Proper young sheng brewing?

[hop_goblin]

My concerns are in the production of mass market puerh. Unlike Japanese green tea or high grade Chinese green, puerh production in Yunnan are not as clean and careful as consumer might think. So brewing it with under boil temp. would be like having undercooked ground beef from unreliable sources? Just my thought.

If memory serves me correctly water of 140F can kill the most persistant of bactium. Now mind you this is sanitizing and not sterilizing the leaf which is sufficient.

Of course we are not sterilizing the leaf on the less than 3 sec. quick wash ~ hop. The water just need to be hot enough to wash off the natural animal oil and dust that got caught on the leaves which share the same floor with those animal, eg: Chicken, dogs, cats, or occasional piggies. Perhaps the flies or the roaches that landed on the mao cha for the party? Just the peace of mind.

DANGIT TIM! WHY WHY WHY WHY!!!!!

[TIM]

It's OK.... It's only a bad dream. If you can't taste it yet, it's not there.

[hop_goblin]

It's OK.... It's only a bad dream. If you can't taste it yet, it's not there.

Ok, well, I always knew that pu was not the best sanitary of things when I have found cigarette butts, gravel, feathers, shoe string, and ect.

[bryan_drinks_tea]

I collect all the funny things that I find in my pu and put it in a jar. I even make note of what object was found in what cake.

I'm not too worried about most of the bacteria. Our ancestors ate "dirty" food and water, just as some of us do. Our bodies are designed to fight that sort of thing off.

[silverneedles]

Our ancestors ate "dirty" food and water, just as some of us do. Our bodies are designed to fight that sort of thing off.

really. life expectancy must be pretty much the same then throughout the millennia

[gingkoseto]

The proper way to drink young shen is to wait another 20 years....

Wow, You must have been drinking some seriously bad young sheng cha to illicit that kind of reaction

It may not be related to good or bad quality. Some well-seasoned Chinese tea experts believe "the proper way to drink young sheng is to wait for xx years". Not all the people agree on this, but I've found debates around this quite interesting.

[zhi zheng]

"the proper way to drink young sheng is to wait for xx years"

That looks like a quote! Can you reveal your source?

[gingkoseto]

It may not be related to good or bad quality. Some well-seasoned Chinese tea experts believe "the proper way to drink young sheng is to wait for xx years". Not all the people agree on this, but I've found debates around this quite interesting.

That looks like a quote! Can you reveal your source?

I quoted it from tenuki's words, which is an opinion shared by many people (and of course is objected by many other people).

For example, here is an advocate who voiced this opinion

"I believe sheng is only unfinished product which is not qualified as a 'puerh'. Only after necessary storing (*15 years or so in his opinion) and biochemical changes, the tea can gain characters and qualities of 'puerh'." Liu Qinjin in his 2009 book Appreciation and Brewing of Pu'er Tea.

Liu's idea is consistent with 2003 Yunnan Province Standards for Puerh (DB53/103-2003), which was somewhat different from the 2006 and 2008 versions of Province Standards and National Standards for puerh. It's interesting to think about why these differences happened.

[tatatizia]

The proper way to drink young shen is to wait another 20 years....

I'm agree with you

[bryan_drinks_tea]

Our ancestors ate "dirty" food and water, just as some of us do. Our bodies are designed to fight that sort of thing off.

really. life expectancy must be pretty much the same then throughout the millennia

I understand what you're saying, but it still doesn't change the fact that people eat and drink things that aren't completely clean. also, yes, we are living much longer due to better healthcare and sanitation.

[zhi zheng]

Yes, Yunnan's current "Puer tea is suitable for long term storage" is pretty bland, but it's probably wise for them not to say much more.

And whilst I don't find Liu's statement perjorative, it's still far too general to be meaningful; what tea? stored where and how? There are so many factors that will influence the ageing of tea that to put a time-frame on it is IMO of little value.

As I read it, Liu doesn't actually go so far as to specify a time-frame. The 15 years comes from his quote from Qi Kang Biao, but Qi's statement is, to me, slightly different. So the 15 years (and 8 years for shou cha) apparently deemed necessary by Qi to be categorized as 'Mature Puer' tea is implied and I assume (since it's in his book) tacitly accepted by Liu.

And yes, I agree, it's good to look at who is saying what and why as the economic/ political forces informing these statements are not insignificant

[JAS-eTea Guy]

There are a whole slew of things that can make sheng taste bitter or harsh: from the kind of tree the leaves come from, the way the leaves are picked, the way the tea is manufactured, etc. down to the way it's brewed. You may well be able to mitigate some of the effects of a questionable tea by adjusting your brewing parameters but it's highly unlikely, if that's what you've got, that you're going to be able to 'make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.'

While this may be true for really low quality pu-erh, I tend to agree with the previous poster and say that the infusion times can be adjusted for a young pu-erh to make it very pleasant.

cheers,
Steve