Tag Archives: Xinghai Tea Factory

Spring Ripe Championship Round

Posted on by Yang-chu
11 Jun

Spring Ripe Championship Round commences in four days, June 14th.  All the contestants have just been removed from storage to air.  How they will perform under airing remains anyone’s guess. . . and guess many a spectator will do.  Odds-makers are frantically taking bets.  The sharks placed wagers with cool confidence the minute odds listed.  Yang Q Public (ahem) invariably waits till the last minute.  Here’s the contestants along with the stable represented.

Stay tuned.  Place yer bets.

 

Spring Ripe Puerh Taste Off V

Posted on by Yang-chu
24 May

The evening prior to Spring Ripe Puerh Taste Off IV major domos (or is that doma) Ruan, Zhang, and Du met up for an evening repast of crawfish hotpot with lots of pea greens and limitless enoki.  The following day featured Mme Zhang’s third or fourth performance, while it would be the first for Mmes Ruan, of 6FTM, and Du.  They chatted some about the old days at Menghai TF but mostly the deliciousness of the enoki, the freshness of the crawfish, and nuance of the Sichuan-style broth.  If Domo Zhang appeared more relaxed than her compatriots, if she found the crawfish just a smidge juicier, then it no doubt could be attributed to her already having Operation Macau advance to championship round earlier in the day.  Day V uncertainties weighted in the minds of Domos Du and Ruan.  Let’s get down to the day’s action.

Spring Ripe Puerh Taste Off IV

  • ’02 Purple Mark, 6FTM
    Light cocoa, Tootsie roll, slight camphor, strong qi, super velvet mouthfeel.
  • ’06 T8371, Zhongcha
    Light oud, balance, hint of red hots, astringency, bitterness, petrichor, big aroma, cocoa, camphor, brut.
  • ’05 Yiwu Commission, Du Qiong-zhi
    Magical aroma in dry pot, bright, buttery, camphor, medium to light body, pine, not so sweet, noticeable qi presence.
  • ’08 Golden Tribute, Xinghai
    Lively dry aroma, bittersweet, cocoa, oreo cookie.

Occupying opposite extremes of dark chocolate bitter punishment are the Purple Mark and Golden Tribute.  Purple Mark is one of the oldest contestants, second only to Drury Lane.  They perform similarly.  Airing considerably improves performance.  Straight from storage, it’s a lot like flat pop, silkiness aside.  Golden Tributes ferocity in no way detracted from it’s performance, contending strongly for the top spot.  It’s currently not listed, only three on hand.

This brings us to the two commissions.  The T8371 holds distinction as being a HK commission.  Judging from the recipe numbers, it’s a slight variant of the classic 7581, key being its light fermentation.  This was T8371‘s heftiest performance, entering a new fermentation stage.  Not to sound like a broken record, but it needed some airing.  The plug-n-playability of productions often depends upon the season.  Each production has it’s own personality.  Every production came straight from storage.  No babying allowed.  It’s more than plausible that results would differ in another season.  The red hots note is new exciting addition to an already excellent performer.

Process of elimination leads to the Yiwu Commission as the winner.  Spring has treated this contestant most generously.  The complexity of flavours with all-enveloping camphor pleased all drinkers.  It held up throughout the day, while the Golden Tribute settled into less distinctive expression.  Through the course of five days of mostly drinking Menghai productions, the buttery Yiwu not formed quite an extravagant contrast.  Major Domo Du will be advancing to the championship round.

 

Spring Ripe Puerh Taste Off IV

Posted on by Yang-chu
23 May

Spring Ripe Puerh Taste Off Day IV has contests in no mood to chat with the media before the event.  Late entries have extended the competition to a fifth day.  The late change has put them in a bit of a mood.  As a reminder, each contestant weighs in at 10.5g, receiving arbitrary infusion times in a 150ml clay pot.  The same pot.  Let’s begin. . .

Ripe Puerh Taste Off Day IV

Day III of the Ripe Puerh Taste Off occasioned mention of airing out productions for a few days for maximum performance.  This is relevant to the performances of both Dury Lane and the Langhe Brick.  Experience has demonstrated that DL benefits from a good 10 days of airing.  In the Taste Off there was a noticeable lack of zing that resulted in the descriptor “dense.”  The same likely applies to the presence of “cardboard,” since it hasn’t been subjected to dry conditions.  It is conceivable that this sample’s location in storage might somewhat factor, though cardboard and “old taste” could be construed as being the same and at 22 yrs of age might be expected.

The prevailing taste of the Langhe Ripe Tuo is highly evocative Sweet Richness, an earlier contestant, though not as intense.  Interestingly, as it sat throughout the day, it performed more competitively among the contenders.  This raises questions about prospects for future interestingness, though the maximo light-fermented production of considerably higher quality like the ’06 East is Red and ’05 Peacock Tribute have already hit their stride in the past 2-3yrs, without storage pushing.  Still, the GD stored version of the Langhe Ripe Tuo that did receive a great deal of humidity is actually quite remarkable so the jury remains out.

