Official Pu of the day

[Teaism]

Tried more of an unknown generic early 2000s CNNP zhongcha. It feels different from the last few times, too much tea maybe? The first couple of brews is astringent, frankly quite unpleasant. It settle down and laste for many rounds. The aftertaste is quite lasting and some sweet notes start to come through. It is something that can brew all day(weakly).

I think this tea should be brewed with far less leaf than I had used this round.

Hi Wert,

Could it possibly be a 'superpower' tea? It was around that period the wild Puer tea movement gain momentum.

http://teaism99.com/2014/11/23/superpower/

Cheers! Have a great weekend!

[wert]

Tried more of an unknown generic early 2000s CNNP zhongcha. It feels different from the last few times, too much tea maybe? The first couple of brews is astringent, frankly quite unpleasant. It settle down and laste for many rounds. The aftertaste is quite lasting and some sweet notes start to come through. It is something that can brew all day(weakly).

I think this tea should be brewed with far less leaf than I had used this round.

Hi Wert,

Could it possibly be a 'superpower' tea? It was around that period the wild Puer tea movement gain momentum.

http://teaism99.com/2014/11/23/superpower/

Cheers! Have a great weekend!

Hehee... I only wished!
I had tried some of the 02-03 yiwu and daxuesan bricks with the other one you pictured. This CNNP, however is no where as magical as those two. My experience is limited but this feels like a plantation tea.

[Teaism]

No worries wert. Hope you have better find in the next piece. Best wishes!

Enjoying a 2002 brick Wild Yiwu with some tea friends just now. Full bodied, sweet and complex. This tea also has a unique "dry" character like some of the 70s Chitze tea.

Cheers!

[j.p.rich]

After belatedly finding Cwyn's blog I finally cracked open the Last Thoughts cake. "Oh yeah, that's the stuff"...... Well into tea-drunkedness by the fourth (or was it third?) steep from my 50ml gaiwan. Saving the leaves for later enjoyment - I know they'll still kick ass.

Speaking of kicking, that's what I'm doing to myself for not taking advantage of the Black Friday sale. Only three more cakes left? What the hell was I thinking??

[puyuan]

Still trying a bunch of samples and newly-arrived cakes. Tried the CYH Bingdao (2014) two days ago. So massively impressive in some respects and so disappointing in others. While the "chaqi" was on the strong side and the aftertaste/cooling were beyond ridiculous and unending, the top flavour is really, really awkward. The aftertaste and throat activity I won't be forgetting soon, but I wouldn't buy this tea for aging even if it cost a 10th of its price.

Had a very disappointing couple of sessions with a pure gushu tea from an artisan (not just of puerh) I'm a huge fan of. I knew this 2013 version wasn't the best available, but this doesn't have a single redeeming quality or strong point. It did teach me a lesson. Before it was all cool, mr. Z started dividing up the maocha from the garden he uses (owns?) into gushu, qiaomu and young tree. The catch is that back then he had the age of the trees estimated and felt that anything under 300-something/400 years shouldn't be called ancient, so the qiaomu cake is actually more gushu than most gushu on the market, and the gushu is very old tree material indeed, though there is tactfully no notice of that anywhere in the cakes or elsewhere. The garden is pristine, eco-friendly, the soil is rich, and the adjacent area has a huge name and commands a huge price. This gushu tea, however, sucks, and loses in every aspect to the xiaoshu sibling from the year before, which is also excellent for aging. I remember being very highly impressed by other incarnations of this, so I'm hoping it was just a particularly poor year. Otherwise, it's not always the size of the tree in the fight, but the size of the fight in the tree.

(Liubao is meant for here too, right?) Just had an early 90s three cranes tuo. I have been liking these daily-drinking grade factory liubaos less and less, the ones produced post-90s that is... This one made me feel awkward and I think gave me a slight allergy. Would have much rather bought one of the CNNP for export black boxed ones at a similar price.

Finally, just started a comparative tasting of all my Bohetangs teas, and some that I assume are either from there or are geographically related.

[DVS]

Tea Urchins, 2012 GFZ...Meh. Glad I decided to pick up a tong of TU's 2012 Spring Xikong instead.

[BW85]

1999 zhen cang pin yellow mark. This cake was aged in Hong Kong natural storage, and definitely has some humidity in it with a healthy bit of white mold throughout. I broke the cake up as soon as I got it a few months back and have been waiting patiently for it to air out some. Tonight I tried my hand at refreshing this tea over the stove and gotta say, it did wonders an amazing aroma caught my nose as soon as the dry leaves hit the preheated zhuni. Very clear taste profile throughout the infusions. The flavor just hit my tongue and blossomed

Next I will take the advice and try refreshing some old shuixian

[chrl42]

10 XG Ban Zhang Zheng Shan...blended with Banzhang leaves (Xin Ban Zhang?)

Nice huigan and astringency...gets stale yet more body in later brews.

