Official Pu of the day

[shogun89]

Really happy to see this thread opening up again along with some nice pics above. Nice job guys! Have a cold today so im drinking some 2009 iron cake and brewing it to what is basically draino for the body. Dont recall the name but will get it later. Anyway its a YSLLC purchase for around $9 and its pretty yummy.
-shogun

[TIM]

2010 Menghai Da Yi Gong Tuo Ripe Pu-erh tea tuo in box * 100 grams

I would say this is quite a nice young ripe pu-erh.

No smoky

No bitter

Tasted smooth

After taste: Quite good / dry at throat.

Tea leaves in small pieces and quite dark in colour.

Tea colour quite dark brownish. Picture above is first infusion. Second infusion even darker. Couldn't even see the bottom of my cup.

Worth the buy for drinking now.

Are those white mold floating on the brew? I would be very careful

[bagua7]

I tried this ripe Pu the other day and well was surprised:



Astringency - none
Smoke - none
Dryness-(mouth) - A bit but nothing compared to the 10 year old cake I got which I hate (after spending $96 @ 250g on it, yuck! )
Mouthfeel - Almost coffe-like and woody at the same time but very pleasant.
Gan - Nice. Honey aftertaste that remained in my mouth for most of the day.
Flavor - Love it, a bit coffee like after the first 5-6 runs but after that is also smooth and fruity as I just said.
Overall value - Cheap as! $10 @ 100g!
Purchase again - I asked for a free sample at a tea chain store we have here in Australia and it's already in my shopping list!

[auhckw]

2010 Menghai Da Yi Gong Tuo Ripe Pu-erh tea tuo in box * 100 grams





I would say this is quite a nice young ripe pu-erh.

No smoky

No bitter

Tasted smooth

After taste: Quite good / dry at throat.

Tea leaves in small pieces and quite dark in colour.

Tea colour quite dark brownish. Picture above is first infusion. Second infusion even darker. Couldn't even see the bottom of my cup.

Worth the buy for drinking now.

[debunix]

Debating whether to try to get a few more infusions about of some Wulian Shan mao cha from Norbu: the leaves still look and smell like they have flavor to give, but that means committing to staying a little longer at the office, for some work that can be done here or from home. Hmmmm.....

On a sad note, this evening when I started brewing these leaves I combined several small infusions in my pitcher and looked for colleagues up and down the hall to share some, because it was coming out so sweetly wonderful, and there was hardly anyone left. I wanted to share the wealth on this one, because it's so amazing.

[shah82]

Heh, I was under the impression that it was 50 pounds and not 40 pounds. $63 is much better than the $78 I originally thought. This is roughly about as good as the good cut-rate Banzhangs, and they are in the $60s as well, and this tea is better as a bulang than something like Douji Banzhang or Hai Lang Hao Ban'E. Tho' some might say that the 2007 Star of Bulang might be a better deal. I wouldn't know, but I see that tea praised some...

My pus of the Day was XZH '06 menghai brick and Nada Mansai. Both were excellent.

[nickE]

2010 Nada Bulang

Astringency - moderate to high.
Smoke - almost none.
Dryness-(mouth) - Infusions 6-10 (at peak bitterness) had a touch.
Mouthfeel - Oily & textured, very decent.
Huigan - Exceptional. Nice ku wei leading to 2min + huigan.
Flavor - This tea lives in its aftertaste. While there is some depth, the energy & huigan steal the show.
Overall value - I'd say it's a decent value. Priced at $60/400g there is not much give, but this is good stuff. Strong chaqi, very relaxing & heavy.
Purchase again - I only purchased a sample, and I don't plan on buying a cake. Maybe if I had more cash to throw around...

Seriously though, it was well worth buying the sample just to familiarize myself with tea of this quality. Quite a display of power, intensity, and energy.

[Zpro]

Interesting review auhckw,

I was thinking of maybe purchasing that cake.

Thanks,
Zach

[auhckw]

2010 Xiaguan Organic Old Tree Iron Puer Cake 400g


*Photo not mine

I think this is still too new to drink. Can even smell the smoke without drinking it.

When drinking; smoke taste came first, followed by bitter, then with strong Hui Gan and can feel the dryness in the mouth/throat.

On 3rd infusion onwards, it tasted better. Less smoky.

Colour wise looks quite yellowish brown unlike other 2010 raw i've tried.

[bearsbearsbears]

The cheapest tea is 29.50. What shu from Menghai or Haiwan is likely to give me most of that value for much less?

Pretty much any Menghai/Dayi shu would do you as good or better for cheaper. My personal faves are:

Hong Yun Mini Bing
7562 brick
7452 cake
7262 cake
aforementioned golden needle white lotus

Also try lao cha tou from Haiwan or Menghai/Dayi. I think there are some other brands of this type of shu floating around, but I haven't heard anything good or bad about them.

[shah82]

Check your own mailbox on occasion ?:~)

Anyways, I'm pretty curious about shu because I've have had 5 of them recently...
3 Xizihaos...
Gift set mini bing--This was fannings from their other sheng work. It's actually quite tasty, if of exceptionally short endurance for a shu. Does the creamy deep really well for the first couple of brews. Okay for the next couple, and around 5 or 6, a neat kind of translucent and ephemeral berry taste pop on your buds for a sec or two, and then collapse at around 6 or 7. Definitly good shu for mugs.

