Category Archives: The Junky’s Log

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

Puerh Rating: Fu

Posted on by Yang-chu
09 Oct

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on Fu.  This is a ’12 Zhongcha/KMTF raw cake that has been storing in Los Angeles since ’15.  This cake harkens back to a simpler time in purchasing puerh.  Then Zhongcha offerings sold for easily one-third what they do now.  The “Fu” character on the wrapper is not the new year “fu” (福) but conveys a similar sense of fullness and richness through fragrance (香).

After three rounds the results were as follows:

  • Aroma        7
  • Clarity         9
  • Sweetness  8
  • Viscosity
  • Astringency 12
  • Huigan         10
  • Qi

Reflections

April 2016

Zhongcha‘s Fu rates highly in terms of viscosity and straight average in terms of sweetness and clarity.  The sweetness holds steady from one infusion to the next.  Clarity increases while viscosity wanes slightly.

Conversely, there isn’t much of a huigan.  This proves a poor trade-off because the astringency is fierce and greatly displeasing to the Puerh Junky.  It does have a noticeable qi that is steady and smooth.

The Kunming Tea Factory (KMTF) productions after ’11 seem to fall into the category of too young and undrinkable or young and soon-to-be undrinkable.  This is all in the evolution of raw puerh.  It is an unfolding mystery.  With Fu an interesting progression is noted in the lack of clarity of the broth at the third infusion.

Infusion #3

This lack of clarity is neither indicative of processing or material flaws, but rather of the tea itself being in the midst of cooking.  At an earlier stage, factors had yet coalesced to enter the cooking stage.  Now Fu is cooking and it tastes raw as raw can be.  It’s not exactly like a “recipe” formula but has many nods to the concept.

All attributes considered, this tastes its primarily comprised of Bulang material.

Conclusions

In 2020 Fu has entered it 8th year.  It is not the same joyous production that it was initially.  There is lots of fruit and sweetness in the liquor but a pronounced bitterness on top of astringency make this puerh cake enter the “too young” for drinking stage.  This is not a Zen category production but an anti-Zen.  I is not macho.  The tastes are too playful, the aroma floral and fruity.  There is no hint of smoke, petrol, or darker notes to suggest macho.  No.  Fu is that brat that needs to go to “time-out” (for five years).  Some people like bratty: bitter and astringent.  Those constantly drinking young tea might find appealing.  The Puerh Junky on this account must graciously defer and consider it nothing better than a gut buster.  At a minimum three years TTP.  Puerh Rating: Fu

56/105, C

Puerh Rating: Quincy

Posted on by Yang-chu
07 Oct

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on Quincy.  This is another production from ’07 by the LME.  A fair amount has been said about this puerh factory.  The Puerh Junky carries a number of their productions.  They have a level of integrity, while being great everyday drinkers given the price.

After three rounds the results were as follows:

  • Aroma        14
  • Clarity        12
  • Sweetness  7
  • Viscosity      7
  • Astringency 12
  • Huigan         10
  • Qi

Reflections

Sept 2020

For starters, Quincy takes a real hit in terms of qi.  For what is supposed to be old tree material, this production has never struck me as one for qi.  That can be a good thing if you’re just looking for a drink.  The sweetness and viscosity are also slightly below average.  Those preferring drier and lighter texture would find this appealing.

In terms of clarity, the final results don’t show that it starts out great then grows gradually cloudy.  This trend probably continues for another two infusions before getting pretty.  As far as astringency is concerned, it maintains an evenness a very mild astringency level throughout.  All of the ’07 LME offerings are decidedly smooth and not astringent.

The most outstanding feature of Quincy is its aroma, which still pops.  However, this is likely to be a somewhat unfamiliar aroma among drinkers of young tea.  This aroma only develops after the raw puerh has aged at least six year.  At least.  These are notes that are simply not present in young tea, malto meal, medicinal linaments your grand parents used.

Conclusions

There is no way around the unique flavour profile of Quincy.  The Puerh Junky has tasted a handful of such unique profiles.  To be honest, the closest association is with Raid lawn mosquito spray from a can, something I haven’t been exposed to since the mid 80s.  Associations like laundry soap or baby powder are far more common in puerh.  The petrol taste is a class in itself.  Here even though the taste has petrol elements, they are far more medicinal.  Puerh Rating: Quincy

62/105 C

 

Puerh Rating: Water Blue Mark

Posted on by Yang-chu
04 Oct

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on the Water Blue Mark.  This is the Kunming Tea Factory’s (KMTF) reproduction of a Menghai TF creation from, as early as I could tell, ’98.  The purpose of the PJRS is to objectively adjudge a production based on seven criteria, otherwise minimizing subjective preferences.  It comes in handy for an atrocity like the Water Blue Mark.

