Awkward Phase in Sheng Pu

[apache]

Last two days I've been drinking 2009 Douji Yiwu which I got since 2009. When it was new, it tasted fairly mild and sweet, and now it still has that sweetness in it but with a large dose of fishy taste. I would leave it for another year before I will try that one again. Today I'm drinking 2003 7542 which I bought in 2010. Two years ago it tasted rather fishy, but today I couldn't sense that and in fact it is a fairly decent drink.

[shah82]

Think that's the Douji house blend backing the Yiwu that's gone fishy.

[tingjunkie]

Literally fishy, as in a scaled creature from the ocean? I've experienced that with young shu, but never any kind of sheng.

[apache]

Yes, it's the taste of fish from the seas, rivers and lakes. It's similar to the after taste after seeing a dentist, a bit of blood!

I cannot say all the sheng would go through this phase, but it happens very often in 4 to 8 years old sheng and normally I'm not too worry about it. However, if a sheng becomes either bland or very bitter, this normally is not a good sign. My EoT 2010 Bulang turned very bitter and this does ring the alarm, I hope the bitterness would subside in a few years time.

Today I'm drinking YS 2009 Gua Feng Zha, I always find this one hard going. May be it's just me, I find it tastes a bit gingery like ginger ale.

[shah82]

Hmm...that's interesting. Last try of the 2010 Bulang a few weeks ago was pretty Lao Man'E, with a very solid chocolate and plum taste and medicinal bitternes. I definitely am getting that problem bitterness with the Manmai, at least the last time. One of the things about problematic processing is that the tea is pretty erratic from session to session. Bet there's still a few good sessions to be got out of the Manmai, although one sad consequence is that it doesn't have the qi it used to have. The 2011 EoT are *definitely* better processed. Just tried the Mannuo a few days ago. It's a pretty good substitute for Naka (and lbz) teas, but over the session, it's fairly low in dynamicism. YS '10 Xikong was also tried as a comparison, and it was pretty good this time, compared to the more hongcha session last time. I really enjoyed the pink bubblegum flavor note and the qi. Also had the tar florals that yibang teas tend to get. Be interesting to compare this to the 2011 EoT GFZ in 2018. I've never had an acceptable session with a 2009 YS Road to Yiwu tea. That gingery note feels like the sort of "not going well" bitterness that the Manmai has right now.

As for the fishy note, perhaps breaking your tea up a week before session might help? Fishy notes tend to be in factory teas (and some "gushu") that have had some initial humid storage. Getting rid of it does generally tend to be about dry storage, and frankly, now that I think hard about it, you probably shouldn't have a fishy note in the first place, of if the short time it was in E. Asia was really wet, should be long gone by now.

[TwoDog2]

Last two days I've been drinking 2009 Douji Yiwu which I got since 2009. When it was new, it tasted fairly mild and sweet, and now it still has that sweetness in it but with a large dose of fishy taste. I would leave it for another year before I will try that one again. Today I'm drinking 2003 7542 which I bought in 2010. Two years ago it tasted rather fishy, but today I couldn't sense that and in fact it is a fairly decent drink.

For what it is worth, I find that many Yiwu teas go through an awkward phase after young youth and before middle age. Some Yiwu teas I own went through dead spots of several years before they reached that thicker sweet middle age maturity. That's anecdotal though, I have no experience with the 2009 Douji Yiwu.

Not sure about the fish taste, i have not experienced that one before, but if you aren't in a hurry I would let it age further and see what happens.

[kyarazen]

Yes, it's the taste of fish from the seas, rivers and lakes. It's similar to the after taste after seeing a dentist, a bit of blood!

I cannot say all the sheng would go through this phase, but it happens very often in 4 to 8 years old sheng and normally I'm not too worry about it. However, if a sheng becomes either bland or very bitter, this normally is not a good sign. My EoT 2010 Bulang turned very bitter and this does ring the alarm, I hope the bitterness would subside in a few years time.

Today I'm drinking YS 2009 Gua Feng Zha, I always find this one hard going. May be it's just me, I find it tastes a bit gingery like ginger ale.

hmm.... sounds like a microbial conversion of some plant based precursors i.e. choline into trimethylamine...

[tingjunkie]

hmm.... sounds like a microbial conversion of some plant based precursors i.e. choline into trimethylamine...

Hmmm... you don't say?

[William]

hmm.... sounds like a microbial conversion of some plant based precursors i.e. choline into trimethylamine...

Hmmm... you don't say?

[apache]

....
As for the fishy note, perhaps breaking your tea up a week before session might help? Fishy notes tend to be in factory teas (and some "gushu") that have had some initial humid storage. Getting rid of it does generally tend to be about dry storage, and frankly, now that I think hard about it, you probably shouldn't have a fishy note in the first place, of if the short time it was in E. Asia was really wet, should be long gone by now.

Well, the fishy taste doesn't bother me too much as I'm just sampling and see how the tea is developing in my storage.

A few tea traders in HK told me that sheng would go through fishy phase, but I could only say I take what they said face value.

Hobbes also notice his teas go fishy after a few years. My place is around 70% RH most of the time.

[apache]

For what it is worth, I find that many Yiwu teas go through an awkward phase after young youth and before middle age. Some Yiwu teas I own went through dead spots of several years before they reached that thicker sweet middle age maturity. That's anecdotal though, I have no experience with the 2009 Douji Yiwu.

Not sure about the fish taste, i have not experienced that one before, but if you aren't in a hurry I would let it age further and see what happens.

Yes, a lot of very new Yiwu go dead for the first few years.

I think it would be more likely to have fishy phase if tea is stored in more humid environment.

[apache]

hmm.... sounds like a microbial conversion of some plant based precursors i.e. choline into trimethylamine...

Well, at least something is going on, fermenting, decaying, ageing ...


Whether something nice would turn up at the end, I need to wait and see!

[Cwyn]

During my time in the West Midlands, I noticed a constant salty tang to the air. I normally live in a very dry climate in the mid US nowhere near ocean waters, so the salty sea taste on my lips in England was very noticeable. I don't know if this explains the fishy sheng, but it might be a factor that the UK is a fairly small landmass surrounded by salt water.

[apache]

During my time in the West Midlands, I noticed a constant salty tang to the air. I normally live in a very dry climate in the mid US nowhere near ocean waters, so the salty sea taste on my lips in England was very noticeable. I don't know if this explains the fishy sheng, but it might be a factor that the UK is a fairly small landmass surrounded by salt water.

Nowhere as near the sea as it would be in HK, or many places in Guangdong where most pu would be stored.

The water in the West Midland should be fairly soft unlike in London or the south east. Did you stay in the West Midland during winter? It could be the grit they put on the road. And saltiness and fishy taste are two different things.

Small landmass surrounded by salt water, that's why here they have a song "Britannia rule the waves ..." to make themselves feeling a little bit better ...

[apache]

Six months later ...

Drinking the same Douji 2009 Yiwu again and this time it is much better, very sweet without fishy taste. Puerh tea seems like the moon, changing phase all the time or is it just my unreliable taste buds?