Discussion by Example -- Green-Oolong-Styled Puerh

[Luva]

The boom in the puerh world in the last few years has been creating a lot of wealth, new jobs, excitement, disappointment, confusion, and a lot more others. One of these phenominons is the different philosophy in making the new sheng puerh in the modern days. I have encountered a few so far, and would like to discuss them by example.


Discussion by Example -- Green-Oolong-Styled Puerh
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2010 Manmai from the Essence of Tea

Upon opening the bag of the tea, there was smell of light, roasted, oily oolong dry leaves. Mmm.... Smell and taste of the tea broth went pretty much the same of a green oolong, plus some puerh characteristics. It's a green-oolong-style puerh. This was my first green oolong puerh. I don't know what to make of it. It didn't go up to the level of an usual green oolong in terms of taste and fragrance, but it didn't quite go next to the usual puerh either. It's not a bad tea. It's kind of tasty on its own.

Now comes the bottom line: will it age into something more than the present-self, like a classic puerh does?
Logical thinking: if it smells and tastes like a green oolong, it would age mostly like a green oolong. Some of the raw puerh material has already been processed into green oolong flavors. Whatever left might age like normal puerh, if the green oolong processing didn't stop/kill it all for the maturing cycle.

Mmmm... A big question mark here!
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**I have the above tasting note posted somewhere else first but use it here anyway.

Sometimes it's not easy to detect certain style because it's applied lightly, compared to what we have already known from the usual suspect. In this case, I suggest to warm up an empty cup as hot as possible, put some dry tea leaves in the empty cup, and then cover it up with a lid. Smell the warmed dry leaves from the cup in 30s or so. It should make it more obviously.

If anyone has this kind of puerh made 2-3 years ago or even older, please share the tasting notes of the past and present.

Everyone is invited to share your thought on this topic. Have you encountered another puerh tea of this kind? Regardless yes or no to the question, would you buy it (buy it again if yes? And why?)? Would you consume it in the next 1-2 years or you would store it away for the future?

[nickE]

It's a green-oolong-style puerh.

Young Puerh from actual wild/ancient trees is often way less harsh than plantation teas when they are young.

I do not think there's anything different with the processing of Nada's 2010 cakes.

Go try his 2010 Bulang and see if you think it's a green-oolong-style puerh.

[AdamMY]

This was my first green oolong puerh.

I am rather confused by this post, the quoted line in particular. No where on the page for this tea do I see a description saying "green oolong puerh" or that it recieved any sort of oolong processing. One thing I will say is puerh is a rather broad category of tea even when narrowing it down to young raw puerh. He does say that it is the most approachable of his productions which probably means it lacks a lot of what veteran puerh drinkers come to expect from a young raw puerh.

But as to your question about its aging potential, it really opens up a giant can of worms. While I am sure this tea is processed similar to most puerh, or else Nada the owner of The Essence of Tea would have explicitly stated how it was different (he did make some notes but nothing that sounds odd for Puerh).

The real questions comes down to preference some people think puerh should be incredibly bitter and really hard to drink for it to age well. While others believe that while all tea will age differently even teas that are nice to drink when younger can age rather well.

[Luva]

It's a green-oolong-style puerh.

I do not think there's anything different with the processing of Nada's 2010 cakes.
[/i].

Just curious if you have tried the manmai. If yes, please share your tasting note and thought. Thanks.

[nickE]

Just curious if you have tried the manmai. If yes, please share your tasting note and thought. Thanks.

Yep, in fact I have a cake of it. I haven't reviewed it yet as I didn't wanna spam the "Pu of the day" thread full of my reviews. I've shared my thoughts on the Bulang & Mansai so far.

This is the thread:
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... &start=335

I'll review this one in particular tomorrow.

[Luva]

This was my first green oolong puerh.

But as to your question about its aging potential, it really opens up a giant can of worms. While I am sure this tea is processed similar to most puerh, or else Nada the owner of The Essence of Tea would have explicitly stated how it was different (he did make some notes but nothing that sounds odd for Puerh).

Would you like to try it yourself? I am interested in your tasting note and thought.

The following is not intended to point to any particular tea vendors/tea makers/tea dealers. These are questions I hope someone has a better idea. The puerh tea boom created a lot of new jobs. One of them is puerh tea making. In the chain of the product to the tea drinkers, some order as follows:
1. Tea leaves picking
2. Initial processing -- either tea farmers do it in many cases, or some big brands like Menghai, ChenSing (some or all their puerhs? LaoBanZhang for sure nowadays.), Xiaguan etc. have their own tea labs to do it.
3. People buy the maocha from tea farmers and make them into cakes, bricks, etc.
4. Marketing/distribution/whole sale/retailing

From #2, does anyone know what kind of jobs these tea farmers had before the puerh boom? How many were making puerh before? How many are new comers for the boom and new wealth? How many of these new comers have the required skills to do it properly?

