Help figuring out what to do with this tea

[Navig8tor]

I have a friend that just came back from Hong Kong and just gifted me with a cake of tea. I had mentioned at one time that I would like to try it and he was nice enough to bring some back. I guess this is proof that I have better friends than I deserve. Neither of us has any knowledge of this so I figured I would post here looking for help.

It is a Yunnan Puerh Puer Chi Tse Beeng Cha Tea Cake 370g.

So what can you tell me about it? Good, bad, strong, weak? What's it like.

So now I guess the tea AD kicks in. I'll read through past posts to see what kind of things I need to do this correctly but any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks,

 

[ouch]

I have a friend that just came back from Hong Kong and just gifted me with a cake of tea. I had mentioned at one time that I would like to try it and he was nice enough to bring some back. I guess this is proof that I have better friends than I deserve. Neither of us has any knowledge of this so I figured I would post here looking for help.

It is a Yunnan Puerh Puer Chi Tse Beeng Cha Tea Cake 370g.

So what can you tell me about it? Good, bad, strong, weak? What's it like.

So now I guess the tea AD kicks in. I'll read through past posts to see what kind of things I need to do this correctly but any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks,

Sadly, your seemingly complete title offers very little information. "Chi tse beeng cha" means "seven son tea cake", and those words appears on hundreds of brands. Add that to the fact that all pu'er comes from Yunnan, and the description would apply to almost any pu'er made. A pic would be a big help.

 

[Navig8tor]

Apologies from a tea neophyte.

Learning about this tea seems like it might be a mystery wrapped in a riddle wrapped in an enigma.

I was able to find it listed on ebay as a bin not an auction. Here is a link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Yunnan-Puerh-Puer-Chi-Tse-Beeng-Cha-Tea-Cake-370g-/330355811318

This is what the cake looks like minus the bar code in the middle. Supposedly this tea is from 2005.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Born2bwire]

Again, hard to say. Probably just a standard Menghai cooked cake (forgot the number, I have one back in my flat). It's a basic cooked pu-er and will be strong and earthy at first but I think that the earthiness fades away as it airs out. 8592 is a common one but I think there is also another one that is slightly cheaper that has the same packaging.

Is the word "chah" (the eye like character in the middle) green or a different color? Is there a sticker that gives a four digit number? What shop did your friend get it at?

 

[Navig8tor]

Again, hard to say. Probably just a standard Menghai cooked cake (forgot the number, I have one back in my flat). It's a basic cooked pu-er and will be strong and earthy at first but I think that the earthiness fades away as it airs out. 8592 is a common one but I think there is also another one that is slightly cheaper that has the same packaging.

Is the word "chah" (the eye like character in the middle) green or a different color? Is there a sticker that gives a four digit number? What shop did your friend get it at?

I left the cake in work since I had to run some errands and didn't want it sitting in a hot car.

I'll take actual pics of it tomorrow and post. I'll ask and see if he knows the name of the shop he got it from or at least where it was located.

Thanks for the help. BTW the tea-wiki is great. You guys have amassed a lot of info for newbies.

 

[Hobbesoxon]

I left the cake in work since I had to run some errands and didn't want it sitting in a hot car.

I'll take actual pics of it tomorrow and post. I'll ask and see if he knows the name of the shop he got it from or at least where it was located.

Thanks for the help. BTW the tea-wiki is great. You guys have amassed a lot of info for newbies.

Hi, Nick - an extra photo would be useful. If it's a cake that was made in the last ten years, it will be "CNNP" not Menghai Factory. This is the entry-level cake - inexpensive, quite simple. The most important question is: did you enjoy it?


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

 

[Navig8tor]

Here is a picture of it. I have looked inside and out and cannot find any #.
It is CNNP and not Menghai. He is not sure of the name of the store that he got it from. He says it was in Tsuen Wan Citywalk 1.

Hobbes, I haven't tried it yet. I ordered a gaiwan and some stuff from jasetea. I have been wanting to try different teas so this gave me an excuse to jump in.

I have been reading up on the tea-wiki and I think I have a good idea of how to brew it and handle.

If you have any others tips or thoughts they are welcome.

Thanks,

 

[Numb]

That's probably pretty good stuff. Give it a try! It's a dark, blackish tea that reminds me of coffee. High caffeine content. Just put a couple or three grams in a strainer and steep for five minutes. I like it with lots of sugar. I can't vouch for the brand though. But I love puerh. If you don't like it, I will take it!!

 

[Born2bwire]

Here is a picture of it. I have looked inside and out and cannot find any #.
It is CNNP and not Menghai. He is not sure of the name of the store that he got it from. He says it was in Tsuen Wan Citywalk 1.

Hobbes, I haven't tried it yet. I ordered a gaiwan and some stuff from jasetea. I have been wanting to try different teas so this gave me an excuse to jump in.

I have been reading up on the tea-wiki and I think I have a good idea of how to brew it and handle.

If you have any others tips or thoughts they are welcome.

Thanks,

Many teas of different types and factories from before I'd say 2006 will say CNNP. Up until a few years ago a lot of the factories were still nationalized and so you could find teas from different factories with the same or similar looking labels all sporting the CNNP name. Many of the cooked teas that I find that are marked CNNP are from the Menghai factory (or at least claim to be, seeing as they are all state owned who knows how much they strictly adhere to the numbering system). You won't know though unless they included the four digit number.

For example:

http://www.sunsingtea.com/en/goods.php?id=455
http://www.sunsingtea.com/en/goods.php?id=369
http://www.sunsingtea.com/en/goods.php?id=439

Same CNNP label but different teas. The first is the Menghai I originally thought you might have had. This one though is not an 8592 like I thought because it has a yellow "chah" instead of the green "chah." I have seen the yellow label that I think you have but I cannot remember the four digit number that was associated with it. My guess is that it is probably a pre-2006 7572.

