Tag Archives: Pu erh Junky

Puerh Rating: AMT

Posted on by Yang-chu
20 Sep

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on the ’07 AMT, TL 100g tuo.  In my puerh junkocity, “one Tulin rating deserves another.”  The Acutal Mushroom Taste (hence AMT) tuo has been on hand since at the latest early ’16.  In contrast to the other two tuo from Tulin offered, it stands out for the absence of floral notes.  Though its notes are lower in the range, it has shown nothing of the transformative capacity of the White Tips.

After three rounds the total was as follows:

  • Aroma          10
  • Clarity            8
  • Sweetness     7
  • Viscosity         9
  • Astringency   11
  • Huigan          11
  • Qi                    7

Reflections

The words I wrote were “bitter, vegetal, floral.”  I clearly hated this experience.  It performs well in terms of viscosity and astringency, and there is no single category in which it doesn’t perform solidly.  Hence, it is a very well rounded everyday drinker. But I didn’t taste any mushroom.

The following day I had three very solid rounds from AMT and tasted the mushroom.  Interesting.  My reaction from a day earlier contradicts the introduction regarding lack of floral taste.  I generally do not associate the AMT with being floral.  Obviously, tastes change by the day affected by diet, climate, and context.  That’s why several sessions afford a much more accurate assessment than just one or two.

Conclusions

The PJRS surprises me.  By weighing the seven variables evenly, productions with a better all around performance will score higher relative much “better” puerh productions.  Such is the case for the AMT.  “Better” might be something purely subjective, so the rating scale helps to strip away subjective preferences around taste to simply see how the tea performs in terms of attributes that have some objective basis.

The AMT is a low risk, high reward introduction to semi-aged, semi-humid raw puerh tea.  Some have found its “qi-appeal” much higher than myself.  Puerh Rating RMT:

73/105, B

Ripe Puerh: Going Steady

Posted on by Yang-chu
08 Sep

I started Going Steady with ripe puerh rather by accident.  I prepare a pot of ripe for my wife in the morning, repeating the process daily till the leaves are cashed.  I started doing this in earnest about six weeks ago, testing each day’s pot for the differences.

Without exception, by Going Steady the experience was better in terms of richness, sweetness, and camphor expression.

King of Camphor and Clarity.

It’s an intensified form of transformation, the pot roasting of puerh, the slow-cooking of shou, the way to get that humid feeling, yeah that humid feeling.

Did I tell you that in Malaysia the only tea they drink is puerh? Well. . . and black tea made by Indians at stalls, but if you’re served tea, it’s puerh.  The best puerh I had in Malaysia was served to me in a glass tumbler, filled about half way with no leaves.  It was light, sweet, and camphory.  The other places all served the same tasteless ink.

It was a Muslim restaurant.  All kinds of other sugary drinks to order.   No doubt that puerh had been getting TTP in the Malaysian heat– and humidity– for years.  A tumbler no less.

Here’s the deal.  I’m at the place where if a ripe does not exhibit camphor notes then I consider it substandard.  The main reason that ripes do not exhibit the camphor they should is because they have been poorly stored. . . by not living in Malaysia and by not being neglected by Muslims.  Oh, I can assure you that the Chinese have plenty of puerh safely tucked away in climate-controlled coveys and warehouses, but the neglect is what creates the stress to cultivate the qi.

The only way to solve the Malaysia Problem?  GSM: Going Steady Method.

Tread lightly into GSM by opening the leaves the evening before your morning session.  If you like the results, stop half way and start up again the following day with the same pot.  Since everyday you’re infusing the tea, you’re keeping the right microbial balance.  At the same time, all the sugars and dynamic processes hidden away by dryness get a chance to develop through a nice slow cook.

Ripe puerh? Go Steady my friends.

 

Puerh Battle Sept 3, 2020

Posted on by Yang-chu
05 Sep

Los Angeles, Sept 3, 2020, the site of a Puerh Battle featuring two up-and-comers from ’07.  It’s the Hideout, LME vs the Bada Peacock, ZC.  Both puerh cakes have been likened to being mirrors of one another in terms of minerality.  Each one, however, untested in terms of aroma, viscosity, and qi.  LME claims that the Hideout has won some awards, while the Bada Peacock has shown itself to be a sweeter representative from the ’07 Kunming Tea Factory class.  How will the pugilistic puerhs fair?

