Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

One of the intentionally aged teas, Pu-Erh has a loyal following.


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Apr 15th, '16, 08:22
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Re: Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

by jayinhk » Apr 15th, '16, 08:22

Nighttrain wrote:hi - I just ordered a bunch of liu bao.

I have a yixing dedicated to ripe puer. I'm wondering what people think of me using it for the liu bao too? Or is that bad idea jeans? Should I stick to gaiwan?

Thanks!
I use my ripe pu erh Yixings for hei cha. :) And even traditionally stored sheng.

Apr 23rd, '16, 02:48
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Re: Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

by shah82 » Apr 23rd, '16, 02:48

white2tea tea of the month club log from anhua county in Hunan.

exceeded expectations. Very smoky, and needs to ditch first couple of brews. However, consistently has a pleasant layer of sweetness underneath smoke. Good viscosity and durability. I kind of thought that it's better than bad factory sheng like the bad Xiaguans you can find out there.

Apr 23rd, '16, 20:59
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Re: Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

by benm3 » Apr 23rd, '16, 20:59

shah82 wrote:white2tea tea of the month club log from anhua county in Hunan.

exceeded expectations. Very smoky, and needs to ditch first couple of brews. However, consistently has a pleasant layer of sweetness underneath smoke. Good viscosity and durability. I kind of thought that it's better than bad factory sheng like the bad Xiaguans you can find out there.
It is so smoky! But it is sweet and very thick. Maybe the smoke dissipates and in 20 years it's super awesome. Maybe not. I wish I knew more about Heicha. Puerh (yes I know it's technically a heicha too) is getting too dang expensive.

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Apr 27th, '16, 12:05
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Re: Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

by honza » Apr 27th, '16, 12:05

what is the Hunan smoky heicha look like ? There is Tian jian in bamboo baskets which is traditionaly smoked and there
is kind of taste with Lapsang but is not smoky like sheng or so, very different. Tian jian is tea for future drinking and long storage, the taste will become very unique after 20-30 years.

Apr 27th, '16, 19:27
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Re: Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

by Cwyn » Apr 27th, '16, 19:27

Honza, it is like "Zhu Xiang Ji" but tied with hemp instead of white cotton string, and no tea company name. But same bamboo log. I have seen this log on another vendor also, but I wonder if these smoky ones are 2nd quality, and the price is $10 lower. I have your Zhu Xiang Ji which airs out sweet, not smoky at all, which I think is 1st quality. Just a guess on my part.

Air out the smoky one, people. It might taste different in a year. I am waiting to try that one for some time.

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Apr 30th, '16, 11:18
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Re: Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

by jayinhk » Apr 30th, '16, 11:18

EoT's SSHC liu bao (1970s). Got this as a sample with a purchase of two pots. Upon opening the bag, it looked like traditional storage loose shu, and even smelled like HK storage. Light frosting of mold on the leaves. This tea has definitely seen considerable humidity. In lower-fired zini, the humid storage is still evident, but so is the sweet/salty/sour taste of liu bao.
Nothing else in terms of flavor seems evident because of the storage (traditional storage removes much of the flavor from tea), but this tea is very calming--good cha qi. Very smooth, too, so the storage wasn't excessively humid either, which can make tea rough on the throat.

Props to EoT for bringing a 1970s Penang-storage liu bao to market. Well worth trying if you like the sounds of this liu bao! While I probably won't pick any up, if this sounds like your cup of tea, you know where to go! Always a pleasure to drink tea older than me!

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May 30th, '16, 01:52
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Re: Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

by jayinhk » May 30th, '16, 01:52

Drinking fu cha from Shaanxi, supposedly the home of fu tea. Very smooth and clean tasting; black tea flavors along with the characteristic fu flavor, but mild with nice, thick mouthfeel. Lovely! The golden flowers are evident because of the humidity here, and there are bugs in my hei cha and pu erh--summer is definitely here!

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May 30th, '16, 23:03
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Re: Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

by stevorama » May 30th, '16, 23:03

jayinhk wrote:Drinking fu cha from Shaanxi, supposedly the home of fu tea. Very smooth and clean tasting; black tea flavors along with the characteristic fu flavor, but mild with nice, thick mouthfeel. Lovely! The golden flowers are evident because of the humidity here, and there are bugs in my hei cha and pu erh--summer is definitely here!
What kinda bugs?

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Re: Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

by stevorama » May 30th, '16, 23:06

CNNP 90s Liu Bao from Chawangshop. Very smooth, pleasant, with some depth.

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Re: Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

by jayinhk » May 31st, '16, 00:42

stevorama wrote:
jayinhk wrote:Drinking fu cha from Shaanxi, supposedly the home of fu tea. Very smooth and clean tasting; black tea flavors along with the characteristic fu flavor, but mild with nice, thick mouthfeel. Lovely! The golden flowers are evident because of the humidity here, and there are bugs in my hei cha and pu erh--summer is definitely here!
What kinda bugs?
I have no idea. They look like tiny mites and move very slowly. I get them some years (when the temp and humidity are especially high). They're gone again as mysteriously as they appeared and here in HK, they actually sell their droppings at a high price as a specialty of sorts!

