Tag Archives: menghaipuerh

Puerh Junky Visits Making Tea

Posted on by Yang-chu
05 Nov

Puerh Junky Visits Making Tea involves a CMS series by the same name.  I’ve gotten my hands on a few of the series from the year ’16, even posted fotos of on Instagram to make it official.  CMS is technically Yibang CMS and that detail is critical as they possess either material or a processing style that is very Yiwu. . . Yibang being in Yiwu.

The style goes beyond just the stone pressing to encompass the overall softness of taste.  Here, the dry leaves give off a slight smoke and kerosene nose that is mostly candy fruity.  The candy fruity is very similar to the recently listed Jade Mark, a nose of something like Jolly Rancher watermelon.  That kinda fragrance is certainly more Menghai or Lincang.

Making tea Nov 2022

The first real infusion gives off clarity of about 2.5 outta five.  I’ve drunk about 3/4 of this cake and it’s never left any impression.  Based on the intensity and height of the aroma, the ole Junky‘s luck may have changed but while sniffing the cloudy brew the thought to lower the water temp occurs.

Consistent with Yiwus, the taste doesn’t jump out at you.  It’s still too young to have any of the smooth vanilla or thick texture, but the qi comes on powerfully in the head and chest.  Overall, there wasn’t enough to sustain even a modicum of interest.

Several hours later. . .

“It’s good at any temperature,” comments the wife.  The hiatus has helped harness hiding sugars.  There’s a bit of kerosene, ever so slight.  Zero bitterness, even when pushed. Nothing to be said of astringency either.  There’s nothing to sink one’s teeth into.  Zen brutality.

Day two is much of the same.  A thread of freshly mowed grass can be detected in the pitcher, but doesn’t convert into the taste.  Pure rock sugar, a very faint sense of something floral, but all completely fades after taking a piece of buttered bread.  The following taste is of an insipid green tea.  Qi goes to the head in a comprehensive manner, not jagged but with full self-assurance.

Reading through the ’09 comments on an ’08 CMS production that I drank this ’22, one commenter said the tea was “moderately floral and lacking in complexity.”  Thirteen years later, the floral note sounds with great perfection, with nice sweetness and thickness.  The difference is age.  The Puerh Junky assumes Making Tea is in a similar boat.  Realistically its about six years away from hitting a decent stride, optimistically three.

 

 

Sweet Mesquite: BZ Peacock Autumn 2022

Posted on by Yang-chu
06 Oct

Sweet Mesquite: BZ Peacock Autumn 2022 comes with yet another enigmatically titled blog entry about the ’06 BZ Peacock, XH.  Quite a bit has been blogged about this.  As of autumn 2022, it earns another entry to chronicle the results of the summer.  Autumn is harvest time.  In Los Angeles it’s the peak time for capturing the results of summer storage.

BZ Peacock is now noticeably sweet.  It’s not entirely the sobering whiskey/tequilla of even a few months back.  The sweetness commingles with a bitter/dry mesquite and fleeting fruit notes.  A few infusions in, this fruit takes on the character of apple pie from slightly sweet and sour apples baked in a wood-fired oven.  The sour detected in couple previous sessions hides less now, though it doesn’t overpower the overall composition.  Altogether, it an impressive combination of dish detergent and laundry after a hike that included a campfire.

It’s not ashy or sooty.  Furthermore, it’s fair to make associations with kerosene and pencil shavings along with lemonene.  It’s still a little bit jagged, but that is how many people prefer their tea.  Comparing it to the Green Mark A, Wang Xia it is still a shade clumsy, like a tequila or whiskey you can tell that’s good but just needs a little more time.

The qi is still notably aggressive, particularly in the head.  It is very heady.  As far as other Xinghai productions go, the BZ Peacock is highly representative, though it may be a factor more intense.  It’s hard to say because all Xinghai productions around this time are burly and complex.  It’s price is certainly intense. . . presumably because of its qi and direct Peacock lineage.

 

Puerh Junky Visits Ox, 6FTM

Posted on by Yang-chu
12 Aug

Puerh Junky Visits Ox, 6FTM forms part of an on-going saga.  Perhaps the Ox has occupied more digital space than any of the other 6FTM Lunar Series offerings.  It made a quick cameo in a recent post on leaves, occasioning this update.  It’s included in the Six Famous Tea Mountain sample set of Sampler U and is also one of the few samples available from the 6FTM Lunar Series.  Enough with the preliminaries. . .

