying their best drinking grade shu rather than the sheng I was looking to get. Admittedly I hadn't had breakfast and wasn't really ready to switch into Canto mode. Ah well, it looks like very good tea regardless:

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Good, wet stored shu with some pleasant bitterness and sourness, and some 'wet' flavor, but not too much. Nice 'thickness.' I like it, even if it was sheng I was looking to get. No matter, I'll try again when I get back. ;)

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