Puerh that got you drunk

[TIM]

Typically any new high quality raw puerh tea on an empty stomach, but first spring pick green tea from Menghai (not qualified as pu erh?) got me hyperventilated and woozy. I was warned though of it's potency before drinking it.

Hmm... KC, that's not tea drunk. That's just caffeine rush?

[tingjunkie]

For me, the 2000g special commission Menghai cake is still top in tea-drunk class as far as young sheng goes TIM.

We are young back then.

Think my memory may be inflated on that one? Hmmm... only one way to find out.

[chrl42]

As much as I'm a Yiwu addict, I tend towards to Mahei.
LBZ, if made pure (not Chensheng stuff)

Recently I came drunk with Bingdao, Daxueshan etc..

Mild and pure...Korean taste

[TwoDog2]

Recently I came drunk with Bingdao, Daxueshan etc..

Mild and pure...Korean taste

Off topic, but is that the draw of Bingdao? I had a young Bingdao 2 weeks ago that had the biggest price to enjoyment discrepancy I have experienced in quite some time. The tea was pretty meek (in a bad way) and uneventful in every other department.

edit: Not to say that this was an indictment of all Bingdao tea, it could have just been that the tea that I had was bad. I haven't had another bingdao, so not sure what to compare it to

[shah82]

That's probably a bad Bingdao (area).

Bingdao isn't a demonstrative tea. As far as I understand, Bingdao behaves very similarly to JingGu teas. Bad ones will have one flavor note, and be durable forever, and not much happening. Good ones will still be flat, but have more going on. A good Bingdao, as I understand it, should have a large amount of qi, a kind of floralness (especially in terms of mouth aroma) in the entrance, a very big sensation in the throat, like you're drinking Ben Gay. In later brews, it will taste much like unrefined sugar. This should also be a notably thick tea, near par to the no-joke Da Xue Shans. I always put an emphasis about DXS because there are so many relatively bad ones out there, and so few of the kind that goes into XZH, BTH, and other premium maker's cakes.

Bingdao gushu itself is generally not available to the masses, so you're usually getting some kind of Bingdao area tea, so very few people have a really solid expectation of what to look for out of the genuine thing. Of course, this is not to deny that Bingdao is an extremely overvalued tea, and has been subject to leverage games by insiders. It's not the best of Lincang teas, and there are Jing Gu and Lincang Bangdong county teas that are about as good.

[brose]

Does anyone know what chemical is attributed to tea drunkenness? (not speculation)

[shah82]

Then you won't get far.

Take Kava... a rough guide is measuring what proportion of the four key active ingredients there are--then how much of it.

With tea, beyond the usual theines, there are any number of crazy stuff in there + minerals (minerals do alter moods, for some people).

So it's pretty unlikely that there is anything definite, especially given that young tea qi is not the same as old tea qi.

[MIKE_B]

Does anyone know what chemical is attributed to tea drunkenness? (not speculation)

Theanine and caffeine cause the usual tea buzz.
A Qi high is something more mysterious.

[Lerxst2112]

LOL great topic, Tim!

Being fairly new to the world of pu-erh, I'm sure one would find it to be quite comical to hear what I reacted to...

2008 Hong Yun
2009 Menghai Dayi 7562
1980s hei cha
some 1950's stuff from Wisteria tea house
an 80's 8582
and a 60's - 80's blend o' stuff.

[gasninja]

2005/ 06 yan Qing hao yi wu cha Wang / gu shu cha Wang
70s da ye loose leaf
Hlh Lao manee lbz
Xzh 06 yan lbz
XZh 10 golden brick
01 kunming tai Lan yin
98 7542
88qing
70 gaung dong
60s &58 GYG
70s xiaguan simplified characters
80s loose leaf gaung yun loose
random eot productions
2011 Pu-erh.sk yi bang
and cant forget Tims yi wu
Just off the top of my head

[chrl42]

Good statement, shah82. It helps me to look inside the teas of these areas more.

As more as Qi is concerned, I don't agree it being related with chemical effects too much. It's more than that. Qi exists in everyday life, beyond just beverages.

Just to look at Yixing teapot, Qi reacts (The Chinese say 精气神). Actually it's one way to discern Shao Daheng's pot and imitations of those periods (19 c.). It's more than just perfection or care, I understand it to be a balance and vitality. I heard the difference is so faint yet big that only true Yixing collectors could reach.

Same goes for the living legend He Daohong and his daughters. No matter how his daughters imitate his father's technique, there is a reason why their works won't be enough to add '0' rmb as just one work of their father.

And money deserves to flow from ones who understand that differences..I murmur cos I'm still diggin to understand..and thought in teas not so much different.

[TIM]

Qi = DMT
Tea drunk = Effects of DMT
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethyltryptamine

Enjoy the ride. But make sure you are on the right ship

[shah82]

That is really not all that unlikely.

Tea, and especially puerh, has a ton of amines, in different formulations. I would not be surprised if there is DMT and some close cousins in puerh. I would not say that they are the sole cause, of course.

[chrl42]

This is a jest, of course.

Qi existed long before they discovered DMT. Whatever the correct using of a term, one should give more credit to local Chinese.

It's like translating Zhou Yi or TCM..if trying to understand that in the line of what Westerners have done (not to say Tim is)..one could get a pain in the butt before even moving to a next chapter

[tingjunkie]

Yes, Qi existed before they discovered DMT, but DMT also existed before they ever put a name to Qi! It's a two way street.