Tale of Neifei

Hideout disrobes showing a neifei that is in the spirit of Fuhai and Dayi.  It has the look and feel of money.  The Bada comes out in the traditional Zhongcha red and white, utterly confident and exuding a sweet faintly fruity aroma.

This Puerh Battle was commissioned by and under the rules of the PRS and presided by the self-appointed official, the Puerh Junky.

Infusion #1

This battle went two rounds.  The looks here are not deceiving.  The Zhongcha Bada Peacock is noticeably darker.  Whereas hideout scored a “4” in terms of clarity its huigan and qi scores had it losing in the first round.  The decisive factor was the heavy “4” in viscosity the Peacock delivered.  The Peacock is rich, sweet, and round out the gate.

Infusion #2

Again it is evident that the Bada Peacock is darker, more mature.  In the second round the Hideout thought it could dazzle with sparkling clarity, “5”.  It overall scored better in the second round than it had in the first.  Bada’s viscosity also took a step back making matters interesting.  However, the leaves had opened up significantly, enough  that by the second round the huigan had improved considerably, “4”, while the qi also ticked up to “3”.

The final tally:  Hideout 39/70; Bada Peacock 46/70

The battle was not close.  The ’07 Zhongcha’s are really starting to come into their own.  It’s becoming increasingly clear that time and storage are hyper critical for these productions and that the difference between their youth and age is considerable. . . to state the obvious but have it really sink in.

Contrary to these findings, the market price for the Hideout has climbed to about three times that of the Bada.  Up about six fold from when originally purchased, it has climbed more than at least one offering I consider better but in an entirely different taste class. The Bada, on the other hand, is an uncommon ZC offering in terms of availability and mineral vibe.  This is mineral note is characterized by rocks and toothpaste.  Both have it and it’s a relatively rare expression in raws, where the Dayi wood and petrol vibe is so religiously imitated.  LME and ZC both tend toward Zen, so they are easy casual drinkers, while cryptic enough to hold your attention if you so choose to give it.

In the subsequent day of testing the two findings were similar, but I felt that there was a bottoming out on the Hideout demonstrated by metallic astringency and bitterness.  Interestingly, a week or so prior I had brewed the Bada with a friend using the tetsubin and he remarked upon what he felt was a displeasing metallic quality.  Don’t brew with a tetsubin unless you’ve practiced with its effects on your production before hand.

Stay thirsty my friends.

 

Puerh Junky Rating System

Posted on by Yang-chu
02 Sep

So in this past month of ’20 August, I devised the Puerh Junky Rating System (PRS).  The idea was to create a system where the most significant puerh rating variables could be tabulated.  It appears to be a robust system; productions that I consider to be exceptionally good, still haven’t maxed out.   Below, I shall elaborate.

Puerh Rating System

Rating puerh may not be as arbitrary as it appears.  There are established parameters that apply to tea as with any other thing that is consumed according to the traditional Chinese empirical and aesthetic standards.  This system is reflected in puerhs.  The particular variable of “durability” is omitted from the PRS since tests involve only three infusions in 150 ml gaiwan or pot.

Factors like “aroma”, “clarity“, and “huigan” are self-evident.  More of each is easily accounted for.  Conversely, “astringency” and “viscosity” are relative measures.  Some productions should be less viscous or more astringent given the overall character.  How this determination is made is more up to the tester.  The attribute of “qi” is easily the most subjective and most difficult to score.  Regarding qi, there is often a misconception that it relates solely to its “tea drunk” or “whole body” effects, which isn’t the case.  There is so much confusion about what the Chinese mean by “qi,” but suffice it to say it is some activity.  Gut busters have humongous qi, but it’s not desirable.  For what its worth, gut busters are NEVER offered on this site.  Qi is a quality in addition to an action.

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PRS) is a five-point scale.  Three on the scale marks average, whereas 2 and 4 reflect below and above the average respectively.  In the case of the “qi” rating, no average is assumed.  A rating of 1 doesn’t reflect a qi below any average, only that that is how much it was detected.  In the course of testing the PRS, often items received no mark at all.  It is usually very rare for the qi of a puerh to be detected in the first pot.

There are seven equally weighted variables totaling 35 points.  The three rounds combined offers a maximum of 105.  Let’s now look at the seven variables, outlined in the order in which they are usually evaluated.

