1113 Tasting Notes
Decided to try this since I figured it would be a whole different type of tea than what I’ve been drinking.
First thing I notice is how dark the liquid on their website is for a 2015 raw; I laughed to myself: https://www.harney.com/products/tiger-pu-erh-2015?variant=29501940038
Anyways, this is clearly a smokey puerh. The notes of meat lingers around in an odd way that might be good later on. Right now that smoke is at 70% of what it could be so maybe it has faded. Curious to see if it ends up like some of the Mengku stuff after a good five years of sitting around, I doubt Harney will sell out so I will come back to it one day :)
A friend told me that a sample of a $800 to $2500.00 cake was coming my way… at first I thought it was a typo so I inquired about that because there’s nothing I have to trade that would be anywhere near that, but it turns out that’s the price that was meant and the tea community is just awesome because these experiences are something I cannot afford which makes me so thankful and continue funneling more into the amazing community I’m part of.
Anyways, tea! Sadly the link to the tea does not exist as this tea is the first pressing from Chen Yuanhao in 2003: 2003 Yesheng. Their 2014 Yesheng is $300’ish for 357 as seen here: https://teapals.com/collections/2014-chen-yuanhao-yesheng/products/2014-chen-yuanhao-yesheng-gushu-chawang-zhai-2014?variant=1199497621
This tea intimidates me. It’s one that is expensive and rare; hopefully high in quality. So how do I know when to drink it? Well, I had a reservation with a friend to go to Kihachi which is an authentic Japanese restaurant in Columbus only open from 6pm to 10pm. It’s a very high end place, but my friend convinced me that I afford the meal; after all, I haven’t been dating in a while so I’ve had money to myself :p. So the decision was easy, drink this tea and get smashed before going to eat.
I cleaned everything up to insure that I would get the best results out of this tea. With plans to go at 5 grams within 100ml of water at 95c, I am sure I’ll brew it correctly… so here we go!
Dry leaf: White and golden hairs throughout the multi colored leaf that shows aged on it.
See here: http://imgur.com/w6HZjBO
The above portion was written prior to going outside to have this session, therefore the below portion is after the session.
Going into steep one, I was waiting for my friend and my patience disappeared so I tried it alone. Light and very interesting of an aroma that reminded me of a perfume. For what’s its worth, this is a rare tasting not to have on something that has aged but looking at the liquid it is quite apparent that this is some of the cleanest storage of any tea yet. A hue of golden yellow which makes you think it is not as old as it in fact is, but the taste has depth in a way that… hard to put words to, more of an aroma that lingers within the mouth that is picked up throughout your senses.
My friend arrived for the second steep which really isn’t late. The brewing began and we sipped away at 50ml each at a time trying to figure this tea out. It’s not like any sheng because there is no high note that hits you with a wow factor. The liquid has some viscosity like a nectar would have and a floral note that is developed like a perfume. While it is unique, we both kept trying to figure out what would separate this from other teas and I think it comes down to its delicate aspects that is much like refined sake. Discussing sake went on for a bit as he knew Buddhist monks who drank on that one night they can do whatever, I completely forgot what it’s called… but it’s quite an interesting thing they have going on. So this tea is very light with hard to notice aspects making it something to drink alone as we did. The color and taste stay strong for ten steeps and then the floral notes die out and more of a dried aged sheng note pops out around the fourteenth steep.
This tea goes on and on, but there isn’t anything that I can say makes it just pop out as unique enough for me to go after. Maybe some humid storage could change that or maybe double the leaf, but at the cost… would anyone really want to 10g/100ml this? An enjoyable session worth pairing for the nights meal, however it is still hard to describe in the sense to convince someone about why it is what it is in the tea world; is it name brand, is it the first pressing, is it the subtle notes… what is it that makes this so special, though it is possible that with time it will appear as such with experience in drinking or eating other things.
The food: http://imgur.com/gallery/6tgKt
This was pretty cheap so I got a sample. Unfortunately, I tried a few weeks after the Kunlu wild which makes these not enjoyable at all. Kunlu wild is just… the best wild out there and have such a strong taste and brews for days. This is cheap and all, but it falls flat after six steeps with just semi tasting liquid that can pass as ‘cheap’ puerh like Royal Tea Bay type of stuff.
This tea right here is the one the made me realize each season has so many different elements that can change its production versus the next few years or the past few. The 2015 was so deep in flavor for a young tea and the 2005 was so loud in its taste that this one seems to be some kind of punk who thinks he is ll that but isn’t.
$90+ for a cake… surely it says something if the 2015 cost more than its older cousin who has some hairs on its chest, or so you would think.
