Official Pu of the day

[solitude]

I am at the end of a session with the 2012 YS autumn mushu cha. I think it is a very good tea for that money. Especially the aftertaste and qi. Did any of you try this sheng?

[debunix]

I used just a small bit of leaf--didn't weigh, now wish I had--enough to only fill the gaiwan 1/3 when wetted, and stopped last night after perhaps 20 or so infusions because I ran out of water in the kettle. I was still only on 1 minute infusions. Will do more infusions today.

[Tead Off]

Enjoying day 2 with a sample of puerh that, if I recall correctly, came as a bonus with an order of teaware. It's labelled 2012 spring Luo Shui Dong, from Tea Urchin. A mellow herbaceous anise-y sweet young loose puerh.

I like that tea a lot.

[debunix]

Enjoying day 2 with a sample of puerh that, if I recall correctly, came as a bonus with an order of teaware. It's labelled 2012 spring Luo Shui Dong, from Tea Urchin. A mellow herbaceous anise-y sweet young loose puerh.

[gasninja]

06taipei tea expo mini cake . This is the best session I've had with this tea. Nice after taste . Still very little upfront flavor ( standard for Chang tai) but the huigan makes up for it.

[JakubT]

Essence of Tea's new Guafengzhai... Hmmm, I have a hard time finding stronger positives of this one. It is a GFZ sort of tea, yes, but without much of its sweet depth, I'm afraid. Outside the unimpressive taste, it is really unimpressive too. Got to try it with stove water tomorrow.

[BioHorn]

http://www.themandarinstearoom.com/1985 ... h_p_1.html
Finishing 8 or so grams 8582 from Mandarin's Tea Room

If you are curious about aged puerh that is in optimal condition, this will be the best $13 you will spend. (Better yet, spend $26 and knock yourself out with 10 grams.) It is a lovely and long-winded extract that will fulfill your senses cup after cup. Less camphor/twang than 7542, but big richness.

[gingkoseto]

09 Changtai Qian Jia Feng -

Leaves were quite aromatic out of the wrapper. Grainy with a pungent aroma....with slight wood and camphor flavors. Chaqi was on the quiet side. Pretty nice session none the less.

Is it the "gold bamboo mountain"? It's one of my favorite chang tai series although I haven't tried any of the recent year ones. I hope they keep making it good.

[Teaism]

Be careful. There is a lot of fake in Agarwood. Some are not even Agarwood at all eg buaya. Also avoid plantation ones as they use chemical to aggravate the tree to produce resin. This is another big topic and even more insane price item. Tread cautiously my friend.

[gasninja]

I don't know if this is legit or not but there is allegedly cultivated agar wood very cheap. I have no idea if The quality is even remotely close?

http://www.scentedmountain.com/index.php

[Teaism]

This is not a new idea, but I just like to highlight for others interest and awareness.

I have a friend who is 82 years old now and still very healthy and still practising Chinese medicine. I often have lengthy discussions with him on herbs and ingredients, Chinese medicine and concept of health and learned a lot from him and apply some of the knowledge on tea.

My another big hobby is incense and fragrances which compliment tea ceremony. I enjoy Japanese incense "listening" and Chinese incense culture for many years (also have a vast collection of exotic incense and incense woods ). Traditionally incense are burn to calm the mind before tea ceremony and I do it on daily basis especially before my tea session.
Anyway, this is another big topic of discussion. I hope our fellow tea chatters here can have a thought in this and incorporate this wonderful practice/culture as part of your tea enjoyment.

[puyuan]

I think your advice is good for many of the teachatters, though. A different economic class if I might say. Agarwood at $500/per gram requires a different economic category that is not your average tea drinker!

Can barely afford it so I use it only in rare occassion. I use a sliver in one brewing session only. A gram of it is micro sliced into almost 50 micro sliver pieces. And still this one tiny miny micro sliver elevate the tea to many levels higher..in aroma, taste, texture and mental and spritual enhancement. Quite a unique experience and those who tried it would definately appreciate it.

I've tried aged tea with authentic (albeit processed) shilajit before. Luckily it was at the last brew, as it tasted just like dissolved shilajit and the effects didn't merge or reinforce each other either. Really interesting to see there are people pursuing this sort of tea alchemy.

[BioHorn]

Just had a 1993 Cultural Revolution 300gm tea brick brewed with a sliver of Qinam agarwood (Kyara). Really mind boggling good!

For years, I have been experimenting tea brewing with a dash of other herbs and wood to enhance tea. It is a very advance field and require great understanding in tea and other materials. Qinam agarwood is one of my favourite but at US$500 per gram ( Yes! US$500 per gram ) , I usually use a sliver of it and it push the taste to mind boggling proportion. Other ingredient I use are musk, oman frankincense, raw liquorice, aged mandarin peel, mysore sandalwood etc.

It is a subject of its own, but I like to share by just highlighting this issue for awareness.

I was curious and just looked up Agarwood, and found that the species it comes from , Aquilaria banaensae, is on the IUCN red list of threatened species. And a quick google search doesn't show anyone touting the sustainability of farmed versions. At those prices, buying it is likely to just encourage poaching and speed the extinction of the species.

A delicate situation. I searched on this a bit two years ago. There are efforts for sustainable production. Of course the best seems to be the oldest, wildest most inaccessable.
http://www.globaltrees.org/agarwood.htm

[apache]

Just had a 1993 Cultural Revolution 300gm tea brick brewed with a sliver of Qinam agarwood (Kyara). Really mind boggling good!

For years, I have been experimenting tea brewing with a dash of other herbs and wood to enhance tea. It is a very advance field and require great understanding in tea and other materials. Qinam agarwood is one of my favourite but at US$500 per gram ( Yes! US$500 per gram ) , I usually use a sliver of it and it push the taste to mind boggling proportion. Other ingredient I use are musk, oman frankincense, raw liquorice, aged mandarin peel, mysore sandalwood etc.

It is a subject of its own, but I like to share by just highlighting this issue for awareness.

I was curious and just looked up Agarwood, and found that the species it comes from , Aquilaria banaensae, is on the IUCN red list of threatened species. And a quick google search doesn't show anyone touting the sustainability of farmed versions. At those prices, buying it is likely to just encourage poaching and speed the extinction of the species.

It's already happen.
Cantonese narration, Chinese subtitle clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afd7I6mcHSA

[debunix]

Just had a 1993 Cultural Revolution 300gm tea brick brewed with a sliver of Qinam agarwood (Kyara). Really mind boggling good!

For years, I have been experimenting tea brewing with a dash of other herbs and wood to enhance tea. It is a very advance field and require great understanding in tea and other materials. Qinam agarwood is one of my favourite but at US$500 per gram ( Yes! US$500 per gram ) , I usually use a sliver of it and it push the taste to mind boggling proportion. Other ingredient I use are musk, oman frankincense, raw liquorice, aged mandarin peel, mysore sandalwood etc.

It is a subject of its own, but I like to share by just highlighting this issue for awareness.

I was curious and just looked up Agarwood, and found that the species it comes from , Aquilaria banaensae, is on the IUCN red list of threatened species. And a quick google search doesn't show anyone touting the sustainability of farmed versions. At those prices, buying it is likely to just encourage poaching and speed the extinction of the species.