Tag Archives: aged puer

Puerh Junky Visits Thick Zen

Posted on by Yang-chu
03 Jun

Puerh Junky Visits Thick Zen is one of a catalog of encounters mental and digital with the steal of ’07 and possibly the aughts overall.  We’re talking about Kunming TF’s Thick Zen, a clean and lively Yiwu sensation without the Yiwu price.

Thick Zen called its name for an introduction to someone who has drunk puerh a limited amount and is not altogether clear on the differences between raw and ripe.  With a whiff among the two options, she chose the raw.  Overall, it has good sweetness, thickness, and complexity.  A faint fruity note has fully blossomed.  It lies along the backdrop of root beer with a few bitter notes early.

It got pushed at the sixth infusion holding up very well, a nice brown thickness and sweetness and no bitter.  The next five infusions continued to surprise in that it had more to give.  It is considerably more durable than even a year ago.

This brings up Poison, which is at 18 with as many as five more infusions to go.  It’s still quite round, sweet, and smoky, some surprising minerality that often comes with smokier productions.  The minerality seems to replace the root beer.  Similarly, the fruity note of Thick Zen seems to be creeping in on the root beer but it is hard to say at this point since the fruit seems to be developing independent from the root beer.  Is Thick Zen at its root beer peak?

One Good Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
31 May

One Good Puerh deserves another.  hahahaha. Yesterday’s experience with the Bada had me promptly decide to check on the ’12 Dragon, CMS.  There’s a whole five-year difference between the two.  Still, they bear some similar qualities, referenced in the missive linked above.  Amidst the welter of the past year, the Puerh Junky seems to recall that the Dragon has been in his possession for a year now, perhaps slightly less.

I guess One Good Puerh is about being able to make calls about where a production is going as much as where it is.  At 500g the Dragon is a decent value provided one’s in storing and aging.  It’s certainly getting better, thicker and sweeter.  It’s lasting longer too.  Over the three days, there are moments where vanilla is starting to express.  It maintains its sweetness even as it pushes into more astringent territory.  The storage on it is very good with no detracting notes to be detected.

Then there’s that grapefruit.  It’s a certifiable Yiwu sensation, but Bada is Menghai so it’s not confined to Yiwu.  Furthermore, certainly not all Yiwu is grapefruit, thank God.  I went to the Dragon because the Bada started going grapefruit in later infusions.  I wanted to compare the two.  It’s an interesting comparison, not off mark.  There are clear differences of course.  These may be mostly attributable to age, but there’s not even a hint of copper in the Dragon.  Furthermore, the Dragon is pure Zen whereas the Bada Peacock expresses an aged Zen like a vanilla confection.

The Dragon has bling factor.  It comes from a bling factory.  In some sense I reckon it to be in league with YPH.  They’re both highly regarded Yiwu factories.  This is not contradicted in my own findings.  The best production that I’ve ever tasted is CMS. That tea is perfection, though the thought of it turns my stomach.  It’s just plain weird and perfection.  A horrible aroma, not wet-stored.  It smells as it would taste horrible, but it doesn’t.  I digress. .  .

I’m quite pleased with the development of the Dragon, CMS at its one-year mark and posted in Feb of 2021.  It certainly lives up to the brand reputation.  Now that the sweetness is really starting to express, it is drinkable now.  At such a huge size, you can also stash a good amount for aging.  Those serious about Yiwu should give this serious consideration.

 

Puerh Junky Harassment!

Posted on by Yang-chu
23 May

Seems Puerh Junky Harassment is omnipresent these days.  Your Puerh Junkyness can’t go anywhere without being hectored by the rabble about my tinning developments.  “Yo PJ!  What’s up with the ’06 Fohai you still haven’t posted?” shouts the bedraggled woman with the big nose and colourful shawl covering her greying hair.  “PJ, hey PJ!  Are you ignoring my texts?  What the word with the Lucky 7542, DQZ you’ve had in clay well nigh two months already?  Why you ghosting me?” read the email from someone in some place called “Topeka.”  Some dude with his eyebrows tattooed, one reading “Puerh” and the other “Junky,” in a pink Dodgers baseball cap in a big red Dodge Ram rolls down his window at a stop light asking, “Hey man, you still got the Water Blue Mark in porcelain?”  How did he know that?!!

I tell ya, it’s getting hectic out there, a real cramp to my Puerh Junky anonymity.