This only leaves Operation Macau as the obvious winner.  The Langhe Brick, which won the big Guangdong International Tea Expo in ’06, is less intense.  Again, this might be adjusted through airing.  Also, however, the OM is obscenely sweet.  Though it certainly didn’t have the stamina of Drury Lane or Langhe Brick, through the course of the day it was able to maintain its presence relative the others, with the Langhe Tuo rapidly approaching.

Spring Ripe Puerh Taste Off II

Posted on by Yang-chu
20 May

Spring Ripe Puerh Taste Off II has our contenders standing in the circle ready to strut their stuff.  If you missed Day 1.  Two formidable stables are making their appearance today, Xinghai and LME, with two Xinghai contestants performing.  Banners high and the crowd ready, let’s join the action.

Ripe Taste-Off Day 2

  • ’06 Nannuo, LME
    Sweet, milk chocolate smoothness, slick, slight bitterness.  Outstanding clarity.
  • ’07 Merlot, Xinghai
    Blackberry and raspberry, strong bitterness, moderate sweetness.
  • ’08 Wuliang Longevity, Haixintang
    Roasty fruity, scorched, extremely sweet-slick finish, little stamina.
  • ’07 Silver Peacock, Xinghai
    Petrichor, camphor, exquisite aroma, “turns over”, evocative of Drury Lane, little stamina.

Judges were stuck with settling upon purely preferential bases in deciding upon a winner.  In the end, Silver Peacock won the day by virtue of its “turning over,” a unconventional descriptor deserving some explanation.  A light production of this sort typically has a one-dimensional character unlikely to evolve in the mouth, but Silver Peacock has extraordinary depth despite its limitations in stamina.  The Nannuo ranked second and with a bit of storage intensity may express more than than a milk-chocolate density.  Its lack of astringency or bitterness may leave some drinkers with the impression of flatness rather than silky smoothness.  This leaves the two fruity contenders, which form an interesting contrast.  Merlot is starting to express it Bulang/BZ origins through an unapologetic bitterness, while Wulliang Longevity compliments the fruit with roast.  The choice between the two for Puerh Junky is easily Merlot, but the intensity and sweetness found one drinker taken with WL.  The WL in this drinker’s opinion, however, is highly flawed by a scorched taste that shouldn’t be confused with actual roasting but excessive wet-piling, an index of less than adroit processing technique.  For a production this age, such expression (not wodui aroma itself) is inexcusable.

 

 

March ’24 Puerh Musings

Posted on by Yang-chu
05 Mar

March ’24 Puerh Musings must be prefaced by commentary upon the ventures of some individual(s) who thought it necessary to scrawl my personal FB postings to otherwise disaffect those who might be affected by my views on matters entirely unrelated to tea. I’d like to dedicate this post to them and hope whatever ventures upon which they engage beyond defamation do well.  For what it’s worth, I do not retract one scintilla of what I’ve posted.  At the same time, I do not care to belabour matters about which most have very little discernment, which has essentially been my life purpose.  I welcome any interlocutors who are of good faith, but it should be noted that were I a conventionalisto, then that which I’ve been able to offer would be off the radar because I’d be too busy adhering to “herdism,” that which is anathema to my being. . . eh?  (though I’m not Canadian)

We now resume with the third-person lens where we find the Puerh Junky moving from the kitchen of burping cabbage fermented concoctions to the front room alcove, where he crafts his “musings.”  He has designs to discuss the few Zhongcha/Chinatea offerings upon which he’s been sitting as well as some Xinghai and other productions that have been sitting in the cave for a while.  In particular, he feels that there have been some ripes deserving mention.  He’ll start there.

Leap Week LME Ripes

Leap Week LME Ripes occurred spontaneously.  For clarity’s sake, LME stands for the Laoman’e brand and not the terroir, per se, though all of their productions seem to come the three same terroir: Bulang, Nannuo, and Banzhang.  All LME ripe offerings can be characterized as rich and dense, having full fermentation.  There’s full mouthfeel and considerable bitter finish.  This bitterness is likely their most distinguishing feature.  They provide a range of entry points in terms of price.  Prices for widely available productions tend to hold steady, but the Arbor King and BZ Peacock have shown movement to the upside, the latter being a rather extraordinary offering.

The week started out with the ’12 Arbor King, which proved to be its poorest performance ever.  Typically, there’s a cherry note that accompanies its intensity but this time it could not be detected and it was definitely on the flat papery side.  It’s not likely the storage, at the same time AK has not been temperamental.  The best guess is the weather and I’ll be sure to revisit in the next month or two for latest developments.  Overall, I found the visit disappointing and a later visit in the week proved no better, even after airing a bit.

