Category Archives: The Junky’s Log

The Bad Crowd Raw Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
31 Jan

The other day I mentioned something about “the bad crowd” in the context of the Water Blue Mark.  You know, those husky raw puerhs that have a big bite, with an equally big taste, astringency, and that something that lingers in the mouth that is decidedly of the tobacco class.  I’ve written on the Liming Square in the past, but the climactic conditions of cold and rain convinced me to revisit it.

Liming OG Square: A Bit Bigger and Warmer Raw Puerh

The Puerh Junky seems to recall having ranted on the merits of Liming TF in the past.  They’re clearly one of the most underrated of old-school factories and by old school, we’re talking  about before the 60s.  They generally have two types of productions: cakes and bricks, with the former far out numbering the latter.  There is a difference between the two that goes beyond shape.

Liming cakes express varying ranges of floral.  They go from a very strong, high-pitched floral that could be likened to Meng-ku rong Shi productions to a slightly lower level of florality with an overlay of azz-whoopin’.  These are extremely popular expressions among many puerh drinkers, and will largely judge quality and qi by level of brashness.  One of the interesting features of Liming’s floral expression is that it doesn’t fade or transform but seems to just get more sonorous, like a scene outta Hitchcock.  It bears mentioning that many of their mid-aged cakes are extremely reasonably priced, presenting a superb value given the base material.

Sonorous Liming

Bricks on the other hand are not nearly what the Puerh Junky would class as floral but more as tobacco, not that any of the bricks tasted could be in any way smoky.  Here, tobacco refers to a darker cured Similar to the cakes bricks are quite durable, releasing many infusions.  The ’07 Organic Square still appears green around the gills but the taste is not green in the least, with very obvious root beer notes.

The sweet, grounding, and medium tone sound of the OG Square is very pleasing in the cold of winter.  The bad crowd is real good at times like these.

Dali Tuo’s Fade into Forever Love

Posted on by Yang-chu
26 Jan

The Puerh Junky has been on a ride with the ’08 Dali Tuo for a number of years now.  Yesterday’s weather was quite nippy, so I thought of something from the tobacco class to warm me up.  I first reached for the Fruit Monster but my leaf amount was too little, feeling left unsatisfied.  I’m going to leaf up on that today and issue a report.  My next choice was the Dali Tuo.

The first few infusions were what I had expected but deeper in, a taste I hadn’t noticed before made itself known: tutti-fruti— all Rudi.

So a few weeks ago I tried a sample of XG’s Forever Love, a production comprised of ’03 material and pressed in ’13 if I’m not mistaken.  The similarity between the two is striking.  This particular fruity note is is only evident in productions that have some years under their belt.  As stated, the numerous years of tasting the Dali Tuo, no fruitiness was ever evident.  It was sweet, rich, and warming but never remotely fruity.  The ’06 production under the same name but different box and size (150g) still bears zero marks of fruitiness.  There’s just the solid tobacco grit and ash with peaty minerals laced with sweetness, maybe a little petrol, ya know Xia Guan.

Exactly how many infusions one must dig into Forever Love to get to the sweet I cannot recall but a fellow sampler seemed to note a progression with it that his Puerh Junkiness has discovered with the Dali Tuo.

The real notable is that it doesn’t bottom out.  The ash infused fruit spiked with stevia goes on and on.  Once you get to that stage it stays to the very end.  The color and clarity are superb if not deceiving, as it is hard to imagine hue and clarity could pack so much flavour.

“A bobbabbalubao, a-bob bam…”

 

Black Brew– Xinghai’s MO

Posted on by Yang-chu
25 Jan

A brief interlude into Black Brew and Xinghai’s MO, if you will.  The other day, the Puerh Junky ran across a query from someone in Turkey who asked about a particular ripe puerh cake that was under the Xinghai label.  Interesting thing about Turkey is that Turks drink more tea per capita than any  other, more than Russians, Indians, or Chinese.  However, Puerh tea still seems a relative unknown there, but the things I know about Turkey could fit on the back of a dime so…

Someone helped the inquisitor out by telling him that the cake was Xinghai and that they had a solid reputation for both raw and ripes.  Someone chimed in stating that Xinghai was NOT a very good brand and then cited a twitter-like ap called Discord as evidence.  Quick to gather information, in my junkiness I ran over to Discord to assess these views.  Maybe all five of them.

