2001 Xiaguan Jingua Tuocha Shu

Stephane of Teamsters sent a 2001 Xiaguan Jingua Toucha Shu freesample a few years ago.  Usually this 450g melon goes for $210.00 or $0.47/g.  As a part of my 2001 Xiaguan study and to compare to the “1960s Loose Leaf” and because it was damn cold this day and to warm me up…. I decided to crack this sample of a very classic traditional style of Shu.  It turns out I know very little about what is going on with Shu puerh these days but I know a good classic shu when I come across one and this was pretty satisfying… thanks in advance Stephane!

Dry leaves smell still of fermentation storage like smells like pretty drier stored shu.

First infusion smells of dank mushroomy old factory shu to me…. And tastes milky, watery mushroom, woody taste, with some faint coolness and empty mouth sweet taste left behind.

Second infusion has a deep chocolate onset that has rich milky layers, a hazelnut taste along with chocolate gives a Nutella like taste over an oily mouthfeeling.  Rich and chocolate nutty tastes. 

Third infusion has thick rich oily chocolate nutty hazelnut taste it has some woody mushroom taste underneath but mainly this thick oily chocolate hazelnutty taste.  Nice mild calming mind and relaxing sighs.  Nice deeply spacy relaxing feeling.

The 4^th has an oily milky sweet taste upfront then turns into a nutty mushroom taste, oily thick. With a woody-mushroom chocolate finish.  Nice oily full mouth and full throat oily feeling.  Nice deeply spacy and relaxing feeling.

5^th has an oily rich coco chocolate taste with a subtle mushroom woody taste under the thick oily coco taste. 

6^th is left to cool and has a creamy milky taste with a flat oily mouthfeeling and faint distant cooling and a woody straw like coco finish.  Nice oily throat and saliva.  Very relaxing vibe.

7^th has a milky flat woody taste.  Very consistent from infusion to infusion but really delicious and great Qi.  There is definitely a straw grains finish in the last few infusions now with lessening amounts of chocolate and sweetness.  Still very nice relaxing qi sensations.

8^th is a more woody coco creamy sweetness with the woody and coco and milky sort of presenting together.  The result is nice with a touch of cooling that brings out some creamy taste. The mouthfeel is now moving towards becoming slightly dry.  I feel energized with the energy- it bumps me up but then again is a bit relaxing.  The cumulative effect is energizing though.

9^th has a dryer woodiness to it and less of a smooth oily milky or coco taste.  The energy is strongly alerting now as the liquor accumulates in the body.  Strong alerting now.

10^th was left in the pot for a good minute and has a woody coco less milky sweetness.  The alerting energy in here reminds us that this is a strong Xiaguan!  Heart beats now..

I flash steep out of the pot the next day with woody hay coco oily tastes.  Still very tasty and mild alerting energy. 

I push the spent leaves in the mug for a few days and am satisfied with the result of coco taste.  Super enjoyable shu,classic, no nonsense.

Peace

2004 Xiaguan Toucha: Steady Xiaguan Toucha

Stephane of Teamasters gave me this whole toucha for review a year ago and I’m just getting to sample it now.  It’s a...

2004 Xiaguan ($10.00 for 100g touchaor $0.10/g) …

 don’t you find it super strange that most xiaguan toucha seem to always be 2004?  Hahahha…. I used to own a few very dry stored 2004 purple boxes of Tie Jia over the years and they always seemed to satisfy.  This one is red wrappered… and very cheap… but will it still satisfy…

Dry leaves are slight smokey woody paper faint sweet.

First infusion is a flat tangy smoky woody taste.  The mouthfeeling is a tight slight dryness.  There is a smoky finish in the mouth.

The second infusion has a woody almost cherry taste over a dry mouthfeeling but mainly smoky sweet almost menthol finish.  Qi starting to alert and wake up.

The third infusion has a woody menthol taste with some smoke and dry mouthfeeling.  A tiny sweetness of cherry is pined faintly underneath. Slowly alerting Qi.

The fourth infusion is woody, smoky, with a very slight almost cherry taste.  The mouthfeeling is dry.  The taste simple. The Qi steady.

The fifth infusion is woody, smoky and the cool cup has hints of caramel now. Slightly sandy mouthfeeling with a bit of salivating feeling.  Nice alerting.

The sixth infusion has an almost talc rose under the dominating woody taste with a returning woody smoke caramel taste.  The mouthfeeling is slightly sandy with a bit of salivation with the retuning sweetness.

The seventh infusion has a woody faint smoke with faint cherry then a slight creamy caramel returning sweetness. Salivating returning creamy mild caramel taste.

The eighth infusion has an even longer creamy caramel sweetness to it.  This infusion is the sweetness so far a bit of cherry and then caramel in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeeling is developing a stickiness to it.

The ninth has a woody kind of bitter bland onset that is a bit caramel in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeeling has become a bit sticky.  Qi is getting me through the day.

The tenth has a smoky berry sweetness then a returning creamy caramel sweetness.  There is some woodiness in there and a bit of faint smoke, still simple but classic Xiaguan tastes.