I recently picked up three more ’11 Orchid Vibe.  It’s a good price and I’ve enjoyed the vanilla, along with a fermentation that’s a bit lighter than the others, though by no means light.  I stored it in the ripe big box.  The taste is vastly different from the past with much more wood resin.  It seemed quite similar to the Langhe Ripe Tuo, though they’re stored in different places.  Overall quality and character are solid, but the personality differs greatly from any previous session in tasting for a number of years now.  Again, must be the rainy-season effects.

By this time, the Puerh Junky had a fancy to test a LCGC ripe acquired in Nov ’23.  A more exhaustive write-up on LCGC ripes will be in order some time this year ’24.  The year ’23 had Puerh Junky more curious about their ripes.  It proved a good change of pace, as it brought the LME ripe house style into greater relief.  The greatest difference?  Sweetness.  The LCGC possesses a light molasses and Wheat Chex quality.  The sweetness adds a layer of thickness, though it’s not sticky sweet.  Since Old Geezers which sold out to a local fiend, I haven’t found such a production.

Finally, there was the ’06 Nannuo, LME. It’s in the ripe sampler set #4. This was sampled straight from storage and twice thence in the same week.  Each time, totally blind, PJ’s wife made remarks whereas none of the others elicited a peep.  The Nannuo, of which, I’ve picked up three more in a most recent order (yet to be received), possesses a layer of Vienna Fingers vanilla cookie.  There’s a top layer of this with the LME house bitter finish.  Still is not remarkably sweet.

All were brewed in my ripe pot 10-12g about 3m to start at same or upward with about four infusions.  No vegetal at all.  Prices for these between in the $60s-110.  Samples avail in Sampler U or on respective page.

Zhongcha

Zhongcha is ChinaTea.  I’m trying to get use to using that name more frequently.  They’re a full-range outfit but most of that which Puerh Junky offers is in the “peoples” and midrange priced offerings.  There have been a few individuals who’ve examined the leaves and made critical remarks, then showing me Chenshenghao’s yedi.  I’ve not endevoured to portray my ZC’s on par with CSH’s, but when I look at such monochromatic leaves, I immediately suspect blow drying.  No bueno.  In any event, Zhongcha has presented itself as a volume seller of casual drinkers that “the people” can afford.  Until ’14 they adhered to strict processing methods that didn’t pander to quick-sweet tastes.  Furthermore, they’re iconic and worth visiting for a sense of classic puerh history.   Since ’07 the Zhongcha brand has been synonymous with Kunming TF, though there’s an out layer or two.  Initial forays into Zhongcha were with the ’07 offerings, with a few offered as late as ’16.  In ’23, I ventured into a few ’06 and ’08 with generally positive findings but much different from the ’07s that had served as a centerpiece of acquisition from between ’14-’20.  Astringency is much greater in the ’06 and ’08s.

During the leap week I visited two relatively recent productions, the ’12 Mangosteen and the ’13 Bulang Shengtai.  I had to sit the Mangosteen out for two weeks after first test.  There’s a very high-pitched camphor note that may only be detected by mouth cooling for newbies.  There a middle note of aged fruit, plum possibly, with a zing of erstwhile mangosteen, but a wicked astringency that is altogether not in comportment with the house style as I know it.  I’m still not offering, though I’ve had on hand since ’14, only offering to those confident about their storage.  Having tracked essentially since inception, two more years seems the minimum.  It has maximo classical processing and I’m optimistic given it innate character.  First batch, late March/early April.  It’s bona fide and taking it time.  At least three on hand.

The ’13 Bulang Shengtai has been more fudged in processing if the Mangosteen serves as any comparison  The sugars have already come in, an overall fruity character, having an element of bitterness.  Zen front, fruit second, not unfriendly.  Easy. Everyday drinker.  A good candidate for one unfamiliar with 10yr plus productions that have been only moderately fired.  The wrapper is iconic, but if I’m resorting to wrapper I cannot be all that taken.  It’s very possible that it’s just early.  The 10yr spot is just for starters, nothing negative, seasonal factors included.  Fine.  Much better than two years ago.  Again, the sugars are present but Zen needs some differentiation from bland.  A good conservative starter for testing your brewing method.  I’m expecting more with the the weather changes, say late Aug.  Hit me up.  I won’t raise price in next two years.  I plan to post on a Zhongcha page at the latest by May ’24.

Xinghai

Xinghai grabbing continued afoot in ’23.  Now is a time for proper testing the first stage.  We’ll visit the ’07 Oasis Odyssey, ’07 Paolo Santo, and the ”06 Treasured.  I also tried the ’06 Bulang GS, which is prolly issued under ’07, but I’m willing to give it some time.  Let’s start with the Oasis Odyssey.

