Hawt Puerh: Monkey 6FTM

On Monday to mark Labor Day 2020, I decided on Hawt Puerh: Money 6FTM.  I didn’t subject it to the PJRS.  I just wanted to check in to see where it was, already having ascended to the top-self of Puerh Junkiedom by virtue of its collectability.

Monkey Closeup

The ’04 Monkey is the first in an extremely popular Lunar Series by 6FTM.  It’s made from early spring material.  The recipe has never changed.  It’s a punchy floral qi-heavy, mouth-blasting forbearance.  It expresses the quintessential Fengqing character.

This rascal has been aging in Los Angeles since ’14.  It probably is responsible for the wrapper fetish.  It has been stored between the controlled conditions of the fridge and hot/variable container.  Maybe two years ago, to baby the wrapper, I placed it in a cardboard box, one slightly different from the normal puerh boxes but one used for that very purpose nonetheless.

Untattered Wrapper

Reflections

First, that box has contaminated some of the taste.  I’ve placed the Monkey in plastic and back in the box and will check in on at end of year.  The taste isn’t particularly strong, but I don’t like it.  On writing this, I’m going to take it from the box and keep it in plastic and check at year’s end.

Second, it is simply not possible to drink this and not compare it to Poison.  Both are 6FTM Lunar productions.  Poison came into my possession in Jul 2020.  It is Kunming stored but by people who really know what they’re doing.  Poison is more aged and as active as Monkey.  Monkey has old-book (can you say cardboard) note with root beer, as the floral notes emerge with each infusion.  Poison is pure root beer and there isn’t any other layer.  It’s pure Poison.

Infusion 3

Third, the durability of the Monkey is a great disappointment.  I only goes five infusions before starting to fade and it actually bottoms out in the 7th or 8th.  Poison doesn’t bottom out, EVER.

Conclusion

The ’04 Monkey is a “hawt” puerh commodity.  It has a pleasing depth of flavor and dynamism in the mouthfeel.  Still, five infusions is a shade short for most productions, particularly of this age.  I don’t ever recall noticing such a short lifespan previously.  It was brewed in gaiwan and infusion times were the typical flash-10s.  In short, Poison casts such a shadow over Monkey that it is only possible to be mildly entertained by it, not floored.  If one is a committed wrapper junky or a collector it’s worth having, otherwise its price extreme for the judicious junky.

 

 

Poisonous Puerh

Yesterday my wife got a chance to sample the “poisonous puerh,” what I think might have been the last infusion of ’07 Gold and Jade Filling the Mansion.  I started talking about it in terms of the shortcomings of the PJRS.

Her reaction was somewhere between a four and a five positive.  I didn’t prime her.  In fact, I had planned on having her try something else.

Every time I ask her what year it is, she guesses right.  She was surprised however to discover that it was toward the end of life.

The last infusion I let sit for about five minutes and it was quite strong.  There was more sharpness, but that could easily be attributable to over brewing.  At that infusion, I guessed 12, it still possessed a remarkably sweet huigan that lingered ever so pleasantly in the mouth.

She picked up on smoked wood notes, but couldn’t identify any spice, of which there is loads. Clove, ginger, and cinnamon just hang in the mouth.

As she went upstairs, she gave a giggle, smacking a bit as she continued to savor the lingering effects.

That Bel Biv DeVoe song comes to mind.  It’s that poisonous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0QIrGy3tFg

Puerh Rating System Flaws

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.

Full Frontal Floral Puerh

Full Frontal Floral Puerh references the Lunar Series of our puerh cakes offered by the Six Famous Mountains Tea Factory (6FTM).  Here, we are visiting the ’09 Ox.  This raw puerh’s storage differs from all the other productions in the series.  Let’s start with the storage then.

Slow Elusion First Infusion

All of the 6FTM lunar series productions until acquisition have been Kunming stored.  Additionally, up until 2009, cakes were pressed tightly.  The Ox then marks a change in terms of compression density and processing.  I’ve tried the Ox from two different vendors four years apart but the storage was identical, suggesting inputs by the factory and not just storage conditions alone.  This input involves heat and humidity.

These stressed conditions give the impression of Guandong storage.  Its tonality is lower than the Rat or the Pig, one and two years older respectively.  The warmer storage mutes some of the aggressiveness while still full frontal floral.

Just yesterday I sat with six grams in my designated floral production pot, 150ml.  The experience was surprisingly thin.  Today, I added .5g and the experience was considerably richer and fuller.  After the fourth infusion the roundness thins out and a mineral taste vies for attention with the flowers.  There is a measure of bitterness throughout and considerable astringency.