The 11^th I mug steep out simply because the day gets crazy busy.  It gives off a vegetal woody bark bitter bland not that sweet smoky taste.

(image those typical looking Xiaguan factory chopped up spent wet leaves pictured here)

Simple and reliable Xiaguan toucha that was a perfect harmonizing tea for me on a day that I didn’t want to fuss much and was too busy to over think.  I love the classic simplicity of xiaguan.  It’s never amazing puerh but it always meets expectations- this one did.

Peace

2007 CNNP Peacock: Can’t Beat This Unique $40.00 Cake!

Stephane of Teamasters has kindly been sending me samples once every few years since he opened his webstore way back then.  Before the webstore he was one of the first English/ French tea bloggers and he’s still going strong- Thanks Stephane.  I thought I would include this “pre-COVID 19” note he sent with the samples.  It’s interesting how even a note this simple is so obviously before the virus really swept the world.  Nowadays even the simplest communications will look and feel much different than this innocent letter.  I got lots of emails from people thanking me about the recommendation of the classic Meaghai, more aged, and dirt tasting 2003 Zhongcha that Stephane used to sell for $60.00.  Its one of the puerh I have drank the most of in the past 3 years.  I think Stephane was most excited about what I thought about his new budget puerh find, this 2007 CNNP Peacock which he sells for $40.00 for a full 357g cake (or $0.11/g)…

Dry leaves both exceed expectations of look and smell.  They smell rich and velvet with a very creamy sweet aroma.  There is a suggestion of hay and wood and chocolate but mainly woody sweetness.  The leaves smell of moderate humid storage.

First infusion has a nice creamy woody and very nutty camphor wood taste.  There is a bitter suggestion and a soapy taste.  The camphor aftertaste combines with subtle bitter in a full and rich feeling and mouthcoating.

The second infusion start off like sweet peanuts, a nutty sweetness with a creamy sweet and rich taste presentation that turns into a camphor taste and a sweet thrills gum kind of soapiness.  There is a pretty distinct nutty flavor as well as a touch licorice.  This blend seems to have a fair amount of Lincang material in it I would guess.  The mouthfeeling is full and slippery feeling.  The throat has an upper opening feeling where camphor lingers.  The feeling of this puerh is more aged than its 2007 pedigree suggests due to its moderately humid likely Taiwanese storage.

The third infusion starts with a sunny orangey woody tangy resin wood like sweetness very similar to the 2003 Hong Kong Henry 7542 Consciousness Prescription in taste here.  Then comes a very peanut nutty sweetness.  Then a creamy woody tangy finish.  The sweet taste is like Mandarin oranges.  There is a subtle soapy sweet Thrills gum like retuning sweetness.  Overall the taste is very rich and robust tasting with clear flavours.  The Qi of this tea is a touch warming and mild- a comforting tea on this rainy spring day.

The fourth infusion has a more basic woody onset with orange peel nuances coming later.  There is less nutty sweetness here but a low camphor taste that comes out.  There is a floral woody finish almost soapy perfume aftertaste that is quite enjoyable.

The fifth has a resin woody taste with a creamy citrus peel nuance.  The taste is less rich and full now but the camphor still comes in low and pushes out perfume soap and essential oil of citrus finish on breath.  This puerh is now less slippery and full in the mouth but is still a slippery mouthfeeling.  A smooth taste overall.

The 6^th has a woody soapy resin perfume with less thickness in the mouth and less cooling camphor now.  The perfume taste suggests that it should be semi-aged but the smooth soothing base taste feels like it’s closer to early 2000s aged.  The feel in the body is also very mellow and aged feeling.

7^th has a watery woody almost pond and fallen leaf but more rich watery aged taste.  There is a resin taste to it, and nice smooth flavor with a citrus peel taste and slight camphor going towards coco in the aftertaste with perfume nuances.  Smooth taste and feel and qi.

8^th has a 30 second steeping and it pulls out a thicker creamier and a slight nutty taste there is a bit of sour zest and woodiness.  The perfume and citrus peel tastes which make this puerh so interesting are very faint now.

I push this into a very long mug steeping and mainly dirt and woody tastes remain.

Overall, this is a really interesting, a bit unique, and pretty enjoyable semi-aged sheng.  The big downfall is the stamina which is maybe a bit less than even the most factory puerh but the first few infusions are interestingly delicious.  This puerh is interesting to be because of its super fragrant distinct strong perfume, Thrills Gum-like aftertaste which is something you would expect in a semiaged puerh or something even younger than its 2007 pedigree suggest.  However, this fragrant essential oil like aftertaste is juxtaposed with a deep aged taste and smooth feeling that you would get from something more aged due to its moderately humid Taiwanese storage.  There are some larger leaf in the plantation blend which seem to add to the depth of this puerh.  I would guess this is a blend of Northern puerh- Lincang and Simao.  The orange peel/ citrus taste with a strong woody resin initially reminds me a lot of 2003 Hong Kong Henry 7542 “ConscientiousPrescription”.  Although this 2007 CNNP Peacock is not as strong, deep, or as oily.  I’m not sure I have ever had that distinct resin with orange taste before the 2003.

