Category Archives: The Junky’s Log

Puerh Rating System Flaws

Posted on by Yang-chu
05 Sep

A couple weeks ago I rated an item I consider one of my very best and it came out to 86/105 on the Puerh Rating System. It reveals the flaws of the system. I’ve been drinking this over the past three days. Each day between 1-3 infusions. I haven’t kept track.

The system doesn’t track durability. I simply cannot drink more than three pots of anything at one time. If I do there’s something amiss. I should either grow bored by the third infusion or the tea should have proven sufficiently satisfying by then. Three’s enough.

Each day with this tea Gold and Jade Filled Hall is an intense experience. It possesses no flaws nor does it taste as though it requires further aging. The amber to jade broth is deceptively deep, very deep on the register evoking impressions of aged whiskey and spices. I don’t like whiskey and I have some that are too much like whiskey or tequila that I don’t like. This one is still quite sweet. Relentlessly sweet. Not sugary but with each infusion the sweetness NEVER fades

Infusion #12, I think. Full of sweetness and spice. Huigan ridiculous.

Still, it’s only an 86. That’s an A but at the lower end. Certainly to my mind it is better than some that *might score higher. I dunno. Most of what I drink tests out in the 60s. A ripe I consider outstanding only came in at 72. The best part of the system is how it guards against subjective bias. Taste profiles have no bearing on the quality of the tea itself. That’s what the description is for.

Puerh Battle Sept 3, 2020

Posted on by Yang-chu
05 Sep

Los Angeles, Sept 3, 2020, the site of a Puerh Battle featuring two up-and-comers from ’07.  It’s the Hideout, LME vs the Bada Peacock, ZC.  Both puerh cakes have been likened to being mirrors of one another in terms of minerality.  Each one, however, untested in terms of aroma, viscosity, and qi.  LME claims that the Hideout has won some awards, while the Bada Peacock has shown itself to be a sweeter representative from the ’07 Kunming Tea Factory class.  How will the pugilistic puerhs fair?

Tale of Neifei

Hideout disrobes showing a neifei that is in the spirit of Fuhai and Dayi.  It has the look and feel of money.  The Bada comes out in the traditional Zhongcha red and white, utterly confident and exuding a sweet faintly fruity aroma.

This Puerh Battle was commissioned by and under the rules of the PRS and presided by the self-appointed official, the Puerh Junky.

Infusion #1

This battle went two rounds.  The looks here are not deceiving.  The Zhongcha Bada Peacock is noticeably darker.  Whereas hideout scored a “4” in terms of clarity its huigan and qi scores had it losing in the first round.  The decisive factor was the heavy “4” in viscosity the Peacock delivered.  The Peacock is rich, sweet, and round out the gate.

Infusion #2

Again it is evident that the Bada Peacock is darker, more mature.  In the second round the Hideout thought it could dazzle with sparkling clarity, “5”.  It overall scored better in the second round than it had in the first.  Bada’s viscosity also took a step back making matters interesting.  However, the leaves had opened up significantly, enough  that by the second round the huigan had improved considerably, “4”, while the qi also ticked up to “3”.

The final tally:  Hideout 39/70; Bada Peacock 46/70

The battle was not close.  The ’07 Zhongcha’s are really starting to come into their own.  It’s becoming increasingly clear that time and storage are hyper critical for these productions and that the difference between their youth and age is considerable. . . to state the obvious but have it really sink in.

Contrary to these findings, the market price for the Hideout has climbed to about three times that of the Bada.  Up about six fold from when originally purchased, it has climbed more than at least one offering I consider better but in an entirely different taste class. The Bada, on the other hand, is an uncommon ZC offering in terms of availability and mineral vibe.  This is mineral note is characterized by rocks and toothpaste.  Both have it and it’s a relatively rare expression in raws, where the Dayi wood and petrol vibe is so religiously imitated.  LME and ZC both tend toward Zen, so they are easy casual drinkers, while cryptic enough to hold your attention if you so choose to give it.

In the subsequent day of testing the two findings were similar, but I felt that there was a bottoming out on the Hideout demonstrated by metallic astringency and bitterness.  Interestingly, a week or so prior I had brewed the Bada with a friend using the tetsubin and he remarked upon what he felt was a displeasing metallic quality.  Don’t brew with a tetsubin unless you’ve practiced with its effects on your production before hand.

