Puerh Junky Three Xinghai Naughts checks in on some rather recent Xinghai TF arrivals.  The year 2022 witnessed some earnest acquisition activity (EAA) in regards to both raw and ripe Xinghai productions.  About three weeks ago ole Puerh Junky‘s pc died and though most was backed up not all has been recovered, not to mention that the replacement is not outfitted with features that don’t require subscriptions, something he refuses to do, which means replacing the new operating system with Windows 7 or at the very least figuring out how to get the current system to read the cd player gutted from the old system.  All this to say, PJ is wading through technical difficulties both on the site and the system which prevents including a wealth of pics and requires the reader’s patients.

’06 BZ Wild King

The BZ Wild King is one of the latest Xinghai acquisitions.  It is high altitude material of over 2000m and is from the first batch, hence it has a date stamp.  BZWK possesses good dry storage and was pressed with moderate compression.  It’s hands down the creamiest of Xinghai ever tasted, possessing notes in the vicinity of the Stylin, Tiger (CMS), and Quincy.   Thick and sweet with no smoke, BZWK resides assuredly in the Fruit Class, possessing fermented tropical fruit character most evocative of jackfruit.  Sometimes this profile will pick up some baby powder or incense notes, but that’s not the case here.  I typically expect Xinghai productions to pose some sort of challenge, usually in the form of astringency and dryness.  With “wild” in its name, BZWK had me bracing, but in the end proves to be probably the friendliest XH production ever drunk, though there is a thread of funk to it that conjures Jame Brown.  $188/357g.  Instagram fotos here.

’07 HK Returns 10th

In a previous post, HK Returns 10th received distinction as a great entry-level Xinghai.  This may lead some to erroneously conclude that the production is inferior.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It’s just been offered at a surprising price.  HKR10th first came into Puerh Junky‘s clutches a year ago in Mar ’22, an order for a tong immediately placed thereafter.  The cake has the tight compression consistent with the era.  Initial infusions take about two min before opening up.  It lasts forever.

HKR10th‘s performance varies greatly by storage particulars.  What was previously described as “workhorse” describes the floral expression.  Original storage lacks any humidity but has been sufficiently moist to allow a camphor note to pervade the infusions, along with a very tasty geosmin note, a rocky minerality.  After leaving the cake out for a week, grapefruit/pumello makes a stunning entry reminiscent of the Dragon, CMS and a recent sample had of the ’03 Qingteng, Wistaria.  There’s a real sassy sour that tweaks the cheeks, leaving the mouth with eau de grapefruit and salivation.  Mouth smaking is an inevitability.  Deeper in the citrus floats to the top while peat, incense, and light geosmin assume a dominant role.  It’s a Russian novel with lots of characters, intrigue, and drama.  I’ve never been able to outlast this classic, typically drinking over two or three days.  Nice qi too.

’06 Bulang Old Tree

The Bulang Old Tree is the second batch of another tightly pressed production devoid of any humidity.  The tea, however, shaves easily from the cake with a proper tea knife.  Storage is consistent with its age, though the wrappers on this puppy are really not in the best condition, a bit tattered and quite stained.  A few were picked up mid ’22 and a few more at the end of the year.  The taste is most like the Daxueshan, MKRS, a production described as having a peanut brittle and soy sauce expression.  The notes are not as strong in the BOT, as it also some cryptic tropical fruit notes along lines of the Stylin and BZ Wild King, some woodiness.  After three years of storage, the MKRS’s DXS has evolved into a classic tasting dianhong/Yunnan Gold.

The BOT and the BZWK are quite similar.  The price of the first batch of the BOT runs about the same as the BZWK.  Letting the opened leaves of the BOT rest in the pot for little less than a half hour released some of the vanilla cream so prominent in the BZWT.  It’s good to keep in mind that BZ and Bulang are often interchangeable, whereas Menghai much less so as it incorporates a much larger area.  Having the BOT sit out overnight and brewing in clay, no soy sauce could be detected and the peanut brittle transformed to toffee.  An anise note is more apparent and even a hint of pumello.  In fact, this citrus not gets stronger and more bitter the deeper you dive,  expressing in the aroma as well.  There’s also a thin layer of a fine-quality incense in those layers.  Hence, given their similarities the difference in personality emergest during the session.

Wrap-up

Puerh Junky selflessly visited three recently acquired Xinghai productions from ’06 and ’07 in order to further appraise fellow puerh enthusiasts of Xinghai TF itself.  Xinghai formed in ’02 and the first decade of production constitutes what will likely be their best, largely because they had not fallen under the influence of sheisty processing.  Productions from ’14-16 bear signs of a processing shift and in ’18 XH changed ownership, being acquired by one of the vulture groups that capitalize upon brand distinction while invariably lowering standards.  There’s no point here in beating a dead horse and processing variation is in itself a fluid phenomenon.  The acquisitions from the mid-teens deserves a discussion of its own.

In Puerh Junky Three Xinghai Naughts the early period of processing comes under the microscope.  The BZ Wild King represents one of Xinghai’s friendliest early productions, creamy and sweet with a unique fermented jackfruit expression.  There is a great deal of similarity with it and the Bulang Old Tree, but deeper in the BOT turns more toward grapefruit with unabashed bitterness.  BOT in some regards represents some of the challenging qualities PJ associates with XH.  The Hong Kong Returns 10th ranges from floral to a grapefruit, with formidable durability.  All three productions possess the complexity of well-crafted recipes.  The qi of both the BOT and HKR10th are uplifting.  The BZWT‘s effect is more narcotic, and also warmest of the three.  BOT starts out warm but as the grapefruit builds it becomes more cooling.  Camphor notes are strongest in the HKR10th, while it can definitely can be detected in the aftertaste of the BOT.  No humidity can be found in the taste of any of them, though storage can be considered adequately warm and moist to facilitate the type of transformation reflective of treasures better than 15 years in age.