  1. Aroma
  2. Clarity
  3. Sweetness
  4. Viscosity
  5. Astringency
  6. Huigan/Aftertaste
  7. Qi

By figuring the average of the three sessions for each of the seven variables, we can arrive at the following grading system.

  • 105 – 84 = A
  •   83 – 63 = B
  •   62 – 42 = C
  •   41 – 21 = D

What I’ve noticed is since the qi variable is very difficult to gain points on yet highly regarded that this grading system is fair and robust.  From the scale, which I’ll be using henceforth in listing of offerings, one will be more accurately be able to judge just how much of a steal an item is, as well as how much factory prestige and offering availability in China factors into pricing.

So far, I’ve been quite impressed by how my ratings affirm my general impression the puerh itself.  This is influenced very little by noise generated through connections and reputation.  The PRS looks to be a perfect compliment to narratives of tea experience.

Puerh Storage Take 2020

Posted on by Yang-chu
17 Aug

So on one of these tea pages to which I belong, some dude giving brewing advice confidently offered brewing Yiwus in porcelain. I had started making it a matter of rule to brew all young productions in gaiwan, and his suggestion made sense for that region.

Yiwu Sampler ’03-’05

There are many dogmatists who believe that puerh should only be drunk at such-and-such temp and only after 36 exhalations to the third star of Jupiter and only after a certain age, but my goal is to understand the production and the conditions that will bring the most of what it has to offer at the time being consumed.  For varying reasons this is not always possible. . . which brings us to a confession.

Many of you don’t know, but in certain circles I’m known as The Tea Punisher (TTP for short or Ole Dirty TTP). The productions I hate the most, I subject to the most abuse, leaving them about to weather the harsh chaparral climes of LA proper.

10th infusion of our ’05 puerh gem

I punish them; it gets as cold as 47 sometimes, the humidity down to 30.  It’s not that I like being TTP.  It’s just that I have an ever-growing stash vying for position in finite container space.  Container space must be earned, but I may soon be changing my tune given my eight-year synthesis on the subject, . . .  which I would only consider in the hypothesis phase, . . .  meaning that I am now experienced enough to share findings over a enough time.  For starters, even here in Los Angeles, where I keep the doors open often, indoor storage is not as good as outdoor.

Three Storage Types

I have been running three storage types, roughly associated with how precious I consider the production.

  • Dead Refridgerator (DR)– this is the most climate controlled.
  • Food-grade Rubber Containers (FRC) — medio o en extrema
  • TTP– In the open in the Batcave where the rest are snuggled.

I’ll cut to the chase.  The TTP “stored” tea is undoubtedly superior to the DR and at the very least equal to FRC.  Here’s where we can see a pattern.  DR storage is more like indoor storage.  The verdict is out on whether FRC is superior to TTP.  The former is more controlled in terms of humidity and open air exposure.  Humidity can climb to well above the ambient humidity and the heat can be much higher as well.  On the other hand, wild daily fluctuations in humidity provides a stress of a different nature.

Much attention has been placed on temperature and humidity in terms of storage, but if those were the only variables affecting tea, then Penang, Malaysia theoretically should have the best puerh in the world.  Yet, I didn’t quite come away feeling that way.

The fact is that the TTP method is the absolute inverse of a controlled environment.  My views are ambivalent.  There can be no doubt that the TTP method sacrifices aroma, but for productions void of aroma this is not an issue.  The conditions are safely averaging in the 55-75 range irrespective of season.  In most older productions fragrance plays a smaller role.  Therefore punishment comes at less of a cost.  Smoky productions will similarly be tamed earlier than where it cannot air out.  Tightly pressed cakes should be hardly fazed by the extremes.  In the next post I’ll discuss TTP as it relates to a particular cake that stuck me as noteworthy on a few levels.

 

Puerh Junky’s First Half of 2020 Best Five Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
28 Jul

Just thinking about the puerhs I’m most avoiding drinking because I like them so much, and well because there’s still so many of these other rascals to check up on.  I know they say that it’s a bad thing to go by the wrapper; but who are they?  Really.  I ask.  Is anything really even more important in puerh than the wrapper?  Really?!  I ask.  Of course not!  So what I’m saying is that below is a listing of the five most irresistible puerh wrappers to my mind over the last six plus months.  First the honorable mentions:

Honorable mention #1: ’10 Tiger, MK— They came out with two types of Lunar New Year productions at least this year.  I just sold the last one and I’m pretty shaken.  I was very proud to have found that wrapper.  The raw material of the paper was nothing to sneeze at either.  A production aged magnificently with still some sharp floral notes but coated in deep tones that I associate with root beer.  Such a find.