Mensong Palace Shu--Really good, many subtle flavor profiles lurking under a dense sweet cereal-wood-malt-caramel. The bland cereal at the end is actually pretty tasty.

Xi Shang Jia Xi--Pretty bitter for a shu on the outset (very quick brews are necessary for a start if you don't rinse), and pretty close to not being a shu at all. Despite the neither nor, I truly adored it because it really tastes quite a bit like aged sheng for a shu, and it's really dynamic in an appealing way, especally after brew 5 or so. At the end, it's rather intensely sweet in that licorice fashion that some aged tea has.

Then the other shu's from HouDe I tried...
2006 2nd trade memorial--It was tasty, but it was just deep.
Jing Mei Tai Si De--I have not really had a good sit down with it, but more careful brews promise an interesting spicey interplay.

The cheapest tea is 29.50. What shu from Menghai or Haiwan is likely to give me most of that value for much less? The mention of the 2007 Golden Needle White Lotus reminded me of this...It would be nice to have a none-drink money shu to have around and just make when you feel like it.

On topic:

Sheng of the Day was Imen's Bada Yesheng from 2004...

Very, very, very, very sour. Gentle, soft, and salty sour, but *sour*. Otherwise, it's actually pretty excellent, surprisingly, after I recovered some. The texture is unusual besides being thick. The flavor is pretty deep for something with a floral basis (not fruity at all). It can endure at least 15 brews (my throat gave out from the horseradishy ku), and there are a ton of hints of interesting flavors (as well as the soft, mild huigan) that pop up in your mouth. This is something, that if you're successful at aging the sour away, you'd have liquid gold, I think. The finished leaves were still fragrant, and the yesheng nature of those leaves are without question on inspection. No wulonged red, not too thick, but very healthy and large. It was sort of fun trying this one out, though I'd not buy the beeng (already sold out anyways) since I'm not sure I can age anything for as long as this will need.

This stuff reminded me of Hobbe's review of Zitenglu 2004 Taihe but much better than that tea.

[debunix]

I'm drinking a 2007 Menghai Golden Needle White Lotus ripe puerh from YS today. It's a smooth lovely puerh, and I was able to share it today with someone who pulled a bunch of tea bags out of his pocket when I offered him some tea, by way of demonstrating that he too is a tea-aholic. And he didn't know what puerh was. Heh!

I think a few chunks of puerh cakes may end up slipping into his pocket shortly!

[Zpro]

2009 Boyou "Grade 7 Brick" Ripe Pu-erh tea of Menghai

Menghai area brick pressed in 2009 made of an average of grade 6 material that was fermented in October 2007.

7.65$ US for one 250g brick at Yunnan Sourcing











Astringency - None
Smoke - Small (3.5/10)
Dryness - Moderately Dry (4/10)
Mouthfeel - Heavy (8/10)
Hui gan - None (1/10)
Flavor - Apart from an average dui wei presence tasting something like enoki, this cake has some interesting flavors such as sap, plantain and bamboo scent. It is rich and dry, coarse and heavy.
Overall value - Good
Purchase again - Probably not (simply because i like trying lots of different pu`s )

On the 4th brew, it started taking a much different taste. Earthy and very woodsy forest tastes started presenting themselves for the remaining brews and the dui wei greatly diminished.

I am guessing this brick would benefit immensely from further aging.

[debunix]

Have only seen the smaller sizes in that style at my local shop.

Today's puerh (from a URL tasting organized by the tea group on egullet) was the first time I've take one tea and compared it between gaiwan and seasoned yixing pot. The term 'seasoned yixing' should be taken lightly here: this is a very cheap pot ($6.99) that has been simmered in hot water, simmered in tea, and had a lot of tea steeped in it overnight--part of a redone seasoning program for all of my clay pots. But it is genuine unglazed clay, holds water and heat, and tea can be made in it.

The tea was spring 2009 Lao Ban Zhang Mao Cha Sheng Pu-erh (loose tea) from norbutea.com. I used 1.6 grams leaf (did trade a few straight overly long leaves for some slightly curled ones to get all to fit without breaking leaves), trying to keep about 1g leaf to 1 oz water.



50 mL water close to boiling

One very small gaiwan
One very small 'yixing' pot



2 20-second rinses first (this tea has a strong bitter start)
5-second infusions thereafter: wait 5 seconds, start pouring, takes about 10 seconds to get all out), have gone up to about 12 previously, so far only up to 5 on this pair, but running out of space for more liquid even with these tiny vessels



Leaves are variable sizes, mostly intact, twisted and curled but not rolled tightly. The liquor is yellow, sweet, delicious, some vegetal and herbacious notes, a bittersweet undertone, little astringency, and really no earthy or smoky notes.

As for the gaiwan vs yixing, I found the sweetness and liquor seemed slightly stronger from the gaiwan, as though the yixing clay is keeping some sweet for itself. Just a tiny difference, not so obvious in every infusion, but when I could detect a difference, it was the gaiwan-brewed that was sweeter.

[nonc_ron]

Hi All,
I'm looking for a 150-200ml Gaiwan thats more of a match to my cups & bowl below. I'm looking for something large, this one is 4-1/2 oz. But it's out of stock.

I saw a 6 oz with a little too much red, but it was also out of stock.
All leads will be appreciated.