Tag Archives: aged puer

There Must Be a Bada Way 2023

Posted on by Yang-chu
28 Jun

There Must Be a Bada Way 2023 finds the Puerh Junky in unusually high spirits, as Los Angeles has been sunny and blue.  Soft trade winds blow in from the Pacific and the stash is blossoming.  It’s been a long cold spell and most of the Collection decided to hibernate through it.

One orphan that took advantage of the cold was the ’08 Orange Mark by Everlasting TF, based in Shenzhen.  They do an oft-mentioned production offered through an English-language vendor based in HK.  The storage so overwhelmed me, I thought to try one of Everlasting’s under their own label from a vendor I’d already gotten some very solid Xinghai ripes.  In Feb 23 the production was very, very humid but the taste was not rotten or green.  After three months it was spectacular: sweet and camphory with the storage not being flawlessly executed.

The ’05 Bulang Wild Big Tree seems virtually impervious to huge changes.  Another treasure with marvelous storage to go along with a smoky-mouthwash-y taste and nose.  This Fuhai production could possibly be crowned champion of Gloom ’23.

So much for the past when the present is much Bada?  Well, not so much, only two cakes left forever.  A different hydration scheme has been affect, which itself is affected by the weather.  The change is toward more hydration of the Zhongcha box.  It’s hard to say but the ’04 Orange Mark was much more aromatic and expressive of the “Circus Peanut” orange that had drawn me.

Today was Bada Peacock‘s turn.  I ended up a 12.5g chunk from the center of the cake which couldn’t be broken or needled any smaller without risking personal injury.  I threw it in my largest gaiwan, maybe 175ml.  The first infusion was about five minutes and the second about three 15m later.  A seriously compressed cake.  These first two had a muffled quality.  It’s stored in plastic.  By the third another 15m I could work it open into three slightly separated parts.

Of course, these specs are based purely upon density.  It would be insane to brew 12 plus grams under normal circumstances and brewing it for so long would require a great deal of diluting to salvage.  Not opening virtually guarantees that the full character will not come through.  At the same time, crumbling chunks apart goes overboard, especially with tuo which are meant to diffuse more slowly.

The full character comes through with the Bada.  The nose on the is vanilla and brown sugar and the texture velvet smooth with a layer of subtle yet extremely complex broth that coats the mouth in light-brown sugar and a subtle accent of wintergreen.

Earlier in the year Bada Peacock certainly didn’t have the dynamism it has now.  Now it’s the best it’s ever been.  There’s a puzzling metallic note that has never left but now it’s only in the huigan and several minutes later, but it lingers, making you think of what you just drank, adjusting your tongue in your mouth and detecting afternotes on the exhale.  The qi was noticeable in the first two infusions.  Stopped after 3 rounds in order to share, but the thought did cross my mind to tap out.

 

Turning Up Heicha

Posted on by Yang-chu
26 Apr

Turning Up Heicha came about from a reflection upon a number of dry-stored productions from about ’98-’07 that possess a quintessentially heicha character.  “Heicha” is a class of tea to which puerh belongs but is processed in different provinces.  “Puerh” is a trademarked name similar to champange, so technically other places technically cannot use the term.  Other types of heicha are fucha and liubao.  Typically, heicha’s association with puerh is with ripes given the processing technique, but older raws venture into the heicha category as well.  Puerh Junky will be visiting raw with heicha expression in this post.

HK Returns Cake, Zhongcha

Among the varying HK Returns offerings from ’07, the HK Returns Cake proved the burliest.  The lack of sweetness acquired in ’16 constituted a continuing conundrum.  I porcelained a portion about two years ago in ’21 Spring.  The porcelained version is not recognizable from previously associations, though the listing blurb duly notes that it strode a road toward berry fruit-osity.  Another portion of the same cake, stored differently, still possesses the tobacco tinge.

Only one tasting of the ’21 acquisitions (about three) transpired, and it expressed camphor sweetness indicative of greater humidity.  Overall, the HKR Cake has great durability and depth, with some of the stronger character from its youth coming though.

HK Returns Iron Cake, Zhongcha

Since we’re talking about heicha and Zhongcha and HK Returns, there’s the Iron Cake.  The pauperly Puerh Junky only has one of these for sale.  It’s absolute magic.  To be perfectly honest, were I looking for this taste, I’d probably venture into Dancong’s.  It’s extremely well constituted: sweet, thick, and with lemony notes on the top.  Lemonene expresses in Hideout, LME, but Hideout has an identifiably puerh character and complexity.  The HK Iron could be easily classified as a well preserved dancong or better yet, a well-stored fucha of about 8  yrs old.

