Official Pu of the day

[jayinhk]

Thank goodness I am not in HK. Even though there is humidity in and around London indoors it does not get high enough to create mold, at least in our home.

Sipping a very nice YUNNAN SOURCING "WA LONG VILLAGE" YI WU OLD ARBOR sample that I had.

Tomorrow and the next few days I need to work on the rest of White2Tea's 2015 Bosch and then move on to pastures new.

Mold or not, my tea comes along very very well here! No complaints on that front, and factory cakes at China prices thanks to Taobao!

Some 2016 cakes are out. How are 6FTM cakes?

Actually I have never tried any 6FTM teas. I must try it sometime

Since I cannot speak or ready Mandarin, Taobao is out of question for me. Usually I get tea cakes from King Tea in Ali Express and so far they have been very good and genuine.

Of the 2016 cakes I have already bought these, all related to the Chinese New Year:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2016-AnN ... 31764.html

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2016TAE- ... 41662.html

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/K2016-Da ... 50938.html

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/K2016-Ch ... 29169.html

From here you can guess what Chinese sign I am.

And if I tell you I am a Fire Monkey, then you know my age...

Were you born in 1956?? I'm a gold monkey

[Rui]

Were you born in 1956?? I'm a gold monkey

Yep. Now we know each other's ages!!!

[jayinhk]

Were you born in 1956?? I'm a gold monkey

Yep. Now we know each other's ages!!!

And now I'm tempted to buy Monkey cakes!

[debunix]

No particular desire to buy cakes by astrological sign, but the post about sale of a puerh collection prompted me to grab a sample from Yunnan Sourcing: 2011 Man Tang Hong Gong shu. It's been a lovely session, and sadly I only have one more session's worth of this one.

[Rui]

Were you born in 1956?? I'm a gold monkey

Yep. Now we know each other's ages!!!

And now I'm tempted to buy Monkey cakes!

Yunnan Sourcing tea samples club has one of them this month. I can pre-taste now.

[stevorama]

No particular desire to buy cakes by astrological sign, but the post about sale of a puerh collection prompted me to grab a sample from Yunnan Sourcing: 2011 Man Tang Hong Gong shu. It's been a lovely session, and sadly I only have one more session's worth of this one.

That is a good one. I considered buying more of that in the past, but went for the Hui Run instead. It's still available from YS (the man tang hong I mean.)

[jayinhk]

I'll have to try the Man Tong Hong or maybe just buy a cake since you both like it!

[stevorama]

I'll have to try the Man Tong Hong or maybe just buy a cake since you both like it!

There's a few cakes in that "Man Tang Hong" series. If I recall correctly I most enjoyed the gong ting and #2.

[jayinhk]

I'll have to try the Man Tong Hong or maybe just buy a cake since you both like it!

There's a few cakes in that "Man Tang Hong" series. If I recall correctly I most enjoyed the gong ting and #2.

Thanks, apparently Scott has a tea house in Kunming. If so, I can hang out there and sample teas at my leisure!

[jayinhk]

Drinking Yipinjia Lanhao 2006 Ripe--a sample from a TeaChat member from Israel that I never got around to. It's been unintentionally aged in a ziplock for the last few years! High compression on the piece of the bing that I got; two rinses barely opened it up, and two infusions and it's still mostly compressed. The first infusion wasn't very nice at all (rubber-tasting) but the second infusion is much better. Still a little of that burnt rubber taste to it, and it's somewhat sour, but not totally unpleasant. I sure as heck wouldn't buy this cake though when there is much better shu out there.

[jayinhk]

2015 Chawangpu Xiao Hu Sai Old Tree Cake (sheng). Lovely tea. Smooth, sweet and calming with great energy and gushu taste. Strong huigan too. I have three in my cart, but I'm going to try and hold out until I'm in Kunming! Gonna be a rough few months of not buying pu erh!

[mr mopu]

2015 Chawangpu Xiao Hu Sai Old Tree Cake (sheng). Lovely tea. Smooth, sweet and calming with great energy and gushu taste. Strong huigan too. I have three in my cart, but I'm going to try and hold out until I'm in Kunming! Gonna be a rough few months of not buying pu erh!

I have one of these aging away. I may need to pull it out and give it a whirl.

[jayinhk]

2015 Chawangpu Xiao Hu Sai Old Tree Cake (sheng). Lovely tea. Smooth, sweet and calming with great energy and gushu taste. Strong huigan too. I have three in my cart, but I'm going to try and hold out until I'm in Kunming! Gonna be a rough few months of not buying pu erh!

I have one of these aging away. I may need to pull it out and give it a whirl.

I wonder how well this tea will age as it feels...delicate. Very smooth and pleasant now, but no bitterness, even when pushed, and lots of subtlety that might fade away with time, leaving something bland. I could be wrong, but one thing I know for sure is that it is very nice tea for drinking now, and inexpensive too.

[stevorama]

I wonder how well this tea will age as it feels...delicate. Very smooth and pleasant now, but no bitterness, even when pushed, and lots of subtlety that might fade away with time, leaving something bland. I could be wrong, but one thing I know for sure is that it is very nice tea for drinking now, and inexpensive too.

Check back in 10 years or so! Seems like a long time, but will go by in no time.

[stevorama]

2010 Big Classic Jing Mai Old Arbor shou pu. Cherry and wood (for lack of a more fanciful descriptor.) Hints of vanilla. Pleasant mouth feel. Is good on a rainy day.