Official Pu of the day

[Zacherywolf7]

I made a white2tea order during the moving sale. I got an half a cake (200g) of a pretty wet stored early 2000's cake. It smelled very wet and has a decent amount of frosting! I was nervous for this, I was hoping it would be good so I didn't have to suffer through all of it or worse, be forced to throw it away!

Much to my luck it was really, really good. It was a rainy day, actually pretty stormy and I opened my blinds and watch the wind and rain sweep by in my early morning groggy state. I decided to have this one on a whim after it had been adjusting to the west in my wet stored puerh crock for about a month. It was very sweet, thick and had a beautiful moss covered damp forest taste. Nuts and spice danced in the background. Mid steepings (6-10) were talcy in texture and had some astrigency, I imagine I had finally worn off the storage at this point. Later steepings were thick and sweet, simple but extremely pleasant. The liquor is also really dark, I would have believed this was a late 90's cake. The leaf looks thick and whole. I feel extremely lucky to have gotten this for free!

Today I am drinking the infamous 2005 naka. There is a lot of campfire aroma. The taste is campfire and the liquid is very smooth and nice in the mouth. The edges of the tongue salivate after the swallow and there is great throat feeling in the early steeps. There is some sweet plum aftertaste. The qi is indeed very very calming and my face even buzzed! In the end though I feel like the campfire aspect (it never goes away either) is a big issue and ruins a full enjoyment of this tea.

[Jaymo]

W2T 90s HK. My cake of it just arrived the other day. It's interesting comparing this cake to how I remember the sample. The storage on the cake is a little more mellow and it is a little sweeter than I remember. I have about 5g of the sample left, so at some point in the near future I'll be comparing the 2 side by side. For now, I'm just enjoying the tea!

[xiaobai]

Just had a shu minituo of Sanhetang's Xi Zi Hao 囍字號.

Not bad, but I am not terribly impressed either. Have had better shu.

The first two brews were quite thick, but after the third or so, the soup quickly became rather thin.

There was also a bit of a rather metallic taste to it.

Tomorrow, I will be having their 2015 and 2014 red label Sheng.

Judging from its reputation (and price!) it'd better be good...
The cake smells wonderfully... Looking forward to it !

[William]

Wild Da Xue Shan from this year' harvest while burning some 沈香 (Cambodia); couldn't be more happy!

[puerhking]

Enjoying the 2014 Yunnan Sourcing Autumn Xiao Hu Sai today.

[shah82]

Yesterday was '08 XZH Xishangjiaxi shu, currently described as Pasha shu. I had a really good time. For many brews, it had an excellent deep and complex aroma with some lift to it. The first four brews were okay, with a notable but soft stone-fruit-pit sourness. This goes away, and eventually, at the seventh-eighth brew, this shu stimulates really well an aged woody sweet'n mellow sheng (about as well as it could be done, really, for a shu), and that was great. Finally starts to weaken after that, but qi got stronger during this weaking stage for some reason, and it was sort of done at twelve brews, but I kept it going anyways to about fifteen. One of the things I had been paying attention to recently is just how shu doesn't last at full strength for very many brews, and durability tends to be about how gracefully it fades and hollows out. So it was interesting how durable and dynamic this one was.

Today was the '06 XZH brick, which wasn't especially as good as it could be. It tasted about the same, with strong honey notes and some Menghai floral-camphor taste. However, it wasn't as much fun as normal to drink in terms of aftertastes and the qi wasn't up to snuff. Still did stuff like send feeling down the throat, but the last sessions of the three '07 XZH basic teas, 7542, 8582, and especially LongFeng were all leaving this in shadow. When it comes to the monsters like the '06 Youle and '06 LBZ black wrapper, it's some leagues behind. Still a very expensive tea today, even though for me, it was just $1.36 for the session. I do have to admit that part of the issue was middle-of-the-brickitis.

[chrl42]

He Shi-hua Bang Wei 05..

He Shi-hua is famous for Jing Mai..but this time it's Bang Wei.

Sweet, Huigan is attractive with a mid, slight ku se..not too impressive.

[Jaymo]

Do you ever find that some teas may be psychologically therapeutic?

Most definitely

Agreed. Teaware falls into this category too. Both the tea itself and the teaware you use contribute to an overall experience.

[BW85]

Do you ever find that some teas may be psychologically therapeutic?

Most definitely

[BioHorn]

1999 Yunnan Sourcing Hua Yuan "Jing Brand" Sheng/Shu
$110 a cake like your step-sister that was moved around with the family for awhile before finally cutting loose.


This shu-centric woodiness left me a bit MEH after drinking it a couple of days ago, but...ever have that sheng that comes up behind you...like Freddy Krueger? On the flavor side it had a good bit of funk with vanilla forest floor leaf litter that worked itself out some to reveal a bit of core. There was some Hui Gan, but far from camphor cooling.

I went to sleep after that late night tea session not thinking much. Then the abandoned child began to weave it's way through my subconscious mind like a wily worm leaving contrails between consciousness and sleep, never quite waking you up, but giving enough impression to be remembered unlike those dreams that go "poof" upon waking.

Not a bad buy for an old tea with some funk and storied past. It would be a good purchase for those looking for a mature aged puerh reference and maybe some conscious-bending.

Do not take with MAO inhibitors!
----
Maybe that was a bit melodramatic. Some other teas have been more altering than this, but it has been awhile since one has been enough to write about. Do you ever find that some teas may be psychologically therapeutic?

[chrl42]

08 Menghai Gushu (supposedly) in a Dicaoqing pot..

Good combination greeting a fall arriving.

Better with music like Beethoven or Schumann..

[jayinhk]

2005 7542 (fake, I believe) I bought on Taobao several years ago. I've had it aging (broken up) for several years. It has mellowed out considerably and the brew is darker, and it tastes more like black tea now. Nice to see how it's changed over the last 18 months! Still bitter, but a much smoother drinking experience now with more muted flavors.

[Nefarious]

Today I am trying a 2004 CNNP raw from green tea guru http://www.greenteaguru.co.uk/shop/raw- ... uerh-cake/ I ordered it as a sample as I liked the description. It's an interesting one - quite strongly vegetal - a strong grassy nose which carries through to the dark orange liquor. I'm on infusion 5 now and the initial brashness has gone, leaving an easy drinking brew, if maybe a little lacking in depth and complexity. Don't think I will be buying the full beeng of this one but interesting to try

[Jaymo]

The last couple days have been W2T's White Whale. Enough reviews, etc have been written about this one recently that I don't feel like I need to say a lot. I love its leathery deliciousness! Happily, it tends to hold up well and I fully intend to work on this one again tomorrow!

[puerhking]

2015 Yunnan Sourcing Huang Shan Gu Shu. Dried leaves have a fantastic aroma. Brews a medium yellow...aromatic. Leaves were processed nicely...no smokiness. Has a youthful vegetal flavor like a freshly mown field with a touch of hay and mushroom. Quite tasty. The more I drink this...the more I like it.