The aftertaste in the Ox is sweet and floral in the initial infusions but quickly fades compared to productions from other years.  Consistent with all from this series, the qi is formidable.   You can feel this in the stomach, chest, and eyes.

The 6FTM floral does not seem to develop into root beer.  In this regard it is similar to YPH productions.  However, whereas the lunar series possesses an aggressive nature possibly approaching Zen, the YPH trademark is universally Zen at every stage.  By contrast, the Tiger MK is macho floral and root beer, but is not part of a bona fide series as with 6FTM.

Puerh Tea Report 2020

As the new puerh tea begins to hit the market, it might be interesting to reflect upon recent developments, so here it is your Puerh Tea Report 2020.  Naturally, items and factories in the Puerh Junky’s stash will be the focus.  Ripe puerh will be given a bit of attention, with the bulk on raws.

Ripe Puers

The year 2019 had the Puerh Junky bidding a fond farewell to the ’06 Boss Tuo, an item that scored highly on every count.  I’m furiously searching for its replacement, something with the same explosive camphor notes and sweetness, along with a the deep tones of humid storage.  It’s larger brother with the same name doesn’t hold a candle to it; storage plays such a critical role in the expression of a production that it is usually impossible to tell that the same material under different conditions are actually the same.

Anyway, Xinghai (XH) and Zhongcha (ZC) have formed the backbone of the ripe stash.  Surprisingly, the Silver Peacock, XH has held relatively stable, with older productions, say before ’14, rising in price rather incrementally compared to ZC’s 7581 brick, which is now about three times the ’16 price.  Interestingly, the Lunar series has averted the frenzy, so constitute a relatively good value.  After years of being virtually overlooked, the ’06 “55” has started an advance.  This is ZC’s (aka CNNP/KMTF’s) best ripe production.  I expect that this will be the last year that it will be available from any vendors on the Chinese side.

Aside from these two factories, another general observation concerns ripe bamboo productions.  To wit: bamboo ripe productions have appreciated considerably more than ripes as a whole.  Puerh Junky has one ripe bamboo offering that is exceptionally clean and bright, with hints of humidity and cinnamon.

Raw Puerhs

The world of raw puerhs has been more dynamic.  Generally, it seems the smaller productions like tuo, bricks, and small cakes have averted the frenzy of cakes.  Since ’16 ZC’s new offerings have been handsomely priced.  One exception has been the Lunar Series but that looks to have come to an end this year, with about an 70% increase in price over last year.  The weird thing is that the older productions, those that can be found, are still priced along earlier lines.

Factories like LME (Lao Man E) and GPE (Gu Puerh) have held steady, so they constitute relative steals.  The only exception is ’07 Hideout, which in just one year appreciated more than 200%.  A more than reasonable alternative to it is the 2008 Gift Puerh, which has the same sweetness and camphory goodness.  Up until this year, there were still quite a number of very good Tulin productions that were plain ole cheap, but not so much anymore.  Oh well.

Though there may be exceptions, the scene with LM (Liming), YPH (Yangpin Hao), and 6FTM (Six Famous Tea Mountains) has been hawt to say the least.  YPH prides itself as a top-tier purveyor of Yiwu productions.  Prices for their older  productions (before ’12) have essentially trebled in the past year and a half.  For those keen on the Yiwu Zen vibe do not seem to have been deterred.  I must confess that much about brand is going into the pricing, as I find productions like the ’07 LME Spring Puerh every bit as tasty if not more so.   Some LM productions have consistently been favoured by collectors, but there are still plenty that are quite tasty priced quite reasonably, in the $55-$75 range.  Newer productions, however, are now in the ZC range.

As for 6FTM, well it isn’t a factory that I pay much heed to, with the exception of their Lunar Series.  This is because I’m not the craziest about Fengqing puerhs.  That said, I did take a liking to the their Lunar Series for their v. fancy wrappers.  Others have been very keen on the big taste and a big qi that’s made believers of even the greatest of qi skeptics.  Anyway, this series has turned out to be of great interest to collectors and as a result even the late productions like the Ram and Snake are now sold at near 10 times their original sale price– if you can find them.  The ‘05 Jingmai “003” is actually on par in terms of ferocity and qi at a fraction of the 6FTM Lunar Series prices.  The factory that makes the “003” specializes in very aggressive productions not altogether dissimilar from LM’s cakes.  However, the raw material seems even better.  The ’10 Tiger, for example, which sold out this year showed remarkable transformation from when it was first acquired.  It ripened from a bright pineapple-like monster into a husky root beer in the first two infusions before gradually fading into its original greenness.

Enough with the nostalgia for now.   Hope you find this missive somewhat helpful as you continue your own puerh tea pursuits.

Cheers,

PJ.