Quesadillas and Zhongcha’s “55”
This Sunday morning, my wife whipped up some quesadillas that had sausage, pepper jack, zucchini, and scallions. After a bite or two, I thought some ripe puerh was in order. I wanted something that could hold up to food. Zhongcha’s “55” called my name.
Let’s start at the end. Bam! Two pots shared between my wife and me and we were definitely feeling the qi. I’m still feeling it. Maybe it’s the chemical reaction between Italian sausage and puerh that’s producing this wooziness, kinda like the two herbs mixed together to make ayahuaska. Warmth swirls in the chest and throat and the hackles at the back of neck and arms go into full effect. I was asked just last week if it was possible to get high from a ripe as with a quality raw. The ’06 “55” puerh cake emphatically answers this question in the affirmative.
Thick and Complex Ripe Puerh
We only drank those two pots. It’s that satisfying. It’s sweet like molasses. Imagine Postum, if you can, with molasses. I’m quite fond of postum, as my mom used to make it for me when I was but a lad back in Detroit. It tastes like a very close approximation, a taste that’s still echoing in the flavour chambers of my mouth 45 minutes after the fact and with food!
But there’s more: light camphor in the aftertaste, incense in the front of the mouth, and baby powder in the back. There’s also smooth chocolate candy, a la Tootsie Roll, notes. This accounts for much of the sweetness.
Fourth Infusion 10s
Aging and Ripe Puerhs
There seems to be a consensus that ripe puerhs only require a year or two of settling before they’re drinkable. I haven’t found this to be the case. When I first got the 55, from the Kunming Tea Factory (KMTF)/Factory #1, it was overly astringent. Perhaps it was two years ago that I began to detect the camphor and baby powder notes; only today the incense. I understand that it may be a year or two (allegedly) for the wodui odor to dissipate. However, there is more to a good ripe than dissipating the “fishy smell.”
In the world of puerh, what the “7542” is to Dayi, the “7581” is to the KMTF. The older a “7581“, the higher the market price. If the matter is simply wodui, then the market is either crazy or the older productions possess some distinguishing property that makes it more valuable. It turns out that even though the “7581” is a ripe production, part of the secret recipe includes raw puerh material. Perhaps this is the modus operandus of for most of their ripes. Anyway, this is the first year in which I can say the “55” is really good, raw seasoning or not. It’s from ’06.
I don’t think I imagined reading something about ripes topping out. Maybe this is a phenomenon akin to the wretched “oolong processed” so-called “gu-shu” puerhs peddled by some boutique sellers. It sorta makes sense that the recipe and processing would contribute to the shelf-life of a production. Dunno. There’s a lot of boring ripes out there after sifting through the hideous. The thing is some of those after 2 yrs in the wondrous environs of LA might turn out to be a delight. I just can’t tell. . . most of the time.
Similarly, some of the best raw puerhs are those that transform into something almost unidentifiable from its youth. Maybe there’s something similar going on with the good ripes. That something can only be attributed to boss source material, I suppose.
Secret Recipe
Food and Puerh
I’ve never been to any of those Yam Cha places in Hong Kong where they are purported to drink puerh with their dim sum. I’ve done a little travel through SE Asia and I never encountered puerh. I guess that means that if I want to kick my quesadilla with a treasure like “55”, then it’s only evidence of how adaptable tea culture is. Let’s talk details.
Italian sausage and pepper jack cheese possess traits that greatly compliment a complex production like the “55”. The fennel of the sausage, the fat of both the sausage and cheese, the smoothness of the toasted tortilla and cheese, all find correspondences with the brew. The remaining astringency and the emerging camphor cleanse the palate and opens the breast, while warming the gullet and belly. Grease and astringency are a perfect pair.
That’s enough for now.
