Tag Archives: peacock 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.

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

Puerh Junky Discusses Peacocks

Posted on by Yang-chu
06 May

Puerh Junky Discusses Peacocks because in the course of searching for interesting Xinghai productions, the Peacock comes up often.  Well, while looking at interesting pictures I clicked upon a site heretofore unknown to me that serves up a bevy of interesting articles.  One of them read An Explanation of the Banzhang Ecological Big Cabbage, and Peacock Series; Banzhang Old Tea Big and Small Cabbage (班章生态茶之大白菜·孔雀系列详解！班章老茶之大小白菜！).

In it, the role of the founder of Jindafu, He Baoqiang, is discussed in light of the emergence of the “organic” and “green” certifications.  These certifications were marked by a cabbage seal.  Long story short, the Banzhang shengtai materials that Mr He produced in cooperation first with Menghai TF and subsequently Xinghai became known as Big Cabbage and Peacock, the former because of the certification insignia and the latter the wrapper.

Big Cabbage Insignia

Now it may be just a coincidence but if it is, that sir name He seems to be extremely common among the well-regarded puerh.  Curiously, the pricey Fujin also has a similar Dayi and Xinghai history and their founder also bears the sir name He.  There is also a Mr He Shihua who is recognized as a tea meistro who is commissioned in the making of a few productions, has productions listed in the Puerh Yearbook, and has even ascended to the level of having some of those productions faked.

Here, copycatting must be distinguished from fake.  One of He Shihua’s production line is unmistakable, featuring red traditional Dai tribal script along a white backdrop.  I acquired one such production, not because of any He Shihua awareness at the time, but because it was from Gupuer, a factory I follow.

Here, we have a copycat because Mr He’s name doesn’t appear on the wrapper and the GPE logo is emblazoned within the ring of bazhong.  Fakes, also known as tiepai, don’t have their own logo.  Years later when I stumbled upon Mr He through searches on Fujin, I ran into this wrapper without any logo but essentially similar enough to create confusion were one haphazardly scouting for He’s productions.  This doesn’t entirely resolve the matter.

From its early days, GPE commissioned some heavy hitters in the production of offerings, sold during the early naughts under the bazhong wrapper.  It is quite plausible that the wrapper above from ’13 is actually a reflection upon both their Zhongcha and He Shihua history.  The jury is still out.  This is a huge but worthwhile digression as wrappers are often telling a story that eludes those of us with only a scad of knowledge about the history.  Here we’ll depart from the He part of the discussion to address a couple peacocks in the Puerh Junky Collection: the BZ Peacock and the Peacock Brick.

BZ Peacock and Peacock Brick

The BZ Peacock’s real name is BZ Old Tree.  If you recall the opening paragraph about the title referenced, the name BZ Old Tree should ring a bell.  The name BZ Peacock was only given to reference the wrapper, but clearly Xinghai was varying a theme in which it played no small role in developing.  Xinghai has quite a few of these peacocks from this era. Here’s a pic of the one most highly prized, the Banzhang King:

The presentation here is iconic Xinghai.  The peacock is an image that is used by several other factories, Xiangming and Du Qiongzhi’s Pengcheng to name just two.  The center varies from one factory to the next and you can see Xinghai’s logo in this one.  Usually, the images will read Peacock Country at the bottom.  It’s the Puerh Junky’s guess that this Peacock Country logo references the Dai hill tribe/nationality, but this is only a guess.

Here’s the same icon but at the bottom reads Silver Peacock, the name of the production. It doesn’t appear that in terms of the vaunted peacocks that ripes factor at all.  That makes sense, as ripes by and large are not taken very seriously no matter how good or expensive they become.

’06 BZ Peacock

At least some of the vaunted peacocks are noted for possessing a smoky character.  In fact, it appears that these were the productions that put smoke on the map, something that seems strange since Xiaguan is known for their smoky offerings.  Perhaps it has something to do with smoky productions from Banzhang and the Bulang region more broadly.

