Tag Archives: aged puer

Puerh Junky Inventory 2021

Posted on by Yang-chu
10 Feb

The Puerh Junky Inventory 2021 is the unfolding of a continuous saga of a puerh nerd referring to himself in the third person, yet the facade must continue.

These past couple weeks have witnessed a cataloging of the Collection, items for sale, and the Stash, those not for sale.  The inventory project involved evaluating current productions in light of their aging trajectory here in the climes of Los Angeles.  The Puerh Junky hardly drank everything, only the things piquing his curiosity, understanding that every production has its own personality requiring evaluation on its own terms.  Brewing and preparatory measures can greatly affect how a tea performs in light of judging a production  Blog entries posted by the Puerh Junky largely detail these nuances.

There is much that goes into a fantastic puerh, not the least being time.  In this regard, the ’12 Gentleman deserves mention.  At its current stage it is spectacular.  Previously, it was nice for the wrapper and intriguing, not exactly bad but not spectacular or even showing such signs.Gentleman sold out a few years ago.  A spectacular performance involves great taste over numerous infusions, at least 10.  Gentleman now fits the bill because it has the staying power that it previously lacked, not due to any fault of its own but because it’s been processed to blossom over time.  That time has come and is consistent with experiences with other productions that in the first five years of possession were not up to snuff but later turned out to be far better than average.

I delisted the ’05 Gushu, YPH sometime in the last two years.  It’s not affordable anymore and people would think I was crazy for posting.  Pricing goes by somewhere between purchase price and market demand.  The enthusiasm around this production has not flagged. This production is a real superstar and not just by reputation.  Yes root beer.

Here’s where an aside should be made for Xiaguan, which is the splendid decision for wintry weather.  Their ’08 Dali Tuo is a very nice tobacco production.  It’s not overly smoky and has a good deal of sugary roundness.  It’s a great everyday drinker.  XG should not be overlooked for making extremely strong performers, with both classical and flashy presentation and great pricing for the quality.

Dali Tuo Wrapper

I might have made a mention of LME’s Quincy recently.  I’m basically stunned.  I’m consistently impressed by LME’s productions.  Quincy has evolved into an exceptional production.  The weird taste of Raid has morphed into complex fruit and camphor expression that is altogether a delight.  LME is an operation that seems quite proven in its native areas.  The jury is still out on their Yiwu offerings.

Cashed leaves from ’19

Junkified attentions to Bazhong productions have involved gauging rehabilitation efforts of expensive offerings erroneously stored in cardboard and the year’s transformation.  Quite recently I gained a new insight into “fakes.”  It has to do with vendors trusting you recognize rappers while their verbiage says nothing of the sort to evade bots.  The vendor of the ’03 Marquis sells real productions but employs the bot-evading technique, for example.  The instance of the Marquis has nothing to do with fakery as such.  After all, the vendor is totally transparent about factory origins, but in other cases, as with the Yiwu Prince, it is intentionally misnamed.  They practice the same sleight-of-hand with the Green Mark A stamped, which my wife remarked was possibly the best puerh she’s ever had.

As far as I’m concerned any purchase of Bazhong involves fakery.  This matter requires some understanding of how the market has evolved, how branding was alien to most producers until about ’05, and how smaller factories fed into the overall production of the big three, particularly Menghai TF.  In some regards fakes are the most fascinating aspect of mid-aged puerh.  That said, there are certain hard lines that I have and date faking is an unforgivable party foul.

Back to the Yiwu Prince, which hails from he factory of the year, Jinglong.  When the rainy weather started to get to me, the Yiwu Prince showed all his impeccability.  In terms of smoothness, texture, and root beeriness, it’s comparable to Zhen Silong with more camphor.  Regarding the latter, I notice a clear difference in the rapidity of transformation from the ’05 and ’11 treasures I have.  The ’11 is far more expressed and reminds me of the ’10 Tiger, MKRS in terms of early maturation.

Yiwu Prince

I guess that enough for now.  There’s only so many amateurish fotos that one can stomach in one sitting anyway.

