Official Pu of the day

[jayinhk]

2015 Man Song Gong from Chen Yuan Hao. I am not a veteran sheng expert but this one just screamed class from the cup. Fruity, sweet, mouth coating, thick and went 20+ infusions. The kind of tea that you just know its special from the first sip. The tea is sold out and I was very lucky to get a sample. Kudos to KL Wong at Teapals.

Now that sounds like good stuff!

[dragoran]

I'm currently drinking a sample of White2Tea's Diving Duck grandpa style at work; my order arrived yesterday, and I didn't want to wait until the weekend to break into it. It's a good tea, reminding me quite a bit of last year's Poundcake, albeit with more sharpness, and perhaps a bit more complexity. There seems to be some noticeable qi on it, which is a plus.

How do you grandpa your pu erh? Is the Diving Duck a shou or a sheng? Sounds like sheng, but. Looking for general tips to grandpa sheng and shou.

It's definitely a sheng. I grandpa my tea using a travel mug (somewhere between 12-16 oz; it was a freebie and I've never measured) and a moderate amount of leaves--less than I would for gong fu, but more than you might expect. At guess, I'd say I generally use between three and five grams, but I never measure. For puerh, I'll fake a rinse by putting a little water into the mug, then pouring it out through the mostly closed lid, which acts as a filter. I'll then fill it up with hot water (from my work's coffee maker, which isn't perfect but does the trick), stir it once or twice, wait about ten minutes for the leaves to settle, then commence sipping. I'll drink it down somewhere between three quarters to halfway and then refill, re-stir, and wait a bit. Most teas will yield about four steeps this way, but I can go longer with some (White2tea's White Whale will last a good six, easily, for instance). This works pretty well for both sheng and shou, as well as black and oolong; I don't drink green tea, so I can't really say in that case. Note, though, that for sheng, the bitterness concentrates in the bottom of the cup, so if you have to drink the thing off early (say, after the second steep), it can be a serious gut-bomb.

Today, I'm drinking White2tea's Tyler, grandpa-ed as per my earlier description. I'm finding it thicker than advertised (though that may be due to overleafing; once the leaves expanded, they filled at least half the cup), with a pleasant, slick mouthfeel. There was some definite sweetness in the first steep or two along with some pronounced bitterness/astrigency; over time, the sweetness receded, and I was left mostly with a not unpleasant mild bitterness. Not a lot of top taste, per se, but a quite complex tea overall and I'm looking forward to gong-fuing it.

Yesterday, I had some of my Poundcake gourd to validate my Diving Duck comparisons; turns out I was pretty off the mark. The top taste on Poundcake was much more muted, lacking the barnyard (?) qualities of Diving Duck. It's possible that Poundcake tasted more similar fresh, but I'm not sure. It may just have been an odd portion of the leaf, as well, since my gong-fu session a week ago had more of the barnyard funk on it that I associate with the tea (this is not a bad thing; my wife described it as pumpkin-like).

I also tried the Daily Drinker, which was a really pleasant Menghai-ish tea with some sweet, almost citric character. It reminds me a lot of White2Tea's Green Mushroom from last year, though it's not nearly the creamsicle orange bomb that one is. Definitely an enjoyable tea, though; I had to stop myself from quaffing it.

[daidokorocha]

Thank you for the detailed explanation! Sounds like more or less grandpaing oolong and green tea. I am almost shocked you do not drink green tea! There are many good Yunnan, Vietnamese, etc. green teas that you'd probably like if you enjoy pu-erh. Although, I suppose if one is happy with pu-erh, no need to move into the green territory necessarily. I have not had pu-erh at all in the last month. Perhaps I'll give the grandpa a go with some sheng. Not sure which I will use yet. I would want to try the CCNP 2005 anniversary cake I have but I have so little of that and I like it so much that I do not want to finish it off experimenting with it.

