Tag Archives: aged puer

Awkward Teenage Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
30 May

Awkward Teenage Puerh dampens any puerh tea session.  This morning such was my misfortune with the ’08 Dali Tuo, XG.  On a high note, at room temperature this production tastes perfectly pleasant, spicy sweet.  On a low note, at warmer temperatures it struck me as being thin.

I used close to a nine gram chunk for my eggplant pot, 150ml.  I gave the first two infusions generous amounts of time and the richness of colour had me expecting an experience with a much fuller mouthfeel.  Having this tuo on the heels of the ’06 Peacock Brick earlier in the week brings the contrast in mouthfeel between the two into sharp relief.

First Infusion

Interestingly, my experience drinking the Dali Tuo was like none I can recall having with puerh.  The colour, taste, and texture reminded me of the sugary peppermint tea that N. Africans favour.  Often, that will get spiked with Gun Powder tea.

Then comes this sourness that reminds me of an earlier stage with the Tippy Tuo.  In the case of Tippy Tuo, the sourness was even stronger but a couple years thereafter it blossomed into something remarkable.  My experience with Xiaguan’s transformation under LA conditions has been positive.  The ’10 Nanzhao tuo was positively wretched before maturing into an intensely camphorous, dark, and sweet medicine. That tuo never exhibited any sourness, rather there was an awful dank-like taste that I’ve detected among many Xiaguan offerings.  This points to fermentation and additional processing methods at the factory and not storage through its numerous vendors.

First Infusion II

This recent turn with the Dali Tuo comes just on the heels of better than two years tracking a vendor this March 2020.  The first purchase was made better than four years ago after running into this article.

As I mentioned, I used close to a nine gram chunk.  After about the third pot I started getting that existential anoui from drinking on an empty stomach.  Higher leafage raises gut-busting potential considerably most puerhs.  This is definitely the case with the Dali Tuo.

Heavy Handed On Cherry Blossom

Posted on by Yang-chu
30 May

Heavy Handed on Cherry Blossom is all on account of my sister, who likes her raw puerh with a kick.  I added an extra gram to my normal six for my trusty eggplant pot, 150ml.  The tea crumbles from the cake indecorously but gives off tremendously inviting aroma even dry.

The first and second infusions are the best, the most intensely spicy and numbing.  The aftertaste is sugary cinnamon like Red Hots, also big qi.  But that all wears off by the 4th infusion into a fairly tame experience.

The intensity of the first few infusions is frankly nothing short of spectacular.  It reminded me of a recent acquisition that I found to be among Tulin’s best of what is already very good.

250g Tulin Raw

As the cake continues to develop, Cherry Blossom should likely provide longer interesting sessions.  The raw material from Wuliang Mt seems on part with the Tippy and noticeably better than the AMT or the 07 Tippy, a name I need to desperately change.

Cherry Blossom raw puerh cake is dreadfully tasty on a consistent basis.  The taste pops whether subjected to a light or heavy hand.

Peacock Puerh Brick Tasting

Posted on by Yang-chu
26 May

In my previous missive reference was made to the Liming TF, which prompted my tasting of their ’06 Peacock Puerh Brick.  It has a classic lemon, smoke, and petrol aroma. . . not necessarily in that order.  Whereas many tuo and brick require bionic strength to extract the right amount, the Peacock Brick is pressed in a manner that would please even Goldilocks.

What I had mentioned was that Liming bricks contrast greatly from the general personae of their cakes.  The latter is aggressively floral, and even as they age the flowers still punch you in the face.  The bricks, on the other hand, possess a deep tonality that is of a wider in range: vanilla, citrus, petrol, tobacco.

The Peacock Puerh Brick is a tobacco class production, I suppose, but compares more favourably to dark spirits like spiced rum or brandy.  It’s too sweet for whiskey but has that smoky quality.  The petrol taste here is more interesting than in other puerhs I’ve tasted, in part due to the sweetness of the material.  Also, the absence of any bitterness with an assuring measure of astringency makes for a rounded drinking experience.

