The blind leading the blind.

[futurebird]

My friends and I have this rotating potluck and party of general inebriation that we host at each other's houses. These are a bunch of NYC artists, filmmakers and grouchy old mathematics professors.

They have seem my facebook posts about tea stuff and want me to bring some puerh.

OK, so what do I bring? I really want them to like it because it would be amazing if we could have tea as a part of this party too, right now my tea friends are a separate bunch from this crew.

These are people who have probably had maybe starbucks tea and that's the most fancy. (though I do think two of them went to Japan and had matcha and liked it, they are well traveled) the good things is they are adventurous and capable of slowing down and noticing the finer things in life.

The bad thing is I'll have to choose and make all of the teas and I have no idea what I'm doing.

Here is what I have at my disposal (in large enough amounts to share):


1998 CNNP 8592 menghai factory from white two tea (have not tried yet)
2005 Longma Tong-qing Qingbing from white two tea (have not tried yet)
7581 possibly fake shu brick (2012, bought on ebay) taste OK.
2006 CNNP Wild Old Tea Yunnan puer Raw Pu'er Puerh
Jiang Chen 1970 Vintage From Bana
YunNana Yun Hai Lao Shu Tuo Cha 2010
1990's Fuhai Tea Factory '7532' from essence of tea
Yunnan Chit Su Bing Cha - Puerh Tea Cake, Raw 2006
Meng song zhl dian sheng puerh 2012
Manmai puerh tea sheng from essence of tea
Some kind of shu from 2009 that's OK, no wo dui fish taste
A 2009 YUNNAN toucha in a round green box
2012yr Yunnan Wild Old Tea Pu'er Cake tea 100g/Raw from ebay, was cheap $6 (have not tried yet)


So, I'm thinking two or three teas?
One young, one old, one ripe?

Which would you pick?

I do have some time to make an order (it's in about two weeks) so I could buy something, but I'd like to have had the tea myself a few times before the party so I could talk about it and brew it properly.

That said, do any of you have a regular tea gathering in your life?

[shah82]

Go with the Nadacha mengsong and brew it lightly.

If you feel like wasting old tea on those people, go with the 8592. As I understand it, that one has friendly and sweet tastes/smells to it.

[futurebird]

Go with the Nadacha mengsong and brew it lightly.

If you feel like wasting old tea on those people, go with the 8592. As I understand it, that one has friendly and sweet tastes/smells to it.

Well, I haven't cracked that one open yet for fear of "wasting" it on myself so...

[nada]

Meng song zhl dian sheng puerh 2012 from essence of tea

Go with the Nadacha mengsong and brew it lightly.

I have absolutely no idea what tea this is.

Am I missing something?

[futurebird]

Oy I seem to have made an error typing up my list.

Manmai puerh tea is what it should read.

[tst]

Love it. You know there's something off when the vendor steps into the thread unaware of a tea that he sells

futurebird,

I'd pick the tea that you best know how to brew and that is appropriate for your crowd. Going out on a limb to serve a tea you aren't familiar with may not be so wise, and you may end up kicking yourself afterward for serving a tea that will not be fully appreciated by others (when you no doubt would have appreciated it on your own and had the time/patience to learn how to brew it properly).

Just my opinion. Best of luck entertaining your guests and be sure to let us all know whatever you end up deciding and how it goes.

[ChengduCha]

Sheng and Shu next to each other if you have two brewing and serving vessels (don't forget to wash the cups in between).

If your shu just tastes "ok", then it's probably a waste and you should serve some aged sheng next to young sheng.

Obviously low to no astringency as this is a big turn off to most people.

Less fine flavors and lots of sweetness works best with most people.

Cakes / Bricks with high variance material should best be avoided as you want a predictable result.

[nada]

Manmai puerh tea is what it should read.

haha, that makes more sense. You did have me confused for a bit

[TwoDog2]

1998 CNNP 8592 menghai factory from white two tea (have not tried yet)
2005 Longma Tong-qing Qingbing from white two tea (have not tried yet)

I would advise against either of those two teas for first time drinkers. Particularly the 8592 because it has been traditionally stored, most non-tea drinkers will read it as musty.

The Longma Tongqing, while less wet than the 8592, is still humid to introduce to people entering their first puer experience.

Ah, if only you had that 2003 Fuhai 7576

[tenuki]

In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.

[futurebird]

I'm off to be king! er... queen!

I'll let you all know how it goes.

[futurebird]

If your shu just tastes "ok", then it's probably a waste and you should serve some aged sheng next to young sheng.

This is what I did and I think it went over VERY well. I went with:

Meng song zhl dian sheng puerh 2012 (NOT from EoT lol)
and
90s Small Yellow Label from EoT

They were really impressed with how time can change a tea. I essentially told them that the 90s tea was what the Meng song would become in the future (obviously it isn't that simple) -- of the 8 people I had about 4 who got really in to it. The others seemed to like it, but at the same time didn't seem that impressed.

I did the best simulation of gong fu that I could. I did not have enough tasting cups, that was the biggest problem. But they were very interested in the way that I warmed/washed the cups and used the "tiny pot."

I made a huge mess on the tray, it seemed like too much a hassle to bring this:



...along since it weighs a ton... but next time I might need to do that... scratch that, next time they are coming to my place.