 

Beijing Olympics: Enigma No More

Posted on by Yang-chu
10 Feb

Cut the Puerh Junky some slack, will ya?  This is a work in progress.  PJ doesn’t claim to know the answers nor does he believe they’re to be gathered instantaneously.  Beijing Olympics: Enigma No More is a crushing and condemning tale of the Puerh Junky’s utter obtuseness, his lack of insight, and his ultimate triumph through no doing of his own.

Over time the ole KMTF has lost a bit of luster in the eyes of our questionable hero.  He would point to the Beijing Olympics as to no small reason why.  Puerh Junky has written numerous times on Beijing Olympics.  One of the prevailing remarks was “fuzziness.”  Perhaps the PJ has not elaborated upon his feelings about fuzzy, but they’re akin to feelings about jagged.  Floral is often jagged; fuzzy is the opposite but no more desirable.  Crayolas, pastels.  Yeah they’re nice (sorta) if you want.

So at fifteen, Beijing Olympics is decidedly out of the fuzzy stage.  Now its seeking to become a contender.  There can be no doubt that the primary reason for this is that it is now sweet.  It’s sweet like sugar-cured tobacco.  There is a depth with sweetness and a fruit accompaniment evocative of the Water Blue Mark and the Top Notch Tuo.  Little wonder.  Many of the KMTF raw productions are variations on a theme, a theme with an unmistakable yet ineffable fruitiness expressing at different stages in aging, presumably due less to differences in material than to differences in processing.

In any event, the Beijing Olympics is serious now, certainly more serious than its ever been.  It can now stand up for itself against the OG Gangsta or the Dali Tuo.  Of course, it has its own kung-fu but at the very least it can stand in the ring.

What struck me most in the latest tasting was the aroma, its depth of sweetness.  There are now no longer any crayolas, which are fuzzy, a taste your humble Puerh Junky doesn’t favour.  Cool, the wet leaves conjure what many call “hay.”  I might detect a faint air of eu de crayola, but wood, sugar, and tobacco now predominate.

Liming Puerh Lamentations

Posted on by Yang-chu
08 Feb

Liming Puerh Lamentations is an intentional biblical reference.  There’s a book in the Bible called Lamentations and the Puerh Junky’s lament is nothing short of biblical.

“How now, Horatio?” sayest thou if you’re of the king James, Shakespearean bent.  I’m quick to note that my name is not Horatio, but that I get what you mean.  The problem is that you don’t get the Puerh Junky’s meaning.

Repent!  Liming is here now.  There is no need to await the second coming.  The Puerh Junky is the true messenger.  Seek ye now no longer.  Those with tongues to taste, taste ye now.

Yeah verily, this is a jeremiad.  Behold the 2017 musings of the Wisconsonian Cwyn.   It’s a solid appraisal.  It’s actually glowing from one who is most begrudging and her assessments.  She’s a solid source with a demanding standard.  I sent her something that she tried to source on her own, but I had already told her that I couldn’t get more and that I bought when in KM in ’13.  She certainly has head strength.  Anyway, that was years ago.

That said, she likes the ’07 Golden Peacock, LM.  I purchased that production in ’16, about a year before she posted.  That’s because I’m a peacock kinda Puerh Junky.  As early as ’15, I had come into contact with the Peacock Brick.  Aye, I lament, because those with the slightest clue would instantly beat their breast for neglecting this treasure.

’06 Peacock Brick, LM

I recently read where the Hobbes character had commented upon a Liming brick of unbelievable pleasure.   I cannot speak to this, but this Peacock brick is unbelievable.  It defeats any other brick of the Tobacco Class, but to speak of it in the light of a brick is to do it no justice.  It is a positively sick production.  Sick, I say.

This week I drank the ’07 OG Square.  The production is flawless.  It actually tastes aged, but not in the sense of being rushed and lifeless.  In fact, this production is full of life.  It gets overlooked because it’s so cheap and doesn’t have a fancy peacock with it.  However, it’s fantastic.  The material and age make it a stellar price performer.  The deathly compression does require some practice but with 100g one should be able to get up to speed in terms of how it responds to varying approaches.

Liming Square: Power compression!