Stay thirsty my friends.

 

Puerh Junky Rating System

Posted on by Yang-chu
02 Sep

So in this past month of ’20 August, I devised the Puerh Junky Rating System (PRS).  The idea was to create a system where the most significant puerh rating variables could be tabulated.  It appears to be a robust system; productions that I consider to be exceptionally good, still haven’t maxed out.   Below, I shall elaborate.

Puerh Rating System

Rating puerh may not be as arbitrary as it appears.  There are established parameters that apply to tea as with any other thing that is consumed according to the traditional Chinese empirical and aesthetic standards.  This system is reflected in puerhs.  The particular variable of “durability” is omitted from the PRS since tests involve only three infusions in 150 ml gaiwan or pot.

Factors like “aroma”, “clarity“, and “huigan” are self-evident.  More of each is easily accounted for.  Conversely, “astringency” and “viscosity” are relative measures.  Some productions should be less viscous or more astringent given the overall character.  How this determination is made is more up to the tester.  The attribute of “qi” is easily the most subjective and most difficult to score.  Regarding qi, there is often a misconception that it relates solely to its “tea drunk” or “whole body” effects, which isn’t the case.  There is so much confusion about what the Chinese mean by “qi,” but suffice it to say it is some activity.  Gut busters have humongous qi, but it’s not desirable.  For what its worth, gut busters are NEVER offered on this site.  Qi is a quality in addition to an action.

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PRS) is a five-point scale.  Three on the scale marks average, whereas 2 and 4 reflect below and above the average respectively.  In the case of the “qi” rating, no average is assumed.  A rating of 1 doesn’t reflect a qi below any average, only that that is how much it was detected.  In the course of testing the PRS, often items received no mark at all.  It is usually very rare for the qi of a puerh to be detected in the first pot.

There are seven equally weighted variables totaling 35 points.  The three rounds combined offers a maximum of 105.  Let’s now look at the seven variables, outlined in the order in which they are usually evaluated.

  1. Aroma
  2. Clarity
  3. Sweetness
  4. Viscosity
  5. Astringency
  6. Huigan/Aftertaste
  7. Qi

By figuring the average of the three sessions for each of the seven variables, we can arrive at the following grading system.

  • 105 – 84 = A
  •   83 – 63 = B
  •   62 – 42 = C
  •   41 – 21 = D

What I’ve noticed is since the qi variable is very difficult to gain points on yet highly regarded that this grading system is fair and robust.  From the scale, which I’ll be using henceforth in listing of offerings, one will be more accurately be able to judge just how much of a steal an item is, as well as how much factory prestige and offering availability in China factors into pricing.

So far, I’ve been quite impressed by how my ratings affirm my general impression the puerh itself.  This is influenced very little by noise generated through connections and reputation.  The PRS looks to be a perfect compliment to narratives of tea experience.

Puerh Storage Take 2020

Posted on by Yang-chu
17 Aug

So on one of these tea pages to which I belong, some dude giving brewing advice confidently offered brewing Yiwus in porcelain. I had started making it a matter of rule to brew all young productions in gaiwan, and his suggestion made sense for that region.

Yiwu Sampler ’03-’05

There are many dogmatists who believe that puerh should only be drunk at such-and-such temp and only after 36 exhalations to the third star of Jupiter and only after a certain age, but my goal is to understand the production and the conditions that will bring the most of what it has to offer at the time being consumed.  For varying reasons this is not always possible. . . which brings us to a confession.

Many of you don’t know, but in certain circles I’m known as The Tea Punisher (TTP for short or Ole Dirty TTP). The productions I hate the most, I subject to the most abuse, leaving them about to weather the harsh chaparral climes of LA proper.

10th infusion of our ’05 puerh gem

I punish them; it gets as cold as 47 sometimes, the humidity down to 30.  It’s not that I like being TTP.  It’s just that I have an ever-growing stash vying for position in finite container space.  Container space must be earned, but I may soon be changing my tune given my eight-year synthesis on the subject, . . .  which I would only consider in the hypothesis phase, . . .  meaning that I am now experienced enough to share findings over a enough time.  For starters, even here in Los Angeles, where I keep the doors open often, indoor storage is not as good as outdoor.

Three Storage Types

I have been running three storage types, roughly associated with how precious I consider the production.