It's a quite ok XG tea with Banzhang characteristics

[Rui]

Sipping some Ten Fu's shou pu'erh tea. Quite smooth and yummy

[jayinhk]

Old shu pu erh from a HK store. Very calming. I haven't had any Chinese tea since I got back from India (go figure)!

[Tead Off]

1999 zhen cang pin yellow mark. This cake was aged in Hong Kong natural storage, and definitely has some humidity in it with a healthy bit of white mold throughout. I broke the cake up as soon as I got it a few months back and have been waiting patiently for it to air out some. Tonight I tried my hand at refreshing this tea over the stove and gotta say, it did wonders an amazing aroma caught my nose as soon as the dry leaves hit the preheated zhuni. Very clear taste profile throughout the infusions. The flavor just hit my tongue and blossomed

Next I will take the advice and try refreshing some old shuixian

Glad you had that experience with the wet stored tea. Usually, that wet odor doesn't really go away even if you break the cake up. Refreshing is a surprising way to get rid of it. Post your results with the SX in the oolong section. I found waiting some days after refreshing even better.

[Zacherywolf7]

2005 ChangYuHao Yiwu from Essence of Tea. Really *freak* compressed, 4 brews in (with a long steep and leaving the gaiwan lid on in between) and most of the leaves were still dry when I forcefully pried them apart and I used my whole sample (14 grams) cause I couldn't pry it apart dry without hurting it, probably not the most proper technique...
But as soon as it broke apart and the dry leaves somewhat balanced with the other leaves it was wonderful. I love mid aged puerh and this just reaffirms the love, amazingly sweet smooth and amazing flavor. Long aftertaste of tangerine. Notes of dark honey and fruit...

[BW85]

1999 zhen cang pin yellow mark. This cake was aged in Hong Kong natural storage, and definitely has some humidity in it with a healthy bit of white mold throughout. I broke the cake up as soon as I got it a few months back and have been waiting patiently for it to air out some. Tonight I tried my hand at refreshing this tea over the stove and gotta say, it did wonders an amazing aroma caught my nose as soon as the dry leaves hit the preheated zhuni. Very clear taste profile throughout the infusions. The flavor just hit my tongue and blossomed

Next I will take the advice and try refreshing some old shuixian

Glad you had that experience with the wet stored tea. Usually, that wet odor doesn't really go away even if you break the cake up. Refreshing is a surprising way to get rid of it. Post your results with the SX in the oolong section. I found waiting some days after refreshing even better.

The refreshing didn't necessarily get rid of the humidity, it just seemed to help bring out the more enjoyable flavors and aroma... Brought balance. I have been drinking this tea every two weeks just to see how it changes as it airs out. It had been slowly improving over the past eight weeks, but with the refreshing it was drastically improved. Hopefully it will only continue to get better

[ChaShiFu]

Started my day by brewing some powerful Bangwei, May second harvest Maocha sample and especially enjoyed the stable fresh taste, reminding me of mountainous grasslands.

[Tead Off]

1999 zhen cang pin yellow mark. This cake was aged in Hong Kong natural storage, and definitely has some humidity in it with a healthy bit of white mold throughout. I broke the cake up as soon as I got it a few months back and have been waiting patiently for it to air out some. Tonight I tried my hand at refreshing this tea over the stove and gotta say, it did wonders an amazing aroma caught my nose as soon as the dry leaves hit the preheated zhuni. Very clear taste profile throughout the infusions. The flavor just hit my tongue and blossomed

Next I will take the advice and try refreshing some old shuixian

Glad you had that experience with the wet stored tea. Usually, that wet odor doesn't really go away even if you break the cake up. Refreshing is a surprising way to get rid of it. Post your results with the SX in the oolong section. I found waiting some days after refreshing even better.

The refreshing didn't necessarily get rid of the humidity, it just seemed to help bring out the more enjoyable flavors and aroma... Brought balance. I have been drinking this tea every two weeks just to see how it changes as it airs out. It had been slowly improving over the past eight weeks, but with the refreshing it was drastically improved. Hopefully it will only continue to get better

I found the wetness fully gone after refreshing. I will check again to see if there is a return of it while sitting for a while.