What are Sheng and Shou?
I feel like I am useless for that Pu-erh discussion thread! Can someone enlighten me?
At it’s most basic sheng is unfermented raw tea while shou undergoes what is called wo dui or pile fermentation. This fermentation gives shou a very different taste from sheng. Good young sheng is often described as having the flavor of apricots but tends to be bitter at first. Shou does not have this tendency towards bitterness but will have a flavor left over from it’s fermentation that can be quite strong. Some people do not like shou because of this fermentation taste. Both of these teas will age and get better. Sheng transforms into something different and shou will slowly lose it’s fermentation taste. Sometimes the aging process will not go right. Sometimes older tea is not better tea, depending on if it aged well or not.
this is a quick and short…
sheng is the standard puerh. it starts basically as a green tea -ish, then thru aging, it changes properties fron bitter/astringent/floral to camphorous/earthy/mellow.
so, some enterprising tea companies tried to speed up the aging process by basically composting sheng puerh in loose form and in turn created what is called shou puerh which has (for me) a more chocolately/earthy/creamy feel.
If your going to try shou in particular I recommend the 2008 Menghai Dayi Soong of Chi Tse froom Berylleb King Tea on EBay. It is one of those rare shous that have almost totally cleared. It shouldn’t have enough fermentation taste to put you off. It is a good one to start with and they sell samples.
They are right. The tea starts out the same. The processing or lack of it is what separates the two. Sheng is picked, dried and pan fired and rolled and steamed. It can then be left loose or pressed into shapes. Shou goes through the same process but is then wet down and almost composted. It is a tricky process to get right. I keep to the bigger factories and the producers we have on here for shou as the sanitation of the fore mentioned ones are cleaner. I don’t do many small factory shous because of this.
If you have ever seen photos it is a great big wet pile of tea. It effects the tea’s flavor with what is called fermentation flavor. Until you have tried a ripe puerh it is hard to describe, earthy is the term.
@AllanK
My favorite is Old Reliable :)
I knew there was a piling process, but i’ve never heard it be called a ‘compost’. How long does it usually ‘compost’ for?
I think the standard is 45 days but sometimes it is shorter or sometimes a little longer. Old Reliable is good for one with fermentation flavor. Try the 2008 Song of Chi Tse by Berylleb King Tea on EBay. No real fermentation flavor left. I think it’s on sale for about the next hour.
Basically sprayed with water and let to ferment like a whiskey mash. It will generate heat the same way and change into a different thing. I guess compost and ferment would be about the same in this process. The good things from this process are Corn whisky or Moonshine and Lao Cha nuggets.
For further reading:
http://www.tching.com/2015/06/pu-er-to-the-people-part-1/
http://teadb.org/puerh/
http://www.white2tea.com/2014/09/03/what-is-puer-tea/
http://hojotea.com/en/posts-38/ (good photos in this one, but I haven’t actually read it yet!)
two different puerh’s
this should be of use; as its my go to for info on the differences.
http://www.teavivre.com/info/difference-between-raw-and-ripe-puerh-tea/
Alternate names for sheng and shou are green puerh and black puerh because the leaves of sheng are very green and the leaves of shou are usually quite black. Easy way to differentiate them.
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