Official Pu of the day

[thejamus]

Sometimes it seems like most of the best shu is inexpensive and not a brand name.

Much in agreement here.

[vibrantdragon]

I have found some contest in Yunnan that review the tea every year and give gold, silver and bronze to the best teas. Some are quite small shops.

[expatCanuck]

2003 CNNP Yi Wu High Mountain Wild Arbor

Another of my 'cross-country skiing' teas.
Woodsy, smoky, leathery. All in a good way.

And qi to beat the band.

I like this tea.

[Consilium]

This is one of the cakes I mentioned in a previous thread, so I don't have a whole lot to tell about it's identity.

Unknown year, appears to be the He Shihua Jingmai wild arbor small cakes.

15 sec rinse- 10 infusions; 15-15-25- . . . -3 min.

This tea was not as astringent as the 2004 wild arbor I've tried from ps - which is close to the age I figure to be for this cake. I expected to get more than 10 infusions, but that was this pu's limit.

Broth of first infusion. Flavor is sweet and smokey, with little but noticable astringency.


Yixing guts.

Astringency - Little but some
Smoke - yes, smokey even
Dryness- some, mostly due to smokey notes
Mouthfeel - smooth. Warmth affecting the lips, tip of tounge, and back of throat
Hui gan - none
Flavor - steamed nappa, flaxseed oil, ash.
Aroma - smokey, some floral. Crushed acorns?
Overall value - $16.80 per small cake, not bad.
Purchase again - Maybe a couple for aging.

Interesting aromas, subdued sweet flavors, and a quitter. I found this pu to thin out too soon, but it was interesting company nonetheless. I sense an aroma of crushed acorns somewhere; anyone with an oak over the driveway will be familiar with this strong autumn scent. I'm looking forward to trying this one again in a few months.

[Salsero]

Ooo, I love the photo of the tea broth! Sounds like a cake worth having.

[Drax]

2002 Hai Lang Hao Mengku Wild Arbor

review here-

http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/showpo ... tcount=422

Small World file: I just started a session last night with this same tea and planned to continue it tonight.

I was disappointed as it seemed awfully light. Now I see that you are using almost exactly twice as much leaf, and getting the sort of results I crave. After 4 infusions last night, should I just add leaf to the pot tonight and proceed from there? Or would it be more fair to the tea to just start over with the heftier dose. Decisions, decisions.

In any event, Goose, thanks for sharing these important details just in the nick of time.

Is everyone using this much leaf for everything? Maybe upping the dose this much might change my feelings about a number of things. I think especially of those engaging by light cakes by Mengku Shuangjiang!

Thanks to Salsero to linking this information. I'm in a similar boat... using half what Goose did (though I was steeping about 2x as long -- 20s, 20s, 30s, 30s, 60s). Though I concur on the smokiness and the full mouth feel.

I will wait awhile before trying this again, but when I do, I will tackle it at 2x the concentration and see how it goes. Thanks again for sharing your experiences with this tea (and others, too)!

[Salsero]

I did try it again with more leaf and found suprisingly little difference in intensity. It had a little more tendency to be astringent. Overall, I think I enjoyed it more at the lower strength. It is basically a good tea, however. I think I was a little disappointed initially that the cake had not matured more in six years.

[Consilium]

2004 Menghai Superior Grade, 2 oz. PS sample

5.5 g in 150 ml yixing

15 sec rinse- 15s, 15s. . . . 5 min: total of 11 infusions.







Astringency - Little
Smoke - Some, mostly in the last few infusions
Dryness- High
Mouthfeel - Light, touching roof of mouth and tounge
Hui gan - Medium, flavor remains for several minutes.
Flavor - Elusive. Possibly melon, asparagus, kinda zesty and sweet
Aroma - Predominantly floral. Leaves, straw.
Overall value - $ 62 per cake currently; go with the sample (2 oz for $12).
Purchase again - I would if it weren't so expensive.

This tea held up consistantly over the 11 infusions. Only toward the 8th infusion did I begin to notice a smokey aroma creeping out, which was pleasant after the very floral introduction. It truly does have a wonderful golden color that seems to last forever.

The qi was strong and noticable, one of my first experiences of the kind. A penetrating heat could be felt in the shoulders, back, and head in random, brief flashes. The caffiene was also pretty high, and I was getting jittery after several cups. As I write this a couple hours later my heartbeat is still faster than normal.

Fun tea to drink, plus pretty tasty - I'd love to age a couple cakes if it weren't so costly.

