Official Pu of the day

[jayinhk]

Cheap shu...just don't do it. Wet piled tea on a concrete floor in rural Yunnan with chickens and dogs running around, bugs, etc, and you wanna go cheap? I've had cheaper bricks (still not the really cheap stuff) that tasted of pesticide. If the cheap stuff makes you feel sick, there's a good chance your body is telling you there's something wrong with the tea. Chinese tea aficionados are known for drinking tea with their bodies...if the tea makes you feel bad, you should probably bin it.

I recently found a pube in a 2005 CNNP 7581 and quite a few tea seeds. To me, that indicates they were just throwing low-grade leaves in piles without any real sorting. I stick to Dayi/CNNP shu or YS now because cheap shu honestly scares me. The better shu cakes from Dayi are really quite nice and less likely to have weird extras.

BTW, if you like the Tiger Monkey, you'll like the Laos Ban Payasi I'm drinking. They taste quite similar, although the Ban Payasi is quite a bit sweeter and more complex as far as the floral aroma goes.

Try a YS-brand shu..they are lovely!

[daidokorocha]

I received my order from Yunnan Sourcing today. I really did not expect it today. Incredibly fast shipping! I tried the two CNNP 2005 Anniversary samples I selected, one sheng one shu. First was the sheng. I swear I did not use enough leaf for this, but either way it was very good and I would consider buying a whole cake. You could smell the sweetness from the pot from quite a distance. Slight smoke and earth, no bitterness whatsoever, very clean, sweet, slight fruit and sour taste. I didn't count but surely I had 10+ on this thing before I stopped. There seemed to be more left in it as well. I felt very lovely and floaty after drinking this one.

The shu on the other hand.... well it was good. I recently went out to dim sum and ordered a pot of their cheapest shu and my fiancee remarked that it tastes like garbage to which I replied yes, it does and I sort of enjoy the taste. I will say that cheap shu makes me sick after a few glasses though. This certainly did not make me sick and had the flavors I enjoy without those disgusting ones that makes you think twice about continuing to drink, so I was happy. It was very mellow, earthy without being overwhelming. I could drink it all day easily. However, I did not feel that there were any special flavors. No real dark fruit tastes I was hoping for. Just sort of a standard shu that got sweeter over the course of the brewing. It was a long brewer as well and left an incredibly pleasant taste on the palate. This one is nearly the same price as the sheng and I would not spend the money for it.

My fiancee liked both teas, so that probably says something about cheap puer.

[ethan]

2013 Xigui from Teadezhang. 3 year tasting. The color of the leaves have darkened as well as the liquor. Delicious, full flavor, deep, full of energy.

In the background, I have agarwood chips burning on the charcoal burner that have been soaked with oudh oil. Normally, burning incense usually interferes with my enjoyment of tea, but I find that this combination of the exquisite smell of the agarwood chips combined with the exquisite taste of the Xigui are nothing short of perfect.

When it is hot season in Bangkok, it is good to have these life-enhancing things for comfort & pleasure at home. Cheers!

[jayinhk]

2014 Laos Ban Payasi sheng from Chawangshop. Really lovely tea. Nice wild floral gushu taste, smooth, clean and calming qi. Sweet, a little smokey and no bitterness. My kind of sheng, but I wonder how tea like this will age long term as it seems so delicate. Great for drinking now for sure! Honza thinks it will age well, and he knows his stuff, so maybe I should pick a few up when I'm in Kunming in five weeks.

Still on the Laos Ban Payasi the day after--infusion two is fuller flavored and the smoke has dissipated. Really lovely stuff. Brewing in F1 hongni (170ml) from EoT. This pot works extremely well with younger sheng.

[Tead Off]

2013 Xigui from Teadezhang. 3 year tasting. The color of the leaves have darkened as well as the liquor. Delicious, full flavor, deep, full of energy.

In the background, I have agarwood chips burning on the charcoal burner that have been soaked with oudh oil. Normally, burning incense usually interferes with my enjoyment of tea, but I find that this combination of the exquisite smell of the agarwood chips combined with the exquisite taste of the Xigui are nothing short of perfect.