[jayinhk]

Drinking the traditional storage 7542 I offer on the site. Really easy drinking after the Thai gaoshan I started the morning with yesterday. I'm on infusion six or seven now (I think) and the storage really makes the tea much easier on the tummy. I'm getting some good huigan play today, too, using HK tap water. I see why MarshalN uses local tap water most of the time--our water is fine, but ethan and TeadOff were right about the Brita doing something weird to the water. I used spring water from the Italian Alps for the first few infusions before accidentally refilling the kettle with tap water, and noticed a difference for sure, but the tea is still good. Great start to the morning. Starting with maocha or gaoshan every day would be rough, so it's nice to have aged sheng and shu on hand for when my tummy needs a rest!

[kuánglóng]

Had another session with that "Nepali temple" Mengku some days ago and 4 days later the tasting cup still distinctively carries that oh so familiar, perfumely smell. Wow.

[dragoran]

Thank you for the detailed explanation! Sounds like more or less grandpaing oolong and green tea. I am almost shocked you do not drink green tea! There are many good Yunnan, Vietnamese, etc. green teas that you'd probably like if you enjoy pu-erh. Although, I suppose if one is happy with pu-erh, no need to move into the green territory necessarily. I have not had pu-erh at all in the last month. Perhaps I'll give the grandpa a go with some sheng. Not sure which I will use yet. I would want to try the CCNP 2005 anniversary cake I have but I have so little of that and I like it so much that I do not want to finish it off experimenting with it.

No problem. As far as green tea goes, I pretty much started on blacks, and got into puerhs through shous. I've since become a sheng diehard, but that took some time. I don't dislike greens, but they've never grabbed me as much as other types of teas; I may revisit them at some point, but I've got more than enough puerh to keep me happy at the moment. As far as being reluctant to experiment, I can't say I blame you; I tend not to grandpa anything too expensive/gushu, myself.

As far as tea goes, I continued my march through White2Tea's spring lineup today, albeit with a gaiwan since I was brewing from the comfort of my own home. I started the morning off with Head, which struck me as incredibly savory. Most of the bitterness seemed concentrated in the back, and I honestly didn't notice it that much. My wife, on the other hand, found it profoundly bitter and essentially undrinkable. While I enjoyed it (I like bitter tea), I had a gradually worsening headache at the time. I'll need to revisit it when I'm feeling better.

By the afternoon, I had mostly recovered and so gave Into the Mystic a try. This one started out very clean in the first steep or two, but quickly developed a powerful, tobacco-like bitterness; my wife liked it for the first three steeps, but by the fourth steep was outmatched. It stayed on the side of drinkable for me, and I was rewarded in my persistence with a sweet, almost honeydew-melon-like flavor that emerged as the bitterness receded. The qi was mildly stimulating with this one and the caffeine potent. On the balance, I enjoyed it quite a bit; it's on my potential-buy list now.

Oddly, there's a review of this tea on Badger and Blade that differs substantially from mine, mentioning a cinnamon-like doughiness that I didn't get at all and comparing it to Bosch (it struck me as more classically Menghai/Bulang-like, with some of the flavor of New Amerykah 2). I'm vaguely suspicious that my sample may have been mislabeled (or, I suppose, that I pulled from the wrong pouch), but that's probably unlikely. Maybe differences in water quality or yet another failure of memory? Another one to revisit; not that I'll mind.

[Rui]

This morning I am sipping W2T's 2016 Untitled 02. Oily and slightly bitter but of a beautiful yellow colour and very transparent.

[Rui]

Today I am sipping the second tea from Chen Sheng Hao, the commemorative Year of the Horse 2014 Dao Cha raw pu'er. It has a beautiful warm yellow colour, very aromatic, little astringency and/or bitterness and very yummy taste wise. If all their teas are like the two I have tried I am their fan.