Macau Raw Brick

The 2000 Macau Raw Brick isn’t for sale, but it serves as a solid touchstone for appreciating the transformation of raw puerh.  It has a depth that perhaps surpases heicha at it current stage.  Mind you, Puerh Junky doesn’t do much heicha drinking.  The variables of Mainland storage, travel, and storage on the LA side albeit separate intersect.  By the time the MRB reached performance level, it was difficult to determine which variable factored most.  This brick happens to be referenced in the Puerh Yearbook. It’s devoid of any humidity, so there’s no “old taste” per se, but it’s aged fully.

Du Qiongzhi 7532

The ’03 Du Qiongzhi 7532 comes in a bold Red Mark wrapper and progressed beyond the initial tobacco stage.  This particular cake, acquired in ’15, has never received full treatment. . . or maybe it has to its detriment.  It received the “top-shelf tx,” productions that were more enclosed and even placed in the sexy cardboard boxes aptly fitting single cakes.  The thing is that the cardboard aroma bleeds into the cake while zapping it of certain essential esscenses.  It’s been much work trying to bring this cake around.  It’s going on two years now, and if it’s been tinned, I don’t know where such tin is stashed.  In any event, it seems it wants to emerge as the porcelained version of the HK Returns Cake does but just hasn’t juiced up enough given the top-shelf tx.  It’s from Meitra Du’s own collection, so the junky side of me thought to be extra careful with little basis for knowing what extra care meant given my conditions and the conditions of the cake.  An Aug ’22 session produced by far the most enjoyable session and this summer seems to be a good time to really give it a push.  I do have two non-cardboard affected cakes.  The wrapper is thin cotton paper of distinctive quality.  Though horribly tattered at the edges, I don’t recall any staining.

’03 Du 7532

Thick Zen, Zhongcha

Thick Zen epitomizes the enigma of puerh.  My first encounter with it was around ’17.  It looked horrible and tasted of absolutely nothing.  I knew it must be good, but I didn’t know how long it would take.  Its viscosity clung to me and anticipation of it morphing into root beer oozed from my being.  I drank and sampled much from the first two cakes, convinced it was Yiwu.

The second batch of TZ has the same thickness, but the storage was dry, it appears, beyond the stage of turning camphor, wood, or rooty.  Could be the material as well.  Batch two is far sassier, with the fruit note far more up front, with stone fruit sour, a bit of raisin in the nose.  It’s like a strong boiling of dried cherry and peach without the sugar added.  Picking up some grape nose as it rehydrates.  By June ’23 it should be in good form, it’s already much sweeter than at the beginning of the month and there’s even some vanilla and complexity that garned its praises previously.

What’s not Heicha

Neither Poison nor some Yiwus are coming off as heicha.  I’d say the Yiwu Gratitude is venturing toward heicha, but the Prince is holding true to a darker note.  A number of the 6FTM Yiwu on hand have turned petrol in the same time frame.  All of these hail from backgrounds of decidedly more humid conditions.  When and how much humidity gets applies plays a major role in how the production will manifest.  Raw puerhs possess a degree of dynamism that cannot be found with other heicha, but through prolonged dry storage with heat they manifest as a bona fide heicha character.  Counterintuitively, ripes take considerably longer to have heicha traits to emerge.  The exception to this is the big leaf sancha, which might be processed in a fashion quite similar to liubao.

Wrapping Up

This desultory passage on raws Turning Up Heicha is just one of the ongoing reflections upon storage.  Although ripe puerh technically fits within the category of heicha, it doesn’t possess the fruit character until considerably aged and often never (there are obvious exceptions).  Conversely, raw puerh can turn up heicha quite often given the right measure of heat and dryness.  Raw productions like the HK Returns Cake and the Du 7532 that previously fell under the tobacco class have been marching ever resolutely toward heicha brightness.  Both cases demonstrate how slight variations in storage variables can produce notable differences.  The HK Returns Iron was first sampled last year, ’22.  There was no need to taste before then, because it was clear that offerings of this nature needed a solid 15yrs storage before sampling. It’s certainly the most outstanding among the HK Returns Series.  Age being what it is, there are nevertheless great storage matters requiring tending.  The Thick Zen second batch is every bit as thick, but needs some loving before performing optimally.  Complex notes are starting to form and it’s possible that storage intensity may reawaken its puerh essence, but for now it’s trending decidedly in the direction of heicha.  Finally, some reference points contrasting from heicha provide the reader with the Puerh Junky’s thinking on the matter.

