Tag Archives: spring puerh

Jingmai Tete A Tete

Posted on by Yang-chu
18 Sep

Jingmai Tete A Tete finally gives the Puerh Junky the chance to brandish his nonexistent French.  More importantly, it allows him to discuss an interlude between two Jingmai from 2014, the Guper and Haixintang.  This encounter has been more than a month in waiting, as it took a spell to complete the Haixintang page.  Let’s start there.

Haixintang

Toward the end of ’22 after loading up on Xinghai offerings, the Puerh Junky decided upon a deeper exploration of Haixintang.  Both the brick and tuo forms of Grenouille impressed, but it was time to determine whether something of their production personality could be gleaned by picking up a few of their offerings.  An ’06 tuo from Youle could not make The Collection for the time being.  Its got an unfamiliar Youle expression in the Puerh Junky‘s limited forays with that terroir.  At the same time, it does manifest an aggressive spirit that resembles some aspects of Grenouille.  Conversely, the Jingmai to be discussed and ’08 Nannuo (unlisted) could hardly be viewed in the same light.  Instead of aggression, the focus is on simplicity, a truth to the terroir.  It’s difficult to find a thread uniting them.  Let’s get on to how the Jingmai measures up to the GPE offering.

GPE & HXT (Sitting in a Tree)

Jingmai is often recommended for newbies.  The aroma is bright, fresh, effulgent.  There’s probably a great amount of it that’s given the ole sweet-me-now processing, so brewing tends to be very forgiving.  The terroir is large and it’s also conceivable that by some measure it’s naturally sweet earlier than some others.  It’s also imaginable that there’s a processing style common among many producers that favours woking for sweetness.

The thing is the Puerh Junky never came into contact with such Jingmai between ’12-15.  Large- or small-leaf varieties, they were quite typical of other productions requiring a spell to transform.  One possible exception was the first Jingmai tasted in KM, which was a very early spring, tippy production that possessed formidable bitterness behind the orchid aroma.  These prefatory remarks relate directly to the contrast between the GPE and HXT offers.

Both have a wickedly inviting aroma but the GPE possesses a bitterness, a burliness that is possibly less frequently offered by Western vendors.  The HXT hasn’t even a smidge of bitterness.  It’s perfect for the beginning brewer.  The HXT is one of the most even-keeled production ever drunk.  Though infusion times require building, the taste and character hardly budges.  The sweetness remains about the same, ditto for the very mild astringency.  It’s a light refreshing breeze by a tree-lined brook, a shallow and clean brook streaming over little smooth pebbles, shimmers of sunlight here and there.

Suppose you decide to head downstream and you know that you’re in a Grimm Fairytale.  Since we’re talking about a Jingmai, you know that the story should turn out happily ever after, but not without a bit of drama, a lost shoe, some misbehaving ogre, an unrelenting step-relative.  That’s the GPE.  The travails make the story at the very least more interesting.  There’s a crescendo, it’s going somewhere, that part of Jingmai that your step-uncle didn’t tell you about.

Final Words

The tete a tete between GPE and HXT reveals a remarkable contrast between two offerings from the same terroir.  HXT is definitely best for those averse to bitterness, beginners, and for moods where one can do without the drama.  GPE is for those who haven’t had Jingmai bitterness and depth while still remaining true to the Jingmai spirit.  Thought this clip at 6:41 captured the differences.

Puerh Junky Visits an ’05 and ’04

Posted on by Yang-chu
12 Jul

Puerh Junky Visits an ’05 and ’04 begins with LCGC’s 125g Jingmai “003” and ends with 6FTM’s Tuo.  It’s the 2023 All-Star Game today, mid-Jul in a summer that has not been particularly warm.  Both have been stored in just about the same conditions for the better part of five years here in Los Angeles.  Original storage conditions were moderate to conservative.