Honorable mention #2: ’05 Tulin Tuo 250g– That bastard is pricey.  Quite similar to the ’07 6FTM production.  Tulin is hands down the most underrated factory.  Their paper and boxes are the best around. I’ve had this longer than the ’07 but both are effectively new.  Striking is that the ’07 bears maturation a good five to eight years older than to be expected for its size.  The ’05 Tulin Tuo is about where you’d expect given good storage.

250g Tulin raw

Honorable mention #3: ’05 Fohai, 6FTM– I have a few of their tuo which are quite old and very bland no matter how long I steep them.  This cake is positively one of the best I’ve ever tasted in the floral category.   The pitch is high but not sharp.  Not perfumy like jasmine, Jingmai, or many spring teas.  Sharpness is what I associate with the 6FTM house taste, certainly their Lunar Series.  Not this.  It’s bright and soft at the same time.  Very special.  The “Fo” of Fohai is Buddha, so I thought that would be a good wrapper.  This puerh easily could have been in the top five but listing the same factory twice starts to look suspicious.  Besides, I like productions with darker notes.  This is going to be bright floral to its very end.

The “Don’t Even think about it“– I’ve thrown the fake 8582 out of my working memory, even though I’m mentioning it here.  Yeah it had the perfect fake wrapper and a great neifei, which is why I bought it. Yes.  I only bought a tea for the fake neifei.  That qualifies me as faux Puerh Junky, it seems.  Anyway, there hasn’t been a person who has not been brought to their knees by the power of its qi. “Luke, I am your father!”  I don’t even think about it because I don’t want to feel wistful about not having it around.

And now the list– drum roll

#5 —’12 Ripe Brick, XG— Classic gongting material, this comes on with a rush and vanishes just as quickly. Rich, sweet, Guandong stored, dark red beauty. Wickedly lush body feel.

#4– ’12 Peacock Ripe, LME— LME is my new fav in terms of ripes. I have never detected any vegetal notes.  Richness is solid without any paper notes.  Sweet without distracting fruitiness.  Holds up infusion after infusion.

#3– ’08 Imperial Roots— The three of us were sitting in the kitchen. They were yammering but had the time to remark how very good the tea was.  I’m ecstatic watching this XG production mature.  It was flawless in my new pot.

#2 — ’07 Lunar Series II, SFTM— I basically just got this and I’m crushed. It screams outside its wrapper, as if doused in gasoline spiked with peppermint.  I didn’t know 6FTM could do such things.  It’s very naughty.  The wrapper is a destroyer!

1. ’02 Green Mark, “GPE”— I don’t know whether my hate or dread is greater. . . actually it’s dread.  This is a deadly production also newly acquired.  It reminds me of what my ’01 “7532” Du Qiongzhi production is approaching, but this is already there. It’s like drinking tequila.  You might not like it but you know the well-crafted stuff compared to the mass product.  Come to think of it, this Green Mark is quite a bit like tequila.  I had been thinking whiskey.  Taste aside, the qi is Mike Tyson.  Never had I been knocked out in the first round and the same happened in the rematch the following day.  It took me eight days to get through 6g.

The quest for wrapper continues.

Peacock Puerh Brick Tasting

Posted on by Yang-chu
26 May

In my previous missive reference was made to the Liming TF, which prompted my tasting of their ’06 Peacock Puerh Brick.  It has a classic lemon, smoke, and petrol aroma. . . not necessarily in that order.  Whereas many tuo and brick require bionic strength to extract the right amount, the Peacock Brick is pressed in a manner that would please even Goldilocks.

What I had mentioned was that Liming bricks contrast greatly from the general personae of their cakes.  The latter is aggressively floral, and even as they age the flowers still punch you in the face.  The bricks, on the other hand, possess a deep tonality that is of a wider in range: vanilla, citrus, petrol, tobacco.

