Official Pu of the day

[kuánglóng]

2015 Mengsong Old Tree (chawangshop)

This is the least dynamic of the chawangpus I got with my last order but has surprisingly distinct notes of turkish honey (the white stuff), decent kuwei, little adstringency, a pretty viscous soup and long, rather subtle aftertaste. Nothing too deep or energetic going on here but I'm glad I bought one those cakes instead of a pound of those turkish sugar bombs.

[jayinhk]

Just bought the following, direct from an authorized dealer in Kunming:

2015 Xiaguan T8653 x 1
2016 Xiaguan FT14456-16 (125g cakes) x 12
2016 Xiaguan Qianjiazhai Bing x 1
2016 Dayi 7542 1601 x 7 (my first tong!)

Aside from the Qianjiazhai, which I'm curious to try, the rest will age in a carton in a dedicated pu erh corner of my office, where I hope to be able to mostly forget about them and let them do their thing for a decade (fingers crossed)! I hope to keep one part of the office dehumidified, 24x7, 365 days a year, but where the pu erh is stored, I only run the air conditioning as needed (when I'm around)!

[kuánglóng]

I don't think Linus Pauling was right about megadoses of vitamin C, but I do use that feeling of cold coming on as an excuse to eat more oranges and peppers, and drink more orange juice: I'm certainly happier whether or not I'm healthier..

Yeah, kiwis, oranges, tangerines, (still no pomelos in sight, sigh), all sorts of peppers and for some reason I'm totally mad about chinese cabbage these days - in salads, on sandwiches, kimchi (old favorite) and all sorts of chinese dishes, can't get enough of that stuff - and tea

[debunix]

I don't think Linus Pauling was right about megadoses of vitamin C, but I do use that feeling of cold coming on as an excuse to eat more oranges and peppers, and drink more orange juice: I'm certainly happier whether or not I'm healthier.

And edited to add what I came here to post: enjoying a smooth session with the 2009 Lao Mansa sheng from Norbu. It was one of the first shengs I tried, and I went back to my original 2009 note about it (from another forum, you can read it here), and I was surprised to see that smokiness was the first characteristic I mentioned. That is completely gone now, after 7 years of aging in my dry LA office and home. The fruity notes are also mostly gone, and the dominant note now is earthy and spicey. After I finish the bits I recently pared off the been, I'll put it to bed again for another 1-2 years.

[kuánglóng]

2012 Jin Ma 8682 via ChaWangShop--one of the ripe pu erh stuffed tangerines.

Funny stuff, Jay. Looking forward to making red-cooked pork (hong shao rou, 红烧肉) with chinese cabbage and spring onions for some friends today and I'll serve this tea to wash it all down.

I bet that will work wonderfully, actually, and the dried tangerine peel is perfect for this time of year! Prevents colds and the flu as the seasons change.

Sure works. The peel as well as the tea have gone through some serious fermentation though but I still have a lot of aged organic tangerine peel lying around here, just in case. I've added a healthy overdose of sichuan pepper to our red-cooked dish today; just the right stuff for this cr@p weather ... I need more tea - now.

[jayinhk]

2012 Jin Ma 8682 via ChaWangShop--one of the ripe pu erh stuffed tangerines.

Funny stuff, Jay. Looking forward to making red-cooked pork (hong shao rou, 红烧肉) with chinese cabbage and spring onions for some friends today and I'll serve this tea to wash it all down.

I bet that will work wonderfully, actually, and the dried tangerine peel is perfect for this time of year! Prevents colds and the flu as the seasons change.

[kuánglóng]

2012 Jin Ma 8682 via ChaWangShop--one of the ripe pu erh stuffed tangerines.

Funny stuff, Jay. Looking forward to making red-cooked pork (hong shao rou, 红烧肉) with chinese cabbage and spring onions for some friends today and I'll serve this tea to wash it all down.

[kuánglóng]

2016 Spring old gardens Jinggu (bannacha)

Sipping some on an (almost) empty stomach right now. Flowery, mellow, with a dominant, velvety kuwei and seemingly endless, slightly salty aftertaste. Great mouthfeel, OK huigan, almost no adstringency, the tummy feels OK and the qi got me more grounded right after the first steep. Good stuff

[debunix]

Late report on a lovely session yesterday with Menghai Golden Needle White Lotus shu, so adapatable and delicious whether in small unglazed shiboridashi, or in thermos bulk brew with not-so-hot water from the tap of the water cooler. Gotta love a tea that does whatever your need so beautifully.

And later, a small session with the 2007 Yong De white bud sheng: there is a fuzziness around the flavor of this tea that sometimes interferes with getting at the earthy and sweet notes that are there underneath, and this time the fuzzy dominated. I've got to figure out why sometimes that is the top note and sometimes just a background hint, because I have a lot of thise tea, and because even in the past few months I've had some very nice sessions with it that convinced me it was ready to start drinking seriously again.