  • Dead Refridgerator (DR)– this is the most climate controlled.
  • Food-grade Rubber Containers (FRC) — medio o en extrema
  • TTP– In the open in the Batcave where the rest are snuggled.

I’ll cut to the chase.  The TTP “stored” tea is undoubtedly superior to the DR and at the very least equal to FRC.  Here’s where we can see a pattern.  DR storage is more like indoor storage.  The verdict is out on whether FRC is superior to TTP.  The former is more controlled in terms of humidity and open air exposure.  Humidity can climb to well above the ambient humidity and the heat can be much higher as well.  On the other hand, wild daily fluctuations in humidity provides a stress of a different nature.

Much attention has been placed on temperature and humidity in terms of storage, but if those were the only variables affecting tea, then Penang, Malaysia theoretically should have the best puerh in the world.  Yet, I didn’t quite come away feeling that way.

The fact is that the TTP method is the absolute inverse of a controlled environment.  My views are ambivalent.  There can be no doubt that the TTP method sacrifices aroma, but for productions void of aroma this is not an issue.  The conditions are safely averaging in the 55-75 range irrespective of season.  In most older productions fragrance plays a smaller role.  Therefore punishment comes at less of a cost.  Smoky productions will similarly be tamed earlier than where it cannot air out.  Tightly pressed cakes should be hardly fazed by the extremes.  In the next post I’ll discuss TTP as it relates to a particular cake that stuck me as noteworthy on a few levels.

 

Puerh Junky’s First Half of 2020 Best Five Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
28 Jul

Just thinking about the puerhs I’m most avoiding drinking because I like them so much, and well because there’s still so many of these other rascals to check up on.  I know they say that it’s a bad thing to go by the wrapper; but who are they?  Really.  I ask.  Is anything really even more important in puerh than the wrapper?  Really?!  I ask.  Of course not!  So what I’m saying is that below is a listing of the five most irresistible puerh wrappers to my mind over the last six plus months.  First the honorable mentions:

Honorable mention #1: ’10 Tiger, MK— They came out with two types of Lunar New Year productions at least this year.  I just sold the last one and I’m pretty shaken.  I was very proud to have found that wrapper.  The raw material of the paper was nothing to sneeze at either.  A production aged magnificently with still some sharp floral notes but coated in deep tones that I associate with root beer.  Such a find.

Honorable mention #2: ’05 Tulin Tuo 250g– That bastard is pricey.  Quite similar to the ’07 6FTM production.  Tulin is hands down the most underrated factory.  Their paper and boxes are the best around. I’ve had this longer than the ’07 but both are effectively new.  Striking is that the ’07 bears maturation a good five to eight years older than to be expected for its size.  The ’05 Tulin Tuo is about where you’d expect given good storage.

250g Tulin raw

Honorable mention #3: ’05 Fohai, 6FTM– I have a few of their tuo which are quite old and very bland no matter how long I steep them.  This cake is positively one of the best I’ve ever tasted in the floral category.   The pitch is high but not sharp.  Not perfumy like jasmine, Jingmai, or many spring teas.  Sharpness is what I associate with the 6FTM house taste, certainly their Lunar Series.  Not this.  It’s bright and soft at the same time.  Very special.  The “Fo” of Fohai is Buddha, so I thought that would be a good wrapper.  This puerh easily could have been in the top five but listing the same factory twice starts to look suspicious.  Besides, I like productions with darker notes.  This is going to be bright floral to its very end.

The “Don’t Even think about it“– I’ve thrown the fake 8582 out of my working memory, even though I’m mentioning it here.  Yeah it had the perfect fake wrapper and a great neifei, which is why I bought it. Yes.  I only bought a tea for the fake neifei.  That qualifies me as faux Puerh Junky, it seems.  Anyway, there hasn’t been a person who has not been brought to their knees by the power of its qi. “Luke, I am your father!”  I don’t even think about it because I don’t want to feel wistful about not having it around.

And now the list– drum roll

#5 —’12 Ripe Brick, XG— Classic gongting material, this comes on with a rush and vanishes just as quickly. Rich, sweet, Guandong stored, dark red beauty. Wickedly lush body feel.

#4– ’12 Peacock Ripe, LME— LME is my new fav in terms of ripes. I have never detected any vegetal notes.  Richness is solid without any paper notes.  Sweet without distracting fruitiness.  Holds up infusion after infusion.