The 003 came directly from storage with no preparation.  The title of the mini-cake has the character rui  (蕊), which is comprised of one major component xin (心), which is “heart.”  What’s all this about?  Well the ole Junky has no recollection of ever seeing this character with any other production.  A few years back, 003 had an appearance resembling yinzhen/silver needle, but smaller leaves and much sassier than a silver needle.  Ostensibly, this is evidence of rui material.  In contrast to gongting, quite rare for raw, the leaves are whole and as mentioned resembling yinzhen.

For an 18yo production the aroma of the 003 is nothing short of startling.  It is super aromatic, floral, bright but for some reason it doesn’t possess an oppressive perfume, none of that cheap church lady perfume vibe.  It’s bright and fresh.  Frankly, it seems like it is brighter and fresher than it in previous years.  Wife thought it was a new tea.  Adding to mystery is a broth that has virtually no colour.  Despite this lack of colour, the transformation bears no signs of being stunted.  The storage is flawless.  The fragrance is not only outstanding reflective of the tiny spring leaves, but the astringency has melded to create a rich texture.  This makes it major-league enjoyable, now imparting the smoothness expected from well-aged productions.  Of course, the astringency picks up a bit in later infusions, but it’s always along a sweet backbone that gives active saliva provocation as opposed to dry mouth.

The 6FTM Tuo presents a more complicated tale.  Sampled a month ago to a drab performance, it blossomed to an expression quite different from its product description after sitting out.  Sweet berries and apple take center stage now, along a subtle petrol and graphite backdrop.  Que sophisticado.  hehehe.  The play between the fruit and oil in the huigan pleases, with the fruit acid tweaking the cheeks.  It’s very cheeky, with the sensation lasting a good slobbery spell.

This tuocha is edgier than the 003, probably thicker too.  The qi is characteristic of 6FTM offerings.  The qi of the 003 is very much in the aroma, along with strong chest opening attributes.  Conversely, the 6FTM Tuo comes with a heaviness that pushes down at the back of the neck before imparting a bit of wooziness.  This is the first time that the full character expected of a 6FTM production has come through.  The crux of this treasure has been and always will be storage.  Periodically, old productions are released from deep storage that require a number of years to meet a high standard.  I know of three 6FTM productions between ’02-’04 that fall into this category and this tuo is one of them.

Puerh Junky Visits an ’05 and ’04 offers contrasting styles of puerh from two highly regarded factories, LCGC and 6FTM.  The LCGC is deceptively young for its age, but the age is evident in its texture and sweetness, something noticeable when drinking it through the years and understanding something about aging under mostly moderate conditions.  Similarly the 6FTM is dry stored but it has a broth hue that one could more or less expect under dryish conditions.  Neither production is by any stretch dry tasting.  However, the 6FTM required sitting out a month before it performed anywhere close to standard.  If it isn’t sweet, with an excessively peaty and boring expression it’s because it needs to sit out to wake up.  For a Jingmai, the 003 has some qualities reminiscent of a white tea or silver needle.  This is evident in aspects of its outstanding aroma.  The 6FTM Tuo is a fantastic entry-level (if price be any indication) offering from the highly regarded early days of operation.

 

Puerh Junky Visits Yiwu Gratitude

Posted on by Yang-chu
20 May

Puerh Junky Visits Yiwu Gratitude should be a a tidy communique about just how tasty this offering is.  It is very, very good.  It tastes very, very good.  The storage on it is spectacular, really the epitome of ideal storage.  It comes from a preferred vendor, whence many of the offerings constituting the Puerh Royals sampler hail, who has a keen sense for storage.

Storage of this sort might be characterized as juicy.  There’s plenty of humidity and heat but neither excessive, so the underlying character of the puerh is in no way tainted.  It only brings out the best that each production has to offer.  Storage of this type would understandably be classified as dry because dry storage has no humid notes.  However, the range of dry storage is wide.  Besides variations in humidity there are variations in temperature.  Cool and dry storage obviously transforms quite slowly.  Dry and hot storage transforms quickly but at the expense of aroma.  Hot and dry storage also accentuates a perfumy-dryer-sheet-type expression that would otherwise transform into wicked camphor explosiveness.

