Official Pu of the day

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


Dec 16th, '12, 07:53
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by ChengduCha » Dec 16th, '12, 07:53

Had this shu pu later on, which my favorite tea shop owner sold me for 85RMB, which is a very reasonable price for the quality in my opinion.

Great shu for the money. Good mouthfeel, develops to a solid sweetness, sometimes has a stronger mint taste next to the sweetness depending on the piece of the brick, calming cha qi. Can be infused for a long time until it flats out.

Astringency - none
Smoke - some
Dryness-(mouth) - strong
Mouthfeel - heavy
Hui gan - strong
Flavor - excellent
Overall value - excellent
Purchase again - absolutley

Maybe someone can ID it? Sorry for the crappy picture quality.
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Dec 16th, '12, 14:32
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Math » Dec 16th, '12, 14:32

Drinking a Nannuo old tree raw cake made out of 2005 maocha. Nice, develops some nice honey sweetness in later infusions. Also has a somewhat bitter zesty sourness that I don't mind. All in all an ok tea, nowhere near anything extraordinairy, but a nice cup to drink while surfing teachat.

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Dec 16th, '12, 20:49
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Chip » Dec 16th, '12, 20:49

ChengduCha wrote:
Hannah wrote:I noticed the taste was a bit.. um.. coppery? (is this normal?)
Might be your water - try distilled water which is also sold as purified water, or you drank it too hot - I sometimes have a coppery side taste if I didn't let the tea cool down a bit.
I don't think the so called purified waters such as Aquafina which have added minerals for "improved taste" have been distilled. Distilled water is going to give teas a flat taste and is a different process of purification.

I believe these waters are advanced filtered using systems such as R.O.

I could be wrong ...

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Dec 17th, '12, 14:16
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by blairswhitaker » Dec 17th, '12, 14:16

drinking a bit of 2010 V93, on a grey and cloudy morning here in San Diego. this is about the lowest on the value scale I can go and still find enjoyable. All in all though I find this to be a vary good tea for the cost. Has a lot of very small leaf around the top of the tou that then works to some bigger leaves. the bigger leaves really help add some character.

Dec 18th, '12, 10:32
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by chin » Dec 18th, '12, 10:32

hi chengducha,

I own the Big Snow Mountain for year 2010, 2011 and 2012. Just wanna ask did your 2006 Big Snow Mountain taste fruitty or a bit of red dates taste? Btw, where are you from???

ChengduCha wrote:Had some 2006 Mengku * Big Snow Mountain * Wild Raw Pu-erh from YS today.

Nice thick and bold taste with very little bitterness. Great sheng for it's age, lasts a bit longer than similar aged shengs too and a nice sweet finish.

Astringency - some
Smoke - some
Dryness-(mouth) - some
Mouthfeel - heavy
Hui gan - some
Flavor - excellent
Overall value - excellent
Purchase again - absolutley

Dec 19th, '12, 07:54
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by ChengduCha » Dec 19th, '12, 07:54

chin wrote:hi chengducha,

I own the Big Snow Mountain for year 2010, 2011 and 2012. Just wanna ask did your 2006 Big Snow Mountain taste fruitty or a bit of red dates taste? Btw,
I'm not good at putting tastes into words, but it has a less light floral tastes than many other shengs at this age and a stronger flavor that I can't easily describe. Definitely not too fruity, but I'll drink some again tomorrow so I can give you a better answer. :D
where are you from???
I'm not Chinese but I'm living in China.

Dec 19th, '12, 08:02
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by ChengduCha » Dec 19th, '12, 08:02

Had some 1999 Gu Pu Er "Ye Sheng Lao Cha Shu" Half Ripened Pu-erh from YS today.

Tastes like ashtray and doesn't develop into anything else. :(

Definetely not the "Very clean and complex taste!" as advertised, but I guess I was just unlucky. In general I have no complaints about YS otherwise.

Dec 19th, '12, 09:17
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by ChengduCha » Dec 19th, '12, 09:17

I just tried some "2011 Yunnan Sourcing "Hui Run" Ripe Pu-erh" as recommended by shah82 and it's definitely a great value cake at currently $16 for the cold winter months.

It takes 4-5 infusions to warm up, when it still has a medicinal taste and a bit bitterness without any sweetness and then it develops into a nice sweet brew with a strong recurring sweetness and some slight pleasant bitterness that rounds up the taste very well.

Astringency - some
Smoke - none
Dryness-(mouth) - none
Mouthfeel - medium
Hui gan - strong
Flavor - excellent
Overall value - excellent
Purchase again - absolutley

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Dec 19th, '12, 14:16
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by blairswhitaker » Dec 19th, '12, 14:16

ChengduCha wrote:I just tried some "2011 Yunnan Sourcing "Hui Run" Ripe Pu-erh" as recommended by shah82 and it's definitely a great value cake at currently $16 for the cold winter months.

It takes 4-5 infusions to warm up, when it still has a medicinal taste and a bit bitterness without any sweetness and then it develops into a nice sweet brew with a strong recurring sweetness and some slight pleasant bitterness that rounds up the taste very well.