Flash Rinse

A total of 5.5g were placed in my 150ml slow-pour zisha teapot reserved for floral productions.  Compared with previous experiences, the Ox appears to have turned the corner in two regards: humidity and sweetness.  The humidity has now taken a significant backstage.  Even though one can detect the humidity, it is obvious that the microbial vibe is significantly less than what it was previously.  This concept is known as tuicang, though no intentional effort was made to retreat the humidity.  This is just the product of normal LA storage, no tinning or nuthin’ was involved.

Infusions 10 and 11? One minute soak.

Concomitant with humidity’s retreat arises sweetness heretofore absent.  It’s quite interesting how the sharper attributes have all softened with the emergence of the sweetness.  It’s not sugary sweet but it is sweet and mellow with a subtlety and character of a production that has been carefully aged.  Elegant and refined.

The huigan is stellar, evoking a sense of a sweet flower like honeysuckle.  If you know what you’re tasting for, you’ll find an interesting expression of the Fengqing terroir which was much more noticeable at an earlier stage and tends to be the overriding character with the Pig and Rat.  Most all Yunnan black teas (hongcha) hail from Fengqing.  That’s the note.  Now this note is much more inconspicuous, more in harmony with the Hekai and Jingmai material.

 

Two different angles of light demonstrate the marked differences in the same production at the same time of day.

The Ox presently at an early old stage, where most of the youth has aged out while the sweetness has emerged.  More intense brewing will give a bit of astringency on the tongue but the real gem is the floral huigan.  More intense brewing also magnifies the huigan.  Perhaps the qi to this is relaxing.  It certainly didn’t inhibit sleep as it was drink right before bed.  It’s fair to say that the Guangdong storage has taken a bit from the qi side of the production.

Heavier stored productions that leave a taste of the tea and not the effects of storage are very highly regarded by the Puerh Junky.  Needless to say that the transparency ranks highly as well.

 

Puerh Junky Visits Twin Dragons

Posted on by Yang-chu
11 Aug

Puerh Junky Visits Twin Dragons offers a quick review of an ’05 production from a factory listed in the Puerh Yearbook, Jianmin.  This is the first of Jianmin’s productions tried and was offered by a seller from whom I’d been buying since about ’18.  Their pickin’s have grown rather slim now and April ’21 was about the tail end of buying from them.  They tend to favour heavier storage but nothing ever requiring tuicang, 退仓.  Overall, Puerh Junky considers their storage consistently excellent, but definitely on the heavier side.

The feature foto was taken in Jun ’21.  Aug ’22 constitutes my second tasting.  Twin Dragons forms part of the cast included in the Menghai Terroir sampler set over at Sampler U.  It is in the dark register, not altogether dissimilar to the BZ Peacock in taste but even more complex.

Infusion 15?

I cannot recall which infusion that was.  Around 5.3g went into my tiny tomato pot, 90ml.  Each round stacked three infusions, all flashed.  Twin Dragon is durable, in other words.  There’s a bit of camphor that sneaks here and there in the mouth.  The overriding taste is wood, with compliments of incense and pencil shavings.  There’s a hint of bitterness but all the notes hit perfectly.

This is the same infusion along a different backdrop with the tiny pot I used.  Yes.  The clarity on this is excellent between 4 and 5 outta five through every infusion.  The texture is rich and coating.  Many people pick up on a mushroom note when drinking puerhs, which I usually don’t notice.  I’m not sure if it’s the humidity, those microbes, that they’re associating with mushrooms or something else.  In any case, the huigan and moments in the broth are extremely mushroomy.  This is definitely the mushroomiest production ever tasted.  It’s not the humidity either or the humidity is hitting perfectly with the wood.  It’s certainly not a dry production but there aren’t humid notes really jumping out either.  Like previously stated, that seller chooses the very best form of storage, also evident in the Yiwu Princess, Marquis du Green Mark, and Drury Lane.

Infusion 11?

One of the things with these woody productions is that they tend to be on the non-sweet side.  Twin Dragon is pleasantly sweet in such a way to balance the heavier notes.  It’s a really nice touch to such a complex offering.

First-rate clarity. Infusion 11?

I didn’t pick up much on the qi tip but while I type this, I’m still tasting the mushroom, oh yeah and there’s a cinnamon note too.  It’s so next-level complex that it’s actually a relief to not have to deal with the additional burden of a buzz.