Different cakes under the same conditions may also transform quite differently depending on product compression.  There’s also air flow.  Juicy storage checks all the boxes in terms of having everything necessary to be perfect.  The second even a hint of humidity is detected, it’s no longer juicy but humid, no matter how light that humidity might be.  Humidity is clearly a matter of preference with similar gradations.  The point here is to just distinguish juicy from humid.

Yiwu Gratitude has juicy storage.  It allows for maximum appreciation of what Gratitude TF is throwing down, and what they’re throwing down is every bit as good as the cake looks.

The Yiwu Gratitude Factory opened their doors in 2004.  They primarily craft raw cakes from wild material, using traditional of sun drying and stone pressing procedures.  The Puerh Junky’s Yiwu Gratitude features a wrapper that’s a cross between two productions listed in the 2007 Pu-erh Yearbook.

This is the exact same production being offered from the following year.  Instead of the title including qiaomu  as with the PJ offering, it’s included in the the green strip to the right.  The block lettering at the bottom is identical to the YWG.  The flanking blocks, the right stating raw puerh and the left ten great tea mountains are identical with both cakes.

This ’07 Banwei includes mingqian springtips in green lettering to the far right, whereas this data is included in the green strip with the PJ listing.  The Banwei and the YWG have the same neifei, whereas the Yiwu from ’07 is more generic.

Here’s the PJ’s Yiwu Gratitude for comparison’s sake.

The use of traditional to describe their way of doing things, goes beyond just the pressing.  They wrap their tong traditionally as well.

The super traditional tong are branded with the name at the top.  They don’t go that far, as you can see:

At the bottom of this sticker, the phrase mingqian springtips is included.  As mentioned in the original listing, wispy Yiwu effect notwithstanding this is legitimately “springy.”  It’s one of the most floral Yiwu productions I’ve tasted.  There’s more “spring” to it than the Dragon, which is comparable in terms of the type of floral expression.  It could be described as having an apricot cum grapefruit nature.  It isn’t lilac, honeysuckle, jasmine or any of those other really loud perfumy florals, which at fifteen years of age aren’t that bad anyway.

But wait!  There’s more.  That more is the hallowed root beer, which to be honest is much more cream soda here, as there’s no spice to emerge just yet.  This type of offering usually doesn’t go the spice route.  That’s fine.  The creaminess and richness is good enough.

Yiwu Gratitude is sweet and durable.  All of the attributes that are evident from the outset last throughout the life of the tea session.  That includes the sweetness.

Puerh Junky’s Spring 2021 Report

Posted on by Yang-chu
20 Apr

Puerh Junky’s Spring 2021 Report

I was chatting with a friend the other day and he informed me that the Western vendors are all offering free shipping till the new tea arrives.  I guess that’s a pretty big deal if you’re shipping from Mainland.  My offerings are here in Los Angeles, so that’s not much of an issue for American buyers who get free shipping on orders larger than $75.

I guess it’s some way to stir excitement over offerings from the spring picking.  New tea is really not the Puerh Junky’s thing.  There’s so much older tea that hasn’t been hoarded to discover that not only meets the standard but also still presents comparatively greater value.  But, these gems are disappearing apace.

Over the past five years factories have progressively been restricting their sales to preferred vendors.  Some factories, like the maker of the Jingmai “003”, have already disappeared, except for their flagship site.  The same has essentially happened with GPE.  Many of the Puerh Junky’s preferred vendors have vanished or moved into more obscure brands from famous regions and greatly scaled back their offerings.

Observing this trend, the Puerh Junky has also had to adapt.  Since Nov ’20, I’ve primarily focused on re-upping on exceptional treasures while they’re still available.  Along the way, unfamiliar productions from well-known factories have been acquired, in addition to virtual unknowns from trusted vendors.  As this project has evolved, thematic productions have taken a back burner, though I continue to be tempted by a sexy wrapper.  I still love a good wrapper, but focus has mostly settled into familiar productions and factories.

’06 Old Geezers Ripe  

As far as themes go, it is clear that 6FTM is becoming a theme unto itself.  Productions from their early years are particularly interesting from a collecting point of view, especially before their brand identity solidified.  Some of these will be listed in the coming year.