After three rounds the results were as follows:

  • Aroma        10
  • Clarity        10
  • Sweetness 12
  • Viscosity      9
  • Astringency 11
  • Huigan        11
  • Qi                 4

Reflections

Water Blue Mark: Cashed Leaves

The Water Blue Mark’s highest score was in sweetness.  It is surprisingly sweet.  This attribute says nothing about it’s taste profile however.  It is very, very heavy tobacco.  More on that in the conclusion.  All of the scores appear to be conservative, particularly the qi score.   Even the Puerh Junky has better qi days than others.  In assessing the score sheet, it is evident that the Blue Water Mark has staying power in terms of sweetness and viscosity, while the huigan and clarity improve.

Now the obligatory ’07 KMTF refrain. . .  The reputation all for 07 Zhongcha productions have been written off by the experts.  Another man’s trash is the Puerh Junky’s treasure.  The fact is that in ’07 KMTF went bankrupt but the factory kept churning, even more furiously.  In terms of its role in the development of ripes they deservedly hold their demarcation as Factory #1.  Almost all their other classic raw productions seem to have some history with Factory #2, Menghai, modern day Dayi.

In assessing a range of Zhongcha/KMTF productions from ’16-’06, Zen seems to predominate their house style.  The Puerh Junky associates this primarily with eastern Lincang material, Bangdong etc.  One would expect the Water Blue Mark to not deviate much with a name like Water Blue Mark.  Wrong. And herein lies the atrocity.

Conclusions

The Water Blue Mark comes at you more like the OG Gangsta or the Longevity Tuo.  Brewed in a gaiwan, this puerh exhibits NO mercy.  Perhaps this is what prevented detection of qi.  It is wicked strong, but not harsh and edgy.  Deep to medium notes, something that must be brewed in clay.  It has a petrolated and woody taste with the absence of rockiness that I most strongly associate with Dayi. It’s dry burning, hot wood, not foresty moist and minty. Yeah!  It’s dry-stored but not dried out.  It’s active as all getout.  There is nothing Watery or Blue about this offering.  It’s Green Mark, some iteration thereof, all the way.  Macho con tobacco. Puerh Rating: Water Blue Mark

67/105 B

Puerh Rating: Peacock Ripe

Posted on by Yang-chu

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on the Peacock Ripe.  This is a 357g ripe cake from the LME TF, produced in ’09.  They have other production years for this treasure, ’06, ’08, ’09, and ’11.  They’ve been in the game of making puerh since 1984, focusing primarily Bulang, Banzhang, and Lao Man E.  The link provides guidance for pronunciation of that letter “E.”

After three rounds the results were as follows:

  • Aroma        10
  • Clarity        14
  • Sweetness 11
  • Viscosity      9
  • Astringency 11
  • Huigan        10
  • Qi                 7

Reflections

The Peacock Ripe distinguishes itself from the Silver Peacock in being richer and deeper.  As the picture shows it clarity is is most outstanding attribute, followed by pleasing sweetness and little astringency.

The qi and viscosity rank lowest, with viscosity being a solid average and the qi expressing itself but not something that’s going to make you crazy, hungry, or frequent trips to the WC.

Conclusions

The Peacock Ripe’s profile is vanilla with some geosmin.  No fruit and despite wikki’s definition, no mustiness.  The Puerh Junky finds LME ripe productions to be outstanding in respect to possessing positively ZERO detested vegetal notes.  The effects of age are evident in its richness and depth.  One drinker who comes to ripe puerh from a wine background noted sustained character even when drunk from a thermos at work. Subjected to the GSM its score would undoubted be higher.  The camphor would pop more. Puerh Rating: Peacock Ripe

72/105, B

Puerh Rating: Cherry Blossom

Posted on by Yang-chu
04 Oct

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on the Cherry Blossom.  The Puerh Junky is tasting the ’12 version of a Tulin production that also ran in ’14.  Tulin is most renowned for a few tuo they’ve made.  Their taste bears resemblances to Xiaguan in terms of smoke and husk.  Much of their excellent qi material hails from Wuliang Mt.

