Bamboo raw puerh

[bagua7]

I am still enjoying a Yi Wu Mountain Raw sheng but haven't got much left, so I had a look at YS and found these two offerings:

1. 2009 Meng Song "Dai Tribe" Bamboo Raw Pu-erh tea

2. Aromatic Bamboo Species Raw Pu-erh Tea "Xiang Zhu"

I did a forum search on both and found an entry on number 2:

http://bit.ly/gvrxgg

Not promising at all, , but that tea was produced in 2003, whereas this one goes back to '06.

Any suggestions?

[gingkoseto]

Reading the old post review about bamboo puerh, I get an impression that the reviewer expected prominent bamboo aroma from the tea. I am afraid it's a wrong expectation. Bamboo aroma is very subtle, since bamboo is not a super aromatic material to begin with. The bamboo aroma in bamboo tea is often expressed as a bright fruity aroma which mixes well with the tea flavor.

I agree with the reviewer that it's very hard to open a bamboo section and usually takes a series of carpenter tools. I currently have some tea bamboos and haven't gathered enough courage to open one yet. Some producers nowadays will crack open the bamboo immediately after the tea is made, and sell the tea without bamboo shell. It saves a lot of shipping cost. But it makes the tea look less interesting, and I don't know if it will affect aging process of the tea.

[bagua7]

Thanks for your reply. Honestly what it concerns me are these words:

"...too young, astringent, coarse, and unpleasant to drink."

Let's wait and see whether another teachatter has got similar or different impressions of that tea (or the first offering).

[gasninja]

I just ordered the dai bamboo fragrance pu from yunnan scourcing and the bamboo sheng( which is still in the bamboo cool)from silk road teas If its the same one that David Lee Hoffman is selling at Phoenix collection it should be from 99 . I should recieve the silk road offering tomorow. I wont get the dai pu for a month or more. I've never had a bamboo pu-erh before but I'll let you know how silk road offering is in the next couple of days.

[gasninja]

Just checked silk roads web site I must have got the last one.I'm Guessing the phoenix collection has the same one for $20

[MarshalN]

Just because it's novel doesn't mean it's good

http://phyllsheng.blogspot.com/2006/05/ ... oo-pu.html

[beecrofter]

If the diameter of the bamboo packed tea has any bearing the ones about 3" in diameter have been the better of the ones I have tried via YS.
Be wary of bamboo beetles, put them in the freezer for a few days to kill any larvae.

[bearsbearsbears]

...I don't know if it will affect aging process of the tea.

Be advised that much bamboo tea is fire-roasted multiple times. The process is: steam leaves, pack into tube, throw tube in fire, remove from fire, compact tea in the tube, stuff more in, roast, repeat. It's not likely the tea will change much with age at all, even with a high humidity environment. I had some 1997 zhutong sheng pu stored out of its shell in Guangzhou until 2007 that tasted like 2 year old tea...

[xuancheng]

Does anyone have any idea what houde's upcoming 2011 囍字号 zhutong might taste like?

[Drax]

Does anyone have any idea what houde's upcoming 2011 囍字号 zhutong might taste like?

Ummmmmmmm, it's already out, and it's already sold out (the sheng is, at least; well, except for a few samples).

We discuss it a little in this thread.