Even the Liming productions I hate, at least at this point, I can recognize as being real quality.  I just visited the ’07 Golden Peacock and it was seriously flawed by storage.  I’ve had it since ’16, so I consider it all my fault.  It tastes of cardboard even though it’s never been in it.  Ayei-fie! I’ve entered into yet another zone of uncertainty.  Tinning seems in order, we could also say bagging.  The Water Blue Mark, KMTF from the same year comes to mind. (Note: the next the the experience was more up to standard.)

Water Blue Mark

The Water Blue Mark is an imposing KMTF production that was too smoky for drinking when first received it in ’19, but as it emerged from its slowly aged coma, remarkable colours emerged.  I served it to a pair of gypsies en route to Las Vegas in the summer of ’21.  Both positively adored the bagged version I served up.

Recently, I reached for the ’05 Peacock Country

Not all peacocks bear a peacock

Acquired in ’15, its taste was nothing short of sonorous until Jan ’22.  Here “sonorous” refers to a caustic floral racket, bitterness, and general bad manners.  No amount of fiddling in terms of brewing parameters could tame it.  It’s the type of expression that those who like Earl Grey go for, I suppose.  In any event the most surprising thing about the most recent tasting was the absence of any brashness.  It also lasted for four days, never bottoming out.

I recently ran across a Liming lament of another sort, where the drinker complained of how horrible it was.  However, it was a ’18 production and as the case of the ’05 somewhat illustrates, Liming isn’t cutting corners that would make young productions instantly appealing.

 

 

Classic Tobacco Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
19 Dec

The ’08 Dali Tuo is a Classic Tobacco Puerh, and very good one I might add.  It’s on par with the Water Blue Mark and the Cherry Blossom in terms of tobbaccoey tastiness.

This raw Xiaguan TF treasure has been written up several times.  One occasion lay witness to a distraught Puerh Junky who thought that the DT had gone south.  Truth be known, it has a great intensity: smoky, sweet, woody, spicy.  Sure, it’s in “7536” (’07) company, but the absence of any playfulness up front makes it a kind of paragon of the Tobacco Class.

Productions seem to vary wildly from year-to-year.  It’s been some since I’ve had the ’06 version of the same production but it’s always seemed to be a peaty animal, whereas the smaller ’08 is more petrol.  Similarly, the ’04 version of the 7536 by Fuhai is vastly different from ’07.  The 7536 has been penned as a 7532 imitation, which is conceivable with the ’04 production but inconceivable with the ’07.

Oops.  At about the fifth infusion a fruit note does come out.  It’s what made me liken it to the ’13 Forever Love, which I do not own.  The fruit is certainly not its feature but it is expressing in a fashion consistent with puerh of this age.  By contrast the WBM and CB exhibit their fruitiness up front alongside the tobacco and sweetness.

Tobacco is naturally bitter.  Dali Tuo’s bitterness nicely balances the other more prominent notes.  Yeah, there’s astringency but it isn’t drying, leaving a nice zing in the mouth.

Visiting Tulin’s Puerh Tuo

Posted on by Yang-chu
18 Dec

Visiting Tulin’s Puerh Tuo finds the Puerh Junky faced with the arduous task of drinking more tea.  Tulin is essentially Xiaguan factory #2.  The person who runs their show is descended from the XG lineage.  If one doesn’t know XG, then the reference is pretty much lost.  The gist is that XG takes their tuo seriously and by extension so should Tulin.

The May 2019 acquisition of the ’06 Silver Pekoe is showing the first signs of root beerification.  The taste is still predominantly sandalwood and dish detergent.  The material from this production is excellent but dry storage will greatly impact its expression and you can’t get root beer from dry-stored puerh.  Thick and intense.  Only time will tell if this second batch root beers it up more intensely.

Tippy Tuo has been the most popular among the three Tulin tuo offerings.  The latest batch is surprisingly well stored, if a bit dry.  The broth brews rusty orange, with flavours of peat, attic newspaper, and some old flowers.  The flower note comes through in the huigan, in the event you notice it given its unbearable astringency.  It’s super drying, though cheeky as well, which will induce the salivary glands in some.  It’s a tad throaty but the sensation is mostly with the cheeks and throat.

