24 April 2010

A 5, 6, 7, 8!

A quartet of young sheng from Puerhshop on the menu this domestic morning, representing years 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. 3 of these were rather disappointing, and one I really liked.

05 06 07 08 young sheng - all four

Clockwise from top right:

1. 2008 Red Army "Banmu" Cake ($16.95/cake)
2. 2007 Gujun Factory "Bulang Spring Buds Cake" ($14/cake)
3. 2006 Changtai Factory "339" Cake ($19.99/cake)
4. 2005 Nanjian Phoenix Tuo ($12.90/250g tuo)

2008 Red Army "Banmu" Cake
Of the 4, this cake disappointed me most. It tastes buttery like mao xie oolong, but with a bitter melon type bitterness that had me wondering if the bamboo charcoal in my kettle had gone rancid. The bitter bite remained after elminating any cross-contamination factors (I tasted my water, brushed my teeth dry, and swirled and spit out some fresh olive oil). The leaves look ok, not entirely whole and no suspect color. The tea brews a nice yellow, too. But with few flavors and this bitterness, I have nothing pleasant to say about this tea.

2007 Gujun Factory "Bulang Spring Buds" Cake
This tea had a nice minty aroma and tasted like chocolate/carob and sweet in the first 2 infusions. It was boring by the 3rd infusion, tasting like little. I had to stress the tea with long infusions to get any flavor, and it did have some bitterness and astringency when pushed, but not much mouthfeel or aftertaste. The leaf quality was surprisingly poor upon examination, its broken leaves looking a step above tuocha grade material. Better than the Red Army cake, but still nothing I'd purchase.

2006 Changtai Factory "339" Cake
Changtai has never been a favorite factory of mine. While some of their sheng cakes have been good and their cooked tea rich and smooth, I have not had a stellar sheng pu'er production by them. The flavor of the 339 cake is subdued and easy. The interest is in the mouthfeel, which extends into the throat and causes a cooling sensation on my lips. But with a sour aftertaste and a flavor that reminds me too much of green dancong oolong in later infusions, this tea perplexed me. When stressed, it yielded an appreciable thickness and astringency with a musky aftertaste. It could be good with more age, perhaps blended into something stronger, like our next contender.

2005 Nanjian Phoenix Tuo
This was my favorite of the four. Despite an orange liquor (5 years age doing this, or ?), the flavor and bitterness taste like traditional big factory sheng, in a dependable and comforting way: punchy, floral, bitter, and a tad smoky, I think this tuo's flavor will go somewhere with more age. I lament at its dry storage and am curious how one of these aged in Guangzhou might taste. I was glad to end this tasting on a high note and might grab one of these for future aging.

19 April 2010

2007 Ruipinhao Spring of Jingmai Mountain Sheng (raw) pu'er

2007 Ruipinhao Spring of Jingmai Mountain Sheng (raw) pu'er
or
2007年瑞聘号景迈山之春生饼

This is one of Puerhshop's selections I have tried as a sample thanks to yet another tea friend who decided he can no longer stomach young sheng pu'er--appropriately, because if young sheng troubles your tummy, this bitter monster of a cake will turn you off to young sheng entirely.

It's bitter, very bitter, but to express just a tiny apologetic nod to the tea, my sample was loose bits that perhaps don't represent how the cake normally brews.

But it's so bitter!

One of the women behind the tea table at one of the better known tea houses in Hong Kong once asked a friend to find whatever cheap super bitter young tea he could find to satisfy her fervent belief (inherited from her tea master) that bitter, tenacious young sheng turns into strong, solid aged pu'er. If you are of that school, this thick, tobacco-ash flavored, bittersweet finishing sheng pu belongs in your cabinet.

If you're of the (primarily Taiwanese?) school of juicy whole leaves and strong flavors with little bitterness, you will lambast this tea as typical low grade plantation tea marketing itself as "old arbor" tea.

Believing that educated ambivalence is the logical conclusion of any philosophical pondering, I don't subscribe to either camp--or perhaps subscribe to both. Thus, I don't know what to make of this tea.

I will say that, if Puerhshop sold it for closer to its price on Taobao (26 yuan or $3.80 at time of writing), or even at twice this price, I might indulge in a purchase for the purpose of experimentation. As it is, I'm not sure I will.

BTW, consider this post an update. I originally posted here.