Official Pu of the day

[shah82]

Pretty much limiting myself to one session a month these days, but...

'07 An Xiang was all sorts of awesome again, today.

Not the strongest of taste or thickest of soups, unlike, say, Star of Menghai, so it's not really a favorite among Chinese shu drinkers.

However, accepting those limitations, this shu has an appreciable percentage of the hedons of an excellent mature puerh. When I mean excellent mature puerh, I mean the aged sheng that never seems to leave the Far East in any appreciable amounts and which most people experience from gifts but not purchases.

Has never not been appreciably better than the An Xiang sheng version, for some reason. For example, the huigans were/are stronger than the sheng, both in the mouth and throat. Has stronger qi, tho' the sheng does have something something tightly bound to caffeine feel. Coats the mouth thoroughly. Complex taste and aroma. Durable. Always a big treat when I let myself have some.

[mam2431]

Enjoying the 2011 Autumn Xi Kong sheng from Yunnan Sourcing. Even though this is from an autumnal harvest, it is powerful and full of character with solid endurance (11 infusions so far). Actually I enjoy several teas from the 2011 YS autumn group - it was a good year. Note: I did increase my typical leaf amount by about a third since this is from an autumn harvest.

[benm3]

I am on my second day with the same 10 grams of White2teas's new foil wrapped Guafengzhai- it is still such an impressive tea on the second day. Thick, gloopy, deep, refined. This is the good stuff- and it's not too terribly expensive for what it is. I don't usually drink such fresh sheng (because it hurts my tummy), but this is just such a good tea that I might have to buy a few hundred grams.

[ethan]

Yes, it's the label.

[Puerlife]

I'm having a pleasant session with W2T's 2006 Old Bear Fang Cha. I did the first several infusions in my teapot and then for the heck of it switched the leaves to my favorite gaiwan and blecchhh, so harshly bitter, so I switched the leaves back to the teapot and all is well again, a strong but good bitterness with a nice umami finish. What a stark difference, from absolutely undrinkable to quite pleasant and more-ish.
Edit: The gaiwan, chip and all, is also from W2T and I love the shape and the feel and the looks of it. It's perfect for any tea that doesn't need to be housebroken.

I recognize that teapot! I helped sell those for Khun Zhang last year. These were a very good find at a very good price. Good zini clay mixed with a little duanni for aesthetic effect. Nice to hear it is working well for you.

Yes, I remember that. In fact, that's what gave me the confidence to buy one when I flew down to Bangkok to see them, so thank you for that. Khun Zhang recently had (and still has?) some very nice looking tea caddies apparently made of the same combination of clay.

I started another session so I could do another gaiwan-teapot comparison, this time with the last of my Tea Urchin sample of 2011 Autumn Luo Shui Dong. There's not much difference, although I got an offtaste in one sip from the gaiwan infusion. But it's hard to say much because this tea, being autumnal, is more muted and seems to be changing from steep to steep, unlike the fang cha which was pretty much the same from beginning to end.
Ethan -- do you mean the mostly oval shape. If so, that's the remains of the label, which I've kept on because it's a good level marker.

[Rui]

Sipping one of my daily drinkers: Spring 2014 Jingmai Shengtai Pu-erh Tea from Bannacha. One of the cakes I need to finish before their 2015 teas come out.

[Tead Off]

I'm having a pleasant session with W2T's 2006 Old Bear Fang Cha. I did the first several infusions in my teapot and then for the heck of it switched the leaves to my favorite gaiwan and blecchhh, so harshly bitter, so I switched the leaves back to the teapot and all is well again, a strong but good bitterness with a nice umami finish. What a stark difference, from absolutely undrinkable to quite pleasant and more-ish.
Edit: The gaiwan, chip and all, is also from W2T and I love the shape and the feel and the looks of it. It's perfect for any tea that doesn't need to be housebroken.

I recognize that teapot! I helped sell those for Khun Zhang last year. These were a very good find at a very good price. Good zini clay mixed with a little duanni for aesthetic effect. Nice to hear it is working well for you.

[ethan]

Puerlife,

That photograph makes the double-walled glass server look like a chip of ceramic is floating or the side got gouged. Looks a handy bit of teaware to have though.

Good to hear about the differences in taste from gaiwan to yixing.

Cheers

[Puerlife]

I'm having a pleasant session with W2T's 2006 Old Bear Fang Cha. I did the first several infusions in my teapot and then for the heck of it switched the leaves to my favorite gaiwan and blecchhh, so harshly bitter, so I switched the leaves back to the teapot and all is well again, a strong but good bitterness with a nice umami finish. What a stark difference, from absolutely undrinkable to quite pleasant and more-ish.
Edit: The gaiwan, chip and all, is also from W2T and I love the shape and the feel and the looks of it. It's perfect for any tea that doesn't need to be housebroken.

[benm3]

I just put a 10 gram ball of White2tea's new foil-wrapped Guafengzhai- wow what a refined tea! Thick, smooth, deep, subtle-- still really green. My tummy hurts, and it's nuts to drink tea of this quality at work. Also, I really didn't need to put 10 grams into my gaiwan. Delicious. Worth the cost.

[Rui]

Today I am sipping a sample of Fengqing Old Tree Raw Pu-erh Cake Tea 2013 from TeaVivre. The soup is smooth with a gold yellow colour. I am tempted to get some more.

[puerhking]

Some 2014 xiao hu sai autumnal puerh cha from yunnan sourcing.

I'm having this as well. Pretty tasty...freshly mown field....herbaceous. It does get a little bitter in later infusions...very youthful. Doesn't seem like an autumn tea.

[Peacock]

Some 2014 xiao hu sai autumnal puerh cha from yunnan sourcing.

[bankung]

anyone having a mansong right now?

dark horse of 2015... price said to have surged past lbz this year

Does that mean that previous years will also increase in price....?

I think its more expensive than LBZ for a few years now.

This year tea is speculated to be 10-15% cheaper than previous, with the exception of some areas. LBZ should stay the same or even get down a bit. Yiwu in general should be cheaper.

[shah82]

1) To the extent that Mansong is more expensive than LBZ, it's because the production of gushu is relatively small.

2) To say that Mansong is more expensive than LBZ is also a relative apples to oranges situation. Most of the time, the prices reported are for medium and low quality LBZ. The best LBZ is pretty expensive and limited, though I do not know whether it's more than comparable Mansong.

3) As an all-around tea, very few teas will beat LBZ that does what inspires its fame. The expense of Mansong has a great deal to do with legend, aura of exclusiveness, and the general appeal of what makes Yibang tea in general popular.

4) Mind that there is a spin cycle that tries to promote the fame and price of what people have. Bingdao, for example, is a good tea that's spectacularly overrated, and covers three distinct races, now. There's the probably true Bingdao, with a bland top taste and floral hints until you hit its stride with ever stronger orchid, fruit, and rock sugar notes, particularly in the finish. There's the honey thick Bingdao, with a very thick soup and a wood-juniper-spice top taste, like that Mengdai from TU. Lastly, there's the musk/nuts and melon Bingdao, which is (my guess), what most people get. Even considering Bingdao's overratedness, the best (most truly genuine) stuff is between $2k and $3k a kilo. Such teas generally cannot genuinely be part of any conversation about teas ordinary people experience. More than that, just as there are obviously three distinct good quality teas in the Bingdao area, there are other Northern teas about as good, perhaps not exactly in the same way a good Bingdao is, but on the same level.

To bring this conversation to a note...Teas of roughly the same quality grade roughly costs the same; Most yammering about how some exclusive area is so expensive is about one thing--making you pay more for a mediocre tea.