Tippy Tuo 2021

In contrast to the two above, the AMT comes from chopped leaves.  It’s definitely sweeter than the Tippy Tuo and less thick than the Silver Pekoe.  The floral huigan is its most outstanding attribute which seems to be from remarkably consistent storage.  Over that time, the mushroom taste seems to have been replaced with newspaper.  The astringency characterizing this production has waned slightly but not sufficiently to make me a huge fan.

AMT Tulin 2021

Boris and Natasha love the Tulin tuo productions.  If you don’t catch the reference, it’s because confounded moose and skvirrel talk much lies to Puerh Junky about astringency.  Often Xiaguan references might be associated with smoke.  These Tulin tuo haven’t any hint of smoke.  Among the handful of XG tuo your Junkyness has sampled, the Tippy Tuo at one point approximated XG’s Gold Ribbon but now it and AMT more closely some pedestrian MKRS offerings, while the Silver Pekoe compares favourably with Grenouille from Simao region. All of these Tulin are from Wuliang.

Imperial Roots Puerh Insurrection

Posted on by Yang-chu
08 Dec

An Imperial Roots Puerh Insurrection is presently afoot.  This is your intrepid Puerh Junky reporting live at the site of the second batch of the Imperial Roots, acquired in ’19.  The second batches are never as good as the first.

Yes, this is another storage lament.  The original Imperial Roots came into the Puerh Junky’s possession in late ’15.  Even though it was young, it was minty and lively.  This present cake, even after two years in my possession is stunted.  It’s not sweet.  The root beer darkness is nowhere to be found.  Instead, it is super minerally.  It tastes like coloured rock water with a considerable lichen influence.  That lichen taste is nearly absent in the original.

This is the most Zen Xiaguan production to come come under my radar.  It’s super Zen and must be drunk at moderate temperatures lest you be bored to tears.  Looks like some tinning is in order.  It’s already been moved to what I hope are more agreeable storage conditions.  There is no hope of recreating the original Imperial Roots, but I can still do some coaxing.

Right now, this is an absolute must for the mineral Zen lover.  The storage conditions have stunted the camphor, sugar, spice notes making it steely, like a medieval knight.

Best Puerh Surprise 2021

Posted on by Yang-chu
30 Nov

The Best Puerh Surprise of 2021 is the Jinglong Factory.  They’re an Yiwu outfit that seems to have access to some very good Yiwu material and a consistent, if unimaginative, approach to tea production.  The thing is when all you imagine is root beer vanilla and camphor goodness, why deviate?

The Yiwu Prince made its debut this year as the first Jinglong in the Collection.  It’s from a favoured vendor who has excellent storage ensuring a good deal of cooking of the leaves.  This is necessary to get the root beer taste from Yiwus.  This character is completely absent in young productions.   The Yiwu Princess hails from the same vendor and features the same cooking with a greater floral expression.  Jinglong’s offerings avoid the floral trait.  Even though the Yiwu Prince proclaims Yiwu Spring Tips. . . the size of the leaves are altogether too long and thick to be the spring that comes to mind when a wrapper says spring.

The dark brew of the Princess, lest she be jealous.

I hastily sampled a newly arrive Jinglong production creatively named Early Spring from an unfamiliar vendor.  Even though its a great deal cheaper than their Prince, it’s every bit as good: the root beer, vanilla spice, all sweet no bitter, placid on the tongue.  I was surprised being fresh off the boat.

The above is a shot of the ’05 Jinglong Red Ribbon, thus named because it has an embroidered red ribbon in it. But don’t take my word for it; here it is:

Anyway, this production comes from a vendor where I’ve tended to only gander iconic productions.  Amidst a sea of very particular Zhongcha productions with handsome asking prices, this Jinglong rather stood out.  It’s the offering for which I developed the greatest affection, though I’ve only tried it twice.  The ribbon really seals the deal for me, even though some storage factors were dicey at best.  Fortunately, it hasn’t affected taste.