Oasis Odyssey seems to have been acquired in May ’23, offered in Nov of the same year.   Over time, it has traversed from oily purple to the typical astringent XH personality with good salivation effect as opposed to drying.  Mostly in the Zen Class.  Compression is massive.  The purple has diminished in expression.  Balanced sweetness.  We’ll have to observe how it evolves in relation to the changes of the seasons.  I’m looking for more oil and purple as last year.

The ’07 Paolo Santo tuo has me rather excited.  It’s a second batch production that has lemon and wood attributes.  I can easily see how the first round would be much more expensive.  No smoke, high limonene wood expression, not too sweet. smattering of bitter.  It’s not available presently, as I only acquired in Nov ’23 but around May ’24 will be.  Bright wood bitter, lemonime, complex, nice.  It’s very promising.  Not sweet but quintessentially Xinghai.  Qi is overall warming and settling.

Finally, there is the Treasured, acquired in Jun ’23.  It has yet to be listed, but one of the projects for the Xinghai Raw page two.  Treasured is the second batch.  It’s in the Tobacco Class, possibly approaching tequila.  Not atomically pressed, with a nice balance of smoked wood, wood resin, sweetness, and astringency.  Probably the most notable element regards storage.  Most productions require the proper treatment that these LA environs provide.  Even then, it takes several months to bring them into a form that make them presentable.  It’s needed every bit of the nine months to come to form.  It’ll appear on the XH second page for certain.

Wrap up

March ’24 Puerh Musings have covered a range of raws and ripes.  The ripes were confined to Puerh Junky’s LME offerings, while raws involved Zhongcha and Xinghai productions.  LME ripes stand out for their bitter finish.  ZC’s ’12 Mangosteen is showing promise, but the astringency is a bit of a hair raiser presently, so it’ll sit at least till after the summer.  The ’13 Bulang Shengtai will be posted soon on a page with a few other others.  The Xinghai visits covered two productions that will also be listed soon.  If all goes well, at the latest mid-May.  Each has a distinctive profile and all being second batches are very reasonably priced:  Oasis Odyssey is Zen with balanced sweetness; Paolo Santo is as the name suggests with remarkable qi; Treasured offers wood complexity of Tobacco Class.  Paolo Santo is also Tobacco Class, but possesses a vastly different quality from Treasured, more closely resembling their Green Peacock.

Puerh Junky’s Xinghai Perseverations

Posted on by Yang-chu
04 Feb

Puerh Junky’s Xinghai Perseverations is the catchy phrasing yours truly came up with to capture the past ten days, which are very much like all the other.  The Puerh Junky is sitting upon a massive load of Xinghai productions, acquired mostly in the past two years.  The past ten days had the Puerh Junky visiting at least four Xinghai TF productions.  Xinghai has a resolute house style with astringency being its key trait, elements of apple of various expression often thrown in.  They adhere to strict processing before ’07 and thereafter begin to ease into more of the new style with reserve.  This to say that their new processing is very skillfully executed. In ’22 Xinghai celebrated their 20th anniversary, but they were bought out in ’18 and no offering after ’16 has me interested.  In this Junky’s Log we’ll visit BZ Wild King, Oasis Odyssey, Naka bamboo, and HK Returns 10th.

BZ Wild King

The BZ Wild King is the late 2nd batch offering from an unimaginably expensive production.  It’s the people’s offering.  As mentioned, the earlier second batch is not time-stamped but this is.  In this latest session of winter ’24 the smoke was far more evident than in most sessions.  I noticed a similar smokiness in the Bulang Shengtai Tribute.  Previous sessions only presented with the smoke once.  I presume that that smoke might become more pronounced.  Stunner is the sweetness and a heretofore novel creaminess totally unknown to Xinghai offerings.  It’s shockingly friendly for Xinghai given the sweetness and cream.  There’s a familiar star anise note that often visits productions from XH specifically and the region in general.

Oasis Odyssey

Oasis Odyssey came into the collection in the early part of ’23 as part of the XH obsession.  It’s on the Xinghai Raw page listing.  Initial tastes indicated need for restoration with an already unmistakable “purple” quality.  As it has come into form, more of the characteristic XH astringency has presented itself.  Let’s be clear, Xinghai is astringent, often punishingly so.  Oasis Odyssey is atomically compressed and there’s zero humidity in the flavour, though it completely reflects proper KM storage,  coolish and dry.  Solid everyday drinker for those favouring astringency.  Seems less oily than it was previously.  This may come back as the weather warms.  The Chinese name actually references a top-tier tribute series that seems to come out on a yearly basis with a different wrapper, but this cake doesn’t endeavor to reach such heights, probably because it’s second batch or later.  Pricing is 100% honest in this regard, a solid intro to XH astringency but the characteristic apple hasn’t come through just yet.  .