 

 

Puerh Junky Occasions Forever Zen and Ox

Posted on by Yang-chu
18 Apr

Puerh Junky Occasions Forever Zen and Ox is a drive-by missive on two productions from ’09 and ’10 respectively.  We’re now in the spring of ’23 and the tea is beginning to waken from the winter hibernation.  Winter poses quite a challenge for many of the treasures, though it’s not possible to ascertain which.  One solid point of note emerging from winter is that the items receiving oppressive humidity over the warm months improve from the respite.  In fact, the cold gave these brutalized buggers a chance to dry out and brighten up. Such conditions did not apply to either of the abovementioned.  Puerh Junky’s general take is variance in storage is actually a good thing, but it does make for seasonally variablity productions  Thence, when a treasure is imbibed upon will elicit wildly varying results that may not necessarily reflect the intrinc charm.  The challenges of winter in short are a good thing, but must be appreciated within seasonal context.

Forever Zen

An order for the ’09 Forever Zen during the week of April 9th greeted the opportunity to pull a new cake from the Yiwu storage bin, one which is rarely opened.  Clear humidity had settled and panic set in.  Getting Goldilocks storage is the Puerh Junky’s raison detre.  As mentioned previously, the Forever Zen hailed from conservative storage, still quite young but likely to mature relatively quickly.  It’s been in LA better than two years now.  The idea behind the Yiwu storage is beyond just preventing the tea from drying out.  There needs to sufficient humidity to allow for transformation to continue, whereby sweetness and flavour will continue to evolve.  At the same time, the ole Junky doesn’t want humidity to settle into the flavour.

Initial impressions where that that humid aroma was undeniable.  Frantically, I tried the FZ and boy was it ever humid.  Fresh from storage, it was too humid.  Perhaps too hastily a total revamping of storage began, while leaving the lid of the Yiwu container off for a couple days.  The rearranging changed little, but it will necessitate more frequent visits to each container.  The greatest advantage of this approach will be that there will be next to no difference between samples and cakes.  This will come at the cost of sustained humidification.  C’est la vie.

This 16th April Forever Zen received a second visit.  A huge sigh of relief.  The vanilla shines through and the Manzhuan minerality emerges with subsequent infusions.  Sweetness is now deeper and the course of treatment appears rightly Los Angeles.  I regularly see the posts about storing in the States that are wholly perplexing, a kind of view that presumes that storing in Seattle is the same as Olympia, Phoenix, or Augusta.  I don’t get such takes.  There’s a vast difference between Oakland and SF.  What gives with conflating Omaha with Tampa?  Ho-hum.

Forever Zen is for those who know their Yiwu, specifically know their Manzhuan from their Yibang.  FZ is not the product of sheisty processing.  The sugars have emerged in a manner consistent with proper processing.  It’s getting sweeter.  The variegated color of the leaves reflects what appears to be layered transformation.  Uniform aging doesn’t altogether make sense, as the cake itself is layered.

Where the FZ will go is anyone’s guess.  Manzhuan typically do not turn to wood.  They just evolve to ever more aged expressions of Zen.  FZ is now is sweet vanilla with slight minerality.  There is an faint undertow of green, but which could only be detected when tasting side-by-side with the wet-stored Ox.

Cashed leaves.

Ox, 6FTM

The Ox, 6FTM no longer possesses any of the humidity of its early storage conditions.  It’s actually moving into the heicha zone.  An apricot note, heretofore absent, is now front and center.  It’s a surprising development but a tribute to the masterful stages of storage.  A marked difference between heicha and puerh of a certain age is zing, a fizziness.  Heicha never zings, but zing is a trademark of puerh enjoyability.  The Ox is beyond its fizzy stage, particularly because it was previously wet stored.  It’s not flat and the qi is characteristic of the 6FTM Lunar Series of being remarkable, but it doesn’t zing.

None of the other Lunar Series have been humid stored.  It’s plausible that the Ox was a singular year of experimentation by the 6FTM.  All Ox versions purchaed have been humid, caveate being that the Tiger has never been sampled and those before the Year of the Rat have tended toward conservative storage.  Compression from year-to-year has varied in this series; the composition has remained the same.  By ’11 Rabbit, compression had morphed to qualitatively looser.

