Another thing that I really noticed when getting back into
buying puerh was that a lot more people seem to be buying China National Native
Products (CNNP) puerh. This surprised me
at first. To me CNNP was associated with
a risk of being lower quality puerh.
Basically, you never knew, for certain what the cake would be like and
had no brand recognition behind it. At
the random tea tables in China, and to a lesser extent Korea, there was a decent
chance that these teas would be almost undrinkable. To order a cake of this stuff blindly was
almost unimaginable 10 years ago.
Nowadays, the mentality toward the CNNP labeled teas has
changed thanks to western pureh vendors.
Puerh vendors have picked up on some Western puerh drinker’s preference
for value over brand and have started stocking these. As buyers we no longer have to be concerned
about them being undrinkable because the vendors basically do the leg work here
to ensure something of a particular quality that won’t compromise their own
brand. I feel sorry for them, but grateful!
As a result, we are now ensured a certain level of quality
with these CNNP cakes. Without brand recognition behind these cakes- great value can be had. This pretty much removes the puerh collector
from driving up the market value of these teas.
These are the true puerh drinker’s puerh!
Recently, my feeling of the CNNP cakes changed because of
good reviews and a general positive outlook overall and a run of good ones that I sampled from Stephane of Teamasters . After reading some of these reviews I really
wanted to try some out in my next order.
It took me longer than I thought to order again (probably a good problem
to have), but I am happy to say that some of these CNNPs are on their way. I am really hoping that these cakes help me overcome
my fear of CNNP.
The first to arrive was….
Dry leaves smell of a faint smoke almost creamy sweetness
and slight aged, almost roasted meat odour.
“Big Yellow” gets the big yixing and big Korean ceramic cups
treatment today. “Go bold or go home” I
chuckle to myself.
The first infusion delivers a slightly smoke, slight sour
initial taste. There is a mild sweetness
that lingers on the breath. The base
taste is slightly smokey, meaty, and savory here. There is a soft subtle sweetness that tries to
push through in the mild returning sweetness.
There is a soapy, almost cinnamon and rose pedal quality in there as
well. There is lots going on with this tea. The mouthfeel has a bit of chalkiness to it
in this first infusion. I got some mild allergic
symptoms off this one right after the first infusion. Next time I will probably give it 2 or 3
rinses instead of just one.
The second infusion starts with a meaty, savory BBQ like
taste then adds a slightly almost chalky rose edge. The aftertaste is mildly cooling and evolves
in the mouth. The throat has a deeper
chalkier mid throat feel which works well for this tea. The aftertaste minutes later is a nice mild
smokey menthol barely rose sweetness.
The aftertaste is long and interesting trying to push more subtle sweet
flavours through. The qi of this tea is
strong enough to have a profound effect on the mind.
The third infusion starts with a smokey, BBQ like taste. Then there is a splash of almost sweetness
then back to smokey BBQ, then slowly and long evolving into a cooling returning
aftertaste. Minutes later there is a
barely creamy rose aftertaste. The taste
profile of this tea is long and unfolds slowly.
The mouth and throat feel develop a nice astringency to it. The aftertaste has a creamy almost sweet
finish reminiscent of Nannou. The way I
am reacting to this tea, it contains more than a bit of evil qi in there.
The fourth infusion begins with this roasted meat and smokey
BBQ taste. The mouthfeel becomes more
astringent but not overly so. The
aftertaste is more measured in this fourth infusion with less subtlety or
sweetness pushing through.
The fifth still carries this burley, masculine feel of
smokey, strong almost harshness followed by hints of Nannou creamy sweetness in
the aftertaste that slides into a rose-like taste. There is much to see in this
tea if you can see through its smokey strength.
The sixth infusion starts to coalesce nicely. Its initial taste is almost a creamy sweet
woody taste. Its less smokey here and
more rich and creamy. It has a nice
floral rose like finish that is more noticeable now. The mouthfeeling is chalky and deeper and
aftertaste is slight cooling evolving. The
qi is really nice and strong you can feel it in the chest as the heart beats
stronger and in the head that feel cloudy, energy sure is felt, a boost for
sure.
The seventh infusion is similar to the sixth but more smokey
and woody. Nice big qi in here for sure.
I think about throwing in the towel with this tea but it
just tastes too damn good, despite some of the allergic like reactions I’m having
to it. It seems like it’s even getting
better in these last infusions so I steep it a few more times. The body of these infusions are decently rich
and thick in the mouth with a more cohesive flavor profile of smokey wood and
almost creaminess. This tea feels like
it could go a lot further with even more infusions.
This tea reminds me of 85% Xiguan, 10% Nannou single estate,
5% Yang Qing Hao. It is robust and strong,
almost harsh but has some elegance, some softeness as well. To me the Nannou profile is the most obvious
but the strength indicates other Menghai material mixed in there.
This tea tastes great and has some very nice qi but my body
is reacting negatively to something in that cake. Who knows what it is. I really want to like this cake, but my body and
the itch is telling me it’s probably not worth it. Due to past recommendations of this tea by others there must be many people out there who have sampled it. Is there anyone else out there that has experienced allergic type symptoms? Maybe I'm just allergic to good puerh? Hahaha...
Darn CNNP…
Peace
Peace
5 comments:
You link to my posts, is this the Yunnan Sourcing tea? The article doesn't say so or link to the tea. If so, then no, neither I, nor James nor Garrett nor Mr. Wilson experienced "itching." Might wanna double check the laundry detergent you are using, soaps etc.
Cwyn N,
I drank this tea throughout the day and it seemed to be related to when drinking this puerh. Last time I had a reaction very similar to this it was while drinking this puerh:
http://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/2017/09/introducing-concept-of-evil-qi-and.html
and I wouldn't say that I'm overly sensitive to things.
The other CNNP cakes I've tired from Yunnan Sourcing, Teamsters, didn't give me any of these symptoms.
Its maybe just a coincidence that both contain Nannou material. Maybe I'm allergic to Nannou? Hahahah
The full name of the cake hyperlinks to Yunnan Sourcing.
Peace
So, I'm kind of curious what you mean by itching in the legs. I've lately experienced burning/itching sensations in the soles of my feet (as part of some broader paresthesia) that could be linked with certain teas, but also could be completely unrelated to any of this. I'd be curious if your experiences are anything like mine, as that'd be a useful data point for diagnostics.
That said, I have the CNNP in question and I've not noticed a correlation; I've mostly associated it with another cake which shall remain nameless until I've firmed up whether there's an actual link. I've also never experienced traditional allergy symptoms with a tea.
Dragoran,
The sensation is increased runny nose with itch at the superficial skin level with no rash. Sometimes even sneezing.
It turns out this puerh was likely just stimulating my seasonal allergies. For my whole life I almost never had any allergies but over the last few years I get them. Interestingly, this is when I noticed a sensitivity to some puerh.
Today we had significant snow melt and, low and behold, I was sensitive to some other puerh I was only very very mildly sensitive to days before. When drinking this tea within minutes I would notice the above symptoms.
So I switched to a different puerh of the same year that I drink regularly but never have any reactions to. I drank it and nothing. Hours later I switched back to the tea giving me the reactions and here I was feeling itchy again. So weird.
I wonder if it’s a mold, fungus, or microbe in some puerh that I’m reacting to and not something sprayed as I initially suspected?
Peace
Cwyn N,
I probably am more sensitive to these things.
Peace
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