Chen Sheng Hao also distributes the famous sheng teas from Lao Ban Zhang village and their story can be found in Wilson's blog:

http://teapotnews.blogspot.fr/2016/07/a ... story.html

[Rui]

Enough of young sheng for a couple of days. Today is the turn of 2005 Young Pin Hao Bamboo House.

[Frisbeehead]

Just finished a session of the yangqinghao tejipin, which lasted a couple days. It has just the right amount of camphor and menthol to make it interesting to drink, alongside the sweetness and smoothness. I have a half of a cake of the teji now, having split it with someone, and I think I will end up buying a whole cake of it sometime in the future. Really enjoyable tea.

[kuánglóng]

Sipping the last 6gms of 2014 Yunnan Sourcing Autumn Qing Mei Shan Old Arbor raw pu'er. I enjoyed ths tea's sample of 25gms.

I am also enjoying this 2014 Qing Mei Shan old arbor pu er sample
What I like about this tea is that it can give me the energy to move on the whole day
Not astringent with moderate after taste
Brew 4 g in my yixing 60 ml 'cup pot ' ( self invention)

This morning I am sipping the 2015 Qing Mei Shan. Smooth with a very nice sweet aftertaste.

A+

I have been drinking 2014 Qing Mei Shan daily since last week
Luckily I accidentally ordered 25g x 2

Me too - 25g for me and the other 25g for a friend - enough to get a good impression and to order a cake. This seems like some pretty deep and dynamic young sheng.

[jayinhk]

Drank a shu/sheng mix made of ten to twenty-year-old traditional storage cakes. Smells very wet when purchased, but after a year of airing out, it is absolutely lovely. From a Cantonese family that specializes in pu erh. The tea is sweet and smooth and has no storage flavor at all after airing out. This is my favorite loose pu. Such a pleasure to drink!

[Frisbeehead]

Sipping the last 6gms of 2014 Yunnan Sourcing Autumn Qing Mei Shan Old Arbor raw pu'er. I enjoyed ths tea's sample of 25gms.

I am also enjoying this 2014 Qing Mei Shan old arbor pu er sample
What I like about this tea is that it can give me the energy to move on the whole day
Not astringent with moderate after taste
Brew 4 g in my yixing 60 ml 'cup pot ' ( self invention)

This morning I am sipping the 2015 Qing Mei Shan. Smooth with a very nice sweet aftertaste.

A+

I have been drinking 2014 Qing Mei Shan daily since last week
Luckily I accidentally ordered 25g x 2

Me too - 25g for me and the other 25g for a friend - enough to get a good impression and to order a cake. This seems like some pretty deep and dynamic young sheng.

Just ordered a cake of that 2014 qing mei shan along with the 2015 da qing gushu, looking forward to getting them. I've heard good things about both, and they'll be my first Yunnan Sourcing house cakes.

Also got a sample of the 2015 mang zhi, as I was interested in the 2016 version but the .us site doesn't have the 2016 puerh yet.

[kuánglóng]

Just ordered a cake of that 2014 qing mei shan along with the 2015 da qing gushu, looking forward to getting them. I've heard good things about both, and they'll be my first Yunnan Sourcing house cakes.

I've got a couple house bings from YS, but the 2014 Qing Mei Shan and especially the 2013 Da Si are my favorites.

Just received a nice parcel from bannacha today; looking forward to another tea st@ned weekend

[Frisbeehead]

Just ordered a cake of that 2014 qing mei shan along with the 2015 da qing gushu, looking forward to getting them. I've heard good things about both, and they'll be my first Yunnan Sourcing house cakes.

I've got a couple house bings from YS, but the 2014 Qing Mei Shan and especially the 2013 Da Si are my favorites.

Just received a nice parcel from bannacha today; looking forward to another tea st@ned weekend

I'll remember that, next time I order I'll try the Da Si as well.

What did you pick up from bannacha? I have a friend that ordered from them not too long ago, he's liked everything so far.

Edit: Actually my friend ordered from Bana tea co., not bannacha. I always get confused between the two