Factoring greatly into the fame of the peacocks has to be qi, though I’ve not read anything about this.  When the name Banzhang comes up instantly there are expectations, positively none which interest the Puerh Junky.  Once queried about whether I thought the BZ Peacock had real BZ, I replied that I didn’t care because I only got it for the wrapper from a factory I follow.  It should be noted, however, that among those who have tasted it and are not inclined to comment upon the qi, remarks were volunteered about how “warming” it was.  Onto the brick.

Recent discoveries on the vaunted peacocks has afforded the Puerh Junky even greater appreciation for Liming’s Peacock Brick, which bears neither the shengtai nor gushu additions.  There’s no reference to BZ either.  It does have the smoke, however.  It also possesses great sweetness, texture, and durability that distinguishes it from most ripe bricks.  The smoke is not heavy and there’s no char effect.

Here’s a write up on my qi experience with the Peacock brick.  I originally picked it up in ’15 and after the few I had for offer were snatched up by one buyer, more was purchased in ’19 at more than twice the ’15 price.  Perhaps the peacock craze started to sift down into other factories beyond Dayi and Xinghai.  After my readings, I decided to check the box for any telltale signs tying it to “the peacocks.”

Little Cabbage Insignia

There it is.  The haloed cabbage insignia, the independent verification of being a “green product,” which certifies legit production and environmental standards but not the soil, a step down from but often a stage toward organic.  In short, this little Peacock Brick checks all the boxes for being a legit peacock.

Wrap up

Aside from tasting for yourself, this post should go quite a distance in shedding light upon the subject of famous peacocks from the naughts.  A nice tidbit on the origins of the Jindafu and Mr He Baoqiang tied in Xinghai’s role in the formation of a now legendary series copied far and wide.  Finally, Liming got its two-cents worth in as to why it at least deserves a seat at the table among its more celebrated relatives.

Bada Peacock: Hot to Trot

Posted on by Yang-chu
15 Feb

This just in: As of February 2022, the Bada Peacock is Hot to Trot.  Some time ago, the Puerh Junky did a side-by-side with Hideout.  Well, the Bada has left the Hideout in the dust.  At the time of that review, the Bada had a copper twang.  It’s no longer there.

Kunming TF productions aim for Zen.  The Bada Peacock is no exception.  There’s no bitterness here, nor any astringency.  Giving the leaves a good 15m soak and there is still zero of either.

In all its Zen, one thing distinguishing the BP from some of the other KMTF/Zhongcha offerings is its complete deviation from that fruit undertone so easily associated with the flagship jiaji (甲级), i.e., Top Notch Tuo, but also evident in the HK Returns, Water Blue Mark, and emerging in the Thick Zen, and presumably to appear in the Beijing Olympics and the still very young Mangosteen, a rough customer despite being from ’07 leaves before being pressed in ’12 (As an aside, it should be noted that HK Returns cake is still in a burly phase.).

Most ZC productions from ’06-’14 do not specify region or village, as the emphasis during this era was still on recipes, mostly some combo of eastern Lincang and Menghai/Bulang.  In this regard, BP is unique. The taste is pure rock sugar.  It’s very, very, sweet and this sweetness never wanes.

Ephemeral and ineffable.  You could drink and drink the Bada Peacock trying to figure it out.  The light floral note offers a nice accent to an sugary treat that doesn’t require much thought for an offering’s that’s hot to trot.

House Mark Puerhs

Posted on by Yang-chu
21 May

Today I drank the ’07 HK Returns 100g tuo and got to thinking about House Mark Puerhs.  It’s a hard thing to get one’s finger on it, but it exists, so why don’t I explain through the HK tuo.

The year 2007 marked the production of many Zhongcha series.  I just recently learned the English is simply “China Tea,” as so clearly present on many wrappers, I suppose.  I’ve not noticed to be honest, though maybe so on products from the past year or two.

Many of the ’07s I’ve tasted are offered.  I continue to gather them.  Some of them are exceptional, but over all what stands out is the consistency from one production to the next.  The HK Returns tuo embodies the Zhong Cha raw taste, which surprisingly enough is soft and fuzzy.  Presumably that taste is the presence of Lincang material.

This taste can range from pencil shavings and wax to peach fuzz.  It is not harsh or abrasive.  There’s fruitiness.  They can be drunk young but by all accounts even at 13 years, most of them still strike me as being quite young.  I’ve personally been storing this tuo since ’16 and were it served to me blind I’d guess this production in the ’12-14 range.

2018 Shot

7th Infusion May 2020

I felt by the seventh infusion that the production was starting to bottom out, flatness astringency.  The two prior were sweet and playful, more so than is typical of the Kunming Tea Factory (aka KMTF, zhongcha).  At the same time there is some citrus reminiscent of the ’14 Jade Mark.  There’s no tobacco, fire, roast, smoke, leather, chicken as with Xiaguan.

Overall, the Zhongcha profile is quite Zen, raw or ripe.  There’s wood vanilla Zen, wax Zen, playful Zen, like the HK Returns tuo, or the why-the-fk-you-serve-me-water Zen.  There’s an ’07 HK Returns iron cake that is bursting with the taste and aroma of black grapes, very much an outlier even within a series comprised of a tuo, 100g square, 250g brick, a raw and ripe 357g cake.  I’ve sampled a few and it’s hard to believe that each shape consists of the same material and the factory and those who know aren’t saying or don’t think it bears mentioning.

It makes sense that some houses would vary style based on production shape.  I’ve seen this to be a clearer objective with Liming than any other factory.

Ripe Puerh Gaiwan Challenge Day One

Posted on by Yang-chu
21 Dec

It’s damn cold these past few days so I’m going with ripe puerh more than usual.  It dawned on me that perhaps a ripe puerh gaiwan challenge was in order.  For the next five days, I figure to sample some ripes and offer my impressions.  We’re starting with the ’07 Silver Peacock, XG.

The ’07 Silver Peacock, XG is already a very Zen ripe puerh.  Brewing in the gaiwan mutes a certain zing imparted by the clay.  At the same time, certain fruit notes that have been remarked upon by others was more evident.  The most surprising aspect of the experience was the contrast between the Zen broth and the strength of the lingering aftertaste, which is deeply satisfying and calming.  The experience seemed lighter than in my clay pot.

 

Two Puerh Peacocks from ’07

Posted on by Yang-chu

These two puerh peacocks couldn’t be more different from one another.  The ’07 Bada is complex, minerally, medicinal, sweet, and floral.  The ’07 Peacock is pure Zen, thick and wheatie with almost no taste.

Both brew to a rich golden hue.  The leaves of Peacock are considerably larger.  It also has more froth than the Bada, but to call it frothy would be an overstatement.  Astride a slight sweetness is a pinch of bitterness, quite similar to Sweet-n-low.  Overall, it possesses a character similar to a roasted barley tea, only thicker and sweeter.

The Bada is in company with some older spring teas in the Junky’s collection, such as the ’05 Peacock Puerh, LM, ’06 Gold Ribbon Tuo, XG and the ’05 Yiwu, YPH.  However, the Bada’s taste is altogether more complex.  There’s some mild camphor and sweet cinnamon notes.  The aged floral huigan is noteworthy and lingers.  You can smell the cinnamon too.

Pushing the Bada in later infusions only makes the brew thicker.  It never bottoms out, as signified by a bitter-metalic taste. The spice notes gain prominence the further one advances in the session.

Puerh Cashed Leaves:
Left: Peacock; Right: Bada

It is not possible to say that one production stands head-and-shoulders over the other.  They’re not comparable, because they fall into different classes.  The Peacock is in the Zen class.  As far as some similar Zhongcha productions, like the Blue Mark, it is even better tasting and a superior value, a diamond in the rough.  The Bada falls into a category that I might most associate with the ’08 Gift Puerh, from Xiaguan, at least as far as some of the mineral notes are concerned, but as noted above old flowers and spice figures prominently.  It is quite in a class of it’s own.

Tasting Notes on the ’06 Peacock Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu

The dry wiff of the ’06 Peacock brick is evocative of 7536.  In a heated pot I caught some veggie notes that I associate with some ripes.  I’m going with a little less than 7g in my eggplant pot.  A few minutes sitting, another wiff after the first rinse.  Vanilla and spice.