Absurd.

Xinghai, just like all the other major second generation factories, descends from one of the big three.  In this case, Xinghai is effectively known as Dayi/Menghai TF junior or Dayi #2.  Xinghai’s ripe puerh production may vary from Dayi.  The number of Dayi ripes the Puerh Junky has sampled is extremely small.  On the other hand, Xinghai’s hand in ripes is extremely consistent and well executed.  Theirs is not the stout type ripe so popular among many shou drinkers.  Rather it is a light style that seeks to highlight qualities one might find in aged raws, qualities like minerality, sweetness, and camphor.  The makers are NOT going for the syrupy, chocolately effect that screams shu but something closer to an actual aged raw.

Black Brew remains true to the Xinghai MO, though it is darker than most.  In terms of clarity, it is is a four of five lasting about six plus infusions.  It is very sweet, but the sweetness is like rock sugar not molasses.  There is no breadiness, rather minerals and camphor throughout.  The taste remains consistent from one infusion to the next, the ratios of sweet, mineral, and camphor remaining the same to the very end.

Black Brew is a shade richer than the Silver Peacock and without any of the humidity of Operation Macau.  None of these express any dried fruit notes.  It is clear that the same hand was involved in the production of all three.  None of these treasures are recommended for brewing grampa style.  You’ll otherwise miss the beauty of their clarity and the skill with which they were produced.

 

Visiting Bulang Organic

Posted on by Yang-chu
14 Jan

Just a quick update after visiting Bulang Organic, a KMTF offering from ’13.  Initial impression is that this is the best brewing experience with it so far.  It is still incredibly young, but it is finally starting to express some sweetness.  The first couple infusions are murky and there is a surprising amount of bitterness in an exceptionally thick broth.

Infusion Three

I flashed brewed the first five infusions.  That archetypical Bulang bitterness is quite evident in the first two infusions and particularly when the brew cools.  Ten seconds were administered vis gaiwan in the sixth infusion. All infusions were gaiwan. The colour was much darker, no evident sweetness to speak of and displeasingly bitter.  I tapped out.  This ain’t no bitter turning to sweetness and it’s not any more astringent than usual.

Spring ’16

 

Jan ’21

I’m working on the same cake from back in ’16 when I got this.

<<pause>>

So, I came back a couple hours later and my impression of this production has changed entirely.  Infusions seven and eight were remarkably sweet, with elements of roast apparent in the aroma and a bit of fruitiness in the taste.  The thickness remains.  I gave number eight a good slow ten counts and some agitation at the end.  Zero bitterness.  It seems like it could go for at least another five rounds.

Infusion 7, 8 is darker

The Puerh Junky has still yet to get his head around the concept of “shengtai” (生态). It seems to straddle the line between organic, wild, and young, trees maybe around 50 yrs growing kinda wild.  Many wild and shengtai productions have an unapologetic bitterness reflecting a rough character that some find pleasing.  Clearly, what’s interesting here is that that bitterness washed away after six infusions and two hours to reveal an altogether different character of the tea that could not be attributed to its fading because it’s still very thick and quite sweet.  And um. . . no sencha notes.

Horehound Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
22 Dec

I decided to look up horehound because I continue to associate Quincy with it.  The site mentions that it is in the mint family, which makes sense as mint for all intents and purposes to the Puerh Junky is another type of camphor expression.

I can think of only a few other productions that are as medicinal as Quincy.  All of them are characterized by a certain quality of camphor that reminds one of lineaments, potions in a carrier often of an oil alcohol blend, aka turpentine.  Some of the Chinese potions still carry turpentine.

Yeah, here the flowers are turning to wood or already have to some extent.  In contrast to its sister from the same year, Quincy’s flowers or fruit, if ever present, have changed to sweet straw and horehound camphor.   The feeling is both slightly warming and stimulating.

Puerh Rating: Orchid Vibe

Posted on by Yang-chu
19 Dec

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on Orchid Vibe.  Offered in 2011, it represents LME’s continued reliable ripe puerh production style.  One overriding observation is a sweetness to LME’s ripe house style.  The Orchid Vibe is no exception.

