Official Pu of the day

[oldmanteapot]

Point out to young puerh lovers where they can find more reasonable prices on old tea with accessible flavors. My posts will be teas at less than $100 a beeng for now. Generate an appreciation for old tea.

Along with Brandon's heart for young pu lovers to appreciate old tea... here's what I've been brewing the past 10 days.







Tea: 1996/1997 Jing Qua Gong Cha Shu Tuo

Origin: Ji Xiang Pai now known as Jing Fan Tea Factory, Kunming.

Storage: Stored in Malaysia most of its life.

The tuo was compact but loosely held together. The leaves show a golden brown colour. The thin paper wrapper tears easily, at the same time allowing good air ventilation.

There’s no need for excessive force to be used to break off a chunk. The tea come off easily with a light push with the Pu Knife. They are dry and I had it aired daily for 10 days at RH 55% - 60%, 27C to 30C. The colour of the tea leaves and dryness of the pu indicates that the tuo had been stored under proper conditions and care.

I used a 150ml standard shui ping. Early 1980s clay and workmanship. Jing Xi Hui Men Chen era, coupled with a 50s/60s porcelain teacup (50ml).



Colour: Deep red, clear, but dark.... rich looking, turning lighter as the brews continue.





Aroma: Woody with a slight onset of aged aroma.

Flavour: Upfront, assertive, deep wood, no malt... the onset of the aged (herb-like) aroma, is just starting to form. A few more good years of storage and we’re all set to go!

Mouthfeel: whole, full, smooth, lingering...

Huigan: Slight, then a slight sweet ending... making you want to salivate.

I'm on to the 6th brew now, and the tea is still going good... I'm brewing each round for 30 - 45 seconds, using boiling water, getting one medium sized cup (50ml) per round. While the aroma diminish slightly with every brew, the smoothness and sweetness of the tea broth remains unrivaled.

Summary:

Smooth, no astringency at all, starting to exhibit some aging aroma. Would go back for more.

[Herb_Master]

Heyy Oldmanteapot,

Always nice to bump into a fellow Malaysian mate. I live in PJ, Selangor but my mother is from Penang. Which reminds me, my gluttony trip there is way overdue.

Wow, someone from PJ, I visit Kelana Jaya annually, and bought my Tea Tray and a few other items from the Tea Business outside the Giant Supermarket.

[nonc_ron]

It is a risk to buy a bing of something that has a favorable review. To buy a tong is dangerous indeed. I hope you like it.

As a wise man once said "yeah you right"
My only excuse was, it was Payday. And
never go shopping when you're hungry.

[nonc_ron]

i love a little bit of smoke, adds a nice warming characteristic to it.

Ditto on a little smokiness.

[shogun89]

i love a little bit of smoke, adds a nice warming characteristic to it.

[wyardley]

I personally don't care for smoke in my pu-erh, I consider it a defect but I can understand why some may enjoy it. To each his own.

Most people I've talked to seem to think the smoke will mostly go away with time, and my limited experience seems to bear this out. In fact, once it recedes into the background, it might end up adding an interesting layer to the tea.

I have heard, though (and I don't have a link, nor do I remember where I heard this, so I could be wrong) that the smoke usually comes from people drying the mao cha inside in their houses when weather or time doesn't allow sun drying. So in that sense, I guess you could maybe consider it a slight "defect" (in the sense that the tea isn't purely sun-dried), but on the other hand, l would rather have tea that's processed this way but has a little smoke than tea that's plantation grown and electric-dried. (Bears3x says that in some areas wood is used to heat the wok used for kill-green too, though don't know if this imparts any smoke)

[aKnightWhoSaysNi]

I personally don't care for smoke in my pu-erh, I consider it a defect but I can understand why some may enjoy it. To each his own.

[puerhking]

Hi,
After reading your review I did a search on eBay and found them for $10.00, I was saving 3 dollars every time I bought one!
I decided to buy 7 and get one free.

It is a risk to buy a bing of something that has a favorable review. To buy a tong is dangerous indeed. I hope you like it.

OMG,
You're the one that wrote the review.
30 days of worrying can't be good for me.
What have you got to say for yourself?

What I have to say for myself is that what one person likes another may not. It is therefore risky to buy a whole tong of anything if you have not even tried it. Buy a sample at least before you invest in a tong...would be my advice.

[nonc_ron]

Hi,
After reading your review I did a search on eBay and found them for $10.00, I was saving 3 dollars every time I bought one!
I decided to buy 7 and get one free.

It is a risk to buy a bing of something that has a favorable review. To buy a tong is dangerous indeed. I hope you like it.

[oldmanteapot]

Heyy Oldmanteapot,

Always nice to bump into a fellow Malaysian mate. I live in PJ, Selangor but my mother is from Penang. Which reminds me, my gluttony trip there is way overdue.

I've actually been shopping around for a puer (sheng and shu) which i can drink daily, mostly at night actually. Could you (or anyone else who reads this) recommend something? I'm not looking to spend too much on it, so something fairly recent and fairly decent.

Thanks a lot peeps....

Hi Edwin,

Can't seem to get a PM to you. PM me or drop me an email at oldmanteapot@me.com

Cheers!

OMTP.

[Edwin Chow]

Heyy Oldmanteapot,

Always nice to bump into a fellow Malaysian mate. I live in PJ, Selangor but my mother is from Penang. Which reminds me, my gluttony trip there is way overdue.

I've actually been shopping around for a puer (sheng and shu) which i can drink daily, mostly at night actually. Could you (or anyone else who reads this) recommend something? I'm not looking to spend too much on it, so something fairly recent and fairly decent.

Thanks a lot peeps....

[Trioxin]

Hi,
After reading your review I did a search on eBay and found them for $10.00, I was saving 3 dollars every time I bought one!
I decided to buy 7 and get one free.

It is a risk to buy a bing of something that has a favorable review. To buy a tong is dangerous indeed. I hope you like it.

I recognize that name from when ebay used to list buyer names. He should have quite a collection to fall back on if he doesn't like it. speaking of which, lets see some pick of the collection nonc_ron.

[puerhking]

Hi,
After reading your review I did a search on eBay and found them for $10.00, I was saving 3 dollars every time I bought one!
I decided to buy 7 and get one free.

It is a risk to buy a bing of something that has a favorable review. To buy a tong is dangerous indeed. I hope you like it.

[oldmanteapot]

Hi Edwin,

Welcome to Tea Chat. Which part of Malaysia are you from?

Cheers from Penang!

[Edwin Chow]

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Hello tea lovers,

This is my first post....so a little about myself. I'm Malaysian and have been drinking tea for about 7yrs now. Pu er is relatively new to me though....only about a year or so.

My Pu of the day is a sheng (my first sheng)!! And that's about all i know about this tea....except that the nei fei has the zhongcha print. The friend who most generously donated this lovely little chunk to me has perhaps had one too many joints as he himself can't recall what it is. Maybe some of you could tell me a little more about it. I suspect it's at least a little aged judging from the dark brown colour......and don't think I'd be able to tell from appearance alone whether it was a shu or sheng.


Taste : Floral, sweet, slight bitterness but not of the unpleasant variety. It almost tastes a bit like sarsi (weird)

Very strong tea, i've gone 15 infusions. Lovely mild floral huigan that goes on for quite some time at the back of throat. The first time i drank this my lips went slightly numb.

What i really like about this tea is the chaqi. It's energetic, bright and positive.