cooked/ripe pu rec

[silverneedles]

cooked
smooth, creamy
not watery = not light
something US based to get it within a week

[nickE]

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=13744

Hope this helps!

[tingjunkie]

2007 Golden Needle White Lotus. I was about to order more myself.

[auhckw]

2007 Golden Needle White Lotus. I was about to order more myself.

+1

Yes, one of my favorite ripe. Very chocolate and strong flavor.

[Mr. Usaji]

Wow, does anyone like any cooked pu besides Golden Needle White Lotus? If Menghai knows how to make good cooked pu, I assume all those other Menghai recipes couldn't be bad.

I am not a pu'er expert by any means, and I get the impression that all cooked pu tastes very similar, but thought Menghai's Hong Yun was very good for a smooth, thick texture. It's only a 100g cake. There's also a Zi Yun that's supposed to be similar.

P.S. I enjoyed reading your blog, Silverneedles. You should write some more reviews.

[debunix]

I get the impression that all cooked pu tastes very similar

Not!

That 2007 Golden Needles White Lotus is full of warm caramel notes, and quite light on the earthy. Another favorite shu for me is a brick of 2009 Lao Tou Cha from Norbu that is very fruity and delightful in a very different way.

Those are the only ripe/shu puerhs of my limited experience that really stand out as different; the rest (probably only 5 to 8 different beengs and tuo chas) tend to blend together in memory, pleasantly earthy, like a damp forest on a spring morning, sometimes a little sweeter, sometimes a little spicier, but not as distinct as these.

[berkeleyluddite]

Menghai's Hong Yun and Zi Yun are both excellent teas but Zi Yun is vastly superior at least for my pallate. Zi Yun is less fermented and still holds a lot of true tea flavors while balanced with richness and hint of chocolate. Buy some if you still can find some!

[Mr. Usaji]

Another favorite shu for me is a brick of 2009 Lao Tou Cha from Norbu that is very fruity and delightful in a very different way.

Did you try the Lao Cha Tou from Menghai or Haiwan, which Norbu also sells? I'm curious because I haven't tried any Lao Cha Tou (yet), and I haven't tried anything from Norbu either. There's also a huge difference in price between Menghai and the other two.

I don't want to encourage cooked-pu paranoia, but some warn against cooked pu that isn't from major factories. Norbu says their Lao Cha Tou was fermented at Jinggu tea factory (which isn't even in Babelcarp), and pressed at "a little factory in Kunming." However, while searching, I found that Yunnan Sourcing's cha tou brick was also made at Jinggu tea factory.

[debunix]

Did you try the Lao Cha Tou from Menghai or Haiwan, which Norbu also sells?

Nope. I like the one I got well enough to consider purchasing more teas like that someday, but have no need to purchase more puerh for about 10 years, at present rates of consumption!

[Mr. Usaji]

Wow, you must have a lot of pu'er! Or you drink it very, very rarely, which seems not to be the case.

[debunix]

I drink it a perhaps once a day, on average, but I do not use a lot of it per session. I think I'm up to 10+ beengs, and several smaller bricks, plus a variety of smaller loose samples. 10 years might be a bit of an exaggeration, but several years' worth, certainly.