Infusion Three 20s

The quality of Liming puerh material tends to be very good and this brick is no exception.  This is evident in the richness of taste, without any jaggedness that requires future storage.  At the same time, as it stores its shining attributes continue to develop.  One of these is its qi.

The qi of the Peacock comes on in the mouth with smooth roundness before a rush enters the chest.  Then an overall calming extends from the chest out to the limbs.  Without the ensuing calming, this production would be too abrasive, not in terms of taste, which is perfect, but in terms of excessive excitement of the nervous system.  Still, I wouldn’t have this after 3 pm.

Just a final comment about bricks. . . They’re kinda neglected.  Recent trend has been to produce smaller cakes than to offer bricks.  Maybe this is aesthetics.  The smaller-sided productions naturally age at a faster rate than larger cakes– all things being equal.  A 250g brick from ’07 for example, is older than a 357g cake from ’05– all things being equal.  This often means that bricks offer a unique aged-puerh experience without much of the fanfare directed to cakes.  The Peacock presents well beyond a standard usually confined to bricks.

House Mark Puerhs

Posted on by Yang-chu
21 May

Today I drank the ’07 HK Returns 100g tuo and got to thinking about House Mark Puerhs.  It’s a hard thing to get one’s finger on it, but it exists, so why don’t I explain through the HK tuo.

The year 2007 marked the production of many Zhongcha series.  I just recently learned the English is simply “China Tea,” as so clearly present on many wrappers, I suppose.  I’ve not noticed to be honest, though maybe so on products from the past year or two.

Many of the ’07s I’ve tasted are offered.  I continue to gather them.  Some of them are exceptional, but over all what stands out is the consistency from one production to the next.  The HK Returns tuo embodies the Zhong Cha raw taste, which surprisingly enough is soft and fuzzy.  Presumably that taste is the presence of Lincang material.

This taste can range from pencil shavings and wax to peach fuzz.  It is not harsh or abrasive.  There’s fruitiness.  They can be drunk young but by all accounts even at 13 years, most of them still strike me as being quite young.  I’ve personally been storing this tuo since ’16 and were it served to me blind I’d guess this production in the ’12-14 range.

2018 Shot

7th Infusion May 2020

I felt by the seventh infusion that the production was starting to bottom out, flatness astringency.  The two prior were sweet and playful, more so than is typical of the Kunming Tea Factory (aka KMTF, zhongcha).  At the same time there is some citrus reminiscent of the ’14 Jade Mark.  There’s no tobacco, fire, roast, smoke, leather, chicken as with Xiaguan.

Overall, the Zhongcha profile is quite Zen, raw or ripe.  There’s wood vanilla Zen, wax Zen, playful Zen, like the HK Returns tuo, or the why-the-fk-you-serve-me-water Zen.  There’s an ’07 HK Returns iron cake that is bursting with the taste and aroma of black grapes, very much an outlier even within a series comprised of a tuo, 100g square, 250g brick, a raw and ripe 357g cake.  I’ve sampled a few and it’s hard to believe that each shape consists of the same material and the factory and those who know aren’t saying or don’t think it bears mentioning.

It makes sense that some houses would vary style based on production shape.  I’ve seen this to be a clearer objective with Liming than any other factory.

06 Tippy Tuo Puerh II

Posted on by Yang-chu
17 May

Exactly one year ago I received the 06 Tippy Tuo Puerh II.  Part two because it is the second order since April of ’15.  I presently have three storage variations of this production: 1) the original, 2) TTII, and 3) Bangkok stored 33 mth original.  I thought I’d introduce TTII by contrasting it with the original.

The Original can be reviewed here.  It’s important to note that this is a dynamic puerh.  It has gone through several phases, some of which were not so pleasant.  In particular, the early years in my possession sometimes produced sessions of considerable orange juice aftertaste.  Presumably, the TTI has already gone through this stage.  It has overall been dryer stored than the Original.  The original has been subjected to fairly high fluctuations in temperature and relatively high humidity since ’15.  One of the reasons was to cook that orange juice taste out.