The pressing of the Ox is not a compressed as its predecessor, Rat.  Given its age and storage, Ox is now more rarefied. None of the humidity presents itself now.  It is clean and fruity, reflecting an offering about ten years older than its age of production.  All of the offerings of the 6FTM Lunar Series represent collectors’ items.  There’s maybe one more Ox left.

Wrap Up

The Forever Zen and the Ox represent two qualitative different puerh productions in terms of terror and in the eyes of the market.  Forever Zen is a Manzhuan, an Yiwu terroir probabably more Zen than an any other.  The condender is Mansa/Yiwu Zhenshan.  With Mansa the transformation is decidedly toward petrol, where Manzhuan maintains its Zen nature.  I have a late 90s Manzhuan that has only transformed into a chrystaline Zen, and this may be the long term for the FZ.

The Ox is a recipe comprised of material from three terroir, Fengqing, Simao, and Menghai.  It is now supercedes any of the other productions in terms of aging.  This has manifest as apricot.  The character is of an aged heicha.  The qi is uplifting and immediately present.  For serious quality aged puerh drinkers, it’s undoubtedly next level.

Both productions have great longevity.

 

Puerh Junky on Haixintang

Posted on by Yang-chu
20 Mar

Puerh Junky on Haixintang is a quick note on a factory that releases some very decent productions.  So far, the only treat offered has been Grenouille, an Wuliang offering that has been in the Collection for several years.  Here’s a link to the articles mentioning it.

About every year the Puerh Junky takes up a factory of interest.  Late ’22 began Haixintang’s turn.  All of ’22 was about gathering up a great many Xinghai productions, raw and ripe.  Over the years, Xinghai has been acquired.  You’re welcome to inquire about the younger productions under newer processing and the older.  The focus of this missive is on Haixintang.

Grenouille is on the dry side of dry.  Conditions have been reasonably warm, so it’s not young but the evolution under dry warmth has be of talc and dish washer soap.  There’s some initial layers of incense that are also evident in the ’05 Green Mark, Xinghai.  The difference between the two is that Grenouille is more in the tobacco vein wheras the Xinghai is not tobacco-y and much more bracing, with some apple notes.  Grenouille is far more soothing, whereas the Xinghai continues to feel it needs time for maturation.  The very initial five layers have proper expression but subsequent layers clearly need yet more time.

The New Year Rabbit ’23 late Jan brought some new Haixintang discoveries.  These include a ’18 Yiwu and ’07 Wuliang Longevity and a kilo ’13 Jingmai Old Tree raw.  The ripes are ready absolutely, but the raw needs a few mths.  Contact me if interested in a ripe.  Both are under $90.

Puerh Junky Quelled by Hideout

Posted on by Yang-chu
13 Mar

Puerh Junky Quelled by Hideout poses an interesting tale, whereby a slinger from the American SE sent him some very bad shiiii… Shut cho mouf!  I know that fellow Junky’s be wanting it real, and it is such reality. . . realness, if you’ll indulge me, that brought about the circumstances.

Recently, the Puerh Junky has been inveigled into joining Discourse under no pseudonym.  It is under such conditions that I encountered the aforementioned individual.  It is from said individual that I tasted one of the top five productions ever tasted.  Cherry and leather ’03.  The ’05 Peacock Country Morning Light enters the leather range for those interested in the Liming Sampler.  The more recently sampled ’05 Twin Dragons, Jianmin also lands exceedingly well on the leather front, but lacks any fruit. Enter the Hideout.

This March ’23 makes it close to half a year since Hideout has been visited.  Toward the end of winter: cherry, leather, vanilla, cream, witch hazel, butterscotch.  The cherry is immediately at the front and vanishes in the presence of the other impressions, leather and vanilla being strongest in the aftertaste.

I used 12.5g in the bell pepper pot, which holds about 150ml.  True to ’07 form, Hideout has atomic compression, which lends itself to longer infusions and heavier leafing.

 

Puerh Junky Visits Fohai

Posted on by Yang-chu
03 Jan

Puerh Junky Visits Fohai turns out to be the first missive of 2023, all fresh and shiny with the resolve a new year.  Ole PJ decided on pulling down a couple 6FTM productions for the first week of limbo, that period between the calendrical new year and its lunar consort.