After three rounds the total was as follows:

  • Aroma          11
  • Clarity          10
  • Sweetness   13
  • Viscosity       15
  • Astringency  14
  • Huigan         13
  • Qi                  8

Reflections on Orchid Vibe

Marshmallow and milk chocolate.  There’s a very interesting squinch of sour at the back end that makes it cheeky.  In later infusions the vanilla marshmallow fades into dark wood terrain that has a faint evocation of rubber bands.   There’s also a pervasive blanket of talcum throughout.

Conclusions

Orchid Vibe is a solid everyday drinker for those who like their ripes with a darker edge.  It shares attributes with the “55” in terms of sweetness and woodiness, but Orchid Vibe starts out with much more vanilla and marshmallow before expressing wood.  “55” is woody throughout with more camphor and tannins.  The sour element in this ripe makes it unsuitable for pushing, as previously noted.  It nonetheless strikes the Puerh Junky as being exceedingly well executed.  The qi on this is a super creeper, 15m later the effects were going stronger than during the session, headiness and started feeling hungry.  Puerh Rating:  Orchid Vibe

83/105, B

 

 

2020 Puerh Reflections

Posted on by Yang-chu
14 Dec

As is customary during the long dark days, opportunity for reflection on the year past presents itself.  I thought it might be nice to contrive a list of what I found to be the best five performers for the year 2020.  Since we’ve had plenty of drama this year, I’ll display my impressions as concocted sans the drama.

First Tier Puerhs of 2020

There shouldn’t be any doubt that “Poison” is the best performer of 2020.  It has completely destroyed my conceptions about 6FTM. I’ll go into why this is such a slam dunk (yeah I remember sports) in part two.

The Yang Pin Hao Lily of the Valley is the perfect counterpoint to Poison.  “Counterpoint” seems the trap into which Bach has been placed, but this does both him and counterpoint a disservice.  In any event, some puerhs definitely express counterpoint within the class they exist, but here counterpoint is taken as the balance across class, floral vis mineral, tobacco vis Zen for example.

As far as the Lily of the Valley goes it is clearly a Mozart concerto.  It isn’t trite, but it is clever with a sophistication that surprises.  Poison, despite prior references to Bel Biv Devoe, is Rachmaninoff— yeah it’s that serious.

Bridge

This year, the local classical station had a Top 250 List as determined by voters. (ahem)  I listened to a great deal of it with great zest only to be crushed that my boy JS tapped out in the 30s or 40s with the Phantom of the Opera.  Gimme a break!  The Mass in B-Minor was in the 70s while Star Wars was in the teens.  I know that my Bulgarian, French, and Lebanese readers are gripping their sides with guffaws of incredulity.  Show some sympathy for your humble Puerh Junky why don’t cha?

Second Tier Puerhs of 2020

Now by second-tier, the Puerh Junky doesn’t mean to imply that these productions are in the least second-tier.  In fact the ’10 Bingdao, YP could easily contend for THE very best production of the year.  It’s simply fantastic.  One of the most disappointing and expensive at the time of purchase six years ago, it turned out to be amazing after considerable neglect and abuse.  And were you to taste it, you’d guess it was maybe from ’14 at the latest.  I cannot say what a big deal this treasure is and haven’t because it’s not for sale and the Puerh Junky isn’t one for rubbing it in your face.  This is not a sales job but an honest record of the year’s puerh experiences, so it had to be mentioned.  No puerh experience exceeded the ’10 Bingdao, YP, which lasted five days.

The Thick Zen has produced the greatest gratification this year.  It blossomed to root beer and tastes so alive.  It maintains the Zen but brings the zing.  It’s so warm and stirring.  Yes Smetna.  It’s an Yiwu that didn’t just fall from the radar but is cloaked from detection altogether.  There are some things that one could nit pick about but comparatively speaking, productions thrice the price aren’t this sweet, smooth, and root beery.