Naka Bamboo

The Naka Bamboo will have to sit a bit.  It didn’t come in bamboo and the compression is also atomic.  It doesn’t express characteristic Naka traits in terms of cucumber and perfume.  It didn’t come into reserves till Nov ’23 and it will need at least a year to justify the price paid for it.  Although Xinghai does sometimes venture beyond its primary terroir featuring some prominent Yiwu for instance, this Naka may be a kind of one off.  Needs more time, unlisted.  Right now has an interesting sticky rice note and very interested to see how the initial bamboo stage contributes to a marvelous production.

HK Returns 10th

The HK Returns 10th has been tasted often.  It is also on the Xinghai raw page.  The newest progression is of incense with grapefruit.  Previously described as the Xinghai workhorse, it has taken on a much more interesting character.  It’s in a new stage with previous character still expressing.  Transformation traits are expressing along a promising trajectory with decent with a moderate level of sweetness but an oft highly regarded grapefruit/pumello note.  Not particularly bitter.  Huigan forward.

Wrap Up

Puerh Junky’s Xinghai perseverations continue in large part because beyond offering decent value, it continues to demonstrate promise in underlying material and transformational potential.  Seasonality brings out different attributes in performance, thence this Junky’s Log.  The BZ Wild King showed a smokiness heretofore unknown.  Oasis Odyssey has showed more sassy astringency.  HK Returns 10th expresses a layer of incense along with its grapefruit.  Cannot say much about the Naka Bamboo, but it’s good to know about the stages involved before a production gets listed.  The BZ Wild King and HK Returns were both the most surprising, the smoke and cream with the former and then incense with the latter.  Those keen on aggressive style will need to look no further than XH at this stage of the game.

Winter Tasting 2024

Posted on by Yang-chu
18 Jan

Winter Tasting 2024 finds “Peej”, as he’s known on the streets, back to the arduous task of sampling.  His focus goes back to Xinghai factory, in the dispassionate manner of any hoarder.  He recently acquired an edition of the ’06 Bulang GS without the “special” stamp.  I guess this would make it the 3rd or late 2nd batch.  It you drink it like most teas, it’s hideous; if drunk like cognac or ouzo, then at least you’re prepared.

Bulang Old Tree (no stamp)

There’s that hella fennel, star anise, bitter grasses, like golden rod. . . white oak.  I’m using my slow pour floral zisha, 150ml at 6.7g, which I feel is far too much really, but I’m giving this intensity a go.  It’s deathly astringent and drying, but less so in the throat.  I think the easiest thing to call it would be black tea, dianhong, but this species of star anise is particular to Mt Bulang in Banzhang.  It’s a recuring theme in many Xinghai productions and is evident in the LME Quincy, and the Tiger, CMS.

The Bulang Old Tree “Special” ostensibly is the second batch, as the neifei bears no timestamp.  Presumably, there is a Bulang GS “Select”, identical but for the designating stamp on the wrapper as well as the date stamp on the neifei.  The Special strikes me as having notes similar to the MKRS Daxueshan, a Lincang production.  Such are the hazzards of getting too hung up on terroir.  Daxueshan, nonetheless is on the “black tea” side of Lincang in contrast to Bingdao, which tends toward round and fruity, white grapey, pear.   Daxueshan area has a taste like Fengqing, in Simao, home to the largest and most famous producer of dianhong in all Yunnan.  There’s two cakes of this no-stamp version and price is quite modest, under $70usd.

Dianhong also goes by the name Yunnan Gold, or just black tea from Yunnan.  Oxidized productions are a specialty in itself.  The area of Fengqing is thought to be ideal for making black tea.  The puerh from this area tastes the same, with a distinctive rose nose and taste.  The 6FTM Lunar New Year Series possesses at least 30% Fengqing material.

BZ Wild King

The nose on the ’06 BZ Wild King evokes a sense of a spicy Smurfberry Crunch, lots of vanilla and blueberry, some nutmeg.  It hearkens to an era in the 80s, when Post cereals still existed.  While that opens up, should mention the run in I had with the ’07 Imperial Tuo, 250g raw.  It may get posted soon for a short spell.  It’s a very recent acquisition and has now entered a tasting rotation of sorts.  It has a personality akin to the Tiger Tuo.  A citrus pine vibe presents in the nose and liquor, some characteristic Xinghai apple and moderate sweetness with big astringency. Quite similar to the Green Peacock come to think of it.  The Green Peacock is a dreadfully good buy, more oiling, and one of the most well-received of ’23.