Breaking the Mold

“Breaking the Mold” is probably not the best turn of phrase when talking about puerh, but alas I’m breaking from my standard practice of holding offerings for six months before listing.  Some productions are ready now and there’s little point in having them lazing about in LA when there’s work to be done in Brockton, Bethesda, and Boise.  There’s a bevy of ripes that are already quite good.  Many have already been snatched up by insiders who rely upon his junkifiedness for the hook up.  Still, some of these have yet to be spoken for.

’06 Nannuo, LME

Here’s were a digression into the junkisophical must be indulged: price is no reflection of quality.  Quality factors less than reputation and collectability.  Naturally, these are not altogether independent variables.  The Puerh Junky provides a range of reputations and collectability, while never sacrificing quality.  Sometimes quality is difficult to discern, but where it’s immediately apparent, fellow junk… er enthusiasts should not be deprived.

Puerh Junky’s Collection and Stash

Let’s call the Collection that which is listed and the Stash that which is not.  As for the Collection, most treasures number but a few.  Chances of re-upping depend on availability and price.  If you need to score a tong then you need to contact me directly.  Otherwise, if something strikes your fancy, it’s best not to dally.

The Stash consists of productions that have yet to graduate.  They are “aging.”  The Stash also has treasures that sold out or sky rocketed in price.  These were trial purchases, testing either vendor or production.  Sometimes prices jump even before arriving.  This especially happens around the lunar new year.  Be it availability or price, these treasures end up orphans until lightening strikes or, in a fit of junkydom, I break down and pay what they’re asking.  This process can take years.  How sublime it would be for these orphans to join the Collection, but for most this simply will not happen.

Hoping and Praying

Puerh Orphan Sample Annie

If you think I’m breaking up these cakes, then you’ve been drinking to much!  In a grand gesture of junkaciousness, however, I can part with a few samples from my own cake.  We’ll call these Orphan Samples.  They’ll be arranged in interesting sets unified by a theme like year, factory, or region; I’ll confabulate something.  If a treasure from the set appeals to you, you may directly inquire further about availability.  Orphan Samples are identical to regular samples, i.e., 15g, except very few are being offered, and the specific intent is to find a home for orphan cakes, as opposed to providing general edification and enjoyment.  Since you’ll have sampled for yourself, there is zero need to leave anything to question about quality or personal appeal.

Final Word

A final word of thanks for reading and enjoying these missives, however epi- and rhapsodic.  In the coming weeks, beyond new listings, be on the lookout for blog postings on the back story of some of the more vaunted factories offering these treasures.  I understand that the world of Chinese puerh factories is enigmatic for those with limited access to Chinese. Nonetheless, arming yourself with a bit of context provides at least of modicum of rationale for being the Puerh Junky that you are.

Floral Class Puerh II

Posted on by Yang-chu
10 Apr

Puerh Picking Season

We left off talking about age and terroir as indications for floral class puerhs.  Season also factors greatly.  The earlier the picking, the more likely it expresses high-pitched florality.  “Early spring” is the puerh term most usually used to describe “first flush” selections.  Pickings are differentiated in spring by those picked before or after Qingming Festival in early April.

Many puerh offerings are sold by designation of season picked.  “Spring tea” implicitly means Floral Class.  Some recipes may have a preponderance of spring tea to be in the Floral Class.  Maybe many versions from the late 90s to early aughts of 7542 fall into this category.

Puerh Leaf Picking

A significant factor in floral expression is the actual leaves picked.  The closer to the bud/tip, the more floral the expression.  There’s some famous British brand of black tea sporting the name “Tips.”  Ostensibly, this is a very floral and energizing beverage.  Similarly, small grade puerh leaves size 1-3 (from 1-9) are bright and bracing.  Conversely, small leaves are usually flashes in the proverbial pan, being less durable than larger leaf sizes.