Simultaneously, the Original expressed camphor menthol dank forest attributes and a punishing qi.  By contrast, TTI has no detectable camphor, not the minty kind anyway.  It is much softer with vanilla and baby power notes, thick perfumy , none of the aggression generally associated with it.  It has a personality generally expected from tippy material without any of the edges.

4th Infusion

The color of the liquor suggests a considerably younger production year than ’06.  The variability imparted by storage conditions essentially makes for an entirely different production.  Here is a considerably drier-stored phenomenon that may have played a role in the absence of sour and preservation of perfume.

The Original has entered a root beer phase.  Whether the TTII enters a root beer phase remains to be seen.  The Original always possessed a measure of astringency that gave it a real macho presence, while the TTII has a noticeably thick and round mouthfeel with an essence considerably more feminine.

 

Puerh Battle: Auspicious Dragon vs Fruit Monster

Posted on by Yang-chu
16 May

In this Tobacco Puerh Side-by-Side we’ll be comparing the ’11 Fruit Monster with ’07 Auspicious Dragon, WD.  The two fell into the tobacco class of puerh tastes and were similarly associated in terms of one another.  Hear they are:

’07 Auspicious Dragon

11 Fruit Monster, GPE

Both item have a tobacco nature that could easily be associated with Xiaguan.  The Fruit Monster comes from the Simao region.  The Auspicious Dragon hails from Jinggu, a region more renowned for its black and white teas.

Both items have been stored better than two years here in Los Angles.  I brewed the Auspicious Dragon in my workhorse clay pot and the Fruit Monster in porcelain, adjusting for the age difference.  The mouthfeel of the Fruit Monster was considerably thicker.  I think some of that thickness must be attributed to brewing in porcelain.  When pushed, it bottoms out into unpleasant bitterness and astringency that scorches the tongue.  Otherwise, its a wholly pleasant fruit and spice type that is far less smoky as when first acquired.

Auspicious Dragon Front Fruit Monster Back, different infusions.

Auspicious Dragon is getting fruitier than when first arriving.  The petrol and tobacco and starting to fade into allspice, black pepper and slightly petrol soaked jackfruit with a citron overtones.  Despite being four years older than the Monster, it’s still sharp in some places.  Both are moderately dry stored.

The Auspicious Dragon seems to be in it for the long haul as far as storage goes.  The Fruit Monster is in for considerably easier drinking with nice vanilla notes for enjoying now.

 

 

Smoke, Sugar, and Stone: Puerh Vessels Cont.

Posted on by Yang-chu
07 Apr

Smoke, sugar, and stone, that’s the tastes I pick up drinking Cherry Blossom from my cracked-ice celedon cup.  The yellow clay cup gives a considerably rounder effect.  Welcome to puerh vessel comparison continued.  In this foray, we’re taking a closer look at ’12 Cherry Blossom puerh cake with the following cast of characters:

My new clay pot 150cc– the fanciest of my acquisitions so far.  I’m calling it UFO.

Next is this cup, probably my fav, in a shot taken barely over a year ago.


Finally there’s a yellow clay cup, for which I have neither picture nor recollection of how it entered my possession.

The religious reader of these most-episodic posts may be scratching his head, as only in my very last post I had established that productions younger than 10 years old are best in a gaiwan.  I’ve had Cherry Blossom in both even quite recently.  It is a unique raw that I can imagine enjoying any which way.

The UFO pot has a fast pour rate.  This is ideal for taking advantage of the clay chemistry while preventing over brewing.   In the initial infusions, the glazed cup imparts a bit more ashy bite at the end.  By the fifth infusion, the tea must soak for at least 10s and the difference between the two becomes less discernible.  It seems that the celedon cup begins to be just as round but with greater evidence of tobacco and smoke, though I could be making that up.  What I don’t feel I’m making us is how thicker and rounder the experience is with the clay cup.  At a lower temp, vanilla notes are more apparent from it.