[debunix]

2005 Menghai "Early Spring" sheng tuo....now getting to be a reasonable age, and aging marvelously. Spicy, earthy, mellow.

[Nighttrain]

Tea Urchin's 2013 Yiwu Peacock and I am FLYING. love this tea.

[Rui]

This must be the week of the 2005 teas: today I am sipping 2005 Yi Wu Cha Yuan Big Green Tree of a sample I got from Yunnan Sourcing.

[Rui]

Today I am sipping some more of the 2005 traditionally stored 7542 that I bought from Green Tea Guru in UK. I love this cake with almost no wet storage characteristics which quickly disappear within two steepings.

[Rui]

Of the tea list posted the only one I have sipped before is "2002 Yong Pin Hao "Red Yi Wu Zheng Shan" Raw Pu-erh tea from Yi Wu" and that is because I tend to drink raw pu'er teas mainly although some of the teas you listed tempt me.

'
Rui, is this by chance you? http://steepster.com/rui-antunes

By other people sometime ago and on Yunnan Sourcing It is described as having a very heavy grape flavor, which I found interesting. Did you not get any of that?

A bit on the expensive side and I hope it is worth it.

Yes, it is me alright. I was wondering how long it would take for people to trace me back here. Now I better hide.

It is a very pleasant tea alright but I need to check my drinking notes and come back to you about specifics. Yong Pin Hao teas are in general of good quality and Yi Wu region teas also attract a premium for the past few years but in general they are worth the extra cost.

[daidokorocha]

Of the tea list posted the only one I have sipped before is "2002 Yong Pin Hao "Red Yi Wu Zheng Shan" Raw Pu-erh tea from Yi Wu" and that is because I tend to drink raw pu'er teas mainly although some of the teas you listed tempt me.

'
Rui, is this by chance you? http://steepster.com/rui-antunes

By other people sometime ago and on Yunnan Sourcing It is described as having a very heavy grape flavor, which I found interesting. Did you not get any of that?

A bit on the expensive side and I hope it is worth it.

[Rui]

Of the tea list posted the only one I have sipped before is "2002 Yong Pin Hao "Red Yi Wu Zheng Shan" Raw Pu-erh tea from Yi Wu" and that is because I tend to drink raw pu'er teas mainly although some of the teas you listed tempt me.

[daidokorocha]

I don't think I have any Pu... need to replenish. I might have a small sample somewhere, but other than that, nothing. So I just placed an order from yunnan sourcing. I purchased the following:

2005 * CNNP * 1938 Anniversary Premium Ripe Pu-erh Tea
2005 CNNP 1938 Anniversary Yi Wu Zheng Shan Pu-erh tea
2002 Yong Pin Hao "Red Yi Wu Zheng Shan" Raw Pu-erh tea from Yi Wu
2008 Menghai "Yang Chun San Yue" Raw Pu-erh tea cake
2015 Yunnan Sourcing "Nuo Mi Xiang" Ripe Pu-erh tea and Sticky Rice Herb
2015 Yunnan Sourcing "Tian Tang Cao" Ripe Pu-erh tea and Jiaogulan
2015 Yunnan Sourcing "Ying Shan Hong" Purple Black Tea and Snow Chrysanthemum (Well, this isn't puer!)
2013 Yunnan Sourcing Ripe Pu-erh and Snow Chrysanthemum tea mini cake
2005 Menghai 7592 501 Ripe Pu-erh Tea cake

I imagine this will keep me busy for awhile. Perhaps a little too heavy on the ripe, but I thought the cheap "Journey to the West" set seemed like an interesting thing to drink. Other than that it was 3 raw, 2 ripe. I suppose I will not see them for two weeks or so. In the meantime, I will try to search down that sample somewhere and give me some puer that I have been craving.

[Rui]

Sipping a very nicely stored 7542 of 2005.

[Rui]

Today and for the next few days I am trying to finish Tea Urchin's 2013 Snake Blend which has served me very well. Looking forward to find a similar replacing cake for this one or White2Tea's Bosch.