The ’06 Fohai, 6FTM rests broken up a bit in a tin, doing so for the better part of two years.  The lid is not afixed, an accommodation which presumably affords brewing on moment’s notice.  As previously noted FH is next to the opposite of Poison, the latter being smoky, camphor-y, bitter, some sour.  Now, FH is mostly Zen, at least the broth is.  The brightness of this tinned version is completely gone.  The end result is a broth with texture, sweetness, and bitter edges but nearly no taste.  Then. . .

It’s not an uncommon feature of some puerhs to showoff more after having been swallowed.  The huigan on the Fohai expresses a fascinating degree of complexity, part of which sheds light upon the broth.  Perhaps initially there is orchid but deeper in there is the unmistakable “delight” of fresh narrow tan rubber band that’s been chewed prodigiously.  This note lingers. Furthermore, it’s important to note that it’s not the broad white dura rubber band.  It’s the thin tan translucent fresh rubber band.

Next is its intimidating qi, rating 5 on a scale of 5.  Early heart pound and pleasant warming sensations quickly take backseat to a serious and enduring headiness, the kind that makes the eyes itch.  The qi sensation overall seems to be more keenly observed in the morning irrespective of production.  That said, it is exceptionally strong with the Fohai, lasting strong more than an hour on only three 150ml pots.

Fohai Yedi 2023

Finally, Fohai possesses noteworthy expectorant properties.  Sometimes the inner ticket/neipiao of puerhs will include health information referencing fat and digestion, less often phlegm.  I generally take such info with a grain of salt and cannot recall Fohai‘s neipiao;  you’ve read one neipiao, you’ve essentially read them all.  When a raw starts to exhibit behaviors more commonly associated with ripes, well it’s distinctive at the very least.  Fohai sits very nicely in the stomach, while scouring a good deal of muck.

Fohai is a next-level puerh.  It doesn’t cater to taste, rather delivers hugely on huigan and qi.  A sweet Zen broth with slightly bitter edges has usurped its former spry orchid broth.  With age has also come durability.  It continues to perform well at each stage of its evolution.

 

 

Water Blue Mark Comments

Posted on by Yang-chu
13 Dec

Water Blue Mark Comments pertain to the timeliness of this production given the need for a woolen sweater.  Puerh Junky scored just the last of this production from a particular vendor, so more was able to be procured. . . at a good price.

Water Blue Mark is a Green Mark of a certain character that merited another name.  It has a smoky fruity flavour and depending on certain variables like season, infusion methods, and aging varies in its expression.  It’s one of the few KMTF expressions that I though was Dayi in nature.

It seems others have picked up on this.  The offerings still avail are more than 3X than when originally offered perhaps around ’19.  I won’t be able to speak for the next round arriving; my buyer sent pics of seven separate cakes that should have otherwise been in tong.

I can speak for the four still on hand.  It’s a good tea for the winter.

Another Puerh Blossom

Posted on by kevin@epikta.com
19 Nov

Another Puerh Blossom directs attention to a ’12 Laoman’e production acquired in ’14 and sat upon for a total of eight years.  The Puerh Junky’s wife and I first visited one of the maker’s shops in Kunming back in ’13.  She was floored by a Jingmai offering and for about the next five years PJ made some effort toward acquiring a few of their productions.  Their web presence has diminished considerably over the years, but their shop still flourished in ’17.

In ’14 acquired offerings included Laoman‘e, Xigui, and Huangye, all from ’12  They were all about the same degree of wtf.  I didn’t know what I was tasting.  A ’10 Bingdao snagged in ’16 was equally disappointing.  The only really tasty production was a hideous looking ’07 Wuliang.  At the time I’m certain I didn’t think, well that Wuliang has had considerably more time to develop.  The Wuliang leaf material appeared considerably more rustic than usual.  The tastiness was thus attributed rusticness not age.

’07 Wuliang Yapu TF

Two years ago the ’10 Bingdao blossomed.  It is outstanding.  This year 2022, the 2012s had come into form and the Xigui started to be offered through the Lincang Sampler set.  This mid Nov day occasioned trying the Laoman’e.  The richness and sweetness are noteworthy, particularly in contrast to previous years.  The colour shows that its just at the be first stage of readiness, but it is an extremely satisfying stage.

It’s as interesting to observe the evolution of Puerh Junky’s own understanding of puerh as it is the puerh itself.  These Yapu productions were taken for decidedly second-rate, when it more accurately reflected second-rate understanding.  We’re all learning.