Anyways, this cake is quite interesting for a $40.00 sheng 357g cake.  Its uniqueness reminds me of another CNNP production of the same year which also has an interesting profile- this 8891 Red Label.  Haven’t tried that one but it’s been popular as a unique drinker puerh and used to sell for closer to the Peacock’s pricing before it doubled.  I enjoyed it a lot and I think you will too.  Cheers to Stephane of Teamasters for sourcing this affordable one for us!

Peace

Tasting an Old Vacuum Sealed Puerh and Famous Puerh in the West: Teamasters 2003 Spring Wild Raw Yiwu

Reason for Fame:  This was the first introduction to wild tea for Western puerh drinkers.  I remember the initial buzz around this tea in the mid 2000s.  Stephane of Teamasters Blog submitted this very tea in a tasting competition with other online puerh drinkers and it won.  The interesting thing is that samples of this tea are still available from Teamasters and that he has extensively documented the aging of this tea on his blog throughout the years. 

When organizing some of my aged tea I stumbled upon an old vacuum sealed sample of this that Stephane sent me in 2008 (when it was presumably vacuum sealed after 5 years of Taiwanese storage).  You can see from the package above that it still is completely vacuum air tight.  I remember that I wanted to sample some other wild teas together for comparison and education at that time but I had not acquired so many as they were harder to come by back then.  So, I saved this sample for a few months.  As time went on, I never ended up doing that extensive sampling of wild tea samples and this one somehow got lost among all my aged tea, probably in moving.

Vacuum sealed puerh is a bit of a controversial issue with Hojo first publishing this type of unconventional storage in English on hisblog many years ago .  The really interesting thing about this vacuum sealed sample is that you can compare it to the well documented progression of aging on Stephane’s blogin 2011, in 2013 (with retrospection), and in 2018.  Although, it should be noted that an old sample cannot represent an old full cake, having a look at this sample might give us a bit of insight into vacuum storage…

The dry leaf smells like oat straw, distant strawberries, creamy sweetness and dry sandy dirt.

First infusion has a dry woody and straw onset and mid-profile.  The sweet soft strawberry and barely muted cream tastes appear in the aftertaste before disappearing.  A long dry menthol taste develops then recedes.  A dry clean crisp distinct creamy sweetness returns for the minutes later aftertaste and swells up in the mouth.  The mouthfeel is slight stickiness.

The second infusion starts off woody and straw then develops a slightly sandy mouthfeel.  Then arrives the cooling menthol then a barely fruity taste.  The minutes later aftertaste is of nice talc and strawberries in the distance.  The mouthfeel here is sandy and barly sticky.  A relaxing qi starts to build up.

The third infusion starts off woody and straw then goes into a subtle sour fruity wood note almost vegetal like tomato.  The menthol is there then a long creamy sweetness.  The minutes long wild tea aftertaste with this tea is nice.  The mouthfeel is interesting with empty feelings, a slight dry roof of the mouth and sandy with more of a stickiness on the tip.  The throat feel like it is deep but not overly stimulated- nice for a wild tea.  The qi is a relaxing type, oh yes the head floats with this qi.  In the body it is felt more in the center, still subtly rough on the Stomach.

The fourth infusion starts with an empty, juicy taste with soft woody layers underneath.  The profile is now balanced between sweet and woody base here.  The long menthol aftertaste is beset by the climax of creamy minutes long almost strawberry sweetness.

The fifth infusion has a woody almost incense initial taste and base taste to it.  The minutes long aftertaste is really nice creamy, talc, sweet, barely fruit. The mouthfeel is interesting still sticky, sandy, dry roof.

The sixth infusion starts with incense wood, this infusion is less sweet and the mouthfeel is the highlight now with woody tastes, barely fruit nuances and creamy sweet long tastes.  There is a creamy sweet talc fruit taste throughout.  Qi still slightly rough on stomach, six infusions in, it is more obvious now. 

The seventh infusion has a nice dense mouthfeel and soft opening throatfeeling.  There are notes of distant pinapples and tomato and a soapy, talic taste.  The aftertaste is long supported by the throat feeling.

The eighth infusion has a dry autumn coppery leaf base taste the mouthfeeling is nice and stimulating.  The base taste is more empty now with no sweetness to counterbalance the tastes.  The aftertaste is also more dry wood, less menthol and creamy sweetness.  Even the minitues long taste is more creamy woody menthol.

The ninth infusion is mellow again.  A soft woody, dry leaves base taste with an almost metallic taste, methol, and creamy sweetness minutes later.  The initial taste has flattened out considerably.  The mouthfeel is stimulating and throat feel open at a deeper level.

The tenth infusion has a stronger menthol returning taste the sweetness is almost honey like now.  The dry wood profile is throughout.  The minutes long aftertaste is creamy, sweet, and almost metallic.