The Best Puerh Surprise of 2021 turned out to be a factory.  Hmm.  Jinglong offerings are remarkably consistent.  They deliver a first-rate Yiwu Zen regardless of price range.  They’re not apricoty and grapefruit seed like CMS.  They’re not grapey, berry, or fruity in any way.  Think of cane juice to which was added all types of very interesting tropical spices, something extremely pleasant like stewed pears in heavy syrup.

Samples of 20g for each is 60g of root beer vanilla goodness.  Hit me up if you’re interested in upping your Jinglong game.

Reflections ’10 Tiger, CMS

Posted on by Yang-chu
28 Nov

The ’10 Tiger, CMS continues to impress me as being the best puerh I’ve ever had.  This is not to be confused for my favourite, which varies on season and mood.  The Tiger simply tastes like no other puerh I’ve ever had.  The leaves in the pot consistently smell like some poisonous herb, strange and offensive, like patchouli and andrographis, something definitely medicinal.  The smell in the pitcher is considerably more intriguing amidst a cloud of butter scotch mixed with a rubber band note, which some call banana or date and usually found in ripes.

The Puerh Junky has been drinking the Tiger since Aug of ’21.  Stunned was my initial impression.  The strange aroma yields a broth that nothing short of moksha.  Put the idea of tasting good out of one’s head and just taste what the tea has to offer.  In the earlier infusions its star anise that is the prevailing taste.  In later infusions the patchouli is more evident.  The first few infusions are quite sweet on day two and the thickness is excellent.  It seems to be around 100yr old trees, there’s still quite a lot of sass in later infusions.

The only other production that even approximates the Tiger is Quincy.  The latter went through quite a spell where its aroma was off-putting.  My last tasting of Quincy started to find an emergent strawberry note on the underside the medicine notes.  The impressions of the Tiger are by contrast much more convoluted given its dynamism.  As session in Oct ’22 yielded a watermelon session, the taste of Jolly Rancher candies.  Other fruit includes cantaloupe, but fruit isn’t its overriding expression.

Even as the taste begins to wane the huigan remains potent, filled with agarwood, clove, and dried ginger.  My wife found it a bit heady qi wise though I only felt a moderate opening in the chest, pleasant and refreshing.  Its effect in stimulating the digestive system was noted even more.

Additionally, the age and quality of material impart durability.  There’s no crash landing while brewing.  Even when pushed toward the end it did not lose character.  The bitter along stride sweetness throughout the second half of the session.  Given that most of these spice notes exist in sweet and savory dishes, the experience is suspenseful.

The Tiger, CMS seems most appropriately placed in the Spirits Class.  It resembles spicy digestives consumed after a meal in the old country.

Puerh Junky Visits Drury Lane

Posted on by Yang-chu
13 Jun

The first thing that catches you about Drury Lane is how clean it is.  The aroma is remarkably sweet. Chocolate, camphor, and crayolas.  The rinse liquor sparkles the colour of brandy and it tastes like Kalua.  There’s an ineffable breadiness that entices.  At room temperature, camphor taste up from before being drowned out by milk chocolate.  Big time milk chocolate aftertaste.

The first infusion brews up considerably darker but still crystal clear.  The taste of vanilla jumps out with camphor middle and chocolatey tannin finish.  The sense of how clean it is remains.  Cleanliness hasn’t come at the cost of complexity.

Infusion two is doubtlessly darker still, a ruby.  I’m brewing judiciously about 10s but the waking was probably two minutes.  The broth now is almost sticky, conjuring impressions of Tootsie Rolls.  It’s super sweet and milk chocolately with fantastic camphor and vanilla elements.

Infusion three is slightly lighter than two.  It is still totally transparent.  It’s lighter in texture and the vanilla element seems to be taking the fore.  There’s the muffin element, simple vanilla muffins that aren’t too sweet, with just a hint of cardamom.  I think it’s good for two more rounds.  Might boil it tomorrow.  Twigs will like that.

If memory serves this is Xiangming Factory.  Actually, it’s Yongming.  They didn’t get puer bible listed in the ’98-’03 edition.  Either Xiangming or Yongming or both in one of the editions.  I think I’ve seen some of their offerings posted.  It was the first ripe I’ve purchased from the vendor I mentioned previously, the one who seems focused on selling the tea and not the factory.  Consequently, Yongming is more-or-less incidental to the tea itself.  Drury Lane sounds a shade more inviting than Menghai Ripe Brick for some reason.  The vendor actually never showed the wrapper.