Conclusions on Floral Class Puerhs

Really the only true grip one can gain on the subject of Floral Class Puerhs is to drink and and lots of them.  The quality of flowers is going to vary upon age of production, terroir, season, and leaf picking.  Some Chinese factories have floral notes serve as signature of their house taste; Liming, MKRS, and Tulin are factories to look out for in this regard.  Of course, there’s always 6FTM.

Puerh Rating: LME Spring

Posted on by Yang-chu
05 Apr

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on the LME Spring.  LME is a factory that started to raise its profile around ’14, but whose older productions had hidden under the radar till 2020.  This factory of late has gained attention as the high-profile productions have vanished from the market and the value seekers continue their pursuits.

LME Spring is highly representative of aught productions: generally high quality, traditional processing, and atomic compression.  The year ’07 was likely the apex of atomic compression, as a thought occurred that cakes shouldn’t bear the same pressing characteristics of tuo and many bricks.

Compression invariably affect how an offering will brew.  The LME Spring brews with fantastic consistency and duration.

After three rounds the total was as follows:

  • Aroma          14
  • Clarity           11
  • Sweetness   10
  • Viscosity       10
  • Astringency    9
  • Huigan         13
  • Qi                 15

Reflections

The LME Spring is an incredibly sophisticated raw puerh cake without the sophistry of water cooler hearsay.  Even though the wonderful floral notes are quite obvious, it appears to be a Zen class production heading toward root beer.  The flowers come through in the huigan, which is nearly perfect.

Speaking of perfection, the qi score is.  There probably aren’t any other productions that score perfect on qi and certainly none at this price.  It also possesses a phlegm-cutting attribute.  Along with the flowers in taste, there’s serious Malt O’ Meal notes, with some salivary friendly sour notes.

Conclusions

The LME Spring is for those who enjoy the marriage between floral and Zen productions.  The durability alone makes this an extraordinary offering, given its qi it’s essentially a steal.

Puerh Rating: LME Spring

82/105 B

 

Hard Pressed: Three Puerhs

Posted on by Yang-chu
08 Dec

Hard-pressed puerh productions require “chunking” and long infusion times.  Here we are visiting three hard-pressed puerh productions that have been sampled in tandem over the course of a day or two.  Here we’ll be visiting three high-compression puerhs:

  • ’07 LME Early Spring
  • ’07 Beijing Olympics, Zhongcha (KMTF)
  • ’12 Wuliang Brick, SMTF

First, I must say that all three glimmer with clarity.  Each strikes a different note.  Possessing smoke, the Beijing Olympics strikes a low note relative the Wuliang and Early Spring.  Still, it is not possible to speak of brightness among any or this trio.

Some may differ in this regard when it comes to the Wuliang Brick.  Although the fruit notes of the Wuliang provide a measure of cheer, its complexity is greater than mere cheer.  Over several brewings, I detected a cherry liqueur cough medicine taste.  Infused boldly (i.e., with much time), it proves to be a challenge: bitter and aggressive.  A conservative brewing of around 30s offers tastes of brandy, fermented raisins, and “purple,” a la Fago Grape Pop.  The other two are far less dynamic when it comes to the effects of varied brewing times.

Hard-pressed productions are machine made.  On the one hand oxidation, occurs very slowly; on the other, all the leaves are subject to great stress, i.e., cell wall breakage, upon formation.  This should translate into a species of oxidation that differs from lightly or stone-pressed productions.  What does it all mean?

Least pressed among the lot is the Beijing Olympics. . . and that’s not saying much.  The leaves are quite indicative of the recipe productions with numbers for names.  It tastes alike a variant, maybe a rougher 7532.  For whatever reason, the wax taste, of which I’ve written regularly in the past, is not as prominent, though the hallmark of this particular puerh type is its wax, paraffin, kerosene, petrol.

Glass.  That’s the principle association with the Early Spring.  Smooth and clear.  It has a deceptively potent and expansive qi and a building huigan.  It presently seems to be expressing “that awkward adolescent sourness”, as one fellow drinker calls it, something that I’ve never previously noticed in this genteel and somewhat wheaty production.