[jayinhk]

Having some fun with 5g of 2006 Myanmar Kokang Mei Hua (chawangshop) in a tiny zhuni pot. Nothing too sophisticated but a primarily brisk, fruity tea with some pronounced tartness, a pretty long aftertaste, remarkable leng xiang in the empty cup and some uplifting qi. I'm getting more than 10 refreshing steeps out of these leaves and will probably get another mini-tong (5x100g).

Nice, I have two of these 100g cakes and have yet to try them! One has been stored in my pu cabinet for a year. Sounds like I should give it a try!

[kuánglóng]

Having some fun with 5g of 2006 Myanmar Kokang Mei Hua (chawangshop) in a tiny zhuni pot. Nothing too sophisticated but a primarily brisk, fruity tea with some pronounced tartness, a pretty long aftertaste, remarkable leng xiang in the empty cup and some uplifting qi. I'm getting more than 10 refreshing steeps out of these leaves and will probably get another mini-tong (5x100g).

[jayinhk]

2001 7542--HK traditional storage. I've had the cake in my living room for a few months. Storage flavors persist, but nothing too major after some air and the tea is extremely smooth. Nice black tea notes, too, and almost no bitterness!

[jayinhk]

Drinking Spring 2016 maocha from a 1,000 year old tree in Myanmar (via Tea-Side) in a big porcelain pot. This tea gave me all day drinking pleasure from a few grams; I just refilled the pot with hot water and had another pot full of tea (with less caffeine, so it won't keep me awake). One advantage of big pot drinking is the leaves will still give you some weak tea before bedtime.

The Mangfei I've mentioned above works the other way around. The last thought I've had before it knocked me out after 3 cups was something like "ooh, that's some pretty calming qi here'.
I've just ordered a couple more cakes

This tea has extremely powerful calming cha qi...second best of any tea I've ever tried, and only fresh ancient tree maocha seems to have that much of an effect on me! Caffeine will still keep me up, though, so it was pleasant to drink some light tea before bedtime, instead of starting a new tea. The flavor persisted and the leaves were still aromatic even after all day drinking, but I didn't feel like doing an overnight steep.

I'll have to check out the Mangfei some time!

Yeah, pretty decent material. Today the fourth steep tasted almost like real, somewhat diluted alpine wild flower honey. Not quite as sweet but just as intense and complex as the real stuff. I can't remember any tea getting as close as this one - amazing.
As to the effects of caffeine I usually end my days with a nice pot of Darjeeling, go to bed and fall asleep within a few minutes. Even a late pot of coffee and most shengs won't keep me from sleeping, but some few pu's like 7542's or even a glass of diet coke give me the jitters and can keep me awake all night; pretty strange.

That is interesting! I am caffeine sensitive, so no coffee before bed, but 7542 doesn't give me jitters!

[kuánglóng]

Drinking Spring 2016 maocha from a 1,000 year old tree in Myanmar (via Tea-Side) in a big porcelain pot. This tea gave me all day drinking pleasure from a few grams; I just refilled the pot with hot water and had another pot full of tea (with less caffeine, so it won't keep me awake). One advantage of big pot drinking is the leaves will still give you some weak tea before bedtime.

The Mangfei I've mentioned above works the other way around. The last thought I've had before it knocked me out after 3 cups was something like "ooh, that's some pretty calming qi here'.
I've just ordered a couple more cakes

This tea has extremely powerful calming cha qi...second best of any tea I've ever tried, and only fresh ancient tree maocha seems to have that much of an effect on me! Caffeine will still keep me up, though, so it was pleasant to drink some light tea before bedtime, instead of starting a new tea. The flavor persisted and the leaves were still aromatic even after all day drinking, but I didn't feel like doing an overnight steep.

I'll have to check out the Mangfei some time!

Yeah, pretty decent material. Today the fourth steep tasted almost like real, somewhat diluted alpine wild flower honey. Not quite as sweet but just as intense and complex as the real stuff. I can't remember any tea getting as close as this one - amazing.
As to the effects of caffeine I usually end my days with a nice pot of Darjeeling, go to bed and fall asleep within a few minutes. Even a late pot of coffee and most shengs won't keep me from sleeping, but some few pu's like 7542's or even a glass of diet coke give me the jitters and can keep me awake all night; pretty strange.

[jayinhk]

Drinking Spring 2016 maocha from a 1,000 year old tree in Myanmar (via Tea-Side) in a big porcelain pot. This tea gave me all day drinking pleasure from a few grams; I just refilled the pot with hot water and had another pot full of tea (with less caffeine, so it won't keep me awake). One advantage of big pot drinking is the leaves will still give you some weak tea before bedtime.

The Mangfei I've mentioned above works the other way around. The last thought I've had before it knocked me out after 3 cups was something like "ooh, that's some pretty calming qi here'.
I've just ordered a couple more cakes

This tea has extremely powerful calming cha qi...second best of any tea I've ever tried, and only fresh ancient tree maocha seems to have that much of an effect on me! Caffeine will still keep me up, though, so it was pleasant to drink some light tea before bedtime, instead of starting a new tea. The flavor persisted and the leaves were still aromatic even after all day drinking, but I didn't feel like doing an overnight steep.

I'll have to check out the Mangfei some time!