Goodness!  The ’07 BZ Wild King is nice in this ceramic shot glass.  It was just as good in the porcelain cup.  Smoke and wood, sweet then red-fleshed plum, super-intense Juicy Fruit factor on back end.  As usual, possesses that bracing astringency characteristic of Xinghai factory particularly before ’07.  There’s that distinctive medicinal note also found in the Bulang Old Tree.  BZWK has a top end note of swiss chard with vanilla, but turning more fully vanilla with spices like ginger and clove.  It’s on par with ’07 Mincemeat in terms of spiciness.  The sweetness is greater than usual for XH, but that’s definitely balanced out by the bold astringency, which is instant and reaching into the throat.  It may be testament to the “wild” in the title.

Stylin

The smoke evident in the first two infusions forms more of an accent than theme in the overall construction of the batch.  Smoke is much more evident in Stylin, from the same year.  Stylin’s leaves seem to be fairly small and expectations are that it will be intense.  The 6.7g used in the second case of BZWK proved more appropriate than for the Bulang Old Tree (special).  The nose is floral and fruity, sweet and the rinse is sudsy.  A definite aroma of honeysuckle and backdrop of smoke in the pitcher.  The smoke hits first followed by creamy and ferment-y butterscotch and then smoky, fruity, mineral-y.  Very nice sweetness.

The brew is lightest and longest-stored of the three sampled.  Intense smoked dryer sheet essence. Definitely more bitter than the BZWK.  The incense/dryer sheet essence fades to Juicy Fruit.  Stylin is first batch with a timestamp on the neifei.  A florid aroma coats the pitcher, there’s that “pissiness” of certain flowers, like magnolias.  The pissiness is disguised by the smoked wood in the broth.  It may be a puerh, but it’s tequila-identified. Puerh Junky knows next to nothing about tequila, but there is one type that is sweet and palatable like amaretto.  They call it “anejo.”

The third infusion appears slightly more coppery with some lasting suds befitting its dish-soap fragrance.  The really perfume-y puerhs are disgusting.  The flowers here are sultry and oppressive.  It’s pure perfume and the smoke is fighting a losing battle.  A bit of wintergreen and bitter grasses.  Astringent.  Cloying, like a woman seeking attention by wearing very loud perfume.  Although the perfume is evident in the nose, the taste is of ginseng, unapologetically bitter, spinach minerals, and a bittersweetness of Sweet-n-Low.  Feels now more like the cheap tequila that you’re just drinking for the hangover the next day.  Feels like it’s at least five years off for the lightweight Junky.

I just made that five-years bit up to make myself sound like a knowledgeable soothsayer.  Stylin‘, despite its cunning that sounds lower on the register, still possesses a rambunctiousness that belies youth.  Right now, it’s quite dreadful.  The smoke and perfume are hideous and punishing, then the bitterness.  Experienced drinkers may enjoy this or prefer to sit this one out till it gets a few more years under its belt.  It might end up being for the ages if you can store on your own for a couple years.

Instagram shots here.

Did Puerh Junky Mention II

Posted on by Yang-chu
08 Dec

Did Puerh Junky Mention II continues its look into the past.  Last time we visited some of the stellar productions.  What distinguished them is the excellent storage.  The subsequent discussion continues by bringing to the readers attention productions that worthy of note.  Let’s start out with the cream note, shall we?

The ’04 Uncle Creme Florale and the ’07 Mengsong are both solid cream-drinking experiences.  Sweet and dynamic with pleasant camphor notes.  These two are great everyday drinkers or newbies who’d like a completely different quality of puerh experience that is free from the heavy muted notes of more humid-stored productions, while still enjoying the benefits of serious age.

Ripes have heretofore gone rather neglected.  The ’11 Peacock Gold, Fuhai is in a good place.  Excellent everyday drinker for those enjoying a balance between viscosity, sweetness, bitter and camphor.  Storage is succulent and composition fully expressed under current conditions and age.

Discerning ripe drinkers have almost universally glowed over ’12 Operation Macau.  Most commissioned productions are far from ordinary and Operation Macau is no exception.  If you’re interested in trying a next-level ripe that favours the palate of discerning Macanese standards, rich, sweet, humid, then this sets a standard against which all others can be judged.  The geosmin note excels.  This is one that people load on.

Those ripe-inclined interested in a bit of history should take note of the ferocious ’02 Purple Mark, 6FTM.  This is the only 6FTM ripe production offered.  It took over two years to resuscitate a production held in deep storage and fairly recently released.  Dark chocolate that seeps through the pores.  Perfect after dinner treat.  Can be brewed heavy handed but forget about thermosing!