After three rounds the results were as follows:

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

Reflections

Sweet Honey in the Rock

Shock.  I know that the Cherry Blossom is very good.  I didn’t know it was this good.  Let’s briefly note its perfect score in three categories: sweetness, viscosity, and astringency.  It’s astoundingly sweet and thick and as it wanes the astringency only provides balance to all that thickness and sugar.  It is NOT zero astringency by any remote stretch but the astringency is perfect for this production.

Here’s where I usually talk about flaws.  It’s clarity is challenged initially, but is perfect by the third infusion.  The Qi score actually reflects a balanced qi experience, not overwhelming.  I could have drunk more without feeling I would have done myself damage.

Conclusions

At the writing of this post on 3 Oct 2020 the Cherry Blossom has rated higher than any other tea– by seven points.  It rates better than the Gold and Jade Fill the Hall at 82, but that was in the early stage of testing the PJRS and hadn’t fully worked out the astringency scoring.  The point is that in terms of all seven criteria, the Puerh Junky is completely in the dark how a production will rate.

This is a tobacco class production but the tastes are much more varied and interesting.  The caption above Sweet Honey in the Rock captures it, but you have to throw in the smoke, cherries, and their blossoms.  Puerh Rating: Cherry Blossom

94/105, A

Puerh Rating: OG Gangsta

Posted on by Yang-chu
puerh tea brick
03 Oct

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on the OG Gangsta, an organic production from ’05.  The factory is Gu Puerh, which the Puerh Junky had erroneously associated with the Simao TF, evidently.  The long name of the factory is Simao Gu Puerh TF.  I’m not convinced they’re not the same.

After three rounds the results were as follows:

  • Aroma         9
  • Clarity        10
  • Sweetness  9
  • Viscosity      8
  • Astringency  4
  • Huigan        10
  • Qi                12

Reflections

The OG Gangsta introduces many nuances to brewing.  This tasting was brewed in gaiwan, contrary to the opening picture.  Second, the opening shot is of a selection that has been more transformed than the 2020 shot.  Let’s take up each matter.

Brewing old productions in gaiwan eventually has diminishing returns.  After eight years of age, irrespective of storage type one needs to consider the employ of a clay pot.  Before posting, I tried the OG Gangsta in the bell pepper pot pictured above.  The astringency turned to glass, what the Puerh Junky describes as a sublime smoothness.  Clay makes young productions rough, but it has a way to do the opposite with older puerhs.  In gaiwan, the Gangsta is noxiously astringent.  This is reflected accordingly in its astringency score.

The second picture shows a deeper progression into the 500g machine-pressed brick.  The material at deeper levels is obviously less transformed as evident from the second picture.  This will also translate into a rougher experience but so perplexed by the astringency experience, I retried within the month.

Conclusions

OG Gangsta is one puerh on its way to full root beer bliss.  Atomic compression spells more root beer at the edges than deeper in.  The ferocity of taste is matched by its qi, It shows a quality of selection that isn’t matched by its cost.  We’re talking a tobacco class selection on the road to root beer.  Qi-geeks who are just looking to get knocked on their you know what. . . This score is deceptively low.  Puerh Rating: OG Gangsta

62/105, C

Puerh Rating: Yiwu Princess

Posted on by Yang-chu
27 Sep

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on Yiwu Princess, an ’03 production joining the Puerh Junky stash the summer of ’19.  Since this is a white label, there is not anything to report on the factory.  The production came highly recommended from a favoured Kunming vendor.

After three rounds the results were as follows:

  • Aroma        13
  • Clarity        15
  • Sweetness 12
  • Viscosity     11
  • Astringency 15
  • Huigan        11
  • Qi                10

Reflections

Yiwu Princess: Cashed Leaves

The Yiwu Princess listed in Spring 2020.  This is one of the few raw puerh cakes requiring no adjustment time, which can be anywhere from two weeks to two years.  In terms of clarity and astringency, this treasure receives a perfect score.  Any production that scores above 9 in every category can be considered serious, and as the list shows the Yiwu Princess’s lowest score is 10, qi.

