Putting a tea sample to the test

[lordsbm]

Someone on a China discussion group requested I put a TB seller's tea to test. So sharing the result here. All I can say is it's a good tea at 39RMB for 357g.

2011 Lonely traveller's (单骑) yule long pa gushu sample

[lordsbm]

Using 150ml gaiwan, 10g tea, 90-95 Celsius water, 1 quick rinse cleanse.

1st steep - 10sec
Color: Yellow
Remarks: Mild orchid & tea aroma.
Sweetness: 3 Bitterness: 2 Consistency: 3 Astringent: 3
Huigan: 2 Salivary: 3 Dryness: 2 Smoothness: 3


2nd steep - 10sec
Color: Bright Yellow
Remarks: Rich orchid & tea aroma.
Sweetness: 3 Bitterness: 3 Consistency: 3.5 Astringent: 3
Huigan: 3.5 Salivary: 3 Dryness: 2 Smoothness: 3


3rd steep - 3min
Color: Orange Yellow
Remarks: Thick tea aroma, body feels warm.
Sweetness: 3 Bitterness: 4 Consistency: 4.5 Astringent: 2
Huigan: 4 Salivary: 3 Dryness: 3 Smoothness: 3

[lordsbm]

Fourth steep - 10sec
Color: Bright Yellow
Remarks: Tea aroma still rich, brew taste sweeter.
Sweetness: 3.5 Bitterness: 2 Consistency: 3 Astringent: 3
Huigan: 3 Salivary: 2 Dryness: 3 Smoothness: 3.5



Fifth steep - 5min
Color: Orange Yellow
Remarks: Thick tea aroma, head feels a little giddy.
Sweetness: 3 Bitterness: 4 Consistency: 4 Astringent: 3
Huigan: 4 Salivary: 3 Dryness: 3 Smoothness: 3



Sixth steep - 10secs
Color: Yellow
Remarks: Tea aroma become weak, there's sweet water taste
Sweetness: 3 Bitterness: 2 Consistency: 2 Astringent: 3
Huigan: 2 Salivary: 2 Dryness: 2 Smoothness: 3



It can likely to go on for a few more steeps. This is just one of the way tea buyer test tea up in the mountains.

[MarshalN]

At that price it's impossible to be gushu, unless a farmer has gone mad. Doesn't mean the tea has to be bad, but just that the gushu claim needs to be .... moderated.

[lordsbm]

At that price it's impossible to be gushu, unless a farmer has gone mad. Doesn't mean the tea has to be bad, but just that the gushu claim needs to be .... moderated.

It's likely dashu or laoshu. It also depends on individual definition age for gushu.

The seller state it as 150-300yrs tree, grade 4. From the taste it's confirm not a young tree.

IMHO, the most value for money aged tree new pu-erh on TB comes from minyan. They have gushu from less popular villages going for as little as 20-25rmb per 100g. Their popular items under 60RMB normally get sold out really fast.

Like the current gushu shu brick using huangpian, 32RMB for 250g. Listed on 12th Apr, now sold 312 pieces left last 8 pieces. I ordered 8 bricks yesterday.

Real or fake gushu shu I don't know, but it's a seller not many people will mention on China forum or group. Yet when someone talk about it , you get people saying their tea 性价比很高，直接收藏. Puzzling

[gingkoseto]

It was once sort of a common note that gushu means >500 years old. Later on this threshold was lowered by some people more or less. But in any sense, it's hard to call a tree <300 years old "ancient tree," just like it's hard to call a 30-year-old person old But if the producer could admit the real tree age (and if it's real age), then it's already a not bad producer.

lordsbm, are you talking about ming yan hao? I like them a lot, and sometimes could tell they try to follow the "unwritten rules" of the "industry" and also try to be honest to consumers. For example (and now it's my gossip ), once they had a zhang jia san dui product with a "ban zhang" wrapper. They made quite open claim that the wrapper was made by the trader that would sell their tea in Hong Kong under a different trademark. On the one hand, the producer will let the trader put on a wrapper they prefer. On the other hand, the producer wanted to protect their reputation by telling their own buyers where the tea is really from.

[lordsbm]

lordsbm, are you talking about ming yan hao? I like them a lot, and sometimes could tell they try to follow the "unwritten rules" of the "industry" and also try to be honest to consumers. For example (and now it's my gossip ), once they had a zhang jia san dui product with a "ban zhang" wrapper. They made quite open claim that the wrapper was made by the trader that would sell their tea in Hong Kong under a different trademark. On the one hand, the producer will let the trader put on a wrapper they prefer. On the other hand, the producer wanted to protect their reputation by telling their own buyers where the tea is really from.

Ya min yan hao I'd grown to be their fan, checked their TB store every other day. To my knowledge they help supply shops, so I can understand they have odd wrappers. So in term of the sales circle, getting from them is a step below getting direct from farmer.

Zhang jia san dui is like xiao ban zhang, actually a lot of TB sellers own tea are "fake" wrapper, the very least min yan tells u the source. I think the last one was a 28RMB (naka?) bing that they say you may get wrapper saying bing dao, ban zhang, etc

The dan qi seller I mentioned above also value for money. The very least they do have 2 retail shops in Yunnan. I recall reading a very short common in a China forum, that someone claims he visit their shop often. How true don't know.

But there's a guy who claims he found hair in their tea. I have 6 bings from them haven't open, will go on hair hunt when I do.

Dai jian xingzhe also sell value for money tea. The few negative feedback I found is their tea are often "burnt".

The latest recommendation to me is jipu hao. One of the three known scholars tuition tea. A couple of guys said their mid range tea are pretty decent and value for money. Their 2012 邦崴茶王树春茶 gotten a pretty good review from a known pu erh tea reviewer.