From the seventh infusion, brewing time needed to be increased to about 30 s.  At this stage of its development, the Cherry Blossom name seems wholly fitting, as the cherry notes really gain steam especially in the aftertaste.  With longer brewing times at cool temps, some bitterness comes through but not bottoming out bitterness.

Somehow, I feel that the experience with the glazed cup is better because the notes come through purer than with clay.  The tea itself is impressive on many levels from  complexity of taste to durability to its salivation production.

No Fields Found.

Puerh Vessel Variants: Imperial Roots

Posted on by Yang-chu
07 Apr

Lately, I’ve been on a gaiwan kick, essentially testing my puerh vessel hypothesis.  It goes something like this: raw puerhs younger than ten years old are generally better in a gaiwan and those older are generally better in clay.  The hypothesis has generally held true for puerhs younger than ten, but I needed to test those older.  Hence, Puerh Vessel Variant: Imperial Roots.

Imperial Roots has been newly christened.  Formerly called  “Gift Box,” such a drab name did this ’08 XG production more than a bit of a disservice.  I started with the gaiwan:  disappointingly flat.  I’ve been drinking this puerh since ’16.  It started out very pepperminty and now has advanced to the vaunted . . . well, it the gaiwan actually there no “vaunt” of any sort.  This was quite surprising because I’d never had a bad session with it.  This was why I knew it was the brewing vessel and not the puerh production itself.

Brewing Imperial Roots in my bell pepper blue clay pot rendered the perfect puerh experience.  Those just starting out might feel that the attention given to teaware is kind of a put on, but it isn’t.  There’s a mysterious alchemy that occurs between leaf and clay.  For some reason, this commingling detracts from young puerh but for old it has the opposite effect.

Bell Pepper Pot with the ’01 GM Puerh

One thing, clay adds volume.  Think of hair mousse.  With young productions, volume isn’t an issue because as with anything young you know it lacks experience.  You’re generally looking for vivaciousness and and purity.  When something you know to be older lacks depth, the experience quickly falls flat because you’re looking for the complexity.  The gaiwan will generally do a poor job of unveiling this complexity.

A treasure like Imperial Roots needs brewing in clay.  It’s not optional.  It doesn’t have to be the fanciest clay by a long shot, but it is essential.  All of the attributes that make it a pleasure only come out in clay.  We’re talking about the sweetness, thickness, mineral notes, the camphor, and yes the vaunted vanilla and root beer.  I cringe at the prospects of someone brewing it in a gaiwan– positive sacrilege!

Just some additional observations about Imperial Roots puerh here in April 2020.  All of the peppermint candy of previous years is gone.  All of the notes are a good octave lower than what they used to be.  This production is trending in an unmistakably desirous direction.

Puerh Tea Report 2020

Posted on by Yang-chu
12 Mar

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.

 

Ripe Puerh Gaiwan Challenge: Day V

Posted on by Yang-chu
25 Dec

For the final day of the Ripe Puerh Gaiwan Challenge, I reached for Kunming TF’s “55“.  What can I say but that Day V was definitely the best.  First of all, the camphor notes sounded more resolutely.  The tannic attributes quite common to the 55 were not detected.  The brew comes out very round and sweet.  It compared quite favourably to the Boss Tuo in regards to the sweetness, fullness, candy like qualities along with a sparkling clarity and redness of hue.

By day three, I had begun to do the test using a porcelain and a clay cup.  There is a qualitative difference between the two.  The porcelain has a rounder quality which is more muting, whereas the clay is the opposite more amplifying.  The clay enhances minerality and can be the difference maker for a brew that might otherwise taste flat from gaiwan brewing.

I can see the virtues of brewing ripe puerh in a gaiwan depending upon one’s preferences.  I prefer clay because it produces a fizzier brew with more depth, something necessary for optimal appreciation of Xinghai productions like the Silver Peacock.  The notable exception was how the 55 performed, which was nothing short of stellar.