Here’s why Thick Zen is so special.  Upon acquisition it was completely straw Zen, much like the “dirtier”, i.e., more humid productions from generally ’03-’99, without any hint of dirt.  These productions command a very handsome price, but to the Puerh Junky’s mind they’re a shade ho-hum, like many of Beethoven’s sonatas where he continuously plagiarises from himself.  Many of those older dirtier productions seem to have a ways to go or have gone and went.  Thick Zen is at a point where it is very alive in the mouth like. . . root beer, sweet and. . . I want to say David Sylvian.

Third Tier Puerh 2020

Grenouille blew my mind.  It doesn’t bear this name beyond Grenouille being a master at his skill.  It’s not about how he produces the most magical of perfumes.  Perfume can be interesting but the term should be defined.  “Perfume” usually stands an octave above floral.  When a perfume is an octave below floral it is incense.  Incense possesses wood notes, sometimes sap which ventures into petrol and various “camphorols” like mint, toothpaste, borneol, cinnamon, which a wood-grade camphor.

Grenouille expresses incense AND perfume along a substrate of Zen.  I’ve always considered it good but most recently discovered that it had evolved into something truly exceptional, literally transitioning from tobacco to Zen class.  At least one other person believes Grenouille still to be decidedly tobacco, but the difference might reflect the Puerh Junky’s fortunes to track Grenouille’s development over time.  Penitence perhaps?

I Haven’t Mentioned. . .

The Tiger, CMS.  I’ve only shared with two others.  Sublime and defies conception.  Absolutely the best tea I have EVER had of any sort.  I have mention the Simao Green Mark (7542) petrol qi destroyer, which as tamed a bit.  Simao is bad-azz when they choose to be.

In the next missive, I’ll take up the Puerh Junky’s Top Five Flavour preferences.  Upon reflection, three tiers emerge from this year; the first two tiers are counterpoint to one another, each at different ends of the tonal range.  Grenouille is probably more “trans” but now functions as a fulcrum balancing the two upper levels, an ineffable middle c . . . in the minor key.

 

 

Endangered Species Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
18 Oct

Endangered Species Puerh isn’t what you think.  This is a nostalgia piece regarding a tuo, a lunar tuo to be precise, that has long vanished.  It took about four years from my acquisition for it to express root beer notes.  At the outset, in ’14, it tasted like pineapple and Granny Smith.

I ran across this post from ’12 and thought I’d share.  It’s in Chinese and for your convenience, I through it through “translator.”  I didn’t tidy the rendering.  It’s good for the pics at the very least.

Tiger is the king of the forest, tea is also the king of the forest
The raw materials are selected for the large-leaf ancient trees and the old sun-dried green tea in the Lancang River Basin, carefully blended by the tea craftsman, and picked by hand. The new and old match, high temperature autoclaved. The soup is yellow and bright. After tasting, the mouth will stay fragrant. Strong taste. pure. With a long aftertaste, it is an excellent product worth collecting and drinking.
I kept it at home for half a year, and I started the soup today. I feel that the raw materials do have the ingredients of ancient trees. I don’t know how much, but the price is still very close to the people and very attractive. In terms of taste and color, after nearly 3 years of transformation, the color of the soup turns yellowish and brighter and slightly red, and there is no longer the green and astringent feeling of new tea. The taste is strong, the bitterness comes and the bitterness is very fast, the sweetness is strong, pure, and the aftertaste is long-lasting, and it is very comfortable in the mouth for a long time. In 3-5 years, Lin Zhongwang must be a good tea.

One of the advantages to tuo is that they’ll get up to speed much faster than a cake.  This particular tuo which was stored conservatively but raced to root beer faster than any amidst the treasure.  This was when I realized that the aggressive taste of Lancang TF was worth enduring.  Still I have an ’09 Ox from them that I’m still waiting on.

Maybe ’10 was one of those “good years.”  I say this because when I got the Mengku Tiger in about 16, I couldn’t believe how positively mature it tasted. . . an looked.

Unbelievably from 2010.

The conditions were magnificent.  It didn’t taste as if it had been pushed too hard in storage.  The root beer was there along with typically floral and burly notes characteristic Mengku/Daxue Shan.

Alas.  They come and they go.

