Daily drinker raw cake

[Rui]

That sentence sends me back to almost forgotten memory lane.

I was wondering about your name, portuguese parents/grandparents?

Both my parents were born in Alfama but my brother and I have never lived in Portugal although we do go there on holidays every so often. We love the food and people's friendliness.

[Rui]

Yesterday and today I have been sipping tea from the new 2016 Hekai raw pu'er tea from Chawangshop which you might consider in your decision to buy a sheng cake.

[alex_fred]

@CheekyChipmunk: That mushroom doesn't look bad. I might get it regardless of buying a cake.

I like that Hai Lang, I wanted to try a YiWu thus I could beat 2 flies with one slap (okay this sounds better in hungarian ). Greenteaguru is actually cheaper for me, shipping is only 5 GBP and delivery time is significantly lower. I don't think I'd choose the Nan Jian cake if it's similar to Xiaguan. I just ordered a 2006 Te Ji last week from Berylleb.
If there's a sale till next week then I might pick up the Ai Lao.

I didn't know prices could go up so fast. Last year I bought the 2006 Te Ji for 9 USD I think, now it's around 15. The 2012 Menghai Hong Yun mini cake was less than 9 USD not long ago, now it doubled its price. Tea seems to be a good investment, except for me 'cause I drink everything. I drank the 2016 Nan Zhao too which should have been left to age.

I think I can be of help here! I actually own cakes of the Hai Lang Hao, Nan Jian, and Bo Nan cakes from Yunnan Sourcing. I enjoy all three quite a bit and would recommend them all as solid daily drinkers based on the price.
Hai Lang Hao: A very very good bargain cake at the price it's currently being sold for. This one is great, but maybe a little one dimensional compared to the Nan Jian cake. Admittedly this is the cake I have tried the least of the three however.
Nan Jian: Extremely cheap and a solid cake. Not a ton to say about it other than it might be the cake I enjoy most strictly based on $ to enjoyment ratio basis. Again not the most delicious cake in the world, but decent and cheap.
Bo Nam: This one is definitely showing its age of 10 already. It has had the wettest storage of the three and definitely tastes the furthest from a young sheng.
As far as which to get I would say it depends on what you're looking for. The nan jian is a true, cheap daily drinker. Hai Lang Hao has been ratedly very favorably by quite a few people online. The Bo Nan is a very affordable semi aged cake.

[kuánglóng]

Hai Lang Hao: A very very good bargain cake at the price it's currently being sold for. This one is great, but maybe a little one dimensional compared to the Nan Jian cake. Admittedly this is the cake I have tried the least of the three however.

I've got 4 cakes and 300g loose leaves of this Hai Lang Hao and if any of my newer shengs has the capacity to surprise me it's this stuff - it's gone through some pretty amazing changes since I've got the cakes 6 or so months ago. It certainly isn't the greatest Yiwu out there but beautifully dynamic, with a rather strong taste, decent somatics and longevity - hard to beat price wise (400g for ~25€) and worth every penny IMO. To me the single major drawback is that it's still a bit on the thin side but that can change for the better with some more years under the wrapper.

[Xeractha]

I think I'll stick to Hai Lang Hao.
I'll buy a mini cake from What cha later, the shipping is only 4,2 GBP so it's not that bad. Same price as I pay for a book on amazon (uk).

On further thought I might buy only a 100g sample of the Hai Lang Hao. I spent too much money on tea this month and it hasn't even ended yet. Yesterday I bought the Haiwan LTZ Yellow label cake that I wanted for a while (it seems that was the last one, can't even find it anywhere else), that will be my first 357g cake :O . Spent money at a local store, ordered some sencha, etc... To cake or not to cake... hmm hmm It's my birthday soon, would it look stupid if I put candles on a tea cake? At least there would be no need for baking one.

[Xeractha]

I bought the whole cake finally, I suppose it will be here next Friday. My question is what temperature you use for this sheng?
I always thought younger teas required lower temperature but my 2016 Nan Zhao worked best with 99-100 C° water and flash steeps while 10 year old shengs tasted better with 90-95 C° water and longer steeps. This Hai Lang Hao is made of 2012 material so I have no clue where to start (not like it's a difficult thing). 400g is enough for experimenting but I'd prefer a starting point. :O
Though the question is a little bit pointless because out of 10 answers probably none would match. At least it would be interesting to see what's the sweet spot for different people.

And if I haven't said so far, thanks for the recommendation.

[kuánglóng]

...
Though the question is a little bit pointless
...

A little bit maybe ... there are just so many factors involved - your setup and amount of water/tea, way of preparation (western/eastern/...), cooling rate, individual preferences, ... you name it.
Anyway, I wouldn't use boiling water for this tea and usually start somewhere around 90°C with my gong-fu setup, prewarmed vessel, flash steeps etc., see how that works and adapt as needed.

Just experiment ... what could you loose?

[Xeractha]

Western style pu-erh drinking? I don't even know how it would taste.
Anyway I'm using a 100ml gaiwan (thinking about getting a smaller). I usually use around 6-7g leaf (sometimes more). About cooling rate... Well, my gaiwan isn't the thickest one.
While individual preferences matter I'm actually interested what others call as "tasty" and I see no point in making a new thread just for this, also the same tea would be required but it's given here.

[mr mopu]

I bought the whole cake finally, I suppose it will be here next Friday. My question is what temperature you use for this sheng?
I always thought younger teas required lower temperature but my 2016 Nan Zhao worked best with 99-100 C° water and flash steeps while 10 year old shengs tasted better with 90-95 C° water and longer steeps. This Hai Lang Hao is made of 2012 material so I have no clue where to start (not like it's a difficult thing). 400g is enough for experimenting but I'd prefer a starting point. :O
Though the question is a little bit pointless because out of 10 answers probably none would match. At least it would be interesting to see what's the sweet spot for different people.

And if I haven't said so far, thanks for the recommendation.

I normally do about 205F with the HLH. You can adjust it after the first brew,