As luck would have it, there is word on a few productions that I can share.  Speaking of luck, lets start with the aforementioned Lucky 7542, DQZ, which has been in zisha since late Feb/early Mar 2021.  If you’ve had occasion to gander this production, you’ll know that there are two storage options avail, wet and proper.  Yes.  If it’s called wet, the storage is the opposite of proper, so the objective of claying it was to do something about the detestable dank oppression.  Findings are highly favourable.

There’s zero dank in the first five infusions.  There’s a nice balance, thickness, and sweetness that didn’t previously exist because the garbage taste was too loud.  It’s about half way seasoned presently, part of the age and nature of 7542 also factoring.  It was set aside for the next day, which produced even more sweetness and pleasantness for an additional 6-8 infusions.  Clay seems to be the very best way to season wet-stored puerhs where they can actually become drinkable.  At six weeks storage give or take, the effects are quite pleasing, sufficient to make it a top-shelf offering for puerh drinkers with fairly high standards.

Since we’re on the topic of clay, it’s worth noting that the ’01 Yiwu Huangpian has received similar treatment but for different reasons.  If I were to guess, it was subjected to a period of heavy wet storage and then a very long period of dry storage.  Upon taste, the Yiwu Huangpian receives high marks for storage and taste but some finishing touches never hurt.  Claying in this case provides volume that takes a good production to the next level.

Oh yeah, the Fohai, 6FTM.  It’s coming along in the tin.  The first couple weeks it was bright, ebullient even in the vein of the Fu or the Bulang Business, which I delisted, as somehow I’m only down to one left.  Anyway, about two weeks I checked in on the Fohai, which is the old name for Menghai, and it’s changed dramatically.  There’s much more petrol, the taste is much more serious in a scotch kinda way, even though I hate scotch and find the petrol vibe far more interesting.  Findings for the Pig, 6FTM have been similarly positive.

Fohai’s Tin

I’ve been letting those productions just have their way in the tins.  I’m not taking pains to manage air exposure, for example.  I am wondering how such measures will influence their root beer potential.  The ’04 Monkey, for example, is in full root beer glory.  It’s never been broken up and all dalliances with it have only involved moving it from one ring of the storage circus to the other– and out from the cursed cardboard, sometime relatively late in the game.   The Monkey has hardcore compression, as do all the 6FTM offerings up til 2010.  The ’11 Rabbit is shockingly agey, with a petrol expression that emerges much later in its tightly pressed predecessors.

I’ve referenced a few unlisted items here. Just touch base if you’re interested in any samples.

Puerh Junky Report: Jinglong TF

Posted on by Yang-chu
17 May

Jinglong TF is a doozy of a puerh outfit specializing in Yiwu productions.  They started production in ’95 under another name, settling upon Jinglong in 2000.  Their quizzicality can be attributed to their marketing posture, which can only be characterized as all over the place.  They offer some really cheap ripe and no-name raw bricks directly on Amazon, while having some more intriguing offerings sold by puerh specialty vendors.

Jinglong came onto the Puerh Junky’s radar because a preferred vendor featured one of their offerings.  Hey! they didn’t go wrong with either the Yiwu Princess or the Marquis du Greenmark, why should I get cold feet now?  After noticing the brand, it started coming from the woodwork everywhere, various productions mostly from ’05-’06 but a few from ’08-’09 as well, all at wildly different prices.

The Puerh Junky has now tasted three of their productions since Jul ’20, and they’re all quite tasty.  For the enthusiast of Yiwu Zen, they’re definitely worth sampling.  Their offerings share some similar traits in terms of big leaves with alluringly long stems, rock sugar sweetness, and durability.  They’re ready for drinking now with next no astringency, possessing aged trajectories of either medicine or root beer.  Need I really say more?  They aim to please.

Curses, Puerh Junky!

Posted on by Yang-chu
14 May

Curses, Puerh Junky!  Your collection of mid-aged puerhs has ruined my tastes.  I can’t drink my young puerhs anymore.  You’ve ruined me!  You’re a villain, an apostle of unspeakable foulness, a criminal of the first order.  You’ll pay, you. . . you. . . Puerh Junky you!

Alack!  Alack!  What’s a Puerh Junky to do but sound fair warning to stand clear of the collection lest you too should fall prey to the wiles of mid-aged puerh.

Seems like the Puerh Junky isn’t the only one offering advice these days.  One piece went something like, “only buy and drink the stuff you like now, because. . . ”  I can’t remember the rationale because I fell from my chair hitting my head upon the glockenspiel and went unconscious.