#3– ’08 Imperial Roots— The three of us were sitting in the kitchen. They were yammering but had the time to remark how very good the tea was.  I’m ecstatic watching this XG production mature.  It was flawless in my new pot.

#2 — ’07 Lunar Series II, SFTM— I basically just got this and I’m crushed. It screams outside its wrapper, as if doused in gasoline spiked with peppermint.  I didn’t know 6FTM could do such things.  It’s very naughty.  The wrapper is a destroyer!

1. ’02 Green Mark, “GPE”— I don’t know whether my hate or dread is greater. . . actually it’s dread.  This is a deadly production also newly acquired.  It reminds me of what my ’01 “7532” Du Qiongzhi production is approaching, but this is already there. It’s like drinking tequila.  You might not like it but you know the well-crafted stuff compared to the mass product.  Come to think of it, this Green Mark is quite a bit like tequila.  I had been thinking whiskey.  Taste aside, the qi is Mike Tyson.  Never had I been knocked out in the first round and the same happened in the rematch the following day.  It took me eight days to get through 6g.

The quest for wrapper continues.

Puerh Mini Tuo: Xigui GNZ

Posted on by Yang-chu
12 Jun

Our Puerh Mini tuo of concern is the ’14 Xigui GNZ.  It is an 8g dragon pearl, similar to the Dragon Pearl Sampler.  Dragon pearls are hand rolled balls of puerh tea. The care in processing and quality of the material is the best of the best.  Consequently, dragon pearls are a great way to learn about the hallmark traits of the various terrior.

Xigui is a terrior in Lincang with a taste profile closer to Bingdao, fruity and genteel, than Daxue Shan or Fengqing, which are black-tea floral by nature. This fruity genteel taste forms an interesting contrast to Yiwu puerh from terrior like Wangong or Yiwu ZS.  One of the biggest differences is how top-shelf Lincang pops out the gate.  In your face sweetness is highly suggestive of Lincang not Yiwu.

Xigui GNZ 3rd Infusion

When we “out the gate” raw puerh, we’re talking fewer than 10 years old.  Dragon pearl mini tuo obviously age faster than cakes, but their material is far better than what is affordable in cake size.  Xigui GNZ has aged in Los Angeles since ’15 under conditions probably averaging 70%/70 in terms of humidity to heat but healthy flux around the average.

In terms of quality the Xigui GNZ strikes me as being very good.  It doesn’t reach its stride until about the sixth infusion but up until then what it might lack in thickness is made up for in electric sweet cloud sensation.  Fully open there is thickness and sweet tropical fruit notes that linger long in the huigan.  There is some affinity with very high quality Bulang but the bitterness is a greatly muted feature.

This dragon pearl raw puerh lasted well into 15 infusions over three days.  When pushed the bitterness is more prominent but hardly challenging and vanishes quickly into sweetness.

 

 

Puerh Tuo Ripe: Operation Macau

Posted on by Yang-chu
09 Jun

Our Puerh Tuo Take covers ’12 Operation Macau, a 250g ripe puerh tuo.  Its one of the best ripe puerhs in the stash.  Below, I thought I’d explain why.

Operation Macau tuo is a much thicker and resolute ripe puerh than the Silver Peacock, both Xinghai TF productions.  OM used to express much more humidity but that has now faded in favour of a pronounced camphor candy taste. In contrast to 55, it is neither tannic nor woody.  It is more sweet, dynamic, and sonorous than the Black Brew.  I will confess, when pushed, it turns up some of those dreaded veggie notes.

In the recent sessions in brewing OM, I’ve noticed something interesting.  There are two types of ripe puerh, tuo or otherwise.  One type favours over brewing, takes well to a thermos and might be better in one.  The other type requires a measure of brewing sensitivity usually reserved for raw puerh.  Over brewing this type will not thicken the mouthfeel and will mute the dynamics of the tea.  The latter type are generally high quality ripes made from high quality puerh.  Operation Macau is a high quality ripe that must not be over brewed.

The aftertaste on the OM is outstanding for a ripe puerh.  Minerals, camphor, and sugar linger in the mouth.  It’s qi pervades the chest primarily, expansive and relaxing.  It rests warmly in the stomach.  Only four infusions to be cashed thoroughly.

