Another little tidbit regarding quality...
I have confirmed from multiple sources that the brick is of good quality.
I won't count the opinions of the shop owner/employee as confirmations b/c they at least have a slightly biased opinion. However, they are pretty honest. For example, they're not afraid to tell you if a tea is border tea, a bit to wet stored, a bit to dry stored etc...
Outside sources:
My aunt has a friend (we'll call him Person A) who lives in the house of a Japanese tea Master. The house is pretty cool, there are 3 tea rooms. One rustic tea room that is a converted shed in the mountains. A formal Japanese tearoom beside a Japanese garden and hanging over a ravine. And another inside the main house. I'm sure all of us would die to live there, but that's another subject. Anyways, this tea master is in contact w/ the tea master who made my shu - master Wong. This is confirmation from an unbiased source that someone named Master Wong actually did make this tea. From what I understand, Master Wong personally crafts the tea. (I'm not 100% certain about this last sentence b/c I just vaguely remember hearing it about a month ago.)
EDIT:
I forgot to add, Master Wong also makes Sheng. I might not have much experience w/ shu or aged sheng, but I have tried ~8 different kinds of young Sheng - Master Wong's is BY FAR the best I've had. It contains no "off tastes" - no smokyness, no bitterness (unless you oversteep), no astringency, no "throat locking," no overly sharp and harsh flavors. It might not be harsh, but don't mistake it for weak. By harsh, I mean flavors that jar at your tongue. This is the opposite, the flavors gradually build up and increase in intensity. It's bold and fruity w/ a LONG aftertaste... the flavor remained in my mouth for about 2 hours after I tried it.I can't quite remember the individual flavors because I had it about a month ago, however, it definitely wasn't a "simple" or non complex tea.
Can be achieved by not rinsing shu in particular, I had locking the throat sensation with cooked cakes that were new. I am guessing just fermented puerh has too much nasties left intact, which age out so to speak with time only.Salsero wrote: "Throat lock" -- love the term!
A local store where I saw a shu puerh log for the first time (looks like 2 tongs of pu compressed together) said shu is drinkable after at least 9 years.
Is this the kind of store that also says sheng pu'erh is strictly not to be drunk for atleast 10+ years?orguz wrote:A local store where I saw a shu puerh log for the first time (looks like 2 tongs of pu compressed together) said shu is drinkable after at least 9 years.Salsero wrote: "Throat lock" -- love the term!
I intended to include a disclaimer in the last post, stating that those were the proprietor's opinions, I had a funny feeling this was coming 
Shengs can be drunk fresh or aged imho, but new shu is just too funky. Two shu cakes from Scott which I bought beginning of this year, these ones:
http://cgi.ebay.com/2007-Haiwan-Lao-Ton ... dZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/2007-Golden-Bud-Bee ... dZViewItem
They gave me that locked feel in the back of throat, even after rinsing. One cake from Teamaster's a 2000 cooked brick lacked that feeling. It could have been something else, but only those newer cooked puerhs locked my throat. That is not to say all newer fermented shu puerh display this trait. Could by my preference/bad luck in choosing nice looking wrapped cakes
I will reiterate T.Verlain's statement "Do what thou wilst shall be the whole of the law"
Shengs can be drunk fresh or aged imho, but new shu is just too funky. Two shu cakes from Scott which I bought beginning of this year, these ones:
http://cgi.ebay.com/2007-Haiwan-Lao-Ton ... dZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/2007-Golden-Bud-Bee ... dZViewItem
They gave me that locked feel in the back of throat, even after rinsing. One cake from Teamaster's a 2000 cooked brick lacked that feeling. It could have been something else, but only those newer cooked puerhs locked my throat. That is not to say all newer fermented shu puerh display this trait. Could by my preference/bad luck in choosing nice looking wrapped cakes
I will reiterate T.Verlain's statement "Do what thou wilst shall be the whole of the law"
tea cup size of thimble?TomVerlain wrote:i was wondering about that myself (the 30 steeps - sounds like a hitchcock movie)
how much leaf to how much water ?
Shu "usually" seems to die a much faster death than sheng. in that it gives up more faster, and then there is no more to give.
honestly, by 12 steeps for aged tea, I am letting it sit for hours....
Weird... the 30th steep thing just came up in that other thread on leaving wet leaves in a pot. Salsero linked to a blog at this link that describes a similar session (over 11 days).
Lol the first 10 or so infusions were just getting the brick wet!orguz wrote:He steeped the whole brick of course.Wesli wrote:Is nobody else dumbfounded by this shu's 30-steep lifetime? I actually think that is impossible.
Good god that looks like a moonshine drinking device! Perfect size.TomVerlain wrote:the trick is, you don't fill the cup all the way up !!!puerhking wrote: tea cup size of thimble?
If you were in Xishuangbanna and asked to use their best leaves to make a shu, they would think you were nuts.TomVerlain wrote: Shu "usually" seems to die a much faster death than sheng. in that it gives up more faster, and then there is no more to give.
It is customary to make shu from 'rain water' tea leaves as the locals would tell you.
Maybe someone ventured to do the impossible.
Nov 30th, '08, 21:39
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I use really small yixings (I'd guess about 80ml-120ml) and fill them ~1/2 full or more. With this particular shu, I used my smallest pot and filled (but not packed) it with as many leaves as I could. Most of the steeps were flash infusions w/ boiling water and the last infusions were sweet water. Also, I didn't count the number of steeps, but it was around 30. Next time I brew the shu, I'll count the number, and report back.Wesli wrote:Is nobody else dumbfounded by this shu's 30-steep lifetime? I actually think that is impossible.
Just wanted to say I've tried and seen the trinity puerh being talked about and I can tell you its no ordenary shu. The liqure is very good, but what realy makes this brick stand out is the look of it. You can see whole leaves that look like they were lovingly laid one by one on top of each other befor being packed. Its a high end tea, too pricy for my taste, but it was a treat to see and taste it. BTW I thought the price was 100$ for a brick? And didn't master Wong invent the mini tocha?