The eleventh infusion I add 10 seconds to the flash infusion and a metallic flat dry wood taste is the result with a mainly menthol aftertaste.

The twelfth infusion I add 15 seconds to the flash and get a woody taste, a muddled taste, almost metallic with long menthol finish.

The thirteenth infusion I go back to a flash infusion and it brings back the sweet creamy base taste of almost strawberry in this wild tea which I enjoy. 

The fourteeth is flash infused again and again as solid as ever a very enjoyable very sweet creamy strawberry taste over a nice soft stimulating mouthfeel.  This infusion has a nice mild wood to balance things out undernieth.

I flash infuse this tea for many many more infusions and highly enjoy its sweet, creamy, talc, tastes in a full mouth and deep throatfeeling.  The finish is consitantly menthol and the minutes long taste remains sweet.  “How many infusions am I on now?” 21, 22?  This is great tea, nice relaxing but offers a gentle concentration and care free feeling to my day.

Insight on Vacuum Sealed Puerh.  I was somewhat surprised by this puerh sample because even though I knew it wouldn’t have suffocated to death, I was expecting it to not be as vibrant and delicious.  The one negative was that the body Qi wasn’t sufficiently warming enough so it still felt a little cooling and rough in the stomach.  I think if it would have had another 2 or 3 years of Taiwanese storage before being sealed it would have turned the corner and the Qi would remain somewhat warming.  Currently, its Qi feeling felt a bit unnatural in a subtle sort of way.  I believe a 2018 Taiwanese sample would feel much warmer.  If a puerh is sufficiently bitter or rough on the digestion when young, I believe it needs humidity (and warmth) for its Qi to warm.

The vibrancy of the high notes which form the base of this tea and have great stamina even in late infusions- was a surprise to me.  I believe that the 2018 would have fermented some of these notes away by now and or at least deepened them.  I wonder what has happened to these notes in Stephane’s Taiwanese storage?  Maybe the result is better?

From experience I think a drier stored wild tea seems to do better, for my preference at least. Wild tea is all about the light sweet tastes, mouthfeel, and Qi and I think the vacuum storage did pretty good over the last 10 years.

The sampling of this 10 year vacuum stored sample confirms what I have previous stated about storage: puerh is resilient and can endure many aging conditions even extreme aging conditions and still taste amazing.  Of course it didn’t show signs of browning and deep fermentation, but many qualities that remain are excellent.  If you have a puerh that is quality, complex, enjoyable and drinkable while young, it will probably be enjoyable many years later but the reverse is no guarantee.  Sometimes the risk is worth the payoff.

I guess a comparison with Stephane’s current storage is in order…

Peace

“Mid 60s Raw Wild Loose Puerh” from Teamasters and Advice on Brewing Very Aged Puerh

Shortly after my beloved Yixing pot broke I looked for something to console myself.  Surely some old aged puerh will bring up my spirits.  I pulled out this sample of wild puerh from the 1960s gifted to me from Stephane of Teamasters or included in an order, I can’t remember which but I am very very grateful.

I actually think it was included in an order just to put me in my place about my alternate view of “wild puerh”.  I heard it from a few vendors when I posted that it really doesn’t feel like puerh to me.  There were groans heard around the tea world I’m sure… hahahah.  I have never had aged wild tea before so this was going to be a real treat.  There is no greater joy for a puerh drinker (or wild tea drinker) than to drink tea that was produced before they were born...

Dry leaves smell of old dust and dirt.  I close my eyes and smell deeply and if I didn’t know I was smelling puerh I would probably think it was just dust and dirt.  But I know its very old puerh so my mind seems to think I smell some old woody leathery notes under the almost exclusive old dust and dirt smells.  It smells like you are in an attic that hasn’t been open in decades or opening a hundred year old book in the old part of the old library in town.

I have a predicament.  I don’t have a pot that is small enough for this sample to ensure the proper grams/volume.  The solution- brew it in your smallest pot that you have and add just enough water to hardly cover the leaves (I really need to get me some more yixing fast!).  For this pot it means only half full of boiling water, just enough to barely cover the leaves then pouring it out of the pot immediately with flash brews.  If I tried to just steep these leaves in the whole pot, I would have pretty much wrecked these priceless puerh leaves.  With old tea, my limited experience and observation of teamasters is that you need to push it pretty hard.  That means boiling water, lots of dry leaves, maybe even longer infusions if it starts to show weakness.  Otherwise what’s the point?  Watered down aged puerh- to me that’s crazy.  Don’t do it.

I quickly flash rinse the leaves.

The first infusion is a very light woody aged slightly dusty with edges of a leathery taste.  There is a taste in here that only very old puerh has but I fail to explain it better than earthy-woody-almost raisin. Yes, there is still that returning coolness in the aftertaste and throat.  The mouthfeel is watery and viscus with a thin sandiness in the mouth.

The second infusion starts with almost flat dusty woody earth aged taste.  Then it switches back to a cooling returning sweetness. There is fruit taste almost like a plum that turns quickly to dried apricot and lingers for a long time in the aftertaste.    There is a note of leather underneath it all.  The dried apricot aftertaste is quite distinct, not a just one of those faint hard to recognize things, it’s quite obvious.