Puerh Junky Visits Thick Zen 2022

Posted on by Yang-chu
08 Nov

Puerh Junky Visits Thick Zen 2022 continues the saga surrounding one of the plethora of Zhongcha’s ’07 offerings looked at askance by puerh snobs too smart for their own good.  The Puerh Junky has written about the Thick Zen on numerous occasions and now, alas dear reader, we’re at the point where due to forces beyond his control Thick Zen has outlived its name.

Thick Zen continues to evolve.  Zen is more of an afterthought.  There’s all this tartness in it now, picking up in intensity.  As of Nov 2022, there’s orange spice bitter fusing with its Zen past, not terribly sweet but dreadfully interesting.  The shift with the season is magical.  The  once-lauded Yiwu vibe is about one quarter present, as bitterness and sour take the drinker to the Menghai zone, a nice Menghai not trying to intimidate but at the same time comfortable with being itself.  The qi numbs the entire face, makes you feel as though you had a halo beginning at the shoulder.  I read that the a ’21 production by the same name comes from Lincang, entirely possible with here.

Thick Zen is egregiously undervalued given just how dynamic the material is.  The persistent perception that ’07 productions are bad is gradually starting to lift.  The year ’07 witnessed a speculative blowout and specifically an administrative restructuring at Zhongcha that had zero to do with anything related to tea.  Somehow, word on the street became ’07 offerings could not be drunk.  This absurdity turns out to be a fortune for the value hunter.  Thick Zen is value amidst value, highly representative of the KMTF processing style, and over time far more engaging than most any other puerh.

A Night Visit with BZ Peacock

Posted on by Yang-chu
26 Oct

A Night Visit with BZ Peacock finds the Puerh Junky searching for an appropriate night cap, something with more bite and less dirt than the ’01 Yiwu Chashan.  He grabs the caddie about 1/8th full of Buddha Impressions, when he finds the gaiwan of BZ Peacock opened the previous day staring at him.

There’s no doubt that the BZ Peacock is now the best its ever been, this Oct 2022.  The two days of sitting have produced excellent results.  It’s very much on par with Wang Xia’s ’01 Green Mark A, which I’ve mentioned several times by different names.  It tastes like really good leather that’s been cured with the best of tallow and fragrances, like oud, sandalwood, and myrrh.  It’s bitter on the finish with an interesting yet characteristic apple sweetness and sourness of many fancier Xinghai productions.  This time it lurks amidst a a strong layer of smoked hickory.

The Buddha Impressions isn’t this woody, but like Grenouille and Zou Binlang’s Cinnamon, they all are of a similar profile.  Buddha Impression is more peppery and ferment-y, with amaretto notes.  Fuhai’s ’07 7536 can be added to the mix, but its notes are more commonly found in any kitchen cupboard, namely bay leaf and clove.  The ’07 iteration is reported to be unique, to which I can attest to only from an ’04 in the stash, which is decidedly heavier stored and perhaps more in the vein of the 7542.

Certainly, one of the more curious aspects of all these productions is absence of a punctuated camphor note.  Perhaps this will emerge, is only a product of storage, or its absences is particular to these productions.  The ’05 Silver Pekoe, Tulin seems to demonstrate that storage plays a significant role in the camphor note.  Its first iteration received heavy storage, expressing strong sour notes on the back end during the first four years of possession.  The second iteration had that baby powder note but after a year of good heat and humidity transitioned into camphor.  In the first, the camphor deepened, while the sour waned winding up with a dense camphor explosiveness.  The second, has settled into the Grenouille and Buddha Impression neighbourhood.  The second definitely stored under much drier conditions.  In the final assessment, there’s no doubt that explosive camphor is closely correlated with humidity and warmth.

Finally, BZP lasts forever.  It isn’t a quaffer, so a gaiwan is likely to last up to 5 sessions of 450ml each. I’ll relate something from my days in Beijing to this end.  There was a retired Frenchman with whom I drank cognac on a couple occasions.  We only had one teacup’s worth each time, sipping.  Contrast this from the HK context, where they were drinking XO in tumblers as a “classy” sign of extravagance.  Yeah, you can quaff BZP if you like, but it doesn’t feel like that type of tea to the Puerh Junky. . . but what does he really know anyway?

p.s. BZ Peacock sale till Sun.