Let’s say a bit about identifying Yiwu productions and storage.  One give away to identifying an Yiwu is in the formation and pressing of the cake.  Stone pressing is the norm.  Leaves are full, often populated with long leaf stems to give it a sexy filigree.  The tenderness of the pressing is immediately apparent when held.  It’s not the power pressed discus of Bulang, where the compression juices the leaves together into a shellac.  Irrespective of how fancy the factory is, Yiwu production methods are incredibly incredibly uniform and careful in presentation.  The the exact opposite of recipe cakes like 7542 or Blue Mark.

The Puerh Junky feels that storage factors more greatly in evaluating an Yiwu than any other puerh terrior.  It just seems that in contrast to Simao, Lincang, Bulang (and all the villages contained therein) that Yiwus generally provide little indication of what they are until they’ve aged at least 10 years.  This aging needs to be stressful too, particularly if you want to know which direction the production will take: root beer or dried flowers.

The Yiwu Princess hails from a Kunming vendor favoured precisely for their outstanding storage.  Storage of this sort would typically be associated with Guandong or Taiwan.  The Puerh Junky detests dank or hot-stored stuff that kills the tea such that you’re only left with drinking dried garbage or newspaper.

Conclusions

The Yiwu Princess is emblematic of puerh tea in the old school sense.  It’s aged to perfection, preserving chrysanthemum floral note beneath the blanket of perfect humidity.  The PJRS has again produced robust results, in this case by demonstrating how complete a performance the Princess give by all seven criteria.  Puerh Rating: Yiwu Princess

87/105, A

 

 

 

 

 

Patchouli Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
27 Sep

This Sat afternoon the Puerh Junky sat down with the Patchouli Puerh.  It’s from an order received in Jun or Jul of 2020.  The Patchouli Puerh bears the real name of ’03 Big Tree White Buds and hails from the Xinghai TF.  This is the first real tasting.

Sandalwood commonly characterizes the dry aroma of puerhs entering the next phase of transformation.  The first time the Puerh Junky encountered this was with a young tuo initially possessing green apple notes.   The change was so remarkable, the Puerh Junky spent a good week searching for errant odors that did not exist in storage.  These moments of panic are normal when initially storing puerh.

On rare occasion, the taste of incense can be detected in the tea broth, but usually the incense vibe is noticeable only before the leaves are opened.  Enter, Patchouli Puerh, but before discussing this intensely curious production, something about Xinghai TF that I haven’t already.

Xinghai Tea Factory

Xinghai TF’s huge puerh operation started up in ’02.  According to Baidu they offer over 80 different productions.  Their reputation is as solid for raws as ripes.  To the Puerh Junky’s horror, he learned that Xinghai bears the nickname of Dayi factory #2.  If that is the case, then Dayi is not only fantastic but Xinghai offers the opportunity to taste older Dayis that have either long been snatched up or cost an arm-and-a-leg.  Here’s a good site for further exploration.  Prices are extremely fair.

The Puerh Junky’s encounter with Xinghai arose from the peacock.  Xinghai features a peacock series and peacock brand in addition to individual peacock productions. The varying divisions, series, and grades amidst big factories is befuddling.  The only recourse is to stick to one’s thematic guns, choosing thematically or visually interesting wrapper before wading into deeper, i.e., expensive waters.

Now the Reflections

The Patchouli Puerh is a Kunming-moderate stored production from ’05.  In fact, the conditions were ideal allowing plenty of transformation while not imparting any humid taste.  The first thing you notice is that it doesn’t taste anything as ugly as the broth.  I didn’t want to apply the PJRS, focusing more on the experience.  At the same time, the variables of the PJRS are integral to the experience.  In short, even though I didn’t do any math this is a tremendously ugly tea for the first two infusions.

The contrast between the murky brew and the its taste is disarming.  You’re bracing yourself for something sharp and highly opinionated.  The reality pauses time, so much Zen in the texture and taste.  Underneath the Zen is a maelstrom of tastes, patchouli being prime among them and exceedingly present in the huigan.  Additionally, peat, minerals, and the slightest hint of sour that starts to express on the tongue and saliva action in later infusions.

The sour plum is interesting.  Some could easily conclude its an awkward teen phase, but if this as awkward it gets then I’ll Junky to that!  Anyway, the sour is like the chimes and triangles in a symphony.  They have a role, but it is very small compared to the woodwinds of patchouli.

Just when you think you have the puerh universe figured out, along comes a treasure like the Patchouli Puerh to let you know you don’t.