From #3, do the buyers really have enough experience to tell by themselves the tea leaves they picked are good? What were they doing before buying and making puerh cakes? How long have they been buying maocha and making puerh cakes? Would you like to double check for yourself before buying from them? Let say some of them know what they are doing. Do they sell it as a drink-it-right-now tea or as a classic puerh which would age into a wonder? Many sellers don't specify/quarantee it or they do. But a job is just a job, and money is money. No? These questions apply to all buyer-and-maker in one, like YSLL, DTH, The Essense of Tea, Hai Lang Hao, Douji, etc.

Just some sincere questions.

[Luva]

I'll review this one in particular tomorrow.

If you have the Bangwei, please share your notes too. I will post mine in a few days.

[pgho]

Just some sincere questions.

If have so much doubts, I will just reach for a can of coke or good old sky juice.

No, I have not try any of Nada's 2010 production, matter of fact have not been drinking much tea lately ... wonder why

[nada]

Upon opening the bag of the tea, there was smell of light, roasted, oily oolong dry leaves. Mmm.... Smell and taste of the tea broth went pretty much the same of a green oolong, plus some puerh characteristics. It's a green-oolong-style puerh.

This post made me laugh. Perhaps I sent a bag of oolong out wrongly labelled.

I'll assume for the moment that I didn't send the wrong tea & reassure you Luva that this isn't a green-oolong-style puerh. It's a pure single origin sheng puerh from ancient trees, completely hand processed in the traditional manner.

That the leaves were still on the trees a few months ago and care was taken in the processing not to taint the natural flavour of the leaves, should hopefully have produced a flavour that is more fresh and pure than many puerhs you may have tried before.

[nicolas]

Now comes the bottom line: will it age into something more than the present-self, like a classic puerh does?

The answer is that nobody knows, and that is why some of us shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars to buy aged tea, because we would rather have a guaranteed payoff (in terms of a lovely tea session on a special occasion) right now rather than wait for 10~20 years to get it right (or wrong, in which case we would never be able to get back our time).

A risk premium is the minimum difference a person requires to be willing to take an uncertain bet, between the expected value of the bet and the certain value that he is indifferent to.

For example, suppose a game show participant may choose one of two doors, one that hides $2,000 and one that hides $100. Further suppose that the host also allows the contestant to take $500 instead of choosing a door. The two options (choosing between door 1 or door 2, or take $500) have a different expected value, so there is a risk premium for choosing the doors over the guaranteed $500.

A contestant unconcerned about risk is indifferent to these choices. However, a risk averse contestant may be more likely to choose no door and accept the guaranteed $500.

So it depends on your risk profile.

[nickE]

Very well said.

[TIM]

It's a green-oolong-style puerh.

I do not think there's anything different with the processing of Nada's 2010 cakes.
[/i].

Just curious if you have tried the manmai. If yes, please share your tasting note and thought. Thanks.

Welcome to the world of puerh Luva. Seems like you are puzzled by puerh characters and its many facets. Why would it be strange or foreign if it shares some characteristic with oolong? At the end of the day they are both tea, from the same family of Camellia Sinensis.

Many times, high grade Eastern Beauty will carry the same nose of a FF Darjeeling, or a Kung Fu Keemun tea could have the after taste of Moonlight White Puerh. High grade wild ancient puerh sharing a kiss of the same aroma as a Wuyi light water fairy is just one of the 4 main characters of good puerh. And no worries, because you are at least half way there to a great cup, since Nada is one of the trusted and most passionate tea vendor in the Western world and your journey will only get better

All in all, you just need to educate your palate more on puerh and other higher grade tea. Learn to listen and appreciate them, without rushing to the finishline. Enjoy ~ T

[debunix]

...nobody knows, and that is why some of us shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars to buy aged tea, because we would rather have a guaranteed payoff (in terms of a lovely tea session on a special occasion) right now rather than wait for 10~20 years to get it right (or wrong, in which case we would never be able to get back our time)......So it depends on your risk profile.

And on how deep your wallet is *today*.

[Luva]

Now comes the bottom line: will it age into something more than the present-self, like a classic puerh does?

The answer is that nobody knows and that is why some of us shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars to buy aged tea,....

This kind of comment is welcome. Thanks.

[Luva]

High grade wild ancient puerh sharing a kiss of the same aroma as a Wuyi light water fairy is just one of the 4 main characters of good puerh.

Thanks for the cmments.

It sounds like you have some idea. Have you tried Nada's 2010 Manmai?
If yes, please kindly refer to 1 or 2 other present-day puerhs which have this kind of characterictics. I am interested in getting and tasting them. I do need to learn about this kind of puerh. Any older puerhs you have experienced the same? I am interested in getting and tasting them too.
If no, please kindly share what the 4 main characters of good puerh you meant. Mentioning a puerh or 2 which go with the theory is even better, so I could see it hands-on.