 

Puerh Readiness

Posted on by Yang-chu
16 Oct

The Puerh Junky in me got to pondering the determinants of Puerh Readiness.  Surely, this is not a construct.  There must be objective standards upon which to base puerh readiness.  Puerh Readiness is sought after by middle-aged and old puerh drinkers.

So, the Puerh Junky sits to have a second PJRS of Fu.  It is infusion four after two hours.  The infusion is two or one in clarity.  He sits to write notes.  His mouth is full of flowers but pronounces the cake: “NOT READY.”  The taste is good.  It will please the ruffians, but the Puerh Junky is not rough.  There was a time it was quite ready.

Gold Ribbon

Zhongcha ’07 “9611” Peacock Gold Ribbon Cake

After two hours it is evident that Fu is exquisitely good but dreadfully young.  Lack of clarity in a standard Zhongcha production is highly irregular.  Any ugliness in the broth points to the youth of tea.  Clarity is one parameter that the Puerh Junky uses in evaluating the readiness of ripes.  The same can be applied to raws and in cases of Zhongcha the benefit of doubt should be extended because unlike Xiaguan, they specialize in tea clarity.

“9611” Clarity and Beauty

As mentioned, the young tea drinker may be entirely adrift regarding puerh readiness.  The fact is many young puerhs are “ready.”  If they’re oolong processed and sold as “gushu“, then maybe a little too ready.

Puerh Transformation

Puerh readiness is expressed in the fundamental transformation of the raw material under particular storage conditions.  It is a trans-annual phenomenon.  Productions can be initially quite drinkable only to descend to the depths of unreadiness, as the Fu case demonstrates.

Part of readiness is also usually conveyed in the colour.  Light coloured liquor is indicative of young tea or relatively dry storage older stuff.  They won’t taste anywhere the same.  The latter may bear attributes of readiness but reflect a different curing style.

Some productions may be able to progress from one stage to the next without hiccoughs but the hiccoughs are quite common and it often has to do with the tea’s own personality.  For some drinkers these quirks however ephemeral prove charming.  Just because a production dips into a period of unreadiness doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong, particularly if you’re not finding the same problem among the rest of your stash.

A whole treatise could be written on Puerh Readiness.  The Puerh Junky experienced a moment of panic regarding the ’19 Crouching Tiger, but it simply wasn’t ready.  It needed a year, which is hardly atypical.  There is something about mouthfeel that is an indicator.  It is most certainly not astringency.  In fact, too much astringency is dead give away of poor brewing or just not being ready.  The ready mouthfeel is fizzy or like a magic blanket tiny sparkles.  It’s the benchmark of the root beer class.

Puerh Rating: Wild Jingmai

Posted on by Yang-chu
13 Oct

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on Wild Jingmai.  Jingmai puerh is characterized by an orchid aroma.  Young, they are very bright, optimistic, and magical, while still expressing razor thinness, alertness, and astringent and bitter zing.  This cake, from ’14, is from an on-going series that GPE runs. Some of the earlier productions are associated with a famous tea master.

After three rounds the results were as follows:

  • Aroma        13
  • Clarity         11
  • Sweetness  11
  • Viscosity     13
  • Astringency 11
  • Huigan        13
  • Qi                 8

Reflections

The Puer Junky regards this Jingmai as far better than average.  At this stage it still expresses bright and clean notes.  Given the lineage of this production, it is not suspect in the least.  The viscosity, aroma, and huigan place it in rarefied aire.  It’s lowest mark is in qi about which the Puerh Junky can be particularly rigid.

This Wild Jingmai is an offering that has fantastic storage potential.  GPE is a factory that goes back to ’99.  They are known for their ripe squares (fangcha) and this particular Wild Jingmai production.  Their raw material centers around the Simao terrior, with a house style that is big on taste.  This is the best Jingmai cake that the Puerh Junky has tasted since 2013.

Conclusions

There is no need to be overly long winded about the Wild Jingmai.  It is a young puerh that is drinkable now but with at least 20 yrs history behind its production.  It is in the floral class of puerhs, not exactly Zen and maybe a little bit macho without smoke or tobacco notes.  This isn’t the piercing florality of first flush productions.  The word that came up was “fresca”.   Puerh Rating: Wild Jingmai

80/105, B