Many have neither the patience nor conditions for storing puerh.  Nonetheless, it is very hard to believe that one could possibly gain any real sense of what puerh is actually about by drinking offerings under ten years old.  Actually, there’s considerable banter about a offerings with fewer than five years age.  The perception, based almost wholly on ignorance, is that puerh and aging is some type of marketing ploy.  I used to think the same, especially when it came to Yiwus.  Then I tasted some older ones and realized I wasn’t having my leg pulled.

The best way to not have that bubble shattered is to heed the Puerh Junky’s warning.  I want you to continue to cherish that 2017 you’re drinking.  The Puerh Junky is just bad news for any young collection.

 

Puerh Junky’s Spring 2021 Report

Posted on by Yang-chu
20 Apr

Puerh Junky’s Spring 2021 Report

I was chatting with a friend the other day and he informed me that the Western vendors are all offering free shipping till the new tea arrives.  I guess that’s a pretty big deal if you’re shipping from Mainland.  My offerings are here in Los Angeles, so that’s not much of an issue for American buyers who get free shipping on orders larger than $75.

I guess it’s some way to stir excitement over offerings from the spring picking.  New tea is really not the Puerh Junky’s thing.  There’s so much older tea that hasn’t been hoarded to discover that not only meets the standard but also still presents comparatively greater value.  But, these gems are disappearing apace.

Over the past five years factories have progressively been restricting their sales to preferred vendors.  Some factories, like the maker of the Jingmai “003”, have already disappeared, except for their flagship site.  The same has essentially happened with GPE.  Many of the Puerh Junky’s preferred vendors have vanished or moved into more obscure brands from famous regions and greatly scaled back their offerings.

Observing this trend, the Puerh Junky has also had to adapt.  Since Nov ’20, I’ve primarily focused on re-upping on exceptional treasures while they’re still available.  Along the way, unfamiliar productions from well-known factories have been acquired, in addition to virtual unknowns from trusted vendors.  As this project has evolved, thematic productions have taken a back burner, though I continue to be tempted by a sexy wrapper.  I still love a good wrapper, but focus has mostly settled into familiar productions and factories.

’06 Old Geezers Ripe  

As far as themes go, it is clear that 6FTM is becoming a theme unto itself.  Productions from their early years are particularly interesting from a collecting point of view, especially before their brand identity solidified.  Some of these will be listed in the coming year.

Breaking the Mold

“Breaking the Mold” is probably not the best turn of phrase when talking about puerh, but alas I’m breaking from my standard practice of holding offerings for six months before listing.  Some productions are ready now and there’s little point in having them lazing about in LA when there’s work to be done in Brockton, Bethesda, and Boise.  There’s a bevy of ripes that are already quite good.  Many have already been snatched up by insiders who rely upon his junkifiedness for the hook up.  Still, some of these have yet to be spoken for.

’06 Nannuo, LME

Here’s were a digression into the junkisophical must be indulged: price is no reflection of quality.  Quality factors less than reputation and collectability.  Naturally, these are not altogether independent variables.  The Puerh Junky provides a range of reputations and collectability, while never sacrificing quality.  Sometimes quality is difficult to discern, but where it’s immediately apparent, fellow junk… er enthusiasts should not be deprived.

Puerh Junky’s Collection and Stash

Let’s call the Collection that which is listed and the Stash that which is not.  As for the Collection, most treasures number but a few.  Chances of re-upping depend on availability and price.  If you need to score a tong then you need to contact me directly.  Otherwise, if something strikes your fancy, it’s best not to dally.

The Stash consists of productions that have yet to graduate.  They are “aging.”  The Stash also has treasures that sold out or sky rocketed in price.  These were trial purchases, testing either vendor or production.  Sometimes prices jump even before arriving.  This especially happens around the lunar new year.  Be it availability or price, these treasures end up orphans until lightening strikes or, in a fit of junkydom, I break down and pay what they’re asking.  This process can take years.  How sublime it would be for these orphans to join the Collection, but for most this simply will not happen.

Hoping and Praying

Puerh Orphan Sample Annie

If you think I’m breaking up these cakes, then you’ve been drinking to much!  In a grand gesture of junkaciousness, however, I can part with a few samples from my own cake.  We’ll call these Orphan Samples.  They’ll be arranged in interesting sets unified by a theme like year, factory, or region; I’ll confabulate something.  If a treasure from the set appeals to you, you may directly inquire further about availability.  Orphan Samples are identical to regular samples, i.e., 15g, except very few are being offered, and the specific intent is to find a home for orphan cakes, as opposed to providing general edification and enjoyment.  Since you’ll have sampled for yourself, there is zero need to leave anything to question about quality or personal appeal.

Final Word

A final word of thanks for reading and enjoying these missives, however epi- and rhapsodic.  In the coming weeks, beyond new listings, be on the lookout for blog postings on the back story of some of the more vaunted factories offering these treasures.  I understand that the world of Chinese puerh factories is enigmatic for those with limited access to Chinese. Nonetheless, arming yourself with a bit of context provides at least of modicum of rationale for being the Puerh Junky that you are.

OG Gangsta Appraisal

Posted on by Yang-chu
puerh tea brick
06 Apr

Here’s feedback from my first Germany order regarding the OG Gangsta. . .

I like it a lot even though I am brewing it in a porcelain gaiwan. But for me the astringency really came out only after the fifth or sixth brew. Seeing you only gave it an average mark I am anxious to see what else you have in stock 😉

I have only been drinking puerh for one and a half years or so but I would say this is the best one I have ever had.

Those who know, know.  The OG Gangsta doesn’t claim its name for nutthin’.

 

 

Puerh Rating: LME Spring

Posted on by Yang-chu
05 Apr

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on the LME Spring.  LME is a factory that started to raise its profile around ’14, but whose older productions had hidden under the radar till 2020.  This factory of late has gained attention as the high-profile productions have vanished from the market and the value seekers continue their pursuits.

LME Spring is highly representative of aught productions: generally high quality, traditional processing, and atomic compression.  The year ’07 was likely the apex of atomic compression, as a thought occurred that cakes shouldn’t bear the same pressing characteristics of tuo and many bricks.

Compression invariably affect how an offering will brew.  The LME Spring brews with fantastic consistency and duration.

After three rounds the total was as follows:

  • Aroma          14
  • Clarity           11
  • Sweetness   10
  • Viscosity       10
  • Astringency    9
  • Huigan         13
  • Qi                 15

Reflections

The LME Spring is an incredibly sophisticated raw puerh cake without the sophistry of water cooler hearsay.  Even though the wonderful floral notes are quite obvious, it appears to be a Zen class production heading toward root beer.  The flowers come through in the huigan, which is nearly perfect.

Speaking of perfection, the qi score is.  There probably aren’t any other productions that score perfect on qi and certainly none at this price.  It also possesses a phlegm-cutting attribute.  Along with the flowers in taste, there’s serious Malt O’ Meal notes, with some salivary friendly sour notes.

Conclusions

The LME Spring is for those who enjoy the marriage between floral and Zen productions.  The durability alone makes this an extraordinary offering, given its qi it’s essentially a steal.

Puerh Rating: LME Spring

82/105 B

 

Puerh Clay Storage

Posted on by Yang-chu
07 Mar

Yesterday one of my chief drinking buddies came by for a shesh.  We had some leftovers, a ’18 Bingdao and ’07 Yiwu both huangpian.  He was very myeh regarding the latter, saying, “I’ve had it with the fruity and floral and want more like your ’98 Red Mark.”  What’s a proper Puerh Junky to do?

Yeah, I have a few late 90s raw puerhs in the stash.  One is a “Red Mark.”  It is one of those aged raws that have been punished with a good deal of heat and a dash of humidity imparting that detestable dry old-book newspaper vibe.  That bugger has been placed in the detention container with the rest of the cardboard-stored creations that have lost their pizazz due to my own dunderheadedness.  That Red Mark, however, was none of my doing.  The hope is that I can work a little PJ magic on it and something jucier and complex can emerge.  Of course, the reader knows that that taste is highly regarded in some circles but in the eyes of the Puerh Junky such storage is deeply flawed.  But I digress. . .

I was talking about my tea compadre’s request for that humid aged taste.  What better chance to try out the recently “tinned” Lucky 7542  DQZ, but minding my junky etiquette I gave him an option.  “Well, I have a wet-stored ’06 Mengku that is aggressive and floral or we can try the wet-stored 7542 from tea meistra Du Qiong-zhi.”

Lucky 4524, DQZ

“Oh, 7542?  I’ll definitely take that,” trying to restrain his enthusiasm.  “Now, you do know that this isn’t a Menghai TF?  It’s from someone who worked her self through the ranks of Menghai TF before breaking out on her own in the late 90s during the restructuring,” I warned.  “I’ll have that,” he assured me.

