Ripe Puerh Report Spring 2023

Posted on by Yang-chu
30 Jun

The Ripe Puerh Report Spring 2023 covers ripes in the Puerh Junky Collection.  Just offering some updated notes on ripes listed and unlisted as they evolve.

Let’s start with the ’04 Golden Sail, which is no longer dry and has taken on quite a bit of sweetness and humidity.  The changes after two year’s storage are rewarding, but there are but two of these left.  These tuo were picked up because they represented an interesting Guangdong angle on the marketing of Zhongcha productions.  Golden Sail in particular seems to have circulation in HK and is marketed as an export item similar to their Lucky brand.  This tuo is for the dedicated Zhongcha follower.

The YPH ’10 Sweet Richness lives up to its name.  That said, there is the matter of greater than normal bitterness.  For some, this is a good thing.  It’s quite noticeable.  No tartness.  Yangpinhao is a venture that strikes me as providing an excellent product but struggling for identity.  This situation is in no way remedied by changes of ownership. They do both ripe and raw, but more known for their raws some of which get faked.  Ripes seem to be given to a heavy fermentation style that nevertheless benefits from generous aging.  The blend of tannins with sweetness strike a good balance at this time. . . if you’re in for bitter.  About three fabulous heavy infusions of a dark, dark chocolate like brownies with a bit of baby powder perfume and slate.

Haixintang is the factory providing Grenouille.  This is a factory I’ve known from the early days and their star seems to be rising.  In ’22 the decision to delve a bit deeper had the ole Puerh Junky acquiring a few of their offerings, among them their ’18 Yiwu Ripe.  It captures the essence of Yiwu, smooth, creamy, sweet, banana.  Total extravagance. Nice price stored in nice conditions for a young, ready now offering.  It’s good.  If your conditions will allow for the fermentation zing, then it’ll be better.  Not expensive.  Send an email or hit me on Insta if interested.

The ’06 Langhe Ripe Tuo and I go back a long ways.  The first batch was Guangdong heavily stored and this is also from Guangdong but likely acquired from Kunming.  Right now, this tuo is on the cusp of something unimagined.  Having the fortune to compare the two storage differences provides a fascinating vantagepoint.  Right now, it’s verging toward the ’05 Yiwu Laoshu raw from 6FTM, petrol .  It’s baffling to say the least.  Langhe ripes are stellar but storage and timing is crucial.  Naught-era Langhe provides insight into the a stage of production that strongly oriented to old raw.  Storage factors tremendously.

The ’12 Arbor King, LME is extremely balanced.: sweet fruit, bitterness, moon pie.  I’d call it plush.

Each of these productions offers distinctive ripe puerh profiles.  The most surprising is the Golden Sail because its transformation has been most dramatic.  Second is the Langhe Ripe Tuo.  Its qi is serious and this petrol profile represents something I don’t think I’ve previously had a ripe.

cheers!

 

There Must Be a Bada Way 2023

Posted on by Yang-chu
28 Jun

There Must Be a Bada Way 2023 finds the Puerh Junky in unusually high spirits, as Los Angeles has been sunny and blue.  Soft trade winds blow in from the Pacific and the stash is blossoming.  It’s been a long cold spell and most of the Collection decided to hibernate through it.

One orphan that took advantage of the cold was the ’08 Orange Mark by Everlasting TF, based in Shenzhen.  They do an oft-mentioned production offered through an English-language vendor based in HK.  The storage so overwhelmed me, I thought to try one of Everlasting’s under their own label from a vendor I’d already gotten some very solid Xinghai ripes.  In Feb 23 the production was very, very humid but the taste was not rotten or green.  After three months it was spectacular: sweet and camphory with the storage not being flawlessly executed.

The ’05 Bulang Wild Big Tree seems virtually impervious to huge changes.  Another treasure with marvelous storage to go along with a smoky-mouthwash-y taste and nose.  This Fuhai production could possibly be crowned champion of Gloom ’23.

So much for the past when the present is much Bada?  Well, not so much, only two cakes left forever.  A different hydration scheme has been affect, which itself is affected by the weather.  The change is toward more hydration of the Zhongcha box.  It’s hard to say but the ’04 Orange Mark was much more aromatic and expressive of the “Circus Peanut” orange that had drawn me.

Today was Bada Peacock‘s turn.  I ended up a 12.5g chunk from the center of the cake which couldn’t be broken or needled any smaller without risking personal injury.  I threw it in my largest gaiwan, maybe 175ml.  The first infusion was about five minutes and the second about three 15m later.  A seriously compressed cake.  These first two had a muffled quality.  It’s stored in plastic.  By the third another 15m I could work it open into three slightly separated parts.