Astringency - some
Smoke - none
Dryness-(mouth) - none
Mouthfeel - medium
Hui gan - strong
Flavor - excellent
Overall value - excellent
Purchase again - absolutley

Thanks for the review on this cake I have been on the fence about this one for a little while now. It sound pretty good, but I do have a question. did you notice any chaqi from this tea? I believe this may be one of those rare shu's that actually has some chaqi and that is what attracts me to this purchase. let me know thank you.

Dec 19th, '12, 20:10
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by chin » Dec 19th, '12, 20:10

I agree with you when you have detect the floral taste. Initially it will have the floral taste and a stronger flavour that is hard to describe. As far as i know, these flavour and taste will slowly turn into some plum sourness/sweetness and a taste of dried red dates.
ChengduCha wrote:
chin wrote:hi chengducha,

I own the Big Snow Mountain for year 2010, 2011 and 2012. Just wanna ask did your 2006 Big Snow Mountain taste fruitty or a bit of red dates taste? Btw,
I'm not good at putting tastes into words, but it has a less light floral tastes than many other shengs at this age and a stronger flavor that I can't easily describe. Definitely not too fruity, but I'll drink some again tomorrow so I can give you a better answer. :D
where are you from???
I'm not Chinese but I'm living in China.

Dec 19th, '12, 23:59
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by ChengduCha » Dec 19th, '12, 23:59

blairswhitaker wrote: Thanks for the review on this cake I have been on the fence about this one for a little while now. It sound pretty good, but I do have a question. did you notice any chaqi from this tea? I believe this may be one of those rare shu's that actually has some chaqi and that is what attracts me to this purchase. let me know thank you.
I didn't notice any and neither did the people I shared it with, just some rather strong caffeine for a shu.

I think cha qi in shus is only harder to find in the lower end price range.

If I go to a random tea shop here and tell the owner to let me try some shu in the 100RMB range (~$16), I'll hardly ever come across any cha qi.

Dec 20th, '12, 02:17
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by ChengduCha » Dec 20th, '12, 02:17

chin wrote:I agree with you when you have detect the floral taste. Initially it will have the floral taste and a stronger flavour that is hard to describe. As far as i know, these flavour and taste will slowly turn into some plum sourness/sweetness and a taste of dried red dates.
Here are my more detailed tasting notes from today just for you. :D

The strong taste I referred to is kind of barely or malt or maybe date without any sweetness for the first two infusions. It's hard to describe. Then it tones down a bit. The liquor is a strong yellow that borders orange and it becomes a bit sweet after the fourth infusion. After the fifth infusion the color turns lighter. There is no floral taste and it's aged very well for it's age. I assume it was stored in a humid climate. I might do some more infusions later but I'm pretty full of tea right now. :D
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Dec 20th, '12, 22:45
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by fdrx » Dec 20th, '12, 22:45

I'm drinking a too small sample of a too good Xigui and i think it will be hard to go back to real pu-life tomorrow after something like that... But at least it made me realize that several samples i had this year were using leaves from this region (fall guangya for example... Edit: their fall sample kit was 20 rmb on taobao...... and, yes, the price of these beengs is insane even if they are very good....)[Edit: can be also something around huangcaoba]

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Dec 21st, '12, 01:07
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by jayinhk » Dec 21st, '12, 01:07

Last night, just for kicks, I decided to brew my favorite shu/sheng house blend from an old school HK dealer in the neighborhood in my new high fire oolong Yixing.

While I originally thought it looked very similar to my pu erh Yixing, the pot that was recommended to me by the dealer was fired differently and is much thinner than my pu erh pot.

Bad idea--the pot brought out the mustiness and earthiness of the tea in a very unpleasant way. I happened to be drinking tea with a companion who never drinks pu erh with me. She had one cup and then immediately refused anymore. I felt much the same way, but dutifully drank it.

I've learned my lesson...Yixings are definitely better suited to certain types of teas. In my normal pu erh pot, the tea would have been very pleasant indeed. Conversely, high fire oolong in my pu erh pot tastes flavorless.

Dec 22nd, '12, 00:12
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by ChengduCha » Dec 22nd, '12, 00:12

I tried these YS teas yesterday:

2011 Yunnan Sourcing "Man Tang Hong Number 2" Ripe Pu-erh

This is probably the sweetest shu pu I ever had. I suspect YS added sugar to this. :P

If you want to introduce people to pu erh that like sweet stuff this'd be the pu of choice. It's a tad too sweet for my taste, so I personally wouldn't buy it again for myself, but this seems to be my mother in laws favorite so far. It's pressed rock hard and it takes quite a few infusions to really break up. It's sweet from the start, doesn't develop much only only tones down after 10 infusions or so, which is not a bad thing if you like sweet pu.

2012 Yunnan Sourcing "Ye Sheng Cha" Wild Tree Purple Tea of Dehong

I also tried this one for one infusion but the taste is not my cup of tea (pun intended :D), so I quickly discarded it. I'd describe the flavor as heavily smoked mackerel with some green tea or light sheng.

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