Some interesting comments about shu from Cloud

[shah82]

BBB, that's actually kind of reassuring about the "lightly fermented shu". I can absolutely forget about any of those I don't like straight off.

[shah82]

MarshalN, I'm not going to spend a ton of money on samples. As it is, a cake really is a sample, and a tong really is a cake. I don't think I should neglect shu, even if I can't drink it as much. I do enjoy it, on occasion. In fact I had a very nice breakfast session with the '09 Hong Yun today. Doesn't change my mind or anything, because almost everything else I have is nicer more consistently. At the end of the day, I can only spend so much money on tuition, and I've only really done that for older cakes, to understand what pu is all about. That means I'm path dependent on my experiences, and I'm especially reliant on what other people say in the blogosphere. I take the time to figure out what people's tastes are, and I try to see how mine compares, and then I buy cakes. If samples were cheaper, or I could just go to a teashop and ask to sample, then I could rely on my own direct experiences. As it is, I'm learning quite a bit from BBB's perspective. That is, I'm more likely to give young shu a chance, in the sense that I feel I can drink them right now. Challenging people's perspectives work.

[bearsbearsbears]

If samples were cheaper, or I could just go to a teashop and ask to sample, then I could rely on my own direct experiences.

Come over and sample shu with the LA tea folks anytime!

[shah82]

I live in Atlanta, mebbe Bryan can come over, but that'd be it...

[bearsbearsbears]

I live in Atlanta, mebbe Bryan can come over, but that'd be it...

I might be moving to the area in fall. I'll let you know!

[TomVerlain]

The concept of things like "7262" or "7542" is that they are recipies. Like a blended whiskey, different qualities are blended to meet a certain flavor profile.

Though the fermentaion process adds an uncontrolable element, the starting conditions can be set. Leaf grade, type, taste of the moacha, can all be carefully chosen to make a particular recipe.

I like the 7262, as mentioned, it contains some lightly fermented leaf, as well as finer, smaller leaves. I am looking forwards to letting it age, as well as enjoying it along the path.

Quality shu is a viable choice, as the drinkability is here and now, rather than requiring a time investment, which may or may not ever pan out. I don't think there is such a large unknown to it from year one forward, unlike sheng which could move from delicate and fragrant to dust or from bitter and throat tightening to ambrosia.

[MarshalN]

MarshalN, I'm not going to spend a ton of money on samples. As it is, a cake really is a sample, and a tong really is a cake. I don't think I should neglect shu, even if I can't drink it as much. I do enjoy it, on occasion. In fact I had a very nice breakfast session with the '09 Hong Yun today. Doesn't change my mind or anything, because almost everything else I have is nicer more consistently. At the end of the day, I can only spend so much money on tuition, and I've only really done that for older cakes, to understand what pu is all about. That means I'm path dependent on my experiences, and I'm especially reliant on what other people say in the blogosphere. I take the time to figure out what people's tastes are, and I try to see how mine compares, and then I buy cakes. If samples were cheaper, or I could just go to a teashop and ask to sample, then I could rely on my own direct experiences. As it is, I'm learning quite a bit from BBB's perspective. That is, I'm more likely to give young shu a chance, in the sense that I feel I can drink them right now. Challenging people's perspectives work.

I wasn't saying you should go out and try them all - just that if you haven't, say, compared the 2005 with 2007, and have never tried one of them, then I'm not sure how you can say that they're not especially similar. As we all know, reading other people's notes are pretty much meaningless. You also need to control for storage conditions, real vs fake, etc.

[shah82]

Just not very many people can be that detailed. If you can't do it in EAsia, then what was suggested can't be done for very many pus.