Official Pu of the day

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


Feb 23rd, '13, 07:54
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by sung8891 » Feb 23rd, '13, 07:54

Today's brew was 7542-208 . The best 7542 I've ever had.

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Feb 23rd, '13, 13:21
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by futurebird » Feb 23rd, '13, 13:21

1980s Xio Guan 8653 From Essence of Tea
http://www.essenceoftea.co.uk/tea/puerh ... puerh.html

Bitter for the first three steeps, more-so than I'd like. The first few steeps should be short, but then it drops off quickly, I can't get more than 5 or six pots from a single bunch of leaves. (I'm using a small very full gaiwan)

I'm not totally crazy about this. It did have a plum flavor some of the time which was exciting, and after the bitterness went away it was very smooth.

But I don't like it as much as the "musty" "library tea" http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=18272 I got in flushing last weekend (which was much less expensive). The bitterness was a little disappointing in such a well aged "special" tea. I guess this means go back to flushing and hoover up the musty stuff since it seems to be my "thing."

But it is good. I'm having a good wekkend with this tea. Worth the splurge to try it for more experience but don't think I'll buy more. I could see other people liking this tea more than I did.


I'm going to start a tea journal, I have a nice leather book that is perfect for it.

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Feb 23rd, '13, 13:25
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by TIM » Feb 23rd, '13, 13:25

You could be the hobb from America :) have fun and good luck :wink:

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Feb 23rd, '13, 14:23
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by AdamMY » Feb 23rd, '13, 14:23

2009 Zhi Ming Du Lao Man Er.

Brews up rather dark, think the color of the outside of an acorn. Smell is great, oddly fruity, leathery, and a decent bit of barnyard straw/hay.

Tough to get through the first few infusion, a heck of a lot of energy, but wow that stuff can remove paint from a fire hydrant. (Fire hydrants are painted with paint designed to be very hard to remove).

Either my taste buds have surrendered or this 3rd infusion is starting to get very nice. A weird mix of wood shavings, lawn clippings though, and wildflowers ( oddly it works -- somewhat).

I'll admit it, I am a puerh light weight, and this puerh is going to put me under the (rather low) tea table soon.

Weeee! :mrgreen:

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Feb 24th, '13, 10:00
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by SilentChaos » Feb 24th, '13, 10:00

10g 2002 CNNP 7582 in 100ml pot. Not bad at all. Clear orange liquor with a hint of red hues. The harshness have all left, but hints of its youth can still be found when pushed. I think this one has not seen any wet storage at all.

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Feb 24th, '13, 10:08
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by gasninja » Feb 24th, '13, 10:08

futurebird wrote:1980s Xio Guan 8653 From Essence of Tea
http://www.essenceoftea.co.uk/tea/puerh ... puerh.html

Bitter for the first three steeps, more-so than I'd like. The first few steeps should be short, but then it drops off quickly, I can't get more than 5 or six pots from a single bunch of leaves. (I'm using a small very full gaiwan)

I'm not totally crazy about this. It did have a plum flavor some of the time which was exciting, and after the bitterness went away it was very smooth.

But I don't like it as much as the "musty" "library tea" http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=18272 I got in flushing last weekend (which was much less expensive). The bitterness was a little disappointing in such a well aged "special" tea. I guess this means go back to flushing and hoover up the musty stuff since it seems to be my "thing."

But it is good. I'm having a good wekkend with this tea. Worth the splurge to try it for more experience but don't think I'll buy more. I could see other people liking this tea more than I did.


I'm going to start a tea journal, I have a nice leather book that is perfect for it.
I remember this tea being really good but dying fast.

Today wisteria blue mark remake.

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Feb 24th, '13, 11:13
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Official Pu of the day

by debunix » Feb 24th, '13, 11:13

AdamMY wrote:Either my taste buds have surrendered or this 3rd infusion is starting to get very nice. A weird mix of wood shavings, lawn clippings though, and wildflowers ( oddly it works -- somewhat).
This is the magic of young sheng puerh.....

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Feb 24th, '13, 11:57
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by futurebird » Feb 24th, '13, 11:57

Today I continue to work my way through my recent "essence of tea" order.

Image

1960's (early) Guang Yun Gong Puerh Tea

As a beginning tea drinker my goal is to explore. I thought it was important to try some very high quality teas early on so that I would know what was possible.

I started the first infusion late last night and it is even better today! The liquor in the small tasting cup is from the 5th infusion. I think I'll get two or three more . :D The first infusion (after a brief rinse) was quite dark and a just a *little* bitter. It had a strange tickle/tingle feeling to it that started in the back of my that the spread through my body. It was very pleasant and warming.

The smell is quit old but not at all overwhelming. It has that "library" smell but it's only one aspect of the tea, it's also slightly sweet. It's very smooth with no bitterness after the first infusion.

Will I buy it all the time? No. It's too expensive! Will I buy it again? Yes. It was worth it. This is what I imagined a "special" tea should be like.

It has not changed much over the infusions. Just faded a bit, as expected. Except for that initial bitterness which went away right away. The "tingle" is still present, though. I love it.

