1113 Tasting Notes
I say this after multiple sessions and a decent amount of thought: This tea deserves the 100/100 that others have given it.
Large leaf. Easy to brew. Forgiving. Savory. Medium viscosity. Great resteep ability. Beautiful before and after the session. Aroma of sweet Jingmai.
All around, this is something that is easy to enjoy for anyone.
Brought this to a new pu’erh drinkers house and it was fantastic, even better than when I drank it alone.
Knowing that I had a long night on my laptop ahead of me I decided to pull out something from Pubertea. Due to this being old, I went ahead and rinsed the tea twice before letting it sit for about 8 minutes. This is how I start my serious brews with stuff regardless of new/old.
First steep has a nice orange tint to the liquid and a stronger aroma on the musky side. Starts out with a slight sour note and some salty residual taste that comes out in some oolong teas. The depth doesn’t seem to be there and that’s what I am hoping comes out of this or some feels later on. A little mouth dryness towards the back on the very first steep though.
So… I meant to continue to write notes and everything… but, I didn’t.
Now on steep 22 I believe; 6g, 100ml, 95c constant. This tea really smoothed out and the funk is gone. Has a pretty strong medicinal taste at the end similar to menthol. Solid mellow feeling, but no enery or warmth. The taste has gotten what I called darker and deeper so I’m really just diving deeper into it and it hasn’t quite on me yet. I’ll brew the rest out over the night and music, time to see how far this will go.
From the look of the leaf to the aroma it produced in the open air around it, this is one wonderful tea.
I use about 6g per 100ml which is heavy or me, but there is just something about the rich mineral content that comes through this fireroastedmaddess that I call a warming cup of tea.
Out of most 2016 productions this may be one of the top 10 because 2016 and oolong variations did not get along; and I will also chime in and say the 2016 Japanese green season wasn’t all that great either, but I only tried 12 variations and over 30 oolongs from China and Taiwan so maybe I’m not a good picking man anymore.
Was my side comment longer than my actual tasting note?
What particular tea harvests in 2016 would you say turned out “good” if the oolongs and Japanese greens haven’t been up to par?
Yeah lol. You got to the point fine. I confess that it’s been harder for me to drink greens and oolongs lately myself, save for the goodies you’ve sent me.
@mtchyg there are exceptions of course like some particular Dong Dings this year or tencha (being ground to matcha) but overall this year has been a better spring harvest of raw puerh, higher grade quality ripe puerhs, and white teas. I’m not one to enjoy puerh to a high extent, but they have been the more quality per price this year versus $20/oz oolongs that I’ve been trying to get into. Dancong this year has been a crazy trip to figure out where and what to get because that market is incredibly flooded now as are many.
The laoshan black teas from all over turned out well though which is a plus, but again… the black tea market is crazy flooded so it’s hard to make an assumption as to the other sorts as I don’t drink them too often.
It’s just been a sad year because the SLX from 2015 is outperforming the 2016 stuff and green SLX doesn’t improve with age.
Thanks for the insight. I’ll have to take a look at some of the 2016 ripes. Haven’t gotten into too many so far this year.
I did however just get some of this Fo Shou in the mail yesterday so I’ll have to have a go with it soon.
Second session this month on a jasmine oolong from whatcha.
This stuff is aweful. I tried it multiple ways, but I think jasmine it too delicate to be with anything that isn’t basically dew collected from the top of grass blades.
Got to be harsh on them older oolongs since it’s what I want to know most about.
The leaf on this is a wonderful size. Brews quite easily and the texture comes through on the first steep. Liquid looks a bit dark and the smell has hints of old humid leaf. The taste has a nice roast to it which is about mid level. End notes of caramel mixed in with humidity which I can aay is similar to YQH oolong. Something that some will really enjoy and for others it is something that needs more time to settle.
Personally, the color of the liquid and leaf quality is wonderful but it’s the taste today that keeps me from brewing more sessions. I think this has the same potential as the liquid caremel the 1989 SLX from TU brews up. Something that won’t cost too much to invest in putting 100g away in an airtight container for a few years.
I used the spring gongfu in the reblend of Chocolate Laoshan Genmaicha, so why not try the Autumn?
This has a drier feel with more of an Assamic bitterness tiving this tea the dark chocolate element over plain chocolate. The spring came out better for sure, but this is more suitable for a breakfast tea over the spring as it would pair with food beter due to the strength it has over the subtle notes the lighter stuff had in spring.
Still, such a unique and wonderful tea. Would blend up well with either a little yancha or dianhong for sure; like 20% of either added.
Solid complex raw. Drank this for roughly 5 hours.
Mixture of a spice like astringent mouthfeel with some sour notes hidden below while the sqaush taste takes lead.
Solid stuff for taste, but misses the feels that Tuhao has. A bit on yhe heavier end if thickness, taste, nd hue.
Randomly pulled this out of the stash and rinsed it nicely and noticed it had a strong aroma. Rinsed it a second time just because I am use to really smooth sheng at this point.
First steep was rough. Second steep was harsh. Third steep was me wondering why I’m so forgiving.
Ended it there. Quite bitter for a 4 year old tea since this is from 2012.Mine came right off of the cake too so either I am realllly spoiled with sheng or this is just a punch in the mouth and I’m not a masochist.
2012 is considered a very good year. The tea was particularly strong. It is not easy to find 2012 anything and when you think you’ve bought one the date is 2011, not as good a year. I don’t know how much of this you have, but might want to hang onto it awhile.
Had about 90% of a cake and gave it all away. This is not something I want to revist though so it’s okay. YS has a lot of 2012 cakes, should I look into them?
I can help with part of that.
I heard good things about Scott’s ’12 Wuliangs.
Did a side by side with this and some Bai Ji. This is by far more along my taste preference. Strong mineral presence with a beautiful hue to it. Still a bit pricey for what it is since there are no complex notes occurring throughout the session. Maybe my taste is looking for fruit and sweetness in places that they don’t exist so I don’t enjoy the tea as much… but there are wuyi like teas out there with plums and stonefruits. This just seems roasty with minerals which are good, but in terms of what would I buy… Laoshan Roasted Oolong and dancongs multiple times before this again.
I had a similar reaction to the Huang Mei Gui, and from what I understand, it is similar to the Mei Zhan. I’m hoping to get to this tea before the end of the week. I liked the other, but I thought it was a bit odd and I kept looking for more complexity.
I had a Mei Zhan (my first) from Chadao & it was lovely – caramel rich, thick, fruity (citrus) & floral, with some turkish delight & rose. The smoke was nutty. http://steepster.com/rasseru/posts/341962
The first few steeps are insanely dark, but it begins to fade quickly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6XJcTHupi4&feature=youtu.be steep 2
This tea doesn’t really last very long, however it is very tasty and changes a lot within the good 8 steeps. Very dark to mildly deep orange by the end of the session. Full on wild fermentation to semi dead fruit peel that has sat in the sink over some dirt that came off of the spinach I washed.
Pretty dang solid for a ripe and easily drank fresh as it is.