The cries of the humid crowd have not gone unheeded.  There’s an entire “Humid Old” category set up for it.  Noticeably absent from the list is the Revolutionary Suspect.  Rested here in LA, CA since ’15, the production is alive with the notes of pine.  Though I recommend the full set among the Humid Old , particular attention should be directed toward the Simao Orange, which hasn’t been listed yet but for which there are a few available.  Acquired in Jan of ’23, it took only a few months for this production to blossom and a handful of others were acquired this (Nov ’23) and are still waiting their turn.  Explosive camphor along a backdrop of heavy humidity.  Compression is stellar and Guangdong storage albeit true to form didn’t rot the underlying material.  Those who like the fast-forward qualities of heavy storage should find this a true pleasure.

Amidst the humid and smoky into just smoky two bear mentioning.  First is ’07 Poison, 6FTM which is humid and smoky, and the ’06 Bulang Wild Big Tree, Fuhai.  Given the colder temps, these two will it the winter spot.  Camphor is prominent in both but through very different characters.  Poison would be characterized as “menthol”, while Bulang Wild would be cast as having a more medicinal quality.  Poison is more bitter, woody and in-your-face with complexity, while the Bulang Wild surprisingly is less bitter and low toned, green.  The latter was characterized by one drinker as being like scotch, which I wouldn’t know.  Sweetness with both is high.

 

 

Puerh Junky Three Xinghai Naughts

Posted on by Yang-chu
26 Mar

Puerh Junky Three Xinghai Naughts checks in on some rather recent Xinghai TF arrivals.  The year 2022 witnessed some earnest acquisition activity (EAA) in regards to both raw and ripe Xinghai productions.  About three weeks ago ole Puerh Junky‘s pc died and though most was backed up not all has been recovered, not to mention that the replacement is not outfitted with features that don’t require subscriptions, something he refuses to do, which means replacing the new operating system with Windows 7 or at the very least figuring out how to get the current system to read the cd player gutted from the old system.  All this to say, PJ is wading through technical difficulties both on the site and the system which prevents including a wealth of pics and requires the reader’s patients.

’06 BZ Wild King

The BZ Wild King is one of the latest Xinghai acquisitions.  It is high altitude material of over 2000m and is from the first batch, hence it has a date stamp.  BZWK possesses good dry storage and was pressed with moderate compression.  It’s hands down the creamiest of Xinghai ever tasted, possessing notes in the vicinity of the Stylin, Tiger (CMS), and Quincy.   Thick and sweet with no smoke, BZWK resides assuredly in the Fruit Class, possessing fermented tropical fruit character most evocative of jackfruit.  Sometimes this profile will pick up some baby powder or incense notes, but that’s not the case here.  I typically expect Xinghai productions to pose some sort of challenge, usually in the form of astringency and dryness.  With “wild” in its name, BZWK had me bracing, but in the end proves to be probably the friendliest XH production ever drunk, though there is a thread of funk to it that conjures Jame Brown.  $188/357g.  Instagram fotos here.

’07 HK Returns 10th

In a previous post, HK Returns 10th received distinction as a great entry-level Xinghai.  This may lead some to erroneously conclude that the production is inferior.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It’s just been offered at a surprising price.  HKR10th first came into Puerh Junky‘s clutches a year ago in Mar ’22, an order for a tong immediately placed thereafter.  The cake has the tight compression consistent with the era.  Initial infusions take about two min before opening up.  It lasts forever.

HKR10th‘s performance varies greatly by storage particulars.  What was previously described as “workhorse” describes the floral expression.  Original storage lacks any humidity but has been sufficiently moist to allow a camphor note to pervade the infusions, along with a very tasty geosmin note, a rocky minerality.  After leaving the cake out for a week, grapefruit/pumello makes a stunning entry reminiscent of the Dragon, CMS and a recent sample had of the ’03 Qingteng, Wistaria.  There’s a real sassy sour that tweaks the cheeks, leaving the mouth with eau de grapefruit and salivation.  Mouth smaking is an inevitability.  Deeper in the citrus floats to the top while peat, incense, and light geosmin assume a dominant role.  It’s a Russian novel with lots of characters, intrigue, and drama.  I’ve never been able to outlast this classic, typically drinking over two or three days.  Nice qi too.

’06 Bulang Old Tree

The Bulang Old Tree is the second batch of another tightly pressed production devoid of any humidity.  The tea, however, shaves easily from the cake with a proper tea knife.  Storage is consistent with its age, though the wrappers on this puppy are really not in the best condition, a bit tattered and quite stained.  A few were picked up mid ’22 and a few more at the end of the year.  The taste is most like the Daxueshan, MKRS, a production described as having a peanut brittle and soy sauce expression.  The notes are not as strong in the BOT, as it also some cryptic tropical fruit notes along lines of the Stylin and BZ Wild King, some woodiness.  After three years of storage, the MKRS’s DXS has evolved into a classic tasting dianhong/Yunnan Gold.

