Shu or old sheng?

[teaskeptic]

I tried asking this on my blog, but I will obvisouly get much more participation here.


(click for bigger)

What can be learned by inspecting this image alone?

[shogun89]

I would venture to say its sheng. I assume this because of the steeped leaves, they have a red tone, where shou commonly is brown to black. The liqueur also is reddish where shou is usually muddy to black. This is just my humble opinion though.

[Dizzwave]

Hmm, I'd have to taste it to tell you.

Fun little quiz, we should do these more often! But -- I'm with shogun -- from the old pictures, I'm leaning toward old sheng, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were a lighter shu.

How many steeps does it yield? 4-6 (prolly a shu), or 10+ (prolly a sheng)?
-dave

[hop_goblin]

looks like wet-stored sheng which was poorly done

[entropyembrace]

I'm guessing shu to be different

It does look 'wet'

[edkrueger]

I'm going with neither. I think its Liu Bao.

[coloradopu]

HUUUUMMMMM!
good color

i am new so please forgive me

1.sheng 2.stored well 3.might be 80's or 70's if so i want some
i notice what might be a seed pod or so it looks
4 old growth
5 spring pick
6 and brick/shroom so
7 phenix dragon /tebet ??? or something older

ya i know da!

LOL!

[hop_goblin]

I'm going with neither. I think its Liu Bao.

Not Liu Bao. The leaves and liquor would be much darker. Still think it is wet stored sheng but cant really tell definitively without tasting. How does it taste? Tasting is a dead give away.

[edkrueger]

I'm going with neither. I think its Liu Bao.

Not Liu Bao. The leaves and liquor would be much darker. Still think it is wet stored sheng but cant really tell definitively without tasting. How does it taste? Tasting is a dead give away.

I think the images are not colored correctly, with a correction, I think the liquor would look much more red.

[brad4419]

I would venture to say its sheng. I assume this because of the steeped leaves, they have a red tone, where shou commonly is brown to black. The liqueur also is reddish where shou is usually muddy to black. This is just my humble opinion though.

I say sheng also because the wet leaves look more like sheng from my little experience.

[coloradopu]

why was cold water placed on the leafs after one steep

verry mean i think it looks like the first steep was short with only one wash short
they are in such agony.

[Wesli]

2000-2004, semi-wet-stored sheng.

[teaskeptic]

Well, after drinking this tea twice, all I can confirm is that it is sheng that underwent some wet storage, or it's pretty good shu. My guess is it was probably wet stored somewhere in China, then brought here where it was probably not stored very well.

It has that sweet taste of damp mud/earth, but it's not excessive like it normally is with the shu I have tasted. It also seems to be missing some energy. As you can see from the photo, I didn't use very much leaf because I wasn't yet sure what I was dealing with. I will have to try it again with more leaf.

How old is it? I don't know. I bought it in Chinatown. The owner that sold it to me said the year was unknown, but that it was around 30 years old. So that means... nothing. I haven't had any truly 30 year old tea, so it's a bit difficult to confirm anything.

The leaves are pretty brown/red, not black like I would expect shu to be, but they fall apart pretty easily when tampered with.


Thanks for all your opinions!

hop_goblin, what was it in the picture that made you to predict "improper wet storage"?

[hop_goblin]

Well, after drinking this tea twice, all I can confirm is that it is sheng that underwent some wet storage, or it's pretty good shu. My guess is it was probably wet stored somewhere in China, then brought here where it was probably not stored very well.

It has that sweet taste of damp mud/earth, but it's not excessive like it normally is with the shu I have tasted. It also seems to be missing some energy. As you can see from the photo, I didn't use very much leaf because I wasn't yet sure what I was dealing with. I will have to try it again with more leaf.

How old is it? I don't know. I bought it in Chinatown. The owner that sold it to me said the year was unknown, but that it was around 30 years old. So that means... nothing. I haven't had any truly 30 year old tea, so it's a bit difficult to confirm anything.

The leaves are pretty brown/red, not black like I would expect shu to be, but they fall apart pretty easily when tampered with.


Thanks for all your opinions!

hop_goblin, what was it in the picture that made you to predict "improper wet storage"?

Didn't look like Shou and just the roughness and color of the liquor and steeped leaves. If it is 30 years old (doubt it) but if it were, trust me, it wouldn't be shou. The shou process was just starting. I am sure you wouldnt pick-up a 30 year shou from some unamed source in China town

[Dizzwave]

how many steeps did it yield?