2007 Mengku * Mu Ye Chun of Yongde * 2 kilogram Melon

[tony shlongini]

If you want a good oddball presentation, it's hard to beat a mushroom tuo. Xiaguan's latest FT jin cha is a killer, and should be immortal.

[coloradopu]

i think Scott is the coolest

i trust him and feel he has his customer’s best interest in mind.

[shogun89]

i think Scott is the coolest

i trust him and feel he has his customer’s best interest in mind.

Agreed, truly a fine businessman.

[coloradopu]

i have a Tibet green shroom and it is an odd ball but the melon though an odd ball to some others might think of them as the most ingenious form for storage/transport/artistic appeal/energy.........on and on.
I do like my cakes but as ya'll might not guess i had the tea master brake open the melon as therapy for him and entertainment for us. it was done at his celebration for the new harvest and requested by me to commemorate the return of the robins to the mountaintop of 10,000 ft. all this was done 3 days ago it was sooooo cool. The master was as calm as a sleeping baby after with an energy I had not seen. All as a result of the first act of preparing the tea. I must say the large pile on that day smelled like a bale of hay. the next day the whole room had a smell that is hard for me to describe" like candy in a flower shop." at this point I was the benefactor of its energizing effect. Today it smells so close to a cologne maybe old spice??
Any who

all this started because I want other ideas of how to brake up a melon you know for next year when dem birds come home................

thanks for all the comments

[hop_goblin]

Why buy a melon when you can buy a tong?

I think the ultimate way to collect is the YSLLC method of buy 7, get 1 free. Keep a tong and have bing at the ready to keep you occupied.

A tong is analogous to a case of wine- crack open a bottle, and there's still plenty left that's sealed for future consumption or sale. A melon is like opening a jeraboam of wine. I know that you can store sheng once it's opened, but it looks like crap.

Well, actually IMHO a tong should be bought only if you truly enjoy the tea and believe that it will age. It should never be that you get a beeng free. Of course this is a nice incentive, but the true measure of a tong is that you liked it so much you know for certain it will be a great tea in the future. Why buy a tong over a melon? The advantage over a melon is that a tong will age quicker than a 2 kg melon. Of course you can continously chip away at the outside of the melon but then again, you will have to wait decades again for the new exposed tea to ferment naturally.

p.s. Coloradopu, you should really never purchase 2k of anything unless you like the tea. If you are asking questions about the tea, its probably not a wise investment.

[coloradopu]

all you say is true hop but my dilemma is not to purchase but technique. and a search for people that have broken down melons. i need not any advice on the selection of the tea for it was already selected. i just want to know the opinion of others on it and its taste, proportion and so on. so i might compare their point of view to mine. for you see if some one has tasted the tea they have had to of had some part in its prep. thus a point of view of which i am in need of . i have other questions about tea too. but melons are of the most pressing type at the moment. a good example is the resent thoughts i have about the cake you mentioned and how i would like to get more info abut your impression of it. its taste, its compression, leaf and so on. i would like to know what you have for an experience with that cake so i might compare it to my experience with its relative. i feel i have a lot to learn from you and everyone on this sight be they willing to share.

i know there has to be someone out there that has broken-down a melon
i might start a new thread on that" breaking down a 2 kilo melon"
what do yall think?

[Yossarian]

I had good luck with the steaming method of breaking down a 2008 Xiaguan Baoyan mushroom. This is of course much smaller but the method might still work.

Deep pasta pot and a cheap, fold up type steamer. I used a round cooling rack that fit in the pot to space the steamer another inch or so off the bottom of the pot so i could fit more water in it without wetting the tea but I am sure anything would do. Steamed about 20 min covered with water at slow boil. Tea comes out hot as hell but the outside is very soft an pliable. You can separate into chunks or whatever with minimal damage to the leaves. When the the tea cools to the point of being hard again I just put it back in the pot, this time for only about a minute and repeated the process until I reduced it to where I wanted. Allow the tea to air out and dry overnight.

[hop_goblin]

I would just take a pick to it and go for it. Steaming method is too risky IMHO.

