Tag Archives: Pu erh Junky

Latest 19年 中秋: Puerh Hoarding

Posted on by Yang-chu
04 Sep

Many people write upon “puerh hoarding.”  Let me join the fray.  Most of these items will be available eventually, but they’ll have to sit for a year or so and by then I’ll have pretty much forgotten about them.  Thence, this is more or less a logging the reason for Chinese characters in the title.

Today I got three Du Qiong-zhi’s ’03 7542 from a different vendor from the first.  At first blush, I don’t like the storage as much.  I’m apprehensive, as the other, Guandong, was offensive but in the right wet storage way.  This one not so much.  I don’t think after the dank wears off that it will have as much life to the leaves.  I have a Mengku Rongshi Daxue Shan from ’06 that strikes me as being quite similar.  A Simao ’03 7542 struck me as being quite similar, but seems to have been fearsome enough to overcome its storage.  The Du Qiong-zhi is definitely fierce.

Since I try to keep attuned with ripes, I was curious whether the ’06 Langhe Tuo of 250g was as good as the 100g offering of the same name but the latter with the magnificent peacock and an individually packaged round box.  As an admission, the peacock box offering was under Guandong conditions.  The 250g offering has been under Kunming conditions.  There’s little comparison at this juncture.  Time will tell, but for the record the peacock box is one of the best finds in the stash.   I will say, however, that there’s still the crystal clarity and beauty in the 250g.  Look for updates.

I had the ’09 Gongting for fully two years before I could make a pronouncement about it’s value.  When I could, I tracked it down.  I got it when I was in Kunming back in ’17.  These have been dry and very tidily stored.  I’m impressed.  I know it will be repulsive now, but at least not because of its storage.  Besides, I already know what it is and its damn good.

I have a vendor whose taste and storage I trust, so I bought a tong of an Yiwu from ’03.  They have a high regard for the gentility of YPH and I broke my cherry on the Dahongyin from ’99 or so with them.  I’m still sitting on that.  When I first got it, it was mellow enough.  Now it has some manner of explosive dankness, even under moderate storage.  I’m thinking.  The Yiwu changed in a matter of four days, from good enough to a lively, minerally, humid-stored promise.  I’ve got their ’03 YPH 200g tuo, which is exquisite.  The YPH mo is decidedly Zen and floral.  They’re not as evasive as Manzhuan productions but close.

Yesterday, I gave a patient a 7g sample of the ’11 Fruit Monster by GPH.  I sampled it as well on my own.  It’s not nearly as smoky and the fruit notes didn’t jump either.  However, the patient reported to me that she noticed the fruit notes, entirely unsolicited.  GPH is short for GuPuer, which is the new name for the Simao TF, one of the classic numbered factories.  Let’s say #5, maybe #7.  It’s one of the factories that I find interesting enough to follow.  Their ’05 Organic Brick is capturing my fancy presently.  Shared it today with a patient who like it over a ripe that I was quite enamoured with.

Made my first Haiwan/Laotongzhi purchase.  I got it because it has the tea master’s signature on it, Zou Bing-liang.  It’s also purported to have the cinnamon vibe.  I’ve tasted it a couple times.  It’s from ’06 and still needs a spell, no particularly negative views, rather fruity.  I only have one of these avail.  Storage is inoffensive, on the dry side.  I’ve no cause to be anything other than optimistic, though it is mighty dry.

The octagonally shaped ’10 Nanzhao by Xiaguan is stupid good, but it takes much punishment to get there.  It has this horrible dank that makes it undrinkable before its ready.  Many XG productions have this.  It’s not smoky like others, just putrid.  Then it blossoms into its extravagance.  I’m not selling this not because I’m hoarding, but because storage is crucial to proper appreciation. The ’08 Gift Box has the same name.  I don’t think they’re the exact same.  In any case, I’ve been cooking in LA storage since ’16.

Puerh Study, Not Hoarding

Though there is a tendency among some to hoard, puerh seems more to be a study.  Given its variability, the study requires suspending judgement to, as someone else noted, “understand the leaves on their own terms.”  Once those terms are understood and appreciated, it makes sense to want to acquire more.  That seems more like collecting than hoarding, the latter being indiscriminate in nature.

 

Quesadillas and Zhongcha’s “55”

Posted on by Yang-chu
18 Aug

This Sunday morning, my wife whipped up some quesadillas that had sausage, pepper jack, zucchini, and scallions.  After a bite or two, I thought some ripe puerh was in order.  I wanted something that could hold up to food.  Zhongcha’s “55” called my name.