Of course, these specs are based purely upon density.  It would be insane to brew 12 plus grams under normal circumstances and brewing it for so long would require a great deal of diluting to salvage.  Not opening virtually guarantees that the full character will not come through.  At the same time, crumbling chunks apart goes overboard, especially with tuo which are meant to diffuse more slowly.

The full character comes through with the Bada.  The nose on the is vanilla and brown sugar and the texture velvet smooth with a layer of subtle yet extremely complex broth that coats the mouth in light-brown sugar and a subtle accent of wintergreen.

Earlier in the year Bada Peacock certainly didn’t have the dynamism it has now.  Now it’s the best it’s ever been.  There’s a puzzling metallic note that has never left but now it’s only in the huigan and several minutes later, but it lingers, making you think of what you just drank, adjusting your tongue in your mouth and detecting afternotes on the exhale.  The qi was noticeable in the first two infusions.  Stopped after 3 rounds in order to share, but the thought did cross my mind to tap out.

 

PJ Goes From Peacock to Crow

Posted on by Yang-chu
21 May

PJ Goes From Peacock to Crow has to do with the much-discussed “new processing” of puerh.  “New processing” makes puerh “ready” for drinking much earlier than customary.  “Ready” means sweet.  Old school processed offerings are not instantly sweet.  In fact, a decade generally tends to be the benchmark for beginning to check in on the development of a conservatively processed and stored offering.  Newly processed productions can be sweet the instant they hit the consumer market.  Instantly sweet puerh enjoys broad appeal among the plug-and-play generation of tea drinkers.

Purists will say that this new processing is not puerh.  It’s anyone’s guess how these avant-garde offerings will transform, a question of next to no importance for a plug-and-play tea drinker but central in the mind of the puerh collector.  It’s worth noting that casting the differences as night and day between the two processing approaches mischaracterizes a technique involving creativity and skill.  For certain, fast sugar expression comes at a cost to potential transformative complexity, but the same can be said of heavily stored puerhs where the heat and humidity burn away puerh’s underlying character in favour of putrefaction and dankness.

Since there there are no hard and fast standards for defining puerh beyond coming from Yunnan Province, tea makers are free to innovate or preserve tradition as they see fit.  For puerh purists, the presence of green tea notes is an unacceptable breach of that which defines puerh.  For others, who mainly drink very young productions from Western-facing vendors there is little frame of reference in the first place and often an inability to discern either.  Oh well.  The Puerh Junky doesn’t drink so many post-’14 productions, as even old school factories have joined the fray of new processing.  However, sometimes the quest of the old-school factories to remain relevant gets interesting as it serves as a study to see how makers straddle the line between tradition and innovation.

Zhongcha’s Dance

Zhongcha’s dance with innovation and tradition is worth visiting.  On one end of the spectrum is the Jade Mark, acquired in ’17.  The idea of it being newly processed never crossed my mind; the thought was that it hailed from Lincang, particularly the Bangdong, Bingdao area where there’s a reputation for stellar young tea.  Up until that time, there’d been no run ins with sencha grade productions, so the sweetness was largely chalked up for terroir or pickings later in the season.  Evidently, parts of Lincang have been executing the “new” shaqing for quite some time, so one doesn’t necessarily preclude the other.

In its nine years as of ’23, Jade Mark has continued to hold its own as a perfect example of either Lincang or “new processing” done very well and the reviews have always been unequivocally positive.  As a recipe production, Zhongcha is not saying what it is.  Be that as it may, as a a “gateway” puerh, Jade Mark is hard to beat, though its transformation potential remains entirely unknown. . . or nonexistent.  Perhaps over the years it’s gotten sweeter, perhaps even more bitter, expressing more of true Bulang character than in its youth.  It’s hard to say.

At the other end of the spectrum lies the Bulang Peacock from the same year.  It started much more in the vein of a traditionally processed creation before manifesting an expression found in productions at least five years older.  Vanilla and spice notes are rarely found in puerhs under eight and if they are then either the processing or storage has been ramped up.  As of May ’23, BP appears to be moving on from its spicy and vanilla expression to something more camphorated.  There are phases where it’s got a Lemony Snickets vibe going on, a Ricola taste with the vanilla only coming at the very front end.  In contrast to the Jade Mark which has shown little change, Bulang Peacock is a constantly moving target.  Such change is consistent with traditional processing, though everything seems to be happening at a quicker pace.  The vanilla and spice still express depending on just how fast one goes from one infusion to the next and there’s some serious Bulang bitterness too.  It’s captivating.

Xinghai Sweet Chariot?

