pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

I find it hard to believe that no one has drank sheng or shou in the last 3 months! :-o

Let’s get this thread going again. I am drinking … actually now that I think about it I don’t know what it is because I forgot to label the sample when we got it from some farmer during our travels in the last few months. It is young, it is sheng, and it is good. That’s all I can tell you. T_T

This morning I’m enjoying a 2018 “Lao Cha Tou” shou from Crimson Lotus. Smooth, rich, dark as my soul goodness! It has settled down from when I first got it. Sweet, earthy, petrichor. Like walking in the woods in the dark after a spring rain.

Lately I’ve been burning down a cake of the “2005 gaoshan qingbing” that w2t used to have. I have nicer tea but feel an obligation to polish this one off, for some reason.

I was a little sad about ruining the neifei when I finished breaking it up. I want to get enough of those to make some kind of collage.

Drinking Heart of the Old Tree, Sheng/Raw Today from Mandala Tea :)

KTM’s Padian Fall 2018 – Finished my second small cake. Ticks most of the boxes for what I look for in young sheng.

Xiaguan 2005 T8653 Thick paper – Didn’t hit the spot quite as much as usual, which I think has more to do with what I was in the mood for rather than the tea itself.

Next up the CYH 2011 jincha.

Today’s puerh: 2018 “Beneath an Emerald Sea” sheng from Crimson Lotus. Love this stuff. Hardly any bitterness, even when Pushed at 5th brew for one minute, 212 degrees. Thick, juicy, saliva inducing. Subtle floral, some buzziness on roof of mouth and top of tongue. Some almond notes. Only on 6th brew, so it’s still early. Oh dear, think I’m headed to work tea drunk. :o

Does anyone have the 2016 “Beneath an Emerald Sea”? can you let me know how it is ageing? Although at only 3 years, it’s still young. I’m tempted to get a tong of this stuff!

Shou pu-er can be kept indefinitely, whether in cakes, bucks, or round disks with embossed designs However, it must be preserved thus naturally, not with refrigeration or foil bags, and teaches its apotheosis of flavor after 20 years or so, Much of a shou pu’er’s flavor is credited to the company which makes it, usually a family concern of long, local standing, with its own close-guarded secret process of fermentation.

Hey!
I am writing an article on pu-erh tea. I would love to feature some of our favourites pu-erh product recommendations.

Can we try and give two product recommendations, one for “expert” tea drinkers and one for those just getting into pu-erh?

I broke out the ’14 Mangzhi, TeaUrchin after about not having for more than two years. Interesting, as I had gotten into a bit of a discussion about the character of Yiwu productions being impossible to judge at a young age.

I cannot say enough about how this treasure only affirms my position regarding Yiwus. Initially, this wasn’t very flavourful. Now it tastes like some of those oolong processed productions that don’t age well but burst with flavour and lack bitterness. It is much more fruity fragrant than it was initially and tastes just dynamite.

It would definitely pass “the mom test.”

Riding the edge of the fruitiness is a high-pitched camphor note.

On an entirely different tip, I had some ‘04 Silver Bud, 6FTM 100g tuo that I think I got last year or so. It’s been super dry stored and is pressed tightly. I’m about 3/4ths done with it, all the while feeling mostly ho-hum about it. Today, I tried it in a purple clay pot that I’ve discovered does a great job of brewing compact productions.

The liquor is still quite light, but more aged notes more zinginess is coming through. There’s strong minerality with an instantaneous emergence of honeysuckle from the back of the mouth. Holding the liquor in one mouth, one might be able to detect semblance of humidity. This one sits deep in the throat. If tasted blind I would venture it was an XG production, quite similar to the vaunted Gold Ribbon. It certainly doesn’t scream of the Fengqing terrior as so many Fengqing productions do.

Overall, I’d say that’s a good thing.

2017 Midas Touch from Crimson Lotus. A big step up from their cheaper 2016 and 2017 sheng I’ve tried.