 

Puerh Cake Take: Red Star

Posted on by Yang-chu
05 Jun

This Puerh Cake Take is on Red Star, a ’11 Xiaguan raw iron cake.  I chose it to round out a trio of floral puerhs that I had just written upon.  It turns out that didn’t happen because the Red Star didn’t cooperate.  Shall I proceed?

I remember the Red Star expressing a strong early spring signature with some of the trademark XG smoke.  I didn’t consider it typical of an XG production, not particularly smoky. Now I do. Easily a tobacco class, certifiably middle-age puerh.  The taste is starting to strike me as more like whiskey than tobacco because of the smoke.  There’s something that I suppose is peaty, something minerally, and saccharine sweet, but now that smoke takes a much more center stage.

April ’16 Photo

Red Star now shares the XG house taste typified by the Dali Tuo.  However, where petrol fruit seems to be the theme with the Dali Tuo, Red Star is starting to take on a more medicinal bent.  Along with that is ashtray and edginess that could stand to age out, if it ever does.  As I said, I didn’t really notice the smoke in its first two years.  Stranger still, smoke is one of the attributes that would most predictably age OUT not age in.

It’s been a fascinating discovery aging raw puerh.  This iron cake has been stored in Los Angeles since April ’16.  In that time it has changed in an unpredictable fashion revealing a personality of its own.  Similar whiplash occurred with the Vanilla Palace, but with the Red Star the flowers have transformed into the XG taste as opposed to vanilla and root beer.

Compared to some of the middle-aged raw puerh that I’ve been drinking recently, the Red Star strikes me as a bit more utilitarian.  For a factory that is 50% state owned with a significant percentage designated for Tibet, “utilitarian” probably strikes XG is fine.

Puerh Cake Take: Mangosteen

Posted on by Yang-chu
05 Jun

This Puerh Cake Take is on Mangosteen, a ’12 production from the Kunming TF.  This raw cake is interesting because it was made from ’07 raw material before being steamed and pressed in ’12.  The cast of the liquor is inordinately light, resembling something from the ’14-16 range.

Mangosteen has undergone marked transformation since ’15 and the most possibly in the last six months.  It used to be high pitched.  Evocative of black tea.  There was a sparkling camphor finish.  The viscosity was light and by the fourth infusion it was on its way out.  It maybe lasts a couple infusions more but the mouthfeel is much rounder.

Mangosteen is the new name for this raw Zhongcha organic puerh because that’s what it tastes like.  Mangosteens are an intensely creamy-vanillay-juicy-sweet experience with quick citrusy kick.  There was nothing that struck me as fruity about Mangosteen in the past, but the aroma is quite clearly very much of berries.  In the first few infusions the fruit taste only comes on the back end.  At the front is a thick cloud of creaminess and siltiness.  The sensation is luxurious.  Actually, a note from a year ago mentioned the creaminess.

One consistency with this treasure is its throatiness.  I noticed this this morning with the first pot and saw that I mentioned it in the product description.  There’s a term for it called “houyun,” which is considered a particularly noteworthy trait since better productions have it.

Puerh Cake Take: Jingmai Truth

Posted on by Yang-chu
05 Jun

This Puerh Cake Take is entitled “Jingmai Truth.”  It’s a reference to the true taste of the ’14 Wild Jingmai, a quintessentially floral puerh terrior.  This GPE tea is one of their best out the gate and strongly representative of the region.

When we talk about the raw floral puerhs there are many variations.  The Jingmai floral is described as “orchid.”  It stands in contrast to the Fengqing/Daxueshan black tea floral note.  Good Jingmai floral can be quite inviting at a young age.  It also represents a style of puerh processing that stands in contrast to classic recipes that require long term storage.

This entry daringly assumes some Jingmai Truth that differs from a Bulang Truth or an Yiwu Truth.  Indeed.  Jingmai must be floral: how the flowers pop in aroma as well as taste and huigan determine its truth.  The Wild Jingmai rates highly by all these measures.  It has citrus note in line with the Jade Mark and a mouthfeel like the Mystery dragon pearl.

In my June 2020 tasting of the Wild Jingmai, I keep coming back to truth.  The impression is akin to proof in spirits.  Even flavour-infused vodkas are brighter and cleaner than the lightest brandy not to mention whiskey.  Here we have very bright notes but with an undertow that is already exhibiting pleasing attributes for drinking now.