The Peacock Puerh Brick is a tobacco class production, I suppose, but compares more favourably to dark spirits like spiced rum or brandy.  It’s too sweet for whiskey but has that smoky quality.  The petrol taste here is more interesting than in other puerhs I’ve tasted, in part due to the sweetness of the material.  Also, the absence of any bitterness with an assuring measure of astringency makes for a rounded drinking experience.

Infusion Three 20s

The quality of Liming puerh material tends to be very good and this brick is no exception.  This is evident in the richness of taste, without any jaggedness that requires future storage.  At the same time, as it stores its shining attributes continue to develop.  One of these is its qi.

The qi of the Peacock comes on in the mouth with smooth roundness before a rush enters the chest.  Then an overall calming extends from the chest out to the limbs.  Without the ensuing calming, this production would be too abrasive, not in terms of taste, which is perfect, but in terms of excessive excitement of the nervous system.  Still, I wouldn’t have this after 3 pm.

Just a final comment about bricks. . . They’re kinda neglected.  Recent trend has been to produce smaller cakes than to offer bricks.  Maybe this is aesthetics.  The smaller-sided productions naturally age at a faster rate than larger cakes– all things being equal.  A 250g brick from ’07 for example, is older than a 357g cake from ’05– all things being equal.  This often means that bricks offer a unique aged-puerh experience without much of the fanfare directed to cakes.  The Peacock presents well beyond a standard usually confined to bricks.

Puerh Vessel Variants: Imperial Roots

Posted on by Yang-chu
07 Apr

Lately, I’ve been on a gaiwan kick, essentially testing my puerh vessel hypothesis.  It goes something like this: raw puerhs younger than ten years old are generally better in a gaiwan and those older are generally better in clay.  The hypothesis has generally held true for puerhs younger than ten, but I needed to test those older.  Hence, Puerh Vessel Variant: Imperial Roots.

Imperial Roots has been newly christened.  Formerly called  “Gift Box,” such a drab name did this ’08 XG production more than a bit of a disservice.  I started with the gaiwan:  disappointingly flat.  I’ve been drinking this puerh since ’16.  It started out very pepperminty and now has advanced to the vaunted . . . well, it the gaiwan actually there no “vaunt” of any sort.  This was quite surprising because I’d never had a bad session with it.  This was why I knew it was the brewing vessel and not the puerh production itself.

Brewing Imperial Roots in my bell pepper blue clay pot rendered the perfect puerh experience.  Those just starting out might feel that the attention given to teaware is kind of a put on, but it isn’t.  There’s a mysterious alchemy that occurs between leaf and clay.  For some reason, this commingling detracts from young puerh but for old it has the opposite effect.

Bell Pepper Pot with the ’01 GM Puerh

One thing, clay adds volume.  Think of hair mousse.  With young productions, volume isn’t an issue because as with anything young you know it lacks experience.  You’re generally looking for vivaciousness and and purity.  When something you know to be older lacks depth, the experience quickly falls flat because you’re looking for the complexity.  The gaiwan will generally do a poor job of unveiling this complexity.

A treasure like Imperial Roots needs brewing in clay.  It’s not optional.  It doesn’t have to be the fanciest clay by a long shot, but it is essential.  All of the attributes that make it a pleasure only come out in clay.  We’re talking about the sweetness, thickness, mineral notes, the camphor, and yes the vaunted vanilla and root beer.  I cringe at the prospects of someone brewing it in a gaiwan– positive sacrilege!

Just some additional observations about Imperial Roots puerh here in April 2020.  All of the peppermint candy of previous years is gone.  All of the notes are a good octave lower than what they used to be.  This production is trending in an unmistakably desirous direction.

Puerh Tea Report 2020

Posted on by Yang-chu
12 Mar

As the new puerh tea begins to hit the market, it might be interesting to reflect upon recent developments, so here it is your Puerh Tea Report 2020.  Naturally, items and factories in the Puerh Junky’s stash will be the focus.  Ripe puerh will be given a bit of attention, with the bulk on raws.

Ripe Puers

The year 2019 had the Puerh Junky bidding a fond farewell to the ’06 Boss Tuo, an item that scored highly on every count.  I’m furiously searching for its replacement, something with the same explosive camphor notes and sweetness, along with a the deep tones of humid storage.  It’s larger brother with the same name doesn’t hold a candle to it; storage plays such a critical role in the expression of a production that it is usually impossible to tell that the same material under different conditions are actually the same.