During the Xinghai buying focus of 2022, Puerh Junky picked up a couple from ’15 and ’16 presumed to be newly processed.  The ’16 Golden Peacock is the second Xinghai acquisition from that year.  Here’s where the crow eating comes in because even though the grouchy junky (GJ) in me wants to hate on these insta-sweets, there’s no denying that Mme Zhang is very good, most capable at manipulating processing parameters in a way that gives the plug-and-play playa exactly what they want while not compromising the integrity of the material itself.

The Golden Peacock is sweet without being too sweet.  There’s serious substance and depth that progressively unfolds with each infusion.  What starts out as being possibly frilly frivolity moves into a very self-assured production.  Bitterness fades quickly amidst omnipresent rock sugar sweetness and fruity note.  The Golden Peacock isn’t a rookie puerh.  It’s for those who like the boldness that Xinghai tends to offer, only at about ten years earlier than usual.  It’s got fresh green vibrance, but there is no sencha or chlorophyll taste.  Furthermore, there’s a noticeable fermentation aroma in the empty pitcher which promises that it will continue to transform.

Wrap-up

Aside from its controversy, new-school puerh processing exists along a continuum from traditional to borderline oolong and sencha.  Consequently, old-school factories have many options for how they imagine the outcomes for an expanding “puerh” market.  The case of Jade Mark demonstrates a puerh where potential for transformation plays a small role.  By contrast, the Bulang Peacock, from the same year, has changed quite a lot.  As of writing in May ’23, the Golden Peacock has changed relatively little.  The ferment-y aroma is indicative of fairly traditional processing, while the sweetness is new-school all the way.

 

 

 

Turning Up Heicha

Posted on by Yang-chu
26 Apr

Turning Up Heicha came about from a reflection upon a number of dry-stored productions from about ’98-’07 that possess a quintessentially heicha character.  “Heicha” is a class of tea to which puerh belongs but is processed in different provinces.  “Puerh” is a trademarked name similar to champange, so technically other places technically cannot use the term.  Other types of heicha are fucha and liubao.  Typically, heicha’s association with puerh is with ripes given the processing technique, but older raws venture into the heicha category as well.  Puerh Junky will be visiting raw with heicha expression in this post.

HK Returns Cake, Zhongcha

Among the varying HK Returns offerings from ’07, the HK Returns Cake proved the burliest.  The lack of sweetness acquired in ’16 constituted a continuing conundrum.  I porcelained a portion about two years ago in ’21 Spring.  The porcelained version is not recognizable from previously associations, though the listing blurb duly notes that it strode a road toward berry fruit-osity.  Another portion of the same cake, stored differently, still possesses the tobacco tinge.

Only one tasting of the ’21 acquisitions (about three) transpired, and it expressed camphor sweetness indicative of greater humidity.  Overall, the HKR Cake has great durability and depth, with some of the stronger character from its youth coming though.

HK Returns Iron Cake, Zhongcha

Since we’re talking about heicha and Zhongcha and HK Returns, there’s the Iron Cake.  The pauperly Puerh Junky only has one of these for sale.  It’s absolute magic.  To be perfectly honest, were I looking for this taste, I’d probably venture into Dancong’s.  It’s extremely well constituted: sweet, thick, and with lemony notes on the top.  Lemonene expresses in Hideout, LME, but Hideout has an identifiably puerh character and complexity.  The HK Iron could be easily classified as a well preserved dancong or better yet, a well-stored fucha of about 8  yrs old.

Macau Raw Brick

The 2000 Macau Raw Brick isn’t for sale, but it serves as a solid touchstone for appreciating the transformation of raw puerh.  It has a depth that perhaps surpases heicha at it current stage.  Mind you, Puerh Junky doesn’t do much heicha drinking.  The variables of Mainland storage, travel, and storage on the LA side albeit separate intersect.  By the time the MRB reached performance level, it was difficult to determine which variable factored most.  This brick happens to be referenced in the Puerh Yearbook. It’s devoid of any humidity, so there’s no “old taste” per se, but it’s aged fully.

Du Qiongzhi 7532

The ’03 Du Qiongzhi 7532 comes in a bold Red Mark wrapper and progressed beyond the initial tobacco stage.  This particular cake, acquired in ’15, has never received full treatment. . . or maybe it has to its detriment.  It received the “top-shelf tx,” productions that were more enclosed and even placed in the sexy cardboard boxes aptly fitting single cakes.  The thing is that the cardboard aroma bleeds into the cake while zapping it of certain essential esscenses.  It’s been much work trying to bring this cake around.  It’s going on two years now, and if it’s been tinned, I don’t know where such tin is stashed.  In any event, it seems it wants to emerge as the porcelained version of the HK Returns Cake does but just hasn’t juiced up enough given the top-shelf tx.  It’s from Meitra Du’s own collection, so the junky side of me thought to be extra careful with little basis for knowing what extra care meant given my conditions and the conditions of the cake.  An Aug ’22 session produced by far the most enjoyable session and this summer seems to be a good time to really give it a push.  I do have two non-cardboard affected cakes.  The wrapper is thin cotton paper of distinctive quality.  Though horribly tattered at the edges, I don’t recall any staining.

