Official Pu of the day

[Drax]

This redness being different from the rusty redness/darkness that develops from many years of aging (and looks more chocolatey brown once brewed). Uh, or so I gather...

[brandon]

I didn't dig through the leaves of "Master Wang's" 2006 raw sheng for red, but it tasted much more of Hong Cha than Hei Cha. It could be an intentional move by his greatness, as he is the inventor of several styles of puerh.

[808Hawaiian59]

As I understand it, red marks indicate oxidation as a result of bruising the leaf, similar to what is done to produce oolong or black tea. Too much can push the tea toward being more like a black tea, cover up deficiencies in the leaf, improve its young drinkability (at least for the uninitiated) and reduce its potential to age well. The liquor of tea that has been pushed in this direction will tend to be more orange and less yellow. I don't know if the producer does this on purpose or by accident.

It's a matter of degree, however, rather than a cut and dried distinction. Most sheng has a little red. The liquor and leaves of your Menghai YiWu ZhengShan look fine to me. That is exactly all I know and it may not be 100% accurate.

Mahalo Salsero....That's good enough for me

[Salsero]

As I understand it, red marks indicate oxidation as a result of bruising the leaf, similar to what is done to produce oolong or black tea. Too much can push the tea toward being more like a black tea, cover up deficiencies in the leaf, improve its young drinkability (at least for the uninitiated) and reduce its potential to age well. The liquor of tea that has been pushed in this direction will tend to be more orange and less yellow. I don't know if the producer does this on purpose or by accident.

It's a matter of degree, however, rather than a cut and dried distinction. Most sheng has a little red. The liquor and leaves of your Menghai YiWu ZhengShan look fine to me. That is exactly all I know and it may not be 100% accurate.

[808Hawaiian59]

I have question, is red oxidation good or bad for sheng Pu-erh??

[shogun89]

Looks good. thanks for the review!

[Salsero]

Here is a "better" picture (now I know how to do it properly). I would say nothing unusual.

Wow, not just better but spectacular! I see only a little red oxidation marks on these leaves.

[apache]

I should have been more specific, but yes I was only referring to the color of spent leaves. Was there a bit of red throughout the spent leaves?

Here is a "better" picture (now I know how to do it properly). I would say nothing unusual.

[thanks]

I should have been more specific, but yes I was only referring to the color of spent leaves. Was there a bit of red throughout the spent leaves?

[apache]

In addition to the unopened shape of many leaves, they look awfully dark in color like a shu might look. Of course, that could be a photographic issue rather than a tea issue, but if they are actually that dark it may indicate something about the processing.

I really enjoyed the review, by the way, especially the photos. Thank you!

Thanks for reading my review. Now I understand the question about the spent leaves. Yes, this could well be a photographic issue, I think next time I would put the leaves in a bowl of water and take picture under sun light.

[Salsero]

In addition to the unopened shape of many leaves, they look awfully dark in color like a shu might look. Of course, that could be a photographic issue rather than a tea issue, but if they are actually that dark it may indicate something about the processing.

I really enjoyed the review, by the way, especially the photos. Thank you!

[apache]

Wait, why do the spent leaves look like that??

I'm trying to understand your question. I think may be it wasn't a proper gaiwan, the leaves don't have much room to expand. Hope that answer your question.

[thanks]

Wait, why do the spent leaves look like that??

[apache]

Today I tried Menghai YiWu ZhengShan (2009), some tea drinkers in China think the price of this cake has been hyped up by traders and reminiscent of the pu'erh bubble between 2004 to 2006.



My curiosity gets the better of me and I decided to have one cake from DTH despite the high price tag ($38).

I used 5g of leaf with a make shift gaiwan around 200ml.
The soup is clear bright yellow colour. The taste is light with very quick and long lasting huigan, very nice mouth feel and medium dryness. As I cannot smell very well, I cannot say whether it is smoky or able to describe any other favours.

Would I buy another one? I would not mind to have a tong, but given the high price tag, I think I would wait until the dust settle first.

[pgho]

Hi Oldmanteapot,

That is a pretty good looking tuo there. I really like the shui ping, it has a
nice glow on it, you must have fed it a lot of good pu.

Just heard that there is a Tea Expo in KL next week, 18th to 24th at Mid-
Valley. Are you going? I will try to work around my schedule to move a
meeting or two to KL.


Later,