Infusion five soaked for a few minutes delivers on par with the first infusion.  It’s quite rich.  Positively completely totally dry stored.  Quite reminiscent of the Langhe house taste for some reason.    Infusion six was possibly 15m.  The color is still remarkably dark but it’s less sweet and rich.   The final sips of a Black Russian.

Puerh Potion Number 2001

Posted on by Yang-chu
13 Jun

Puerh Potion Number 2001 is a whimsical tale involving the rather drably named Yiwu Huangpian.  It’s an old ’01.  It’s taken a beating with heat and dryness after its brief humid phase.  It’s pure Zen.  Many Yiwus I’m discovering are quite grapefruity, see Dragon or Yiwu Princess.  This isn’t.  It’s not floral either.  It seems to be a benchmark puerh in terms of it’s “old taste”, chenyun.  A very glorified form of newspaper.

There’s really very little use in talking about a puerh like this unless you’re somewhere where it’s chilly.  This is much more an autumn and winter type experience, puerhistically speaking.

So why am I writing on it you ask?  Because I rarely write upon ripes to a fault and this offering is an excellent introduction to raw puerh for the person who fancies ripes.  Yes.  This is an obligatory ripe post by referencing an old taste raw.

I’ve started to sorta suspect that one of the vendors I like doesn’t sell what he says he’s selling.  I’m willing to chalk it up to losing something in translation.  I didn’t buy the cake based upon what was on the wrapper, but this is one of “those wrappers” I was looking to acquire in any event.  There’s a stylistically similar one that reads spring tips.  This one reads top, bottom, then middle gu shu cha.  You simply can’t get more specifically generic than that. I got it because that vendor has excellent taste.

Now I’m looking at this cake and wondering if the wrapper is really what it is on the inside.  I don’t know.  I’ll never know with these iconic wrappers.  The neipiao is one of those horrible CNNP inserts.  I can’t remember what the neipiao was for the other one of “theirs” I had looked like.  I simply thought the vendor was selling something he liked.  He didn’t make any claims.  I ran into the factory in the Puer Yearbook a few days back.  I decide to pry loose the neifei, will it be as generic as the neipiao with a bazhong?

The plot thickens.  The neifei is identical to the wrapper.  Did this factory use CNNP neipiao?  I have to check the puerh bible.  It only lists their ’99 version which also looks to be huangpian but a different neifei.  The difference proves nothing because these matters change from one year to the next.  I snap a shot.

The thing that stands out in this photo in terms of authenticating this production is the fantastic appearance of the lousy CNNP neipiao in the very upper left.  The neifei marks the year of production in all likelihood.  This one is ’99.  The one of “theirs” from ’03 has a different neifei too.  I haven’t heard much about them but I don’t think I knew what I was seeing either.  I tried to get more of their ’03 but the vendor said they were sold out.

If the vendor’s description included the name of the factory, it could be it eluded me due to the trickiness of factory name.

I don’t know what to make of the puerh bible.  The Xinghai offerings included in it are quite skimpy, not remotely their best.

Another look at the puerh bible and I see that the tea’s name is actually gu cha shu, as that’s what the neifei also reads.  I was wrong about its name.

It certainly tastes its age.  It’s looking like what’s in the puerh bible, so this is supposed to be something.  I suppose. It’s the only thing of theirs listed.  This factory has only come to my attention by accident, only by virtue of the wrapper.  The ’03 version of ostensibly the same production but looking quite different is a dank camphor hydra.

With Puerh Potion Number 2001 you’re getting a classic old taste that still exhibits the exalted Zen of Yiwu.  Now when you’re drinking it you can quote chapter and verse about the neifei and neipiao.  I just thought this was a “white label.”  Maybe it’s a white label brand, which is highly likely.  Hard to find a raw closer to a ripe in terms of taste.  You drink this and you know it’s old.  You taste the Yiwu and you’re either bored or brought to tears.