The mouth dryness is still quite strong and the lasting flavor in the mouth is nice, but its nowhere near as good as the other You Le productions that were featured and I hate saying it… but dang this one just isn’t worth it ; maybe that means yet as it could change.
Glad to have had the three to compare though because it really opened up my understanding that pu’erh is just like oolong in the sense that each year may have someone new processing it, or maybe the temperatures were different, possibly the climate was off, just so many things that can differ before storage, aged, water….tea has a lot to configure in what makes it what it is.
$26 on King Tea and part of the 2016 lineup… had the word fruit in it so I had to try it.
This tea is ready to drink now, which is not usual for same year shou for me; Green Miracle was the first exception before this.
There’s not really a fruit taste to identify in this tea, but there is a sweetness upfront and at the end that makes it unique and enjoyable. Sweet in the sense of the ginseng ripe Bana has. Very light brews with this which appeals to me. Light brown color with a hint of red, not dark as you can see through it and no texture to speak of. This is a mid day type of shou and not the ending night or morning type; unless you prefer your shou on the light side.
Would like to do another session with double the leaf to see what happens. Must say that it taste quite clean for what it is. Huge points on that part of the teas attributes.
With the purchase for some gifted stuff in the Pubertea group buy, John from King Tea (Aliexpress) had sent me some samples of stuff that he isn’t selling yet… somehow he has stuff he doesn’t offer and it’s still the largest selection of pu out there…
2007 BaJiaoTing JinKongQue raw
Stuff taste as if it’s only three years old. Quite strong taste with a mouth feel that is about in the middle zone.
Taste was most like an older Mengku, but still as strong as a few years old. Semi long distant smoke with astringency it is trying to compensate for. A dry’ish session that has some mild qi that creeps up on you. Not sure how to rate this among other teas due to evaluating King via prices since it is so massive.
Drinking a ripe tonight and I am seriously faded to a point that I have to admit that I cannot drive. This is the first time that a ripe tea had made me feel like rolling around on the carpet not realizing what I’m doing.
I am going to test this tea tomorrow and Saturday as well. If the results are the same I will be buying 80% of the stock that is left because it’s so strong that it makes me wonder what could do this to me. I literally sat on the couch with my eyes closed for 12 minutes… my roommate has been asking me if I’m okay.
and no, you will not know what the tea is until Saturday.
Leaf before: not too tight, not too loose. Roughly in the middle as far as compression goes.
The rinse brings forth the old basement aroma that comes off the leaf telling me that it may need another way up call so I leave it alone for four minutes. The liquid is lighter than expected upon the first brew, light caramel color. Aroma from the liquid is much easier than that of the leaf which makes it more appealing to bring towards the mouth. Thin, semi light of a taste with a little throat feel that comes with the side of the tongue. Leaf might just need a bit more awaking.
Went through a good four steeps while packing up the Pubetea packages and realized that this is the type of tea you drink and then wait a good four minutes to really taste it. This tea has a nice pear skin with autumn leaf lasting taste. Kind of dry, semi tart with some sweetness. The tart seems to come from the little bitterness this tea has which I detect easily due to having a sensitive mouth which gives this room to still become a mature tea so it fits in the puberty theme quite well actually.
Only on steep eight after two hours which tells me that this is a tea that not only last, but it’s taste is one you don’t just sip down quick so it does last in different ways. I’m not sure how it will change over time since that’s not a thing I have looked into or experimented with yet, but to compare it with others… it is a step behind the 2004 Dingji Yesheng. That tea was just fantastic. While this is dry sweet like a pear and nice mouth coating for taste that is about 5 to 10 minutes, I’m just not sure about the purchase or not. However the one thing to note about purchasing this cake is that it is 490 to 500 grams of tea rather than 340 to 357 when you want to price it out per gram. It’s certainly a fair priced one compared to other options out there right now when you are doing price comparisons. I do have enough for a second session so I will follow up and add anything after I hit the 15th steep tomorrow since I plan to make this a two day tea.
Using the same leaf at 6 infusions at a time. Second session was after dinner last night while I ate icecream; it worked. Today I ate spicy food and this didn’t have a taste… my fault. Now it’s in the afternoon and I’m on about the 20th steep because lunch today was short. There’s not a sweetness that a young pu’erh has even if it is in the background. The old taste is pretty much gone and the viscosity is still the same as if it isn’t going anywhere. Not the best steeps as it’s a bit weaker, but it’s much easier to enjoy for someone who prefers the younger aspect of puuerh and not the older. Still going semi strong depending on who is to drink it though.