For example: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=5186762876

 

[arghblech]

Are the prices on that sunsing website in USD or HKD?

Edit: That has to be HKD. No reasonable person would pay 200 USD for a cake of CNNP shu from the late 2000's.

 

[Navig8tor]

Many teas of different types and factories from before I'd say 2006 will say CNNP. Up until a few years ago a lot of the factories were still nationalized and so you could find teas from different factories with the same or similar looking labels all sporting the CNNP name. Many of the cooked teas that I find that are marked CNNP are from the Menghai factory (or at least claim to be, seeing as they are all state owned who knows how much they strictly adhere to the numbering system). You won't know though unless they included the four digit number.

For example:

http://www.sunsingtea.com/en/goods.php?id=455
http://www.sunsingtea.com/en/goods.php?id=369
http://www.sunsingtea.com/en/goods.php?id=439

Same CNNP label but different teas. The first is the Menghai I originally thought you might have had. This one though is not an 8592 like I thought because it has a yellow "chah" instead of the green "chah." I have seen the yellow label that I think you have but I cannot remember the four digit number that was associated with it. My guess is that it is probably a pre-2006 7572.

For example: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=5186762876

The friend that bought it said the year was listed as 2005. This really stuck with him since he never imagined anyone would keep tea that long, or drink it either.

That's probably pretty good stuff. Give it a try! It's a dark, blackish tea that reminds me of coffee. High caffeine content. Just put a couple or three grams in a strainer and steep for five minutes. I like it with lots of sugar. I can't vouch for the brand though. But I love puerh. If you don't like it, I will take it!!

Do you mean 5 minutes or 5 seconds? I haven't seen any information that gave a brewing time that long.
If this tastes anything like it smells I am sure I am going to love it. If, for some reason, I don't then I will definitely PIF it.

 

[Born2bwire]

Are the prices on that sunsing website in USD or HKD?

Edit: That has to be HKD. No reasonable person would pay 200 USD for a cake of CNNP shu from the late 2000's.

HKD. Actually I usually get a 5-6 year old 8592 cake for $150 HKD, about $20 USD. A similarly aged 7582 runs around $200 HKD. Compared with the prices I have seen on some US based websites, it's not too bad (about the same). But I certainly am not getting any kind of break in it by not having to ship across an ocean. Lately I just buy the tea shop's blends.

Sun Sing is a tad more expensive than some of the other shops but they have a large variety of teas, especially old teas. They have teas (one that I sampled though it was well after maybe 10 or 20 infusions was 50 years old) all the way up to the early 1900's and have a nice selection of tea ware (again a bit overpriced though).

The friend that bought it said the year was listed as 2005. This really stuck with him since he never imagined anyone would keep tea that long, or drink it either.

The shops I go to have cooked pu-ers that are a minimum of five years old. Like I said before it's maddening to make a comparison because they are all CNNP labelled but it appears things changed around 2005 with privatization of some of the state owned factories, new packaging, and new authentification tickets. Most of the websites that sell tea do not have much from before 2005 for me to compare with.

As for brewing, the traditional way is to do a large amount of tea for a given amount of water and very short steep times. For these cooked, I do maybe around 5-7 grams per 100 ml and do infusions starting around 10 seconds or so. I would start at around 3-5 grams per 100 ml and adjust to taste. However, at restaurants they will put about 2.5 to 5 times the amount of water and serve it in a teapot. It isn't as nice but you can brew in the Western manner.

 

[Navig8tor]

As for brewing, the traditional way is to do a large amount of tea for a given amount of water and very short steep times. For these cooked, I do maybe around 5-7 grams per 100 ml and do infusions starting around 10 seconds or so. I would start at around 3-5 grams per 100 ml and adjust to taste.

This is more like the info I have been seeing and what I was planning on doing. Thanks for the help identifying this. Since I am new to this and didn't know much about it I thought some kind of back story would be nice. Really it comes down to what Hobbes said "did you like it?".

I should have my gaiwan and stuff by the middle of next week. I'll let everyone know how it went.

Again, thanks for all the info and help.

 

[netsurfr]

I think you have lots of good information in the posts above so I won't address those ideas. However, please don't follow the brewing directions from the website that you showed the picture of your tea. Early infusion times of the length indicated will most likely completely turn you off to the tea. Check out my website for some other "guidelines" that may lead you to a more pleasurable experience. Modify the suggested guidelines to suit your particular style but you are almost sure not to like the tea if you infuse it for the length of time suggested. Also, rinse the shu a couple of times before actually drinking the tea liquor.

 

[Navig8tor]

I think you have lots of good information in the posts above so I won't address those ideas. However, please don't follow the brewing directions from the website that you showed the picture of your tea. Early infusion times of the length indicated will most likely completely turn you off to the tea. Check out my website for some other "guidelines" that may lead you to a more pleasurable experience. Modify the suggested guidelines to suit your particular style but you are almost sure not to like the tea if you infuse it for the length of time suggested. Also, rinse the shu a couple of times before actually drinking the tea liquor.

The info I got, that I trusted, was either from the wiki here or from your website.

Actually I ordered all the stuff from your website too. It's a really nice site and I was able to find a lot of info to help me make decisions about what I should purchase. I also ordered some oolong so I can add a little variety to my tea time.

Now, the quicker the usps can get it here the quicker I can try it and let you know how it went.

 

[Navig8tor]

Came home tonight and the order I placed on saturday night with JASe-tea was sitting on my step waiting for me.

I washed everything up and will tote it all in to work tomorrow for the first tasting.

 

[ouch]

That's probably pretty good stuff. Give it a try! It's a dark, blackish tