pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

Great idea! I’ve subscribed to this topic. Thank you.

Is this ripened pu-erh old enough to a.) enjoy now or b.) is it likely to significantly improve if stored? If b.), about how long should it be stored to achieve an obvious improvement?

Since shu is not ripened, about how much longer should it typically be stored/aged before brewing compared to ripened pu-erh of the same production date?

Yes this on.It is old enough to enjoy now. The flavor may deepen over time some. This gave me an almost unsweetened chocolate notes on the third cup. I am going to try and post something every other day or so on this. Everyone feel free to post on this.

I have been told it is good to rinse ripe pu-er a couple of times so am not surprised your third cup assuming you didn’t rinse was a great one. My understanding is the 3rd, 4th and 5th are the choice steepings and that has been my personal experience as well.

It’s so awesome Francois that you chose to copy/paste the SAME post across multiple threads, in case we missed it the first time.
:P

Shou (ripe)puerh tea is good for stomach, it could enhance gastric motility. and do not eat Sheng(raw) tea if you have some stomach trouble. Because the alkaline substances in sheng(raw) tea will increase your gastric acid secretion, which will stimulate your stomach if you have stomach ulcers or gastritis.
Pu-erh ripe tea: http://www.orientalteastore.com/loose-leaf-c-6_14/puerh-loose-ripe-tea-p-77.html
Pu-erh raw tea: http://www.orientalteastore.com/loose-leaf-c-6_14/puerh-raw-loose-tea-p-81.html

Great review especially for being new to Pu-erh.
http://steepster.com/teas/mandala-tea/37871-mandala-tea-silver-buds-raw-2011

gah, I need to try that one! I have the 2012 cake that I haven’t tried yet.

I was on the same boat too – I had shu and thought it was good, but sheng sounded interesting. I was looking to buy a cake and everything I read said “new people should get shu first” but wow, sheng pu’er tastes just magical!

I have the wild monk sheng cake (http://steepster.com/teas/mandala-tea/29244-wild-monk-sheng-puer) that I haven’t tried yet. I’m waiting for a day that I can spend some time with it. Sheng is definitely a special tea. I see several cakes in my future, including the 2011 Silver Buds. I haven’t given up on Shu, I think they are different teas and there is room in my cupboard for both (I’m DYING for the Special Dark that Graceatblb has been raving about to appear on their site – I will place an order once it becomes available)

Hi Dexter3657 feel free to post on here also. I think this will “educate” us all as we constantly learn on this subject.

Having confidence in who you’re purchasing from eliminates a lot of bad puerh in my opinion. Knowing that Garret at Mandala Tea is doing his own pressing and aging, you know what you’re getting and it’s good. A few other vendors are well connected to quality sources. Mrmopar here knows how to spot fakes…a good topic for discussion…because some people sell fake puerh with phoney labels.

I just wanted to chime in and note that “fake” doesn’t necessarily have to be bad. Lots of smaller factories sell their cakes with the bigger brand names on the wrappers for extra profit and popularity, but use decent base leaves in the cakes. It’s not always the case and it’s usually a risk, but tiepai (“pasted brand”) cakes can turn out to be a bargain. Like you said Bonnie, trustworthy vendors help make sure you’re getting good fakes (and good tea in general), but sometimes you can score with the unknown brands.

For example, http://steepster.com/teas/white-2-tea/37402-2005-cnnp-zhong-cha-green-label-tiepai. I still need to post my notes on this one, but it’s mature and complex for it’s age, smooth and cooling in mouthfeel, and presents a nice, subtle huigan (returning sweetness).

I’ve tried a few “tiepai” and can vouche that they’re not too shabby, all things considered. I think for the ripe cakes, tiepai are much less of an issue in terms of taste than raw cakes. What I mean to say is ripe cakes aren’t that big a deal, whereas raw ones bear the most potential in terms of aging and worth. I’d be interested in others’ thoughts regarding this.

Yeah Tiepai on ripe I don’t mind. On sheng I guess I want the real deal.

lukep, I think the processing is what makes young sheng easy to drink. No drying machines or heavy heat and smoke. Those things have to air out and age. Hand processed usually doesn’t have these aspects so easier to drink now is my guess.

I think it also has to do with the cost increase of aged sheng in the past few years. It has caused a new trend of drinking young sheng. As MrMopar mentioned above, better processing has also made it easier to drink young sheng.

Hey guys, it’s been a while since I participated, but in the emails this caught my attention! Love these discussions.

From my point of view it has a LOT to do with the processing, but I don’t believe it is completely tied to machinery vs hand processing. It is a matter of production and markets. Lots of people have interest in Puerh now, much more than say 10 years ago.

Not everyone can afford or even see the worthiness of spending money in aged Puerh so they get more used to the inherent tastes of young (traditional) Puerh. I don’t think there’s nothing wrong about that, after all, all lot great teas have been created to fit the market they are aimed at (Jin Jun Mei, a black tea trying to tap in to that black tea market that was relatively inexpensive compared to Oolongs, White tea in recent years, Ripe/Shou in the 70s, etc etc etc).

The market now is people who want to drink teas right away and people who are willing to pay more for less (sort of speak: you buy a really young cake for the price of a 20 year old cake). And well, some producers are just aiming at producing easier to drink cakes like Tea Urchin’s Bulang Beauty, it is an expensive cake (really expensive in my opinion), but it definitely produced to be drank earlier than most traditional cakes. It is a blend to hit a middle-ground between the pleasant characteristic of aged Bulang and the harsher notes more traditional drinkers expect from that region. With that said, I have my very high doubts about the aging potential of these cakes, but only time will tell.

The biggest difference between raw tea and ripe tea is the taste. Because of the manufacturing process, ripe tea has the mild flavor, and the raw one has some strong taste.
Info from http://www.orientalteastore.com/puerh-tea-c-6/

Yep. The ripe cakes are more warming and the raw more cooling.

I got the Xiaguan’ old tree’ and the ‘jingmai’ mountain shengs in. I haven’t tried them yet but the ‘old trees’ will probably be gotten into by this weekend.

grace – did you know that Garret has this for 50% OFF through July 2 ???

Great review.

I may be sampling one of our 2005 Yiwu AGED Sheng. Stored 8 years in Yiwu by the producers. Hand aged; hand processed; never saw a machine or a chemical. It’s one of the finest aged I have tried. I sell each bing to shops for around 300-500; I may sell 10g samples…anyone interested?

Nicholas.

Well we are out to change your mind. I thought I only liked shu pu-erh but that has changed.

Mrmopar, so glad to have you on this side now brother.

I think I am hooked now my friend! I still do the shou but lately lots of sheng cha.

hi,friend.In fact ,aged sheng puer tea is very nice and interesting.
for example:http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Classic-Raw-Pu-er-Tea-7542-375g-2007-year-Cake-Dayi-daetea-China-Yunnan-Menghai-puerh/1048797_1784734653.html,if you like ,I can give you some tea sample.

haha I know that feeling ;)