Let’s start at the end.  Bam!  Two pots shared between my wife and me and we were definitely feeling the qi.  I’m still feeling it.  Maybe it’s the chemical reaction between Italian sausage and puerh that’s producing this wooziness, kinda like the two herbs mixed together to make ayahuaska.  Warmth swirls in the chest and throat and the hackles at the back of neck and arms go into full effect.  I was asked just last week if it was possible to get high from a ripe as with a quality raw.  The ’06 “55” puerh cake emphatically answers this question in the affirmative.

Thick and Complex Ripe Puerh

We only drank those two pots.  It’s that satisfying.  It’s sweet like molasses.  Imagine Postum, if you can, with molasses.  I’m quite fond of postum, as my mom used to make it for me when I was but a lad back in Detroit.  It tastes like a very close approximation, a taste that’s still echoing in the flavour chambers of my mouth 45 minutes after the fact and with food!

But there’s more: light camphor in the aftertaste, incense in the front of the mouth, and baby powder in the back.  There’s also smooth chocolate candy, a la Tootsie Roll, notes.  This accounts for much of the sweetness.

Fourth Infusion 10s

Aging and Ripe Puerhs

There seems to be a consensus that ripe puerhs only require a year or two of settling before they’re drinkable.  I haven’t found this to be the case.  When I first got the 55, from the Kunming Tea Factory (KMTF)/Factory #1, it was overly astringent.  Perhaps it was two years ago that I began to detect the camphor and baby powder notes; only today the incense.  I understand that it may be a year or two (allegedly) for the wodui odor to dissipate.  However, there is more to a good ripe than dissipating the “fishy smell.”

In the world of puerh, what the “7542” is to Dayi, the “7581” is to the KMTF.  The older a “7581“, the higher the market price.  If the matter is simply wodui, then the market is either crazy or the older productions possess some distinguishing property that makes it more valuable.  It turns out that even though the “7581” is a ripe production, part of the secret recipe includes raw puerh material.  Perhaps this is the modus operandus of for most of their ripes.  Anyway, this is the first year in which I can say the “55” is really good, raw seasoning or not. It’s from ’06.

I don’t think I imagined reading something about ripes topping out.  Maybe this is a phenomenon akin to the wretched “oolong processed” so-called “gu-shu” puerhs peddled by some boutique sellers.  It sorta makes sense that the recipe and processing would contribute to the shelf-life of a production.  Dunno.  There’s a lot of boring ripes out there after sifting through the hideous.  The thing is some of those after 2 yrs in the wondrous environs of LA might turn out to be a delight.  I just can’t tell. .  . most of the time.

Similarly, some of the best raw puerhs are those that transform into something almost unidentifiable from its youth.  Maybe there’s something similar going on with the good ripes.   That something can only be attributed to boss source material, I suppose.

Secret Recipe

Food and Puerh

I’ve never been to any of those Yam Cha places in Hong Kong where they are purported to drink puerh with their dim sum.  I’ve done a little travel through SE Asia and I never encountered puerh.  I guess that means that if I want to kick my quesadilla with a treasure like “55”, then it’s only evidence of how adaptable tea culture is.  Let’s talk details.

Italian sausage and pepper jack cheese possess traits that greatly compliment a complex production like the “55”.  The fennel of the sausage, the fat of both the sausage and cheese, the smoothness of the toasted tortilla and cheese, all find correspondences with the brew.  The remaining astringency and the emerging camphor cleanse the palate and opens the breast, while warming the gullet and belly.  Grease and astringency are a perfect pair.

That’s enough for now.

 

’07 Thai Country Tuo, Raw Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
29 Jul

The ’07 Thai Country Tuo has a remarkable box.  It is also quite good.  It’s in the petrol, pencil shavings class.  Sufficiently sweet and complex.  The factory whence it hails is vastly underrated.

I’d say that it is comparable to the ’08 Dali Tuo but the ’07 Thai Country has more petrol and less tobacco.  In terms of complexity and richness they’re on the same page.

I don’t drink this one much, because I’m of the opinion that it’s going to age into something extremely interesting.

Brutal Ripe Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
26 Jul

Langhe is one of the factories I follow, primarily for ripes.  Their fermentation style in producing ripe puerhs is lighter, ostensibly making them better for long-term storage and little rankness.  In 2013 I acquired acquired their ’06 Peacock Tribute cake.   At that time, it was brutal.  It still is.  Too dry.  Fairly astringent.

’06 Peacock Tribute

Maybe over the years some of the astringency has dissipated, but not much.  True to the Langhe fermentation style, there isn’t any wet pile taste.  It’s just the taste that it does have bears a closer relationship with your typical Indian black Assam.  The aftertaste is much like baker’s chocolate, especially the astringency, not a good taste on the tongue.  They’ve got 25g samples over at YS if interested.

Speaking of YS, they’ve got a bone dry offering that I’ve been punishing since ’12 to no avail.  It’s the ’05 Jin Se Zhen Ming.  This one is gorgeous in color but so astringent, it could easily be confused for a black tea.  It’s been processed in small batches, which is supposed to up its overall profile.  It is a most exceptional production… exceptionally brutal.  None of the seven years of storage have done anything to round this bugger out.

’06 East is Red

The ’06 East is Red, also by Langhe, is a decidedly superior production that started out a bit dry but is now pleasingly sweet with a pleasantly gentle camphor finish.  Its aroma is stronger than most ripes, giving off some faint peachy notes, like the Dianxiu.  There’s some astringency there, goes all the way down the throat.  The finish is quite similar to the 55, but 55 has a coffee character whereas the East is Red is a rare ripe Zen production.  Both had that baby powder quality.

Infusion #1 East is Red

It’s interesting to notice the variations that a factory can produce.  The sweetness and camphor of the East is Red, for example, reaches another level with the Boss Tuo from the same year.  Being humid stored, the Boss Tuo possesses some lower notes.  Instead of Zen, it is medicinal, if peppermint candy can be considered medicine.  That one has never been brutal.

 

Another Zhongcha Peacock Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
23 Jul

There are two excellent Peacock productions from ’07 Zhongcha, otherwise the Kunming Tea Factory #1.  Today I had the one that reminds me of a perfected Xia Guan offering that I’ve never quite had.

This production isn’t for sale; just thought I’d share that today three people other than myself all remarked positively.  It’s damn good.  Sweet and minerally.  Clean stones and camphor, with a mellowness of age.  It’s too damn tasty to be Zen, yet it possesses that Zhongcha Zen.

One perspective was that it was floral.  She admitted to lacking the vocabulary for tea.  She also noted that it had tastes that she most associated with white tea, but was surprised by what she  thought were black tea characteristics later.  Astringency.  One day I shall write a treatise.

It might be classed as a medicinal root beer.  It is herbal without being the least bit herbaceous.  Its certitude expresses with each infusion, revealing a darker liquor from decent storage.

Let’s get to the serious matter, however.  The wrapper…

 

Zhongcha’s ’07 Peacock Bada

 

If you can’t dig this wrapper, then I can’t help you.  Then again, maybe I can…

 

Anyway, I mentioned that this is like the Xia Guan that never was. This brings us to the ’09 Gift Puerh. Much bosser in cover…

The Gift Box is an enticing Xia Guang production that has morphed from a peppermint pitch to mid-note medicinal camphor.  Both the Bada and the Gift Box are sticky sweet.  Very not Zen.  But in the Gift Box there is a slight thread of dank.  It’s at such a subtle level that the dank lover won’t notice it, but the dank hater will eventually detect.  This one kinda snuck up on me to my indignance.  That seems to be a trait among this production because it was evident to a putrid level in the ’10 Small Gift Box, which I tortured till it became a most root beer manufacture. . . sans the dank.

Dank is not necessarily humid.  There is a measure of humidity in the Bada, evident in the smell, what one patient noted in the taste.  Minerals suggest good humidity.  It also suggests a level of liveliness in the leaves, in addition to how they’ve been cared for.  These all rank highly here.

I happened upon a vendor of a Blue Mark engaged in a bit of puffery but nonetheless a good price, so I gambled.  It’s ridiculous how powerful the qi is on that one, light years better than any Blue Mark I’ve had.  Vanilla, mostly.  There’s vanilla in the Bada as well.  The Bada is delicious but the qi of the “Blue Mark” blows it outta da water.  You just never know.

Cheers folks.

 

 

Bitter Tea: LME Puerh Dragon Pearl

Posted on by Yang-chu
16 Jul

The Lao Man E (LME) Puerh Dragon Pearl is a top-shelf study in bitter tea.  LME, distinguish from the brand, is a village within the Bulang mountain range.  It is next to Lao Banzhang (LBZ), the most famous village of the region, but also including Banpen, Hekai, and a few others.

Similar to LBZ, hallmark LME should be bitter vanishing into sweet.  When I bought this five years ago, it was the vendor’s most expensive offering. . . before coming to the ones priced in the stratosphere, Xigui, Bingdao, and LBZ.  I only bought a few and this is my second time enjoying.

Before fully opening, the puerh potion is sweet and light.  My wife astutely picked up some grapefruit notes.  The first three infusions were relatively long, stopping after four rounds.  An intimidating fifth infusion of 10s four hours later, had me back off to flash brewing what is nowa  total of 12 infusions.  It’s still going strong.  I anticipate at least eight more.

This dragon pearl has a seriously bitter taste, like grapefruit peel, complete with complex citrus essential oils.  Exhalations from the nostrils amplify those notes.  This bitterness bears a close relationship to Bitter Nail tea, particularly since Bitter Nail cannot be construed as astringent.  The LME is not rough like an immature production.  The qi noticeably relaxes and gets the skin glowing a bit.

I didn’t know what I was drinking the first time I had this.  Understanding that there is a category bitter tea helps to orient one’s taste buds.  Bitter tea is never going to be a fav, but it is nice to appreciate the personality of a high quality production.  It provides an unmistakable if ephemeral frame of reference for distinguishing between qualities of bitterness.

Revisiting ’07 Tippy Tuo Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
12 Jun

The ’07 Tippy Tuo Puerh bears no relation to the ’06 production bearing the same name.  Here in June of 2019 this little offering has transformed from the high-pitched notes of young flowers to a floral honey character with elements of humidity and pencil shavings emerging.

The dry smell is rich and inviting.  Wet, it emits a pleasing sweet honey floral aroma.  The ’07 Tippy Tuo bears a close resemblance to the ’06 XG Gold Ribbon production.  In both perhaps the most striking attribute is the sweet floral aftertaste.  It would be interesting to try these side-by-side.  Although the XG productions tend to be smoky, I don’t recall so much smoke with that particular production.  Similarly the Tippy Tuo is not smoky in the least.

First Infusion

Deeper infusions get aggressively astringent.  A subtle humidity lingers in the background.  Camphor cooling tingles the lips and zings in the mouth.  At the same time the sweetness of the broth wanes.  As the pictures note, the brew is quite murky.  This point is merely aesthetic, as I’ve never been able to discern anything from viewing the liquor that translates into taste, as far as raws are concerned.

Fourth Infusion

After the sixth round I tapped out.  Aftertaste is nice enough but the lack of sweetness made me lose interest.

Cashed leaves

Jade Mark Puerh Turns Five

Posted on by Yang-chu
02 Jun

The ’14 Jade Mark by the Kunming Tea Factory (KMTF) turns five this year.  Feeling a bit singed by a few delicious young productions that have been “oolong” processed that fade with age, I started to have my suspicions about the Jade Mark.

This is my second tasting of the year.  I can’t recall when the other was, but my suspicions grew even greater, even though KMTF is not likely to deviate from their traditional production methods, particularly the established recipes.  Still one can never be certain.

Scenic View with Neipiao

Another shot.

Jade Mark Closeup

Of course the weather is a huge factor in how a fine tea will perform.  Weather seems to be the culprit as the Jade Mark is concerned.  This morning’s session was in no way divergent from my initial impressions a few years back.

Infusion #1 10 seconds

High fruit aroma, zero bitterness, sweet, with a buzz of puerions at the edges of the tongue.  It’s the presence of the buzz, in no way diminished, that I’m happy about most, because that’s what fades in the oolong processed productions.

’14 Jade Mark Infusion #4

Altogether I went eight infusions and could have gone another two.  Yeah, the astringency builds but the sweetness remains.  It seems that it might actually be sweeter in the later infusions than comparable infusions from a few years early.

The oolong processed puerhs have their own charm, but if they can’t be aged then I feel that they cannot really be viewed in a traditional light.  Part of the fun of the puerh endeavor is monitoring the transformation.  I cannot possibly get through a cake, even 200g, in a year or two given the amount of sampling and monitoring I do.  A little transparency on part of the seller might be nice in this regard, since the working assumption with puerh is aging.  To some extent, not stating so strikes me as pawning fakes, more fake than the actual puerhs produced using traditional methods.  In any case, the ’14 Jade Mark is a traditional production that at five hasn’t faded.  My apprehensions seem have been more related to a hibernation that occurred during the colder drying months.  Whew!