The third infusion actually tastes much the same.  I don’t know what I’d add here.  The mouthfeeling and throat feeling has just a slight comfortable astringency.  The feeling in the mouth and throat is full and is coated in a thin veil of sandiness like that from a very soft beach.  The qi is profoundly grounding, euphoric, optimistic, soft.

I stick my nose and waft deep odours from the wet leaves in the pot between each infusion.  Prizing every moment with this gift.  The wet leaves just smell very similar to the dry leaves- primarily dusty, earthy, old aged taste but more wet smelling like when the first rain hits after the snow melts and all the dust and dirt from sanding the icy winter streets seem to take on the spring air.

The fourth infusion has more of resinous wood feel to it.  The woody dusky earthy initial taste begins with it and it tails itself into the aftertaste.  There is still long dried apricot but it is a touch less apparent as before.  The qi is very big in the head.  It has a mild cozy lightness and barely warmth in the body.  It makes the body feel limber and expansive.  There is a cool menthol like taste on the breath 5 minutes later.  Breathe in.  I feel really high from this.  The head feels clear but the world moves slowly around me.

The wet leaves start to develop a menthol like odour and smell more of wood and menthol and less of dust and dirt.

The fifth infusion the initial taste of wood is more dry and crisp although still carrying a bit of dust like aged taste.  The resin taste of wood seems to be gone and the dryer crisp taste of wood seems to have replaced it.  The apricot taste seems stronger than the fourth infusion.

The sixth infusion has more of an earth-dirt-dust dominating taste throughout.  There is wood underneath, of course, cool menthol returning sweetness with that same sweet dried apricot taste.  The cool menthol returning aftertaste is stronger here.  I’m still just flash brewing this.

I had to leave this tea for a hour or so then when coming back I resumed the session and in the seventh infusion it tasted more of creamy subdued woody- dusty –earth.  The cooling aftertaste was less and so was the long apricot aftertaste.  The mouth and throat feel is more of a chalkiness now rather than a fine sand.

The eighth infusion has another flavor profile emerging… there is an almost spiciness just before the apricot comes in.  The apricot aftertaste is back strong.  Yummy!

The ninth infusion the mouthfeel and throatfeel are amazing and continue to improve.  Its this dense but light chalkiness which I love.  In it are aged tastes, slightly cooling aftertaste, and apricot aftertaste.  Nice.

The tenth infusion is much the same.  The mouthfeel continues to really fill out.  The energy is very nice.  I burn it off with a 5 KM run then back to the tea table.

The eleventh has a thick, whisky like woodiness now. There are also salty notes probably just generated from my run and the resulting change in mouth chemistry.  The aftertaste is significantly less apricot and more smooth wood.

The twelfth is more of this richer woody aged taste.  The mouthfeel is nice and chalky very mildly astringent. Beautiful Qi.

The thirteenth and fourteenth offer that aged woody camphor taste.  A new note, a floral one seems to emerge faintly recognizable but welcome in this mainly woody aged taste profile.

The leaves sit dry overnight and I resume steeping the next morning with a few more pots of tea.  I add 10 seconds or so to the flash steeping and it pushes out mainly just aged leather and camphor tastes with a slight returning coolness in the aftertaste.  The high note nuances are gone.

I push this into longer infusions now 20 minute and longer to push something more interesting out of the predominating aged flavor.  Otherwise you are just pretty much just dragging out the inevitable.  Doing this guarantees some nice autumnal leaves taste, aged camphor, woody, dirt tastes in a soft chalky mouthfeel.  There are just glimpses of fruit on the breath.

I put it to overnight infusions and a rich obvious nutty taste is dominant in aged tastes.  Yummmy.  There is still significant mouth feeling so I put it under water for another night.

I am still steeping this, think it’s been underwater for about 4 days now and have to get back to it tomorrow.  I will probably be boiling these leaves down over the stove when they seem to be giving up.

Peace

Update:

I get back to this one after 4 day long steeping and it gives off a watery aged leathery wood base taste with soft fruity notes in a little bit of a funk fermented taste.  The mouthfeel is pretty light here and the taste is a bit watery.

I throw the leaves into a small stove top pot and decoct them at a boil for a few hours.  The resulting brew is exquisite!  It is reduced into an very thick, viscous and oily liquor of thick sweet maple-syrupy-molasses like sweetness in a leathery aged taste.  The dense and heavy sweetness is long and very thick in the mouth.

I have a cup of this at the very end of a very busy work day.  The qi sensation is like nothing I've felt before.  It completely revitalizes me and expands my head through the clouds- big Qi.  It feels as if I consumed a few shots of espresso without the jitteriness but with profound mental release.

I think its safe to say that I've had a great week.