Image

I only brewed 2.5 g of this tea and that was enough to expand to fill about 1/4 of the small yixing-knock-off pot. I still have some more for later! Later will probably come very soon though. I love this tea.

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Feb 24th, '13, 13:31
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by davelcorp » Feb 24th, '13, 13:31

Futurebird, sounds like you are really enjoying your puer discoveries. Fun!

Quick question -- how did you brew the 60s QYG? In my experience with this tea, the 5th brew was still a deep mahagony color. I'm curious why the liquor in your photo is so light. Maybe it's because you only brewed 2.5g.?

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Feb 24th, '13, 17:49
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by gasninja » Feb 24th, '13, 17:49

If you dont have a smaller vessle I would not fill it up all the way. With only 2.5 grams of leaf I personally would not use more than 40ml of water. Trust me it is much better to have a couple sips of concentrated GYG greatness than a bigger cup that gives you slight hints of what a 50 yr old tea will do. The cha qi is going to be much more noticable that way as well.

Feb 24th, '13, 19:00
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Official Pu of the day

by Exempt » Feb 24th, '13, 19:00

gasninja wrote:If you dont have a smaller vessle I would not fill it up all the way. With only 2.5 grams of leaf I personally would not use more than 40ml of water. Trust me it is much better to have a couple sips of concentrated GYG greatness than a bigger cup that gives you slight hints of what a 50 yr old tea will do. The cha qi is going to be much more noticable that way as well.
I agree with gasninja. It may be expensive but it seems like a waste to use so little if the leaf in a 120ml teapot. Using more leaf would definitely be worth it.

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Feb 25th, '13, 20:45
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by TwoDog2 » Feb 25th, '13, 20:45

gasninja wrote:If you dont have a smaller vessle I would not fill it up all the way. With only 2.5 grams of leaf I personally would not use more than 40ml of water. Trust me it is much better to have a couple sips of concentrated GYG greatness than a bigger cup that gives you slight hints of what a 50 yr old tea will do. The cha qi is going to be much more noticable that way as well.
2.5 grams of any tea is going to have a difficult time showing up in 120ml. I think gasninja is right - 40ml - 50ml. You could fill the gaiwan halfway if you are lacking a small vessel.

Today is the 2005 Red Yiwuzhengshan (Douji). (this one) This is my second recent session (third total) with this tea, and it is very subtle. Takes a bit of long attention that I don't recall needing in my first exposure to it. The cake I have also has a lot more age than the pics in the Hobbes photo above, liquor is already amber and a lot of the higher notes are muted.

Feb 26th, '13, 08:19
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by yanom » Feb 26th, '13, 08:19

Or just lengthen the steeping times....

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Mar 3rd, '13, 12:54
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Drax » Mar 3rd, '13, 12:54

I haven't done a lot of revisiting to my pu'erh, which I mostly blame on always having lots of new samples of pu'erh to try. A terrible dilemma, I know. In any case, I decided to revisit one of my earliest purchases to see how it's been doing over the last 4 years.

This 2008 Hai Lang Hao "Star of Bulang" has definitely made progress. I wish I had pictures to compare, but I can compare with the pictures on Scott's site. The cake is now dark and slightly red in tone, it has definitely lost much of its green appearance.

For those who are curious, I stored this tea with my other pu'erh in a humidity-controlled cabinet at roughly 65-70% RH, and temperatures that fluctuate with a temperate climate.

Compared to my notes when I tried it 4 years ago, it's a bit more amber in color (it started out very, very slightly amber back then, too). It has the beginnings of the carmely woody age on the edges of the flavor, but still with a very solid core of sheng, and hints of spice way below. Thick, very lively in the mouth. It would seem to be progressing pretty well. Maybe I'll try it again in another 4 years. :lol:

And, if I might add, the ~6% return on investment (I bought the cake for $24) has certainly done better in the last 4 years than any of my saving account...

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Mar 3rd, '13, 13:01
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by futurebird » Mar 3rd, '13, 13:01

TwoDog2 wrote:
gasninja wrote:If you dont have a smaller vessle I would not fill it up all the way. With only 2.5 grams of leaf I personally would not use more than 40ml of water. Trust me it is much better to have a couple sips of concentrated GYG greatness than a bigger cup that gives you slight hints of what a 50 yr old tea will do. The cha qi is going to be much more noticable that way as well.
2.5 grams of any tea is going to have a difficult time showing up in 120ml. I think gasninja is right - 40ml - 50ml. You could fill the gaiwan halfway if you are lacking a small vessel.

I tried the second bit in a 40ml pot. (had to wait for it to come since I didn't own one until a few days ago. I got quite a bit more out of it but it *still* feel of quiet suddenly. The first four steeps were super dark, the next two were moderately dark... then I couldn't get anything much more out of it even with the hotest water and a long steep.

That said, even light I liked this one a lot. I'll get more someday, maybe to share for a special tea party with friends.

But I have other news. I've finely found a young-ish sheng that I like! I'll share more about it soon. I bought a bing on ebay on whim for $16. And it's just wonderful. But it has a lot of caffeine. I'm hyper. And the first steep is bitter.

You must understand the two young teas I've had have been border-line undrinkable bitter, even after multiple steeps.

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