The Lucky 7542 got transferred to a clay caddy around mid-Feb 2021 as part of the tinning project initiated after the fabulous findings from Fu.  Whereas most of the productions thus transferred reside in metal, the Lucky got clay.  Since I had previously moved a hideously wet late 80s Tulin tuo to a clay caddy with a glazed exterior to great result, Lucky’s humidity informed placing it in clay.

Now the Puerh Junky could regale you with all the details about that ’89 Tulin tuo, but the focus here is regarding the findings from Lucky after only three weeks.  For starters, the wet storage smell is evident in the clay itself.  My compadre upon one whiff went into a reverie about his childhood, memories of his grandfather.  I personally detected a note of cinnamon which is a very good sign in light of storage and age.

Recently, the floral-designated pot (150ml) has been getting quite the work out.  It pours slowly, so I only used 4.5g.  Far be it from the Puerh Junky to be at a loss for words, but suffice it to say that a production that I found unsatisfactorily stored is now close to perfect.  The layers of complexity to the tea are now much more evident.  Even the floral notes are more precise.  The overall effect results in what tastes like the ideal 7542, the archetypical 7542.  Are there better 7542?  Well duh, but this captures everything that the 7542 is supposed to be including the humidity.

The Puerh Junky’s wife is keen on the humid productions and just happened upon the scene of the crime to join us right when the first pot was being poured.  Both mi amigo and mi wife remarked upon the sweetness.  What stood out for moi was the volume in terms of breadth imparted by the clay storage.  Imagine Miss Brown Eyes Blue Crystal Gale and her long strait locks getting a good dose of 80s hair mousse. Pour some sugar on me, baby. . . sans the spandex.  The interplay between flowers, minerals, and humidity could not be detected in previous sessions with Lucky but with clay storage, I detected such complexity causing me to completely revise my assessment of the material’s underlying quality.

 

 

 

 

 

Puerh Battle of Hegemons

Posted on by Yang-chu
06 Mar

Tuesday 2nd of March 2021 witnessed the Puerh Battle of Hegemons.  Both the ’07 Vanilla Palace and ’05 OG Gangsta brought formidable organic credentials to a frenzy pitting two mid-aged raw puerh against each other.  The Silver Peacock ripe agreed to moderate the fracas.

“Puerh Battle of Hegemons?” you ask.  “Yes!” I reply.  You see, one of the descriptions often attributed to big-taste aggressive puerhs is “baqi” (霸气), where “ba” translates to “hegegemon.” This is to say a strong-handed ruler, a forceful customer in puerh terms.

The battle started with the Vanilla Palace.  It bears the name “gongting,” which is usually reserved for the smallest grade ripe.  For a raw puerh to be called gongting is a first. As it ages, the Vanilla is becoming richer and rounder.  The punch from a few years back continues to transform into a delicious vanilla root beer.  The edges continue to transform not flatten and each progressive infusion releases more florality that is in the perfume stage.  The transformation trajectory of the Vanilla Palace is excellent and represents a fantastic value.

puerh tea brick

The OG Gangsta is one of GPEs atomically compressed bricks.  On the heels of the Vanilla Palace, Gangsta‘s sour and subtle fruit notes really jumped out.  Those favouring astringency, we’re talking dictatorial astringency, will lean toward the Gangsta.  The dark root beer expression, however, sufficiently balances the bite.  One recent enthusiast described Gangsta as a smoker who wears perfume to cover the smoke– not in a bad way, he was quick to add.

About six infusions from each elicited the call for food.  Don’t drink either on an empty stomach but especially not the Gangsta.  After a bit of grub the Silver Peacock brought its Zen attributes to wash it down.  The Silver Peacock is at a stage of transition, from pure ripe Zen to the fruitiness common in many aged raws and common in heicha.  Infusions 6-8 at better than a minute, pushed progressively, were surprisingly rich, sweet, and complex– positively nothing challenging about this ripe puerh cake but everything enjoyable.

In the end, the pairing of the Vanilla Palace and the OG Gangsta highlighted their contrasting personalities, despite being in the tobacco cum root beer class.  The VP is round, warming, settling inviting.  The OGG is rambunctious, astringent, slightly fruity, with perfume and smoke.  Both offerings express a good deal of complexity and durability.  Altogether about nine infusions were gathered from each and an additional four infusions or so the next day.  The perfume of each was much more noticeable on day two.  It’s fair to say the OGG proved more hegemonic.

However, in the final assessment pairing these two is a shade excessive.  Both are complex productions deserving of focused attention in their own right.  Moving from one two the other is more a mark of skittish gluttony than pairing.  Contrast to this excess likely accounts for why the Silver Peacock ended up stealing the show.