Peace

Storage Lessons Comparing 1997 & 1999 Teamasters’ Menghai Factory 7542

Out of any tea from the 90s, I have consumed the 7542 more than all others combined (here and here and here).  This classic recipe from Menghai Factory is by far the most popular and famous of all 90s puerh.  In Korea in the mid 2000s every tea shop that sold puerh pretty much had some.  Inevitably I drank a lot of it at the tea tables all those years back.

In fact it was so abundant that, it is a guarantee that many must have been fakes.  Either way, they all tasted fairly aged and delicious- some more than others.  The quality of these cakes depended mainly on the storage and whether they were true Menghai factory vs. fake.  Sometimes a fake could even taste better than a cake that seemed real.  So even early on in my puerh tea education I learned that the taste of a long session of tea rarely lies.

These 7542 sample recipes came included in a recent order from Stephane of Teamasters.  If you are looking to avoid the fakes altogether the first thing would be to find a very reputable vendor, Teamasters is one such vendor.

Well, as I said there is only one way to know if these guys are the super delicious 7542s or just the normally delicious 7542s.  Let crush these samples with some gong fu and deep meditation…

1997 Menghai Factory 7542

Earlier this week received a few feet of snow, it is a blizzard out there today, the whole family is out of the house so I ‘m breaking out this sample and having a great tea session… Sigh… I forgot I broke my old small, cheap shui ping pot… and my other small volume David Louveau pot is at work… well this will be a first aged puerh in this Korean ceramic pot … with no other great option in mind…. Let’s do it!  It is actually perfect volume for all the sample!

The dry leaves smell of dry wood with a very faint odour of distant fruit that is overwhelmed by a dusty odour.  As the leaves hit the warm tea pot woody notes and cherry almost orangy notes emerge.  The leaves seem medium-higher humidity stored with decent humidity exposure likely Taiwanese stored.

First infusion has a smooth velvety creamy woody slight orangy taste.  The taste is deep, rich, and coats the tongue, mouth, and throat with a slightly simulating, but thick coating.  It opens the mid throat nicely.  There is a nice cooling menthol aftertaste present along with deeper dried cherries, orange peel, and wood.  This tea imparts an immediate warming penetrating qi and makes the mind release into immediate reassuring calm.

The second infusion starts to show that this is Menghai Factory because even with significant age it still has an edge.  It opens with chalky almost talc cherry fruits and old dry wood, like that of an old library.  It has both a viscus feeling in the mouth as well as a slight astringency.  The astringency is enough to push a gob of saliva up into the throat to entrap all the aged flavours of aged camphor and oak, slight cream, distant cherry and talc.  They sound simple in writing but deep in the mouth.

The third infusion returns to a denser, richer presentation with the more astringent aspects dropping slightly.  The rich profile gives us deep layer, nuanced aged wood taste, very slightly creamy edge, with cherry talc distant tastes and a slight orange peel taste distant in the throat that follows aged wood and slight menthol.  The mouth and throat feel are spot on for Menghai Factory of this age.

The fourth infusion has a lighter fruity burst initially that was shrouded deep in richer wood tastes in the previous infusions.  The wood tastes are drier and more astringent in this infusion.  This astringency seems to capture more fruity tastes in the mouth.  The fruit tastes are distant, almost like dried cherries, orange peel, and pomegranate.  The shift in profile could have been due to me fetching new water as well.

The fifth infusion is much the same as the fourth- dry wood, talic, distant dried cherry, old aged wood in the library taste.  Slight cooling even a mushroom like taste in the finish which I’ve never encountered before in 7442.  Has anyone out there ever tasted mushroom in 7542?  Mouthfeel and throatfeel remain full, slightly astringent.  The qi is big, nice, warming in the whole body, mind is very relaxed but sharp and present.  The strength is apparent as it still seems to nudge the digestion.  I rest the leaves for 30 minutes…

The sixth infusion has a robust layered wood taste that is very full in the mouth the high notes have again yielded to the aged wood.  The mouthfeel is not as astringent here more of a rich astringency.  A chalky feeling in the mouth with slight cooling in throat.

The seventh lightens up more than the sixth and is much the same.  I added 5 more seconds to the flash infusion here.

The eighth infusion 10 seconds is added to the flash infusion and it yields pretty much the same flavours as previous.  Of note is still the strong menthol aftertaste, full mouth- and throatfeeling.  There seems to be more fruit notes in the mid profile in this infusion.  I step away for an hour or so then I’m back to enjoy…

The ninth infusion tastes of wood and almost date fruit taste.  The sweeter fresher cherry taste is gone in this infusion. Everything is deeper and more coalescent.  Wood, slight dates, leather.  The cooling sensation is less.

The tenth infusion is of woody, leather, aged taste. slight cooling aftertaste in a full, slightly astringent/drying mouthfeel.  The taste beyond this point is just basically the above aged taste.  When makes it still enjoyable is the engaged mouthfeeling, almost sweetness as a counterpoint to the deeper, earthier woody aged tastes and traces of a cooling aftertaste in a simulating throat.  As a result it can play out for many many infusions much like this.

After a few more infusions I put this tea into long overnight steepings and I am greeted to dried fruity, leathery wood infusions the throat feel holds somewhat giving these longer infusions some depth.  I enjoy this tea for the next few mornings like this.