[coloradopu]

Agreed steam is out way out . a pick was used after pulling the ribbon but not effective until it was hit oh 8 times with a hammer top center then it picked just fine nice chunks no dusting etc. :idea:

thanks for the info on steam i did it once but from the kettel. it does work well but you give good advice in leting it air for a day or 2 i got good results on a tocha 2 diffrent typs in fact. i will do it again too.

[tony shlongini]

Well, actually IMHO a tong should be bought only if you truly enjoy the tea and believe that it will age. It should never be that you get a beeng free. Of course this is a nice incentive, but the true measure of a tong is that you liked it so much you know for certain it will be a great tea in the future.

Waiter! I know I didn't specifically ask that the chicken be cooked, but......

This goes without saying to the point that I didn't think it was worth mentioning.

What I meant was that if you start with the premise that you would like to buy a large quantity of sheng, the tong + bing method covers all bases. You have a sizeable cake to keep you busy, and a sealed tong to dip into down the line. Even when you break open the tong, you still have another half dozen cakes sealed. Should you ever desire to part with some of your stash, I'll ask this-
Which is easier to sell (and more desirable to buy)- A sealed cake, or a chunk cut from a melon?

Some producers are notorious for sprinkling the better leaves around the outside of their product, the center of which often contains compressed dust. I'd hate to think that there were golf balls at the center of my melon. By the time the consumer gets to the center, the seller may be long dead.

Why buy a tong over a melon? The advantage over a melon is that a tong will age quicker than a 2 kg melon.

This can be good or bad. It's bad enough having to wait a decade or two- I don't have that many left to spare.

I would just take a pick to it and go for it. Steaming method is too risky IMHO.

The notion of steaming even a 100g tuo is anathema to me. All of this talk about wet stored, dry stored, 65% vs. 70% humidity, and you're going to steam the damned thing? I wouldn't consider doing that to an amount large than would be consumed in two days, let alone two kilos. I'm with Hop- chip away!

[coloradopu]

well i guess i must ask has anyone drunk of a crappie looking broken melon.
was it a good experience bad look aside. did yall notice any thing peculiar to melon form tea. was it gust off the melon or in a jar aged for a while broke up.

inquiring minds want to know.

[hop_goblin]

well i guess i must ask has anyone drunk of a crappie looking broken melon.
was it a good experience bad look aside. did yall notice any thing peculiar to melon form tea. was it gust off the melon or in a jar aged for a while broke up.

inquiring minds want to know.

Coloradopu, I am not sure but i believe you may be misunderstanding the nature of why pu is shaped. The quality of pu is not defined by shape. Although more often than not, crappier stuff is generally pressed into bricks.

The more appropriate way of looking at the melon is whether the pu is any good. Melon is just a melon shape, nothing more or nothing less. Perhaps you should just ask a more exact question like " have any of you tried the MengKu YongDe material?" Any good... try to leave the shape out of it.

However, to be frank, your questions seem unclear.

[MarshalN]

The shape does have something to do with quality if you have aging in mind. Different shapes will age differently.

[hop_goblin]

The shape does have something to do with quality if you have aging in mind. Different shapes will age differently.

That's been discussed already.

However, the way that he is presenting his or her's questions leaves me with the impression that shape somehow influences the taste.

[coloradopu]

MarshalN wrote:
The shape does have something to do with quality if you have aging in mind. Different shapes will age differently.

so

However, the way that he is presenting his or her's questions leaves me with the impression that shape somehow influences the taste

i think it does

Posted: Apr 29th '09 11:36 am Post subject:

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well i guess i must ask has anyone drunk of a crappie looking broken melon.
was it a good experience bad look aside. did yall notice any thing peculiar to melon form tea. was it gust off the melon or in a jar aged for a while broke up.

what is not clear

yes i do notice

did yall notice any thing peculiar to melon form tea

Melons have a distinct ability to age slower in the middle as time goes on but quicker in the first few years. I think of it as an inverse curve till it is 3 or so and then the outside will catch up but due to the size it still an't the same quite a unique thing just as the tea is of this particular melon.

so my question again

do yall notice any thing peculiar to melon form tea. does it have a different taste is it more to your liking etc.

ok i lied not the same Q's sort of like the outside of a melon it lies.


I BEG THE QUESTION WHY HAVE ME BRAKE UP THE MELON FULLY


89 help i read of your comments you got 2 cents or what?