’03 Du 7532

Thick Zen, Zhongcha

Thick Zen epitomizes the enigma of puerh.  My first encounter with it was around ’17.  It looked horrible and tasted of absolutely nothing.  I knew it must be good, but I didn’t know how long it would take.  Its viscosity clung to me and anticipation of it morphing into root beer oozed from my being.  I drank and sampled much from the first two cakes, convinced it was Yiwu.

The second batch of TZ has the same thickness, but the storage was dry, it appears, beyond the stage of turning camphor, wood, or rooty.  Could be the material as well.  Batch two is far sassier, with the fruit note far more up front, with stone fruit sour, a bit of raisin in the nose.  It’s like a strong boiling of dried cherry and peach without the sugar added.  Picking up some grape nose as it rehydrates.  By June ’23 it should be in good form, it’s already much sweeter than at the beginning of the month and there’s even some vanilla and complexity that garned its praises previously.

What’s not Heicha

Neither Poison nor some Yiwus are coming off as heicha.  I’d say the Yiwu Gratitude is venturing toward heicha, but the Prince is holding true to a darker note.  A number of the 6FTM Yiwu on hand have turned petrol in the same time frame.  All of these hail from backgrounds of decidedly more humid conditions.  When and how much humidity gets applies plays a major role in how the production will manifest.  Raw puerhs possess a degree of dynamism that cannot be found with other heicha, but through prolonged dry storage with heat they manifest as a bona fide heicha character.  Counterintuitively, ripes take considerably longer to have heicha traits to emerge.  The exception to this is the big leaf sancha, which might be processed in a fashion quite similar to liubao.

Wrapping Up

This desultory passage on raws Turning Up Heicha is just one of the ongoing reflections upon storage.  Although ripe puerh technically fits within the category of heicha, it doesn’t possess the fruit character until considerably aged and often never (there are obvious exceptions).  Conversely, raw puerh can turn up heicha quite often given the right measure of heat and dryness.  Raw productions like the HK Returns Cake and the Du 7532 that previously fell under the tobacco class have been marching ever resolutely toward heicha brightness.  Both cases demonstrate how slight variations in storage variables can produce notable differences.  The HK Returns Iron was first sampled last year, ’22.  There was no need to taste before then, because it was clear that offerings of this nature needed a solid 15yrs storage before sampling. It’s certainly the most outstanding among the HK Returns Series.  Age being what it is, there are nevertheless great storage matters requiring tending.  The Thick Zen second batch is every bit as thick, but needs some loving before performing optimally.  Complex notes are starting to form and it’s possible that storage intensity may reawaken its puerh essence, but for now it’s trending decidedly in the direction of heicha.  Finally, some reference points contrasting from heicha provide the reader with the Puerh Junky’s thinking on the matter.

 

 

Puerh Junky Occasions Forever Zen and Ox

Posted on by Yang-chu
18 Apr

Puerh Junky Occasions Forever Zen and Ox is a drive-by missive on two productions from ’09 and ’10 respectively.  We’re now in the spring of ’23 and the tea is beginning to waken from the winter hibernation.  Winter poses quite a challenge for many of the treasures, though it’s not possible to ascertain which.  One solid point of note emerging from winter is that the items receiving oppressive humidity over the warm months improve from the respite.  In fact, the cold gave these brutalized buggers a chance to dry out and brighten up. Such conditions did not apply to either of the abovementioned.  Puerh Junky’s general take is variance in storage is actually a good thing, but it does make for seasonally variablity productions  Thence, when a treasure is imbibed upon will elicit wildly varying results that may not necessarily reflect the intrinc charm.  The challenges of winter in short are a good thing, but must be appreciated within seasonal context.

Forever Zen

An order for the ’09 Forever Zen during the week of April 9th greeted the opportunity to pull a new cake from the Yiwu storage bin, one which is rarely opened.  Clear humidity had settled and panic set in.  Getting Goldilocks storage is the Puerh Junky’s raison detre.  As mentioned previously, the Forever Zen hailed from conservative storage, still quite young but likely to mature relatively quickly.  It’s been in LA better than two years now.  The idea behind the Yiwu storage is beyond just preventing the tea from drying out.  There needs to sufficient humidity to allow for transformation to continue, whereby sweetness and flavour will continue to evolve.  At the same time, the ole Junky doesn’t want humidity to settle into the flavour.

Initial impressions where that that humid aroma was undeniable.  Frantically, I tried the FZ and boy was it ever humid.  Fresh from storage, it was too humid.  Perhaps too hastily a total revamping of storage began, while leaving the lid of the Yiwu container off for a couple days.  The rearranging changed little, but it will necessitate more frequent visits to each container.  The greatest advantage of this approach will be that there will be next to no difference between samples and cakes.  This will come at the cost of sustained humidification.  C’est la vie.

This 16th April Forever Zen received a second visit.  A huge sigh of relief.  The vanilla shines through and the Manzhuan minerality emerges with subsequent infusions.  Sweetness is now deeper and the course of treatment appears rightly Los Angeles.  I regularly see the posts about storing in the States that are wholly perplexing, a kind of view that presumes that storing in Seattle is the same as Olympia, Phoenix, or Augusta.  I don’t get such takes.  There’s a vast difference between Oakland and SF.  What gives with conflating Omaha with Tampa?  Ho-hum.

Forever Zen is for those who know their Yiwu, specifically know their Manzhuan from their Yibang.  FZ is not the product of sheisty processing.  The sugars have emerged in a manner consistent with proper processing.  It’s getting sweeter.  The variegated color of the leaves reflects what appears to be layered transformation.  Uniform aging doesn’t altogether make sense, as the cake itself is layered.

Where the FZ will go is anyone’s guess.  Manzhuan typically do not turn to wood.  They just evolve to ever more aged expressions of Zen.  FZ is now is sweet vanilla with slight minerality.  There is an faint undertow of green, but which could only be detected when tasting side-by-side with the wet-stored Ox.

Cashed leaves.

Ox, 6FTM

The Ox, 6FTM no longer possesses any of the humidity of its early storage conditions.  It’s actually moving into the heicha zone.  An apricot note, heretofore absent, is now front and center.  It’s a surprising development but a tribute to the masterful stages of storage.  A marked difference between heicha and puerh of a certain age is zing, a fizziness.  Heicha never zings, but zing is a trademark of puerh enjoyability.  The Ox is beyond its fizzy stage, particularly because it was previously wet stored.  It’s not flat and the qi is characteristic of the 6FTM Lunar Series of being remarkable, but it doesn’t zing.

None of the other Lunar Series have been humid stored.  It’s plausible that the Ox was a singular year of experimentation by the 6FTM.  All Ox versions purchaed have been humid, caveate being that the Tiger has never been sampled and those before the Year of the Rat have tended toward conservative storage.  Compression from year-to-year has varied in this series; the composition has remained the same.  By ’11 Rabbit, compression had morphed to qualitatively looser.

The pressing of the Ox is not a compressed as its predecessor, Rat.  Given its age and storage, Ox is now more rarefied. None of the humidity presents itself now.  It is clean and fruity, reflecting an offering about ten years older than its age of production.  All of the offerings of the 6FTM Lunar Series represent collectors’ items.  There’s maybe one more Ox left.

Wrap Up

The Forever Zen and the Ox represent two qualitative different puerh productions in terms of terror and in the eyes of the market.  Forever Zen is a Manzhuan, an Yiwu terroir probabably more Zen than an any other.  The condender is Mansa/Yiwu Zhenshan.  With Mansa the transformation is decidedly toward petrol, where Manzhuan maintains its Zen nature.  I have a late 90s Manzhuan that has only transformed into a chrystaline Zen, and this may be the long term for the FZ.

The Ox is a recipe comprised of material from three terroir, Fengqing, Simao, and Menghai.  It is now supercedes any of the other productions in terms of aging.  This has manifest as apricot.  The character is of an aged heicha.  The qi is uplifting and immediately present.  For serious quality aged puerh drinkers, it’s undoubtedly next level.

Both productions have great longevity.

 

Puerh Junky Three Xinghai Naughts

Posted on by Yang-chu
26 Mar

Puerh Junky Three Xinghai Naughts checks in on some rather recent Xinghai TF arrivals.  The year 2022 witnessed some earnest acquisition activity (EAA) in regards to both raw and ripe Xinghai productions.  About three weeks ago ole Puerh Junky‘s pc died and though most was backed up not all has been recovered, not to mention that the replacement is not outfitted with features that don’t require subscriptions, something he refuses to do, which means replacing the new operating system with Windows 7 or at the very least figuring out how to get the current system to read the cd player gutted from the old system.  All this to say, PJ is wading through technical difficulties both on the site and the system which prevents including a wealth of pics and requires the reader’s patients.

’06 BZ Wild King

The BZ Wild King is one of the latest Xinghai acquisitions.  It is high altitude material of over 2000m and is from the first batch, hence it has a date stamp.  BZWK possesses good dry storage and was pressed with moderate compression.  It’s hands down the creamiest of Xinghai ever tasted, possessing notes in the vicinity of the Stylin, Tiger (CMS), and Quincy.   Thick and sweet with no smoke, BZWK resides assuredly in the Fruit Class, possessing fermented tropical fruit character most evocative of jackfruit.  Sometimes this profile will pick up some baby powder or incense notes, but that’s not the case here.  I typically expect Xinghai productions to pose some sort of challenge, usually in the form of astringency and dryness.  With “wild” in its name, BZWK had me bracing, but in the end proves to be probably the friendliest XH production ever drunk, though there is a thread of funk to it that conjures Jame Brown.  $188/357g.  Instagram fotos here.

’07 HK Returns 10th

In a previous post, HK Returns 10th received distinction as a great entry-level Xinghai.  This may lead some to erroneously conclude that the production is inferior.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It’s just been offered at a surprising price.  HKR10th first came into Puerh Junky‘s clutches a year ago in Mar ’22, an order for a tong immediately placed thereafter.  The cake has the tight compression consistent with the era.  Initial infusions take about two min before opening up.  It lasts forever.

HKR10th‘s performance varies greatly by storage particulars.  What was previously described as “workhorse” describes the floral expression.  Original storage lacks any humidity but has been sufficiently moist to allow a camphor note to pervade the infusions, along with a very tasty geosmin note, a rocky minerality.  After leaving the cake out for a week, grapefruit/pumello makes a stunning entry reminiscent of the Dragon, CMS and a recent sample had of the ’03 Qingteng, Wistaria.  There’s a real sassy sour that tweaks the cheeks, leaving the mouth with eau de grapefruit and salivation.  Mouth smaking is an inevitability.  Deeper in the citrus floats to the top while peat, incense, and light geosmin assume a dominant role.  It’s a Russian novel with lots of characters, intrigue, and drama.  I’ve never been able to outlast this classic, typically drinking over two or three days.  Nice qi too.

’06 Bulang Old Tree

The Bulang Old Tree is the second batch of another tightly pressed production devoid of any humidity.  The tea, however, shaves easily from the cake with a proper tea knife.  Storage is consistent with its age, though the wrappers on this puppy are really not in the best condition, a bit tattered and quite stained.  A few were picked up mid ’22 and a few more at the end of the year.  The taste is most like the Daxueshan, MKRS, a production described as having a peanut brittle and soy sauce expression.  The notes are not as strong in the BOT, as it also some cryptic tropical fruit notes along lines of the Stylin and BZ Wild King, some woodiness.  After three years of storage, the MKRS’s DXS has evolved into a classic tasting dianhong/Yunnan Gold.

The BOT and the BZWK are quite similar.  The price of the first batch of the BOT runs about the same as the BZWK.  Letting the opened leaves of the BOT rest in the pot for little less than a half hour released some of the vanilla cream so prominent in the BZWT.  It’s good to keep in mind that BZ and Bulang are often interchangeable, whereas Menghai much less so as it incorporates a much larger area.  Having the BOT sit out overnight and brewing in clay, no soy sauce could be detected and the peanut brittle transformed to toffee.  An anise note is more apparent and even a hint of pumello.  In fact, this citrus not gets stronger and more bitter the deeper you dive,  expressing in the aroma as well.  There’s also a thin layer of a fine-quality incense in those layers.  Hence, given their similarities the difference in personality emergest during the session.

Wrap-up

Puerh Junky selflessly visited three recently acquired Xinghai productions from ’06 and ’07 in order to further appraise fellow puerh enthusiasts of Xinghai TF itself.  Xinghai formed in ’02 and the first decade of production constitutes what will likely be their best, largely because they had not fallen under the influence of sheisty processing.  Productions from ’14-16 bear signs of a processing shift and in ’18 XH changed ownership, being acquired by one of the vulture groups that capitalize upon brand distinction while invariably lowering standards.  There’s no point here in beating a dead horse and processing variation is in itself a fluid phenomenon.  The acquisitions from the mid-teens deserves a discussion of its own.

In Puerh Junky Three Xinghai Naughts the early period of processing comes under the microscope.  The BZ Wild King represents one of Xinghai’s friendliest early productions, creamy and sweet with a unique fermented jackfruit expression.  There is a great deal of similarity with it and the Bulang Old Tree, but deeper in the BOT turns more toward grapefruit with unabashed bitterness.  BOT in some regards represents some of the challenging qualities PJ associates with XH.  The Hong Kong Returns 10th ranges from floral to a grapefruit, with formidable durability.  All three productions possess the complexity of well-crafted recipes.  The qi of both the BOT and HKR10th are uplifting.  The BZWT‘s effect is more narcotic, and also warmest of the three.  BOT starts out warm but as the grapefruit builds it becomes more cooling.  Camphor notes are strongest in the HKR10th, while it can definitely can be detected in the aftertaste of the BOT.  No humidity can be found in the taste of any of them, though storage can be considered adequately warm and moist to facilitate the type of transformation reflective of treasures better than 15 years in age.

Puerh Junky on Haixintang

Posted on by Yang-chu
20 Mar

Puerh Junky on Haixintang is a quick note on a factory that releases some very decent productions.  So far, the only treat offered has been Grenouille, an Wuliang offering that has been in the Collection for several years.  Here’s a link to the articles mentioning it.

About every year the Puerh Junky takes up a factory of interest.  Late ’22 began Haixintang’s turn.  All of ’22 was about gathering up a great many Xinghai productions, raw and ripe.  Over the years, Xinghai has been acquired.  You’re welcome to inquire about the younger productions under newer processing and the older.  The focus of this missive is on Haixintang.

Grenouille is on the dry side of dry.  Conditions have been reasonably warm, so it’s not young but the evolution under dry warmth has be of talc and dish washer soap.  There’s some initial layers of incense that are also evident in the ’05 Green Mark, Xinghai.  The difference between the two is that Grenouille is more in the tobacco vein wheras the Xinghai is not tobacco-y and much more bracing, with some apple notes.  Grenouille is far more soothing, whereas the Xinghai continues to feel it needs time for maturation.  The very initial five layers have proper expression but subsequent layers clearly need yet more time.

The New Year Rabbit ’23 late Jan brought some new Haixintang discoveries.  These include a ’18 Yiwu and ’07 Wuliang Longevity and a kilo ’13 Jingmai Old Tree raw.  The ripes are ready absolutely, but the raw needs a few mths.  Contact me if interested in a ripe.  Both are under $90.

Puerh Junky Quelled by Hideout

Posted on by Yang-chu
13 Mar

Puerh Junky Quelled by Hideout poses an interesting tale, whereby a slinger from the American SE sent him some very bad shiiii… Shut cho mouf!  I know that fellow Junky’s be wanting it real, and it is such reality. . . realness, if you’ll indulge me, that brought about the circumstances.

Recently, the Puerh Junky has been inveigled into joining Discourse under no pseudonym.  It is under such conditions that I encountered the aforementioned individual.  It is from said individual that I tasted one of the top five productions ever tasted.  Cherry and leather ’03.  The ’05 Peacock Country Morning Light enters the leather range for those interested in the Liming Sampler.  The more recently sampled ’05 Twin Dragons, Jianmin also lands exceedingly well on the leather front, but lacks any fruit. Enter the Hideout.

This March ’23 makes it close to half a year since Hideout has been visited.  Toward the end of winter: cherry, leather, vanilla, cream, witch hazel, butterscotch.  The cherry is immediately at the front and vanishes in the presence of the other impressions, leather and vanilla being strongest in the aftertaste.

I used 12.5g in the bell pepper pot, which holds about 150ml.  True to ’07 form, Hideout has atomic compression, which lends itself to longer infusions and heavier leafing.

 

PJ Restocked

Posted on by Yang-chu
26 Feb

PJ Restocked takes us to a less-than-frantic scene of the Puerh Junky in The Puerh Cave moving boxes about, handling gigantic zip-loc bags, and administering the rack.   As the title suggests, more of some of the popular productions have made their way back to the blustery climes of Los Angeles and he’s making a note of which items those are.  Let’s take a look, shall we?

  • ’07 Thick Zen, Zhongcha remains to be the price performer par excellence.  Expectations for this treasure were that it would transform into a woodsy root beer, but it has detoured into a heicha-type expression with a strong berry note.Right now it’s too early to tell what to make of the latest shipment.  I’ve done three sessions over five days, two in clay.  The storage appears to be consistent with the previous incarnations, not the least being a ratty-azzed wrapper.  At the same time, we’re dealing with a moving target and I’ve been acquiring since ’16.  This is my third, and likely last purchase.  I’ve bought more of it than any other production with the exception of the Merlot, which is a ripe, and the Operation Macau, also a ripe and both Xinghai productions.Thick Zen is temperamental and thoughts have occurred to just revert it to its given name “Peacock”.  Yeah, I’ve been holdin’ out.  The latest incarnation is consistent with a sassy trajectory, something very much like Hunan and Shaanxi black teas, which are not dank and carry a berry vibe.Thick Zen has wavered from stewed raisin, to prune, to Lipton Brisk, lemony, black tea, honey.  Today, I was gifted with the vaunted notes of the obvious root beer, evanescent suggestions, and cave.  Hopefully this is the trajectory, because otherwise the sassy straw-cranberry is going to bum me out.  That’s strawberry and cranberry for those wondering.
  • ’10 Tiger Tuo, LCGC.  My buyer actually contacted me before shipping about this order because the wrappers are horrifically tattered.  It’s beyond comprehension how a wrapper can be so appallingly cashed.  I don’t think I’ll be searching for more of this, but it’s not for any reason of its own.  I don’t know of a better production, let alone tuo. I’ve known of this production since ’16, watching its development through the various vendors and stages, including the varying years here in LA.  LCGC is effectively a woman-led boutique, but I didn’t learn that till late ’22.  Their iconic identity is captivating and taste doesn’t pander.It’s rare that a production will hit on every level.  In terms of taste, the Tiger Tuo is an unflinching champion with killer texture.  My initial concern was that with such a tattered wrapper that it would be garbage, but my buyer said he could detect no off odor. . . and he hates humid stuff.  hahahahaSo, here’s the scoop.  I cannot sell these tuo at proper price, no matter how good they are, so I’m taking 36% off them and they’re not going to be listed.  Just specify your preference in the comments of your purchase and the difference will be refunded. There’s only six on hand.Think of honeydew melon, pineapple, and pine sap.
  • ’08 Vanilla Palace is another production with a “junkified” name because nefarious forces have led me to deceive you.  There’s no production for which there’s a greater love-hate relationship.  Yeah, you’re wondering why someone would have a “relationship” with a tea.  What’s with this backwoods bumpkin in Los Angeles talking nonsense about a tea relationship?There’s these guys, harassing Puerh Junky, thinking him weak junky because Junky Collection not complete repository of stuff that tears stomach and mouth to shreds.  Vanilla Palace expresses shameless bitterness with smile on face and salute to Junky Flag of self-abuse.  No cause to call Mr Junky abuse-insensitive with Vanilla Palace.

 

Xinghai Releases 2023

Posted on by Yang-chu
06 Jan

Xinghai Releases is a rather prosaic arising from an incident already shared among a few of you.  A snafu arose with the shop pics that only happens if something new is posted.  Instead of the headache of trying to fix that, already attempted with “the fixor“, items will be posted behind the scenes.  A simple word search for item will suffice and missives of this sort will be issued replete with links as well.

The Puerh Junky project is more a study than curation.  This is mentioned because evidently a large catalogue suggests haphazard buying.  That’s never the case, and as mentioned previously, usually only a few items are acquired and those are sat upon till they’re fit for immediate drinking by the buyer. . . unless otherwise notified.  In any event, having items off page so to speak keeps the shop in the moderately overwhelming zone, as opposed to causing outright apoplexy.

As a study, focus is narrowly centered about specific factories and many only within themes encompassing usually Chinesey stuff like the Lunar New Year and peacocks.  Xinghai is a rather convenient factory of attention, as their logo often includes a peacock and the founder has a solid reputation.  That said, in a recent post on top puerh purveyors from various sites, they didn’t appear once, in contrast to say Fuhai, Zhongcha, and Liming, which are also included in the shop.  Below are links to the current Xinghai raw additions for the first part of 2023:

  • ’14 Xinghai LBZ— Have a whole tong arriving this Jan ’23 (OSTENSIBY), but have one or two now.  Recent price check on this shows it’s doubled and I won’t be getting more.

  • ’05 Xinghai Green Mark— This is the second batch.  Prototypical XH offering.

  • ’07 HK Returns 10th— Low risk intro to Xinghai TF, also second batch.  Well stored.

  • ’06 Bulang Old Tree—  Second batch with first more than twice the price.  Extremely interesting production in the vein of Quincy and Tiger.

  • ’05 Bulang Shengtai Tribute— Requires time and attention.
  • ’06 Stylin‘– I forgot to add talcum in the description.
  • ’07 Green Peacock— The perfect juncture of character and economy.

Xinghai’s practice is to not date stamp their second-batch productions, which are priced about half of the first run.  As a whole, their productions are not especially sweet.  This could be because they’ve adhered to a very traditional processing and the sweetness has yet to arrive.  Stylin‘ and Green Peacock are on the sweet side.  HK Returns is in the most advanced stage of maturation, while the others are in varying stages of wood and usually apple.  The real outlier is the LBZ which differs greatly by virtue of its Guangdong storage and in all likelihood quasi-Lincang processing.