Overall, this 7542 has lost almost all traces of youth.  I would image that this tea had heavier humid storage for the first 10 years then it was direr stored.  It has suggestion that this came from a herbal medicine distributor in the 1990s with a slight aged herb feel- it is possible.  Nice tea for those who prefer their 7542 with deeper humid storage and more of an aged taste and feel.  This 7542 very much resembles the stuff I drank years ago in Korean Puerh Tea Houses.

1999 Menghai Factory 7542

The shear amount of snow has really slowed down a place that is used to having lots of snow.  The result is another perfect morning for a great tea session and just days from the 1997, I sample this 1999.

The dry leaves smell of creamy fairly intense sweetness with undertones of wood.  The creamy rich sweetness surprises me a bit.  The leaves are not as compressed as the 1997 and much much lighter and more vibrant.  This 1999 is much more dry stored Kunming or shrink wrapped or true dry storage.

The first infusion has a very creamy sweet initial taste with notes of fruity wood that descends into very mild and creamy wood almost talc like taste.  The mouthfeeling is light and thin creamy and talc.  The aftertaste is light on the breath with a very light cooling sweetness.

The second infusion’s initial taste dries the lips with creamy sweet slightly astringent fruity wood flavor.  The base taste is clean wood with a noticeable undercurrent of creamy sweetness throughout.  The vibrancy and creamy sweetness of this 7542 is quite nice. The cooling aftertaste is nice and strong the mildly astringent mouth and throat feel hold it there and keep it on the breath.

The third infusion starts with a creamy sweet more cohesive taste with the fruitier sweetness overtaking the creamy sweetness.  This infusion tastes more broth-like, more contained, more juice-like, with the fruit taste almost equal with wood tastes here.  The creaminess is still there too.  The dry wood tastes seems more intense as the astringency continues to grow here.  It’s not drying in the mouth or throat, its medium astringency.  A very noticeable classic Menghai note of pine wood or resin start to develop.

The fourth infusion has the woody pine like notes dominating now with the creamier sweet notes entrenched almost equally now.  The pine comes initially then greats the creamy sweet taste quickly.  The sweetness is long on the breath along with a bit of cooling.  This is a classic 7542 profile.  There is less talc and more cherry-plum sweetness in this infusion now.

The fifth infusion has a cohesiveness pulling all the tastes into one and they start to be more mild.  The aftertaste remains big with sweet creamy notes and an almost menthol like pine taste.  Overall the mouth and throat feeling are easy to ignore- they are still very full but not standoffish.  The mouth- and throatfeel have a full slightly powdery consistency with a medium astringency.  This infusion also tastes puerh like almost camphory in taste.  The qi of this tea is not as strong as other 7542 but it has a very cooling qi in the body not warming.  This speaks to its still relative youth and dry storage.  In the body you can feel it lingering in the stomach slightly.  Overall it’s relaxing and gives on a mild, focused mental sharpness.

The sixth is much the same as the fifth as all these tastes pull together in the initial taste and following taste.  These infusions have a plum and camphor taste.  There is also pine especially on the breath.  The aftertaste remains active and evolving, the mouth- and throatfeeling unwavering.  There is a talc taste on the breath minutes later, lots of sweetness returning with coolness.

The seventh infusion you can taste a subtle smokiness, could taste it very faintly in the sixth but more here.  This infusion has much less sweetness and more of a smoky woody taste throughout.  The aftertaste is mainly woody slight returning coolness.  Not as much sweet here.  Not as complex over the whole taste profile.

Eighth infusion I start adding 5 seconds to each subsequent infusions and starts with a clear woody taste, slight, faint almost flowery/powdery fruit taste.  Cool aftertaste with chalky finish sweet and creamy slight woody.  Long aftertaste.

The ninth infusion I drop back to flash infusion and am gifted with a very nice result that almost talc rose like sweet chalky taste that is classic dry stored 7542 initially.  It slightly numbs the lips the evolution in the profile is complex, interesting.  Pine wood appears in the aftertaste next to creamy sweet undertones.

The tenth I flash infuse again and the taste is much like the ninth.

The eleventh another very enjoyable infusion that is just as complex and very similar to the above.

I have to leave for work but I understand that these leaves are at their prime right now in the infusion.  I throw them into a container and put them into my one cup Korean tea maker at work but, I’m not sure if it’s the different, softer water there, the exposure to cold, or the steeping vessel but I can’t keep the momentum going with this tea.  Infusions at work I start adding more time to the infusions but get tastes of sweet creamy plum cherry but more muted than before.  Now mainly the tastes are of wood with a still full mouthfeeling and nice astringency of the throat which nicely hold the returning sweet menthol coolness.

The Qi really starts to build until it is almost of a talkative, jittery type.  Someone at work asks, “Did you have coffer today?”  Its that type of intense factory style qi that lingers within these steepings. But it really builds up very slowly to this point.