Bugs...good in pu erh, bad in cigars. ;)

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May 31st, '16, 01:01
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Re: Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

by stevorama » May 31st, '16, 01:01

jayinhk wrote:
stevorama wrote:
jayinhk wrote:Drinking fu cha from Shaanxi, supposedly the home of fu tea. Very smooth and clean tasting; black tea flavors along with the characteristic fu flavor, but mild with nice, thick mouthfeel. Lovely! The golden flowers are evident because of the humidity here, and there are bugs in my hei cha and pu erh--summer is definitely here!
What kinda bugs?
I have no idea. They look like tiny mites and move very slowly. I get them some years (when the temp and humidity are especially high). They're gone again as mysteriously as they appeared and here in HK, they actually sell their droppings at a high price as a specialty of sorts!

Bugs...good in pu erh, bad in cigars. ;)
I have something similar. Very, very tiny mites. Although they can move fast. I've noticed them mostly associated with bamboo wrapping and under bamboo tongs. There are very few of them, but I see one here and there. I see them occasionally in other parts of my house too. I've yet to see droppings, but I'll be on the lookout for that specialty item! :wink:

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May 31st, '16, 01:07
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Re: Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

by jayinhk » May 31st, '16, 01:07

stevorama wrote:
jayinhk wrote:
stevorama wrote:
jayinhk wrote:Drinking fu cha from Shaanxi, supposedly the home of fu tea. Very smooth and clean tasting; black tea flavors along with the characteristic fu flavor, but mild with nice, thick mouthfeel. Lovely! The golden flowers are evident because of the humidity here, and there are bugs in my hei cha and pu erh--summer is definitely here!
What kinda bugs?
I have no idea. They look like tiny mites and move very slowly. I get them some years (when the temp and humidity are especially high). They're gone again as mysteriously as they appeared and here in HK, they actually sell their droppings at a high price as a specialty of sorts!

Bugs...good in pu erh, bad in cigars. ;)
I have something similar. Very, very tiny mites. Although they can move fast. I've noticed them mostly associated with bamboo wrapping and under bamboo tongs. There are very few of them, but I see one here and there. I see them occasionally in other parts of my house too. I've yet to see droppings, but I'll be on the lookout for that specialty item! :wink:
Mine definitely don't move quickly...maybe they're tea drunk ;) I think the droppings issue is more of an issue in HK warehouses, where the humidity and heat get nice and high in summer (80-95 F, and humidity from 85-100%).

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Re: Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

by Cwyn » May 31st, '16, 02:06

JakubT wrote:
Jaymo wrote:I had the 80s Vive Teji Liu Bao from SampleTea awhile back and enjoyed it quite a bit. It had the same earthy/soil notes that I like in some shu and traditional/wet stored sheng puerh. It was definitely darker/more earthy than pu though. I've been meaning to include more liu bao in orders, but haven't ordered from anywhere lately that has any decent looking lu bao.


Chawangshop looks like it has quite a large variety of various types of heicha. Anyone tried much of theirs? If so, how was it?

http://www.chawangshop.com/index.php/hei-cha.html
Chawangshop is probably the best source of heicha I'm aware of. For me, even the best of heicha is usually not better than a very nice puerh, but then again, heicha is a lot cheaper, especially in the aged tea section.

E.g., this one tastes lovely (it's less earthy than most heichas, rather nutty and fruity, almost like Tie Guan Yin in a way): http://www.chawangshop.com/index.php/he ... -200g.html
Fu zhuans from Hunan are usually very nice (they're based around yellow mold, so make sure you're not subconsciously scared of such things)

This is a good tea with a feeling of aged tea - the taste isn't very strong or exciting, but it's a good, deep, calming tea: http://www.chawangshop.com/index.php/he ... -500g.html

Thumbs up on those two. The Ya'an brick has gone up in price a bit since I bought it.

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Re: Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

by jayinhk » Jun 8th, '16, 23:56

Drinking Hong Kong luk on (liu an) that is sold as 'aged.' Tasted relatively young when I bought it (clean, with no fermentation flavors whatsoever), and it was very reasonably priced compared to shu pu erh.

I've had it sitting at my office downtown for four years. Decided to check it out yesterday and I could smell some wet aromas (it's so humid at times that ebony carvings and even fiberglass gets moldy)! The tea has softened significantly and lost the aroma it had when fresh, and it has started to smell and taste more aged pu erh-like. Really quite pleasant, but a little bitter when brewed strong. I would like to have a room just for aging tea in; if that becomes a reality, I'll buy several kilos of this stuff to age as I bet it'll be lovely down the line! IMO this tea has changed dramatically in four years, but considering it's been sitting in a room by the harbour, close to where many of HK's tea warehouses are, I shouldn't be surprised.

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Re: Which HEI CHA are you drinking?

by Cwyn » Jun 10th, '16, 00:20

jayinhk wrote:Drinking Hong Kong luk on (liu an) that is sold as 'aged.' Tasted relatively young when I bought it (clean, with no fermentation flavors whatsoever), and it was very reasonably priced compared to shu pu erh.

I've had it sitting at my office downtown for four years. Decided to check it out yesterday and I could smell some wet aromas (it's so humid at times that ebony carvings and even fiberglass gets moldy)! The tea has softened significantly and lost the aroma it had when fresh, and it has started to smell and taste more aged pu erh-like. Really quite pleasant, but a little bitter when brewed strong. I would like to have a room just for aging tea in; if that becomes a reality, I'll buy several kilos of this stuff to age as I bet it'll be lovely down the line! IMO this tea has changed dramatically in four years, but considering it's been sitting in a room by the harbour, close to where many of HK's tea warehouses are, I shouldn't be surprised.

Sounds very tasty! :P

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