[Salsero]

Nice review, Consilium. Thanks for sharing. I hope you don't mind that I have added it to the Puerhshop Review Thread.

Lordy be, I just discovered that I have had a sample of this sitting around since April of last year. It came in the then-available Best of Puerh Shop tasting set. I guess I better give it a try!

[Consilium]

Thanks Salsero.

Thats great you have a sample, I'd love to hear your personal opinion. Let me know what you find in there, it had me searching its unique flavor profile for quite some time. I love a pu that plays hard to get!

Don't overdose on qi!

[RemedialLogic]

Unknown loose pu from 05.

[Salsero]

I'd love to hear your personal opinion.

Well, as seems to happen so often, my impressions are very different from yours! Why? ... who knows, but don't take my experience in this one session too seriously ... I don't! Maybe the difference has to do with being stored in a plastic bag for almost a year.

I brewed 5.50 g in 120 ml pot, no rinse, infusions: 15 s, 25 s, 30 s, 45 s, 45 s, 20 s, 30 s, 20 s, 30 s, 40 s, 50 s, 60 s where I am now.

The first infusion seemed to promise nice things ... although it was so light a straw color as to have almost no color. Infusions 2 to 7, however, were so rough, drying, and astringent that I couldn't get much from the very light flavor profile. I almost dumped it, but in the eighth infusion it let up on the rough stuff and revealed a light, fruity profile ... maybe hay and straw types of tastes ... but still awfully subtle for my barbaric tasting skills, and as you say, elusive. I like your melon analogy, certainly zesty, I didn't find it sweet, but the straw and floral are consistent with my experience. Now, in the 12th infusion, I am starting to notice a nice oily feel on the lips. I have had this experience with other CNNP cakes at Puerhshop too: that the early infusions can be iffy at best, but the later ones become quite nice. Unfortunately, I have already dumped the leaves and cleaned out the pot!

I would suggest looking into three other CNNP productions at Puerhshop, all of which I found much easier to live with and all of which cost dramatically less. In order of my current sense of preference:

• 2004 CNNP 7548 Green Pu-erh Tea, $18.59
  2005 CNNP Yellow Label Pu-erh Tea, $17.59
  2004 CNNP Old Tree Green Pu-erh Tea, $18.59.

All three of these cakes presented an essentially light profile (but not as light as this Menghai Superior Grade sample) some astringency but nothing like this, and better mouthfeel, which I found lacking in this sample.

[Consilium]

What an interesting comparison Sal. I don't know if it has anything to do with it, but I got the 2 oz chunk a few weeks ago. I also know that smaller samples tend to age differently as they have an increased surface area to leaf volume ratio.

I don't typically count the rinse as my first infusion, but that was pretty light and matches your description in that regard. From around 3 - 5 though, the color was deep yellow - and only faded a few shades lighter later on. I also increase steeping time considerably after the first 6 infusions, usally taking it past a minute for lighter teas (I ended my 11th infusion with 5 min).

Do you let your leaves sit in the heated teapot? I find this helps awaken the leaves before the rinse, and then letting the leaves sit for a minute or two after the rinse to finish opening up. I doubt it would make a remarkable difference however.

I have samples of those last two cakes you mentioned and have yet to find time to try them - but maybe I should to form a general opinion about these similar styles of pu. I'm still waiting to come across a strong, thick sheng without all that bitterness that usually accompanies these qualities. Light is ok, but can get boring after many sessions.

Thanks for sharing your experience and helping me learn a bit more about this tea.

[JAS-eTea Guy]

Got a large sample of this from Puerh Shop.
Wow, compression on this was tight. I have not inflicted damage while separating pu yet but tight compression like this always worries me a bit.

Astringency - (slight)
Smoke - (some)
Dryness-(mouth) - (some)
Mouthfeel - (heavy)
Hui gan - (some)
Flavor - (excellent)
Overall value - (excellent)
Purchase again - (absolutley)

Smell of the liquor was woodsey with a hint of leather and some smoke.
Color of liquor was a deep amber with reddish tint.
Astringency tended to increase a bit with later infusions. Some floral notes also seemed to be present in later infusions.
So, that is about all this rather uneducated nose palate can tell you.

Best regards,
Steve

[Salsero]

Got a large sample of this from Puerh Shop.

Hope you don't mind that I have added your review to the PuerhShop review thread. IIRC, Jeremy and Tenuku both had good words about this cake and Wesli wrote quite a positive review of it HERE. All of this leads me to wonder what I did wrong in the single session I have had with this tea so far. My best guess at the moment is that I didn't use enough leaf. Will hop to it again tonight.