Cashed leaves

That it for ’05 Twin Dragons and its fabulous turquois wrapper from Jianmin.

Puerh Junky Visits: Fujin Green

Posted on by Yang-chu
08 Aug

Puerh Junky Visits: Fujin Green is an update post regarding the ’09 offering from Fujin.  Puerh Junky has issued at least two missives about both this production in particular and the factory in general.   It’s hard to not roll one’s eyes when it comes to the expense of some of these boutique offerings, but so it is.  At the height of summer and humidity-plus storage, the thought occurred “why not dust off the ole PJRS for a serious evaluation.”

Fujin Green prompted a bit of thinking about the seasonality involved with natural storage.  Performance ebbs and flows in accordance with the seasons.  Right now, FG is at its best.  The aura surrounding Fujin factory becomes somewhat understandable upon opening the wrapper: strong waft of fruity and floral notes fill the nostrils.  The Henan storage gives the impression that the production is still young, five-years old at the most.  This youthfulness is evident throughout and there is a particular green note that is, putting it diplomatically, highly unusual in puerhs and certainly puerhs processed through traditional methods.  Fujin productions are processed by Xinghai factory so there’s little cause for suspicion about shiesty processing.

Infusion #1

At this age and given the general conditions, puerhs should have a bit of ferment to them.  This is not the case with the Fujin Green, also highly anomalous.  It fair to guess that it will go through such a stage but is still off by a year or two.  At its current stage in Aug ’22, it is the closest expression to a two-year-old puerh in the collection. . . ostensibly.  One of the features possibly distinguishing it from a young production, however, is that it drinks all the way through.  In other words, it never reaches a raw stage where it bottoms out indicating that it needs more curing time.  This happened in previous sessions.

Brewing

I decided on using 6.5g in my 150ml workhorse zisha pot.  The pot pours quickly and doesn’t clog easily.  Older and more tightly compressed cakes may take as much as eight grams, but that’s rare.  The usual amount is 7g for this pot, but judging from the smell, 7g seemed excessive.  I don’t like overleafing because it smashes the notes.  In retrospect, even 6.5g may have been too much.  Fujin Green overall pushes to the very edge of being too much.  Stunt drinkers, of which there seems no short supply, will definitely delight in drinking this.  I administered no rinse and flash infused each round.

Rating

After three rounds the total was as follows:

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

Reflections on Fujin Green

Fujin Green is intense.  It lives up to the reputation of the factory.  Each infusion differs a mite.  The character is certifiably Bulang/Banzhang, with an unapologetic bitterness.  The first infusion releases a high floral aroma, which could be easily associated with Jingmai material.  The taste in the the first infusion begins with citrus at the front of the tongue, then proceeds to vanilla mid tongue before finishing with vetiver.  For those unfamiliar with vetiver, it is a dark resinous essential oil with strong baby powder notes.

Infusion #2

The second infusion is much more intense and complex with prevailing notes of grapefruit seed and vanilla.  The liquor coats the mouth leaving the huigan of citrus, then vanilla, and finally that eau de Lick-a-Stix taste.  Pronounced piercing perfume (not vetiver but much higher) and vegetal green notes make their presence known, both quite hideous by the Puerh Junky’s reckoning.  The citrus fruit sourness and a balanced sweetness, offset those figurative flaws.

Second infusion was totally murky.  Both the first and third infusions were crystal clear. By the second infusion the ferocity of the qi became an issue.  The first pot went strait to the head but the second stirred raucously in the chest.

The citrus vibe continues into the third infusion, with the dreaded dry-sheet note making its presence known in the huigan.  Throughout each session the vaunted houyun resounds.  In other words, it’s throaty.  By this round, I was ready to tap out.  The qi has a character not altogether dissimilar from the BZ Peacock, despite being in totally different classes, FG being Floral Class and BZP being Tobacco Class.

Infusion #3

I also had suspicions about FG being a gut buster, which proved to be true.  I served up infusions 4-6 to a visitor who, drenched in sweat from the power, complained of this, stating that such was her experience with tea most of the time.  It was the first among our many sessions.  Gut-busting adds to the stunt-tea appeal. <<ahem>>

Conclusions

Fujin Green is an intense raw puerh most appropriate for the stunt tea drinker seeking young expression in a puerh well over 10 years old.  The huigan and qi are exceptional, and the sweetness is perfectly balanced in the context of the overall treasure itself.  It’s an outstanding production that lives up to the reputation that the factory projects.

96/105 A