The first infusion is a bright gold and that vegetal note is quite present.  Water’s at 212, so I gave it only 10s.  Rock sugar sweet, with an instant “gan” effect at the front sides of the tongue.  It’s striking me as being more numbing than astringent.  As it cools some of that vegetal is present.  Just opening up.

First infusion 10s

Smell of wood smoke is immediately evident in the second round.  It initially reminded me of this:

By the third 7s infusion the color is decidedly more solid.  A bit of froth worked up but vanished fairly quickly.  There’s some tiny bubbles now.  I put in two chunks.  It is pressed nicely.  A suitable amount can be either flecked or chunked.  I’m noticing a lot more minerality now.  There’s now no mistaking the taste of camphor.  No real aftertaste to speak of beyond the feint essence of petrol.

The cold pot smells like pencil shavings.  The fifth infusion has more root beer flavour, evocative of the Mengku Tiger.  I think as it cools the root fades to pencil.

Infusion 5 of Peacock Brick

The Mengku Tiger has more spring material: floral and root beer, which I’m not picking up on in the 6th.  It’s lightened up quite a bit in terms of thickness and is on the other side of froth.  “How does a pot of pencil shavings strike you old chap?”  A very complex blend of medicine, bitter, sweet, smoke, and petrol.  Astringency picks up here.

Overall, quite friendly and dynamic.  Not what my sources of dejavoyance said.

 

 

LM Square Puer: Reflections

Posted on by Yang-chu

Let’s do a bit of a retrospective through some photos of the ’06 LM Square.  Pretty harmless looking box.  LM stands for Liming Tea Factory.  One of their brands is Ba Jiao Ting.  The names can be used interchangeably.  Here’s a link to write-ups and products related to this factory.

I want the pictures to do the talking:

At the very least there were two pressings of this production ’06 and ’07.  The best pressing is shown above.  The level of detail is exquisitely expressed here.  Other pressings, though they may taste identical by my standards is decidedly of poorer quality.

Here’s the reverse side.  I just talked about the compression yesterday.  Below is a shot from two years ago.  I didn’t specify which infusion.  Notice how turbid it is in terms of clarity.  Lotsa tasty stuff in there.

Since I know it is a brick, I engaging with it on different terms from a cake.  Sorta like the difference between consume and stew.  Bricks and tuo tend to fall into the stew category.  Stewed fruit to be precise.

’06 LM Square, 10th Infusion

This is a shot taken in late Aug of ’18.  I guess my record keeping is getting better.  Let’s look some more.

Cashed leaves take one.

Here’s from two years ago.

Really tough to differentiate.  One thing I notice is that the shot from June of ’16 has more bitsy material.  I’d rather go with a chunk 10g than to have precisely 7.5g of bits.  No bueno.  If the production comes apart easily, that’s a different story.  In general, we’re not drinking matcha.

I came to Liming because many of their productions possess a peacock emblem.  My peacock category is not just with peacocks or “phoenixes.”  Many cakes boast of being from Peacock Country.  Among those in the know, these are unassailable braggin’ rights.   Pengcheng and Xinghai also avail themselves of this reference.  In terms of consistent high standard, Liming is the best among them.

 

Smooth as Glass: ’07 Thick Zen, CNNP

Posted on by Yang-chu

9th Infusion

The ’07 Thick Zen is smooth as glass.  At room temperature, very subtle camphor notes are detectable.  Overall, however, Zen is an apt description of this middle-aged puerh.  Juicy Zen: feint fruitiness, wheat, and a gentle old taste without any hint of any off odors or stale storage.  It smells a bit like a horse stable dry.  Wet more like lightly roasted barley, what they call “ku-qiao.”

The qi of the Thick Zen is very much in the stomach.  It really stimulates the appetite pre-meal and post-meal produces a warming ball of heat in the stomach.  Over all the qi is quite relaxing and seems quite a bit stronger in terms of these effects after eating than before a meal.

12th infusion 3 minutes

Even pushed it exhibits neither bitterness nor excessive astringency.  Part of it has to do with being very moderately pressed even for a CNNP ’07 production.  The photo doesn’t do it justice in terms of just how transformed this here’s a shot of the cashed leaves anyway.

To the naked eye the cashed leaves look much redder.  Anyhoot, the transformation is coming along nicely.