I steep this tea from morning to night and I am amazed at the stamina of it.  The throat feeling is unwavering and the menthol like returning sweetness will not resign.  This is a great example of dry stored 7542 and shares a certain resemblance to the Manghai Factory Qingbings I’ve sampled in the past.

Comparison:

These two Menghai Factory 7542 are quite interesting to compare.  Only 2 years separate these two identical recipes from identical factories, as far as puerh from 20 years ago this is almost nothing.  Meaning there is no one I ever met, no teamaster, that could guess which puerh is older by tasting a 19 year old and a 21 year old so this age difference, doesn’t mean much.  Although the price difference between these two is more due to the age difference.

The huge difference between these near identical teas is basically storage.

Neither is really better, it’s just a matter of preference.

I doubt that there are many readers out there who are going to shell out the money for these full cakes but I highly recommend ordering the samples.  Especially if you are new to puerh and want to see how different storage conditions effect a puerh 20 years down the road.  Or those drinkers out there who have never experienced Menghai (Dayi) Factory back when it was still great puerh.

I quite like the 1999 myself although just a bit out of my price range. 

Thanks Stephane for these memorable sessions.

Peace

2017 Teamasters’ Wild

This wild tea was a free sample sent with a recent order from Teamasters.  It currently sells for $388.00 for 200g cake ($1.94/g) or 10g at $25.00.  At this price it is the most expensive wild tea that I have sampled even more expensive than any fresh young puerh that I have ever sampled.

Dry leaves smell of very intensely sweet sugar cane and licorice/ fennel odours in a deep forest base.

The first infusion greets the drinker with a very smooth full mouthfeel and thick chalky throatfeel.  The feeling in the mouth and throat are wonderful but almost distract from the very light, juicy fresh lychee and floral taste.  There is a mild coolness in the throat as it opens slowly and deeply.  There is a very light floral lingering there minutes later.

The second infusion opens up with a mouthfeeling before a true initial taste comes along.  When it gets there, a turbid, foresty taste with a sweet slight sugary edge reveals itself.  It finishes in the throat with turbid barely floral tastes lingering there.

The third infusion has nice movement.  It starts with a bit of a vacuous taste, then subtle flat floral notes appear, then slight sugar, then turbid forest tastes, then slight cooling, then slight turbid floral.  Overall there is no base taste to root down these very light, transitioning tastes.  The qi is calming and very mellow.  It is very light on the body and relaxing on the mind.

The fourth infusion starts with a vacuous sweet taste which turns into a turbid foresty almost bubble gum sweet taste which sticks to the cheeks and tongue as it evolves into a floral taste.  All this movement is very very light.  Overall there is much movement within each sip but the tastes are not strong.  The mouthfeel and throatfeel of this tea are very nice.

The fifth has a more rounded juicy fruit feeling to it.  A lychee taste is present throughout now but it is very fragile and even simple.  The aftertaste slowly unravels into sweetness, slight coolness, and even floral.  The tea is very gentle on the body and probably would be best consumed immediately.  This is for sure a sweet wild tea.  Everything about this tea is subtle, gentle, and fragile.  The full, soft, chalky and sticky mouth- and throat-feel is the exception.  The qi of this wild is quite cooling and its cool thermal energy is noticeable.

The sixth infusion again has a defined initial taste of florals and rubbery barely fruit sweetness.  The taste has rounded out significantly with movement in the long subtle aftertaste especially in the throat but also later in the sticky coating in the mouth.  There are lychee fruits, florals, clean wild tea foresty-turbidity tastes minutes later.

The seventh infusion starts with a classic subdued gummy foresty floral wild taste before an empty dip.  The aftertaste is just mild coolness and barely forest notes here.  The eighth turns lighter into a foresty wild taste.  The ninth fades considerably with just ghostly flavours lingering in a gummy, forest wild tea taste.  A profound cooling sensation sweeps over my body.  This tea is by far the most cooling and refreshing of all wilds I have tried.

The tenth infusion I add 15 seconds more steeping time and some apricot and pear notes appear in the initial taste profile followed by a subtle pungency.  This infusion has more complexity to it.  The eleventh even more time is added and a much thicker mouthfeel is the main result.  In this thick mouthfeel are candy like subtle sweet tastes as well as some rubbery tastes.  The great thing about this sweet wild tea is that there is so little astringency and bitterness that you can really push it hard to get more interesting things out of it with longer infusion times.

The twelfth infusion is long and pushes out sweet gummy tastes, slight florals and barely cool throatfeels in a gummy rubbery wild base taste.  The thirteenth pushes out some berry fruity tastes initially in an more interesting wild base taste.  The aftertaste is now fruity and lightly sweet.

This tea is interesting in that you can really vary the steeping time to pull out lots of different flavors because you really don’t have to contend with bitterness at all.

So I do this for another few steeps before putting these leaves to rest.

This is an interesting wild tea because there are so many different steeping options available which push out a different dimension with each pot.  If there are those of you out there who are curious about how steeping temperature and time effects flavor in wild teas, this tea might be as interesting for you as it is for me. 

Peace