Anyway, Xinghai (XH) and Zhongcha (ZC) have formed the backbone of the ripe stash.  Surprisingly, the Silver Peacock, XH has held relatively stable, with older productions, say before ’14, rising in price rather incrementally compared to ZC’s 7581 brick, which is now about three times the ’16 price.  Interestingly, the Lunar series has averted the frenzy, so constitute a relatively good value.  After years of being virtually overlooked, the ’06 “55” has started an advance.  This is ZC’s (aka CNNP/KMTF’s) best ripe production.  I expect that this will be the last year that it will be available from any vendors on the Chinese side.

Aside from these two factories, another general observation concerns ripe bamboo productions.  To wit: bamboo ripe productions have appreciated considerably more than ripes as a whole.  Puerh Junky has one ripe bamboo offering that is exceptionally clean and bright, with hints of humidity and cinnamon.

Raw Puerhs

The world of raw puerhs has been more dynamic.  Generally, it seems the smaller productions like tuo, bricks, and small cakes have averted the frenzy of cakes.  Since ’16 ZC’s new offerings have been handsomely priced.  One exception has been the Lunar Series but that looks to have come to an end this year, with about an 70% increase in price over last year.  The weird thing is that the older productions, those that can be found, are still priced along earlier lines.

Factories like LME (Lao Man E) and GPE (Gu Puerh) have held steady, so they constitute relative steals.  The only exception is ’07 Hideout, which in just one year appreciated more than 200%.  A more than reasonable alternative to it is the 2008 Gift Puerh, which has the same sweetness and camphory goodness.  Up until this year, there were still quite a number of very good Tulin productions that were plain ole cheap, but not so much anymore.  Oh well.

Though there may be exceptions, the scene with LM (Liming), YPH (Yangpin Hao), and 6FTM (Six Famous Tea Mountains) has been hawt to say the least.  YPH prides itself as a top-tier purveyor of Yiwu productions.  Prices for their older  productions (before ’12) have essentially trebled in the past year and a half.  For those keen on the Yiwu Zen vibe do not seem to have been deterred.  I must confess that much about brand is going into the pricing, as I find productions like the ’07 LME Spring Puerh every bit as tasty if not more so.   Some LM productions have consistently been favoured by collectors, but there are still plenty that are quite tasty priced quite reasonably, in the $55-$75 range.  Newer productions, however, are now in the ZC range.

As for 6FTM, well it isn’t a factory that I pay much heed to, with the exception of their Lunar Series.  This is because I’m not the craziest about Fengqing puerhs.  That said, I did take a liking to the their Lunar Series for their v. fancy wrappers.  Others have been very keen on the big taste and a big qi that’s made believers of even the greatest of qi skeptics.  Anyway, this series has turned out to be of great interest to collectors and as a result even the late productions like the Ram and Snake are now sold at near 10 times their original sale price– if you can find them.  The ‘05 Jingmai “003” is actually on par in terms of ferocity and qi at a fraction of the 6FTM Lunar Series prices.  The factory that makes the “003” specializes in very aggressive productions not altogether dissimilar from LM’s cakes.  However, the raw material seems even better.  The ’10 Tiger, for example, which sold out this year showed remarkable transformation from when it was first acquired.  It ripened from a bright pineapple-like monster into a husky root beer in the first two infusions before gradually fading into its original greenness.

Enough with the nostalgia for now.   Hope you find this missive somewhat helpful as you continue your own puerh tea pursuits.

Cheers,

PJ.

 

Ripe Puerh Gaiwan Challenge: Day IV

Posted on by Yang-chu
25 Dec

For day IV of the Ripe Puerh Gaiwan Challenge, I reached for the ’14 Macau Puerh Brick.  Whereas I felt that the gaiwan muted the vegetal notes of the ’07 Mushroom Tuo, those same notes seem ever more present in the Macau Puerh Brick.

The gaiwan effect for this ripe puerh doesn’t seem as noticeable as with some of the previous samples.  Even after revising this production the following day I didn’t catch much change.  There is no pushing the Macau Puerh Brick beyond any acceptable point.  The aftertaste is long and vegetal.  There are no deep or humid notes detectable.  The glass vibe might be the most prevailing attribute.