Official Pu of the day

[iannon]

went crazy and had a late night session of YS Cha Wang. very sweet n mellow to my tastebuds

[rabbit]

Just finished a sample of MTR's '06 yiwu. It's a wonderful tea, I really enjoyed this one quite a bit.

Flash rinse | 1s | 5s | 20s | rest 10m | 20s

1st steeping: smells smokey, almost like hickory. Very light, sweet and smooth.

2nd steeping: smells slightly more tangy than before. Still very sweet but more astringent now.

3rd steeping: smells like a red apple, tastes less sweet and has an "older" feeling to it: my father says it smells like "the inside of an old dresser drawer... musty fir or poplar wood".

4th steeping: has a sharper scent, still tangy and smokey. Much less sweet at first but leaves a sweetness on the back of your throat.

[AdamMY]

Having a 2010 Mansai from EoT. Not sure it fits the mood of the day, but its nice and warm, which is a good thing. It would be better if it were warming, perhaps I'll switch to an Aged puerh or a darker tea later.

[evilberg]

Brewing up a rather large batch of 80's Wang Zi loose leaf from Essence of Tea.

Todays treat for me was the 1960's Wang Zi from Essence.

[AdamMY]

Brewing up a rather large batch of 80's Wang Zi loose leaf from Essence of Tea.

[apache]

It's Nada's 2010 Bulang today. I used just over 4g of leaf in a 100ml gaiwan. The beast seem to tame a little bit since I last tried it about 6 months ago, still a lot of power and not for the uninitiated. I really cannot drink this too often as my body would not tolerate this kind of abuse. It seems aged a little bit and I notice the first couple of brews gave a darker colour, right at the moment, I think I am drinking well over the 10th steep and it tastes like syrup. Well, I will let it sleep for another 6 months before I touch it again.

[TwoPynts]

Will steeping for very looong minutes bad for health?

Shouldn't be for a decent and above quality tea. Where did you hear that?

[auhckw]

Will steeping for very looong minutes bad for health?

[David R.]

These sound like very short times for me, auhckw. Granted I use fewer leaves, but I go far beyond the times you quote, quickly reaching several minutes steeps, even a few hours in the end. If the tea is good, long brews will be rewarding.

[auhckw]

[img]
After a hard and chaotic month, finally can sit still for 2 hours for a treat. 7g of 1960's Guang Yun Gong Beeng in a 90ml ROC zhuni pot.

The true favor did not show until the 8th brew. Minty and salivating on both side of the cheek, mid qi and sweet, refreshing finishes. First day ended on the 12 steeping. Overnight brewing, to be continue....

Would you mind sharing the g:ml ratio and brewing parameters?

I have never gone beyond 7th brew at home cause it tends to get weak. My parameters for raw is usually...

5g:120ml
2 times flash rinse
1st - 15s
2nd - 30s
3rd - 30s
4th - 45s
5th - 45s
6th - 1m
7th - 1m 30s - Normally stops here

[TIM]

After a hard and chaotic month, finally can sit still for 2 hours for a treat. 7g of 1960's Guang Yun Gong Beeng in a 90ml ROC zhuni pot.

The true favor did not show until the 8th brew. Minty and salivating on both side of the cheek, mid qi and sweet, refreshing finishes. First day ended on the 12 steeping. Overnight brewing, to be continue....

[nickE]

YS 2010 Gedeng today. Really nice leaves; lots of buds, lots of punch. There's definitely some funk in the first few infusions, not sure how to describe it. I'd say that it wears off after the first 3 infusions, though. It gets awesome after that, powerful kuwei and a nice fruitiness, along with some grain in the end.

[shah82]

Heh, those Teaspring samples bombed when they were first sampled. Looks like the menghai got better!

Edit: Hmm, Chip, you sure they came from Teaspring? I was thinking of the Teacuppa go around, and can't find mention of a Teaspring sampler. The only menghai on the site right now is a 1993 shu.

Editx2: Oh cripes, need to read stuff carefully. I some how read your comment like it was a sample from a vendor go around like Teacuppa or Puerhshop Taste of Mellowness or something like that. Not a random free sample with the teas you usually get!

Editx3: Drinking '09 YS Bulang Lan Xiang. Its second chance, and still as bad as the first.

[nickE]

I think most tobacco flavor is from a kind of baking and not oxidizing leaf per se. You don't really want young ODB, which, technically speaking, when referred to at the Cafe, because it really is a brick, and not a jincha, which is mushroom shaped. The formula does seem a bit different than in older years which were explicitly for tibetians. There are ODJincha as well, and really, those are the kind you want to have on hand. Jing Tea Shop has some as well as Jase-teas. There are actual ODB of age from Skip4teas.

Interesting, mine is the 2008 from Jase-tea. I might check out the one from Jing seeing as it's really not too pricy, looks good.

First few steeps have been quite aromatic ... lovely. I would say it has been a few years since I had any Menghai, a trend I may have to reverse.

Awesome, Chip!

[Chip]

Going through the pu-erh drawer that looked like a bomb hit it (yes, believe it or not I have pretty many pu-erh samples despite my inclination towrds the green side). Came across a sample just marked Menghai 2005 Sheng. This is a metaphor for my pu collection. Very uncharacteristic of me, and I must change my ways.

I smelled the dry leaf, wowza, I knew what tea I was going to have next. It took me 4 hours to remember this was a free sample from a TeaSpring order 3-4 years ago. Unfortunately this will likely be all I will ever remember.

First few steeps have been quite aromatic ... lovely. I would say it has been a few years since I had any Menghai, a trend I may have to reverse.