Aged sheng recommendations

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


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Aged sheng recommendations

by Drax » Feb 8th, '09, 21:37

As I've mentioned on TeaDay, I recently worked my way through a large number of samples of both raw and cooked pu-erh. In the process, I got to try a couple older sheng. One was a 1998 Lincang and another was a 2000 Fu Hai. These are the oldest shengs I've been able to try.

I also mentioned that I was sorely disappointed. I will admit that I am not the greatest of flavor profilers, but I am pretty certain that those aforementioned shengs showed me nothing new I hadn't tasted in much younger (even 2007) shengs.

So... all of that preamble leads me to this request -- can anybody recommend an aged sheng that demonstrates what aging is supposed to do to the pu-erh? I would really like to try something indicative of what I should be expecting by aging my own pu-erh! :D

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Feb 8th, '09, 21:49
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by brandon » Feb 8th, '09, 21:49

Self Promotion Follows:
http://chahai.net/?p=41

NadaCha and Hou De also regularly have sample sizes of lots of other aged cakes as well. I have tried most of them :)

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Feb 9th, '09, 08:45
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by hop_goblin » Feb 9th, '09, 08:45

brandon wrote:Self Promotion Follows:
http://chahai.net/?p=41

NadaCha and Hou De also regularly have sample sizes of lots of other aged cakes as well. I have tried most of them :)
I would second that

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by Drax » Feb 10th, '09, 18:19

Hm, interesting. Any specific recommendations? I can't just go by the age, as I learned from my "1998" experience... and they don't seem to sell that 1996 Menghai anymore.

What I'm really curious about is if there's an aged sheng that somebody can say "Here, try XXX because I've had it, and it tastes exactly how I think a YY year sheng should taste."

Where YY >= 10 years.

:D

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by brandon » Feb 10th, '09, 18:25

http://www.nadacha.co.uk/index.php?page ... t&Itemid=1

http://www.nadacha.co.uk/index.php?page ... t&Itemid=1

http://www.nadacha.co.uk/index.php?page ... t&Itemid=1

http://www.nadacha.co.uk/index.php?page ... t&Itemid=1

http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... cts_id=744 -> this is a good sample, but it is very expensive and not a good example of aged tea. it is not very "aged" at all, despite its years.

All other aged beeng samples at hou de are out of stock except for a cooked 1997 7572. I tried this, and find it to be flat, personally. Check back often for Hou De to add new samples.

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Feb 10th, '09, 19:34
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by Drax » Feb 10th, '09, 19:34

Awesome, thanks! I will give nada's place a try (okay, I admit, I had only looked at Hou De :oops: if that wasn't obvious, haha).

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by Geospearit » Feb 10th, '09, 22:36

Drax wrote:Awesome, thanks! I will give nada's place a try (okay, I admit, I had only looked at Hou De :oops: if that wasn't obvious, haha).
I just recently did and eagerly await a handful of prime samples :D

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by Geospearit » Feb 10th, '09, 22:42

On a side note, regarding nadacha's solid wood tea tables. They look absolutely beautiful! I wish I had the cash for one of those. Does anyone know any other sources for them? Or how to MAKE one? http://www.nadacha.co.uk/index.php?page ... t&Itemid=1

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by wyardley » Feb 10th, '09, 23:17

brandon wrote: http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... cts_id=744 -> this is a good sample, but it is very expensive and not a good example of aged tea. it is not very "aged" at all, despite its years.

All other aged beeng samples at hou de are out of stock except for a cooked 1997 7572. I tried this, and find it to be flat, personally. Check back often for Hou De to add new samples.
Agree about that one not tasting aged at all. However, they have one or two other, more humid stored tuos, and plenty of samples of aged cakes, though most are not cheap. There are three pages of aged pu'er samples (mostly sheng) on their site:
http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... f5e9410fc7

though it's true that most of the stuff is either tiny samples that are very expensive, or newer stuff like mid-late 90s, which I guess you could argue isn't really very "aged" yet.

Might be worth emailing them - they may have some other stuff that's not on the site that they can tell you about.

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by brandon » Feb 11th, '09, 06:40

Yeah I skipped over outrageously priced samples (I haven't even tried a lot of these myself), and this " 70's Aged Liao Fu San Cha, Loose Uncooked 2oz ", because it is border tea and just tastes like crap.

I suppose you could try http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... f5e9410fc7

One more: http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... f5e9410fc7

I can't personally vouch for either of the last two other than to sell that Hou De generally sells good tea. Everything I have mentioned so far I have personally tasted and enjoyed.

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