Wax to Sandalwood: KMTF’s Beijing Olympics in 2019

Posted on by Yang-chu
31 May

This morning I had a fascinating session with the ’07 Beijing Olympics by KMTF, the overlooked factory among the “big three.”  I was in Beijing in the early ’90s when China first made an Olympic bid, so I wanted to capture a bit of this moment actualized in ’08.  What better way than a commemorative puerh cake, not counting the t-shirt my buddy gifted me?

I’ve had the ’07 Beijing Olympics since ’14,  having drunk only one cake episodically amidst the rest in the stash.  Other postings on Beijing Olympics have noted just how compressed this production is.  I had to use my chisel to wrest a couple chunks from the area comprising the hole weighing 8.2g, about two grams more than what I usually use in my newly anointed “Tasting Gaiwan.”

Dry in the warm wan, its incense aroma evoked the ’10 Tiger Tuo of two years ago.  Breaking with all convention, I brewed the first cup for about 5m in water initially at 208.  It was in no way excessive.  The same sandalwood aroma was evident in the taste.  Enigmatic.  The next three rounds were brewed similarly with the colour of the liquor generally lighter than infusions in clay given about half the infusion time.  Whether attributable to the being part of the cake core or the gaiwan, I cannot attest.

Altogether, I cashed out after 14 infusions of varying times and sharing with a 10:30 patient and an 8:00pm wife.  This cake has always captivated me (and probably always will).  Though I haven’t found it to be the best tasting ever, I’ve always found it to be one of the most intriguing.  Now that there’s this sandalwood, I’m positively stoked.  The ’10 Tiger Tuo mellowed through a number of stages but from the ferocious end of the spectrum.  Conversely, Beijing Olympics is quintessentially KMTF.  They don’t do “kick-yer-arse” taste.  I’ve tasted KMTF productions from the turn of the century that however old they tasted did not venture beyond Zen. Therefore, the presence of sandalwood notes suggests that it might transform into the dark richness that the best brash or Zen productions fade into.

Cashed leaves

Deeper infusions of the Beijing Olympics (5 < ) were fruity and minerally Zen.  I also detected back notes of talcum powder with tinges of ash, not in any smoky sense.  Talcum powder is a recurrent trait of KMTF and YPH craftsmanship.  There is sweetness, and the astringency is not noteworthy.  It is their characteristic Lincang/Menghai combo, with the ratio strongly in favour of Lincang.  What I don’t get is how this cake hasn’t appreciated compared to similar productions.

The Beijing Olympics puerh cake, mercilessly chopped and even more oppressively compressed, probably was not conceived as a political metaphor.  Besides, some of the best productions I’ve had have been unsightly or super compact.  I think we all know good productions when we know them.  Then there are those we endeavor to get our heads around within the capsule of storage temperature and age.  Now I’m stupid curious.

In the past year, I’ve had the fortune to taste both young Blue and Red Marks from the turn of the century.  None of ’em make me go wow like the Tulin productions seven year’s younger.  I’ve been waiting for some of the Zen ones in the collection to turn root beer on me.  This hasn’t hit that mark but I’ve good reason to believe that it will given these sandalwood notes.

 

Visiting Zhongcha’s ’55 Ripe Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
28 Apr

Since the request was something with camphor and chocolate, I gave my wife the option of either the Langhe Ripe Tuo or Zhongcha’s ’55 both from ’06.  She chose the latter.  The ZC ’55 is in its 13th year.  It has transformed from surprising astringency to velvety smooth, especially in the first infusion.  The first infusion, about a minute, is definitely the best.  Deep medium note camphor permeates the broth.  It’s my guess that it would perform even better grampa style.

Altogether, there were four infusions from the session.  As the camphor and thickness wanes, black tea tannins come through.  For the first time I noticed a hint of dried cherries.  By the last infusion, about four minutes, much of the viscosity vanishes, despite remaining a dark caste.  I also picked up some vegetal notes, which aren’t my favourite.

Infusion #2, 10s

The ZC ’55 is an exceptional ripe puerh.  Its strongest attribute is how it has been transforming.  The tannins continue to mellow, making the brew richer.  The camphor is much more evident now.  The chocolate appears more evident when the brew temp lowers.  Two pots in, the qi kicks in.  It warms the chest.  A slight sweat broke out on the brow.  It also stimulates the appetite.  Again, it’s not advisable to have on an empty stomach.