Often Overlooked: 1995 Teamasters CNNP Yiwu Brick

Dear Stephane,

I remember your Teamasters Blog was one of three that I used to read in the mid-2000s.  Effectively you inspired me with your posts to start MattCha’s Blog.  Your enthusiasm, kindness, and passion for transmitting what you have learned is contagious.  Thanks for putting your passion into this as well as the sale of teas that represent the extent of your tea knowledge.

Matt

When shopping for puerh Teamasters’ smaller curated selection is often overlooked in North America.  Certainly, I’m just as guilty as everybody else.  Luck for me, Stephane, was quick to send some unsolicited samples to this old blogger to try out.  I have been eagerly waiting for the cold winter to give them a try.  The warming qi of a nicely aged puerh cannot compare on these early Winter days.  I’ve tried Teamsters' puerh before and was quite impressed.  For me Teamasters’ puerh usually has nicer humid storage and usually has some quality aged offerings as well as a few more humid stored everyday drinkers.  This sample is one such example of the former.  At $750.00 per 500g brick or $20.00/12gsample, it offers us a glimpse of what puerh at this level, age, and storage should look like.  Let’s indulge, shall we…
 

Stephane describes the origins of this tea as follows: This special order from Hong Kong to CNNP was made in 1995 in one of the state factories since the market hadn't been liberalized, yet. There's no neifei or neipiao to tell us which factory it comes from, though.

The dry leaves smell of soft fruity and deep aged puerh forest and dirt depth.  The odour of the dry leaves immediately give away that this tea is should have lots of complexity to it.  It smells of clean medium humid dry storage with lots of fresh depth.

The first infusion has a very smooth buttery sweetness.  There are deep aged tastes with some suggestions of dried fruits in a very rich thick and viscus broth.  The mouthfeel is immediately thick like syrup.  It finishes lightly fruity with strong viscus depth.  There is a nice soft cooling in the mouth with indications of vanilla and rum.  You can feel the warm qi building in the chest and calming the mind.

The second infusion starts off more woody, and slowly transitions into more of a richness, a deep aged puerh taste.  There is a nice lightness that creates a beautiful dichotomy of thick rich depth and suggestions of syrupy fruit underneath.  The aftertaste is long the throat feel is lubricating and nice.

The third infusion has a pronounced wood note and a cooling aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is very nice and full with a nice finish of cooling throatiness.  There is less indication of fruitiness here and more deep thick aged puerh taste.  This infusion releases a nice euphoric head feeling.

The fourth infusion has a more of an earthy, dirt taste to it.  The aftertaste has a nice rich returning sweetness that has a very aged lighter fruit taste over a nice deep cooling.  There is a certain taste to this infusion that I have a hard time describing almost like a brandy taste to it.

The fifth infusion has a nice lively fruitiness to it balanced with deep aged puerh tastes.  The tastes are really nice here with the fruity tastes almost as distinct as the woody-camphor aged puerh tastes.  The throatiness of this tea is significant and hold the aftertaste nicely.  The qi here induces nice euphoria- I feel on top of the world.

 The sixth infusion has more of a woody camphor taste to it, the brandy alcholol note is in there now too.  The fruit tastes are gone now with just a ghost on the breathe with a slight bread taste as well.

The seveth is much the same as the sixth but now has a smoother compete taste there are hints of vanilla here.

The eighth has a high noted wood initial taste, I think this would be the way to describe it.  Then is smooths out over the profile and matains a deep wood taste.  The aftertaste is nicely cooling.  Straight camphor through and through in this infusion.

The ninth infusion again has some hints of fruit under the woody depth.  This tea really goes back and forth infusion to infusion showing off its complexity and depth.

Tenth once again presents light elements in dark.  The eleventh is quite smooth too.  Vanilla, camphor, woody, slight earthy dirt, a nice soft cool returning breathfeel.  Very smooth.

The twelveth has some buttery brown sugar notes in there as well.  There is a fresh robust taste to this infusion with touches of vanilla in the breath.  Mmmmmm… There is just as much compexitiy here than in the earlier infusions but the flavors are much more conhesive.  This tea has a nice rhythm to it.

The fourteenth infusion seems to offer basic woody tastes in a smooth mouth- throatfeel.  The fifteenth is more fruity and cincentracted all the while maintaing that aged wood taste.  Sixteenth has a deep depth of slightly different woody tastes here.

The seventh and eighteenth hold the line hear with light woody almost fruit tastes with a cooling aftertaste.

The nineteeth onward is pretty much just light camphory tastes with a cooling aftertaste and still somewhat full mouthfeeling.  What’s not to enjoy about this puerh?

I like how this tea pulls off the fruity lightness of Yiwu with the deeper aged tastes.  It really makes for a brilliant tea.  Overall there is much complexity to be found infusion to infusion.  The storage would be a medium-dry humid storage to me which I think has done this tea well in maintaining some high notes amongst manly just deep aged tastes.

Peace

 

1995 Yi Yang Fu Zhuan Brick Tea

Over the last few weeks one has consumed Fu Zhuan Cha on an almost daily basis. The decades old bricks which one has consumed over the last five years or so are dwindling. Thankfully Daniel of The Chinese Tea Shop provided a generous sample, this dry stored 1995 Fu Zhuan Brick from Yi Yang factory, and one has been dipping into it off and on. Let's heat up the kettle and see what this old brick is all about...


The dry leaves display visible flecks of "golden flower" mold and smell of very sour but dry wood-bark. The sour notes linger in the nose- an almost fermented sweet odour.

The first infusion is prepared and gives off a flat sweet initial taste which gives way to a malty flavour then to wood and cereal with undercurrents of sweet-corn and flat-caramel. There is a faint sweet caramel and sweet corn-wood aftertaste. The mouthfeel is slightly dry and is felt in the mouth and barely in the upper throat. The taste seems, like most fu tea, to be on one monotone plane with different tastes coming and going with ease.

The second infusion delivers a flat, dry, maple-wood sweet taste in the initial profile. This profile disappears leaving sweet-corn and dry woody-sweet tastes over a distinctly malty base. The aftertaste is simple and malty with faint corn and a slightly caramel disposition. The qi of this tea is very relaxing, ones breath feels much more relaxed- nicely calming.

The third infusion has the same initial taste with slightly stronger dry wood and slightly less flat sweetness. It seems smoother now and transitions less noticeably through the same profile.

In the fourth infusion the tastes become slightly less distinct with more dry-wood taste apparent. Still it is pretty much the same as last infusion with more of a slightly deeper malty-sweet lingering aftertaste which resides in the upper throat. In the fifth infusion the lingering malty-caramel aftertaste becomes even more distinct and has some nice sweet edges to it.

In the sixth and seventh infusions things get more creamy and smooth. The tea develops a velvet-like feel in the mouth with the malty-sweet-caramel taste dwindling over wood notes throughout the profile. The seventh infusion has slight, creamy, vanilla notes in there as well.

In the eighth and ninth infusions woody tastes and malty tastes offer a nice very simple balance. The tastes become uncomplicated here.

In the tenth infusion has a distinct wood broth with a thin pear aftertaste. Fruity qualities are starting to emerge here.

This tea is put to a few more long steepings and it gives up tangy, flat plum fruits, in a watery, subtle smokey broth.

Peace