The BOT and the BZWK are quite similar.  The price of the first batch of the BOT runs about the same as the BZWK.  Letting the opened leaves of the BOT rest in the pot for little less than a half hour released some of the vanilla cream so prominent in the BZWT.  It’s good to keep in mind that BZ and Bulang are often interchangeable, whereas Menghai much less so as it incorporates a much larger area.  Having the BOT sit out overnight and brewing in clay, no soy sauce could be detected and the peanut brittle transformed to toffee.  An anise note is more apparent and even a hint of pumello.  In fact, this citrus not gets stronger and more bitter the deeper you dive,  expressing in the aroma as well.  There’s also a thin layer of a fine-quality incense in those layers.  Hence, given their similarities the difference in personality emergest during the session.

Wrap-up

Puerh Junky selflessly visited three recently acquired Xinghai productions from ’06 and ’07 in order to further appraise fellow puerh enthusiasts of Xinghai TF itself.  Xinghai formed in ’02 and the first decade of production constitutes what will likely be their best, largely because they had not fallen under the influence of sheisty processing.  Productions from ’14-16 bear signs of a processing shift and in ’18 XH changed ownership, being acquired by one of the vulture groups that capitalize upon brand distinction while invariably lowering standards.  There’s no point here in beating a dead horse and processing variation is in itself a fluid phenomenon.  The acquisitions from the mid-teens deserves a discussion of its own.

In Puerh Junky Three Xinghai Naughts the early period of processing comes under the microscope.  The BZ Wild King represents one of Xinghai’s friendliest early productions, creamy and sweet with a unique fermented jackfruit expression.  There is a great deal of similarity with it and the Bulang Old Tree, but deeper in the BOT turns more toward grapefruit with unabashed bitterness.  BOT in some regards represents some of the challenging qualities PJ associates with XH.  The Hong Kong Returns 10th ranges from floral to a grapefruit, with formidable durability.  All three productions possess the complexity of well-crafted recipes.  The qi of both the BOT and HKR10th are uplifting.  The BZWT‘s effect is more narcotic, and also warmest of the three.  BOT starts out warm but as the grapefruit builds it becomes more cooling.  Camphor notes are strongest in the HKR10th, while it can definitely can be detected in the aftertaste of the BOT.  No humidity can be found in the taste of any of them, though storage can be considered adequately warm and moist to facilitate the type of transformation reflective of treasures better than 15 years in age.

Xinghai Releases 2023

Posted on by Yang-chu
06 Jan

Xinghai Releases is a rather prosaic arising from an incident already shared among a few of you.  A snafu arose with the shop pics that only happens if something new is posted.  Instead of the headache of trying to fix that, already attempted with “the fixor“, items will be posted behind the scenes.  A simple word search for item will suffice and missives of this sort will be issued replete with links as well.

The Puerh Junky project is more a study than curation.  This is mentioned because evidently a large catalogue suggests haphazard buying.  That’s never the case, and as mentioned previously, usually only a few items are acquired and those are sat upon till they’re fit for immediate drinking by the buyer. . . unless otherwise notified.  In any event, having items off page so to speak keeps the shop in the moderately overwhelming zone, as opposed to causing outright apoplexy.

As a study, focus is narrowly centered about specific factories and many only within themes encompassing usually Chinesey stuff like the Lunar New Year and peacocks.  Xinghai is a rather convenient factory of attention, as their logo often includes a peacock and the founder has a solid reputation.  That said, in a recent post on top puerh purveyors from various sites, they didn’t appear once, in contrast to say Fuhai, Zhongcha, and Liming, which are also included in the shop.  Below are links to the current Xinghai raw additions for the first part of 2023:

  • ’14 Xinghai LBZ— Have a whole tong arriving this Jan ’23 (OSTENSIBY), but have one or two now.  Recent price check on this shows it’s doubled and I won’t be getting more.

  • ’05 Xinghai Green Mark— This is the second batch.  Prototypical XH offering.

  • ’07 HK Returns 10th— Low risk intro to Xinghai TF, also second batch.  Well stored.

  • ’06 Bulang Old Tree—  Second batch with first more than twice the price.  Extremely interesting production in the vein of Quincy and Tiger.

  • ’05 Bulang Shengtai Tribute— Requires time and attention.
  • ’06 Stylin‘– I forgot to add talcum in the description.
  • ’07 Green Peacock— The perfect juncture of character and economy.

Xinghai’s practice is to not date stamp their second-batch productions, which are priced about half of the first run.  As a whole, their productions are not especially sweet.  This could be because they’ve adhered to a very traditional processing and the sweetness has yet to arrive.  Stylin‘ and Green Peacock are on the sweet side.  HK Returns is in the most advanced stage of maturation, while the others are in varying stages of wood and usually apple.  The real outlier is the LBZ which differs greatly by virtue of its Guangdong storage and in all likelihood quasi-Lincang processing.