All three high-compression puerhs span the range of flavour: fruit, wax, wheat and aged flowers.  The main thing about tight compression is that it yields numerous infusions, at least 10.  Safe for a really heavy hand, the brew turns out mellow and flavourful without excessive bitterness or astringency.

Huigan: Puerh Mysteries #187

Posted on by Yang-chu

’10 Year of Tiger MK

I’ve been pondering this concept of “huigan” lately.  Specifically, I’m wondering about what it might really mean in the context of raw puerh.  Huigan is generally translated as “aftertaste,” literally as “returning sweetness,” or not at all.  In Chinese, the huigan is said to “arrive quickly” or “to have huigan.”

I think it’s fair to conclude that it is a figure of speech, a compliment, but that would be a mistake.  It doesn’t even seem to me to be the same as aftertaste either, because there’s already a phrase for that.

’06 Menghai Tuo

I’m wondering if huigan has anything to do with the astringency that characterizes raw puerh, but ripes are similarly described and they do not have much astringency.

Astringency seems to be an alien concept to many.  Often it is associated with bitter.  Often the terms are used together.  When huigan is mentioned, it’s not necessarily in the context of bitterness and astringency.  Hmmm.

Maybe it encompasses all of these.  Again, the question is why would such a term be particular to puerh but for the fact that gan returns from somewhere.  Is that somewhere bitterness and astringency?

07 Spring LME

For certain huigan has nothing to do with the broth.  Maybe it’s the mouthfeel after the broth.  Some productions have very activating effects on the tongue, cheeks, and throat that are not attributable to the drying-effects of astringency.  To me it very much conjures the effect of the Sichuan pepper.

Anyway, I’ve posted some pictures of productions that I believe capture huigan.  In later infusions, in productions that express a quick huigan, the huigan will naturally take longer to develop.  Gradually an echo of one cup to the next creates a constant buzz in the mouth.

’07 Bada(zz), CNNP

Posted on by Yang-chu

The ’07 Bada(zz) arrived in April ’18.  It’s already changed quite a bit from a mainly minerally taste to minerals and old daisies.  The taste is quite similar to ’05 Glee, with similar astringency though possibly sweeter.  The after taste of rocky sweetness hangs on in the mouth for quite a spell.

In contrast to the ’12 Cherry Blossom, there are no smoky notes to the Bada(zz).  I recently visited the Cherry Blossom and I notice quite a bit of green apple in there too.  There’s no hint of any fruit in the Bada(zz).  Maybe the aroma is a bit fruity but it strikes more like honey.

Another similarity with ’05 Glee is the taste of grains, evocative of Wheaties.  This is only evident in productions that have a few years under their belt.  It seems like there may be some camphor notes trying to sneak through, something to watch for as it continues to age.

A final curiosity is that this cake bucks the trend of the time toward extreme pressing, unlike the ’07 LME Spring Puerh, which must have set a record for compression density.  Even though the Bada(zz) is pressed densely, it’s not excessive and the material flecks of with relative ease.

Oh yeah, this is Mt. Bada material.  Possibly only the second I’ve tried by name.

07 LME Spring Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
18 Jun

The remarkable thing about the LME Spring is its lingering floral huigan.  The liquor goes down smooth, with shades of wheat.  Some traits characteristic of root beer are now also starting to express themselves.  This brew will not bowl you over.  It is extremely subtle, many would say it just tastes like water.  It took me a while to figure it out, but so intriguing it was that I kept drinking to uncover its mystery.

Some time ago, it had been my erroneous impression that it was bitterness that gave rise to a production’s floral character.  If anything, the LME Spring proves that thesis entirely incorrect.  There is no hint of bitterness in this super hard-pressed cake.  It is so dense and of such exquisite material that it impossible to over brew.  It is perfect for those who tend to brew with such a heavy hand that the finer subtleties of soft productions are lost.  It simply does not brew up bitter.

The LME Spring is simply not for those who favour aggressive puerhs.  However, if you appreciate secrets well kept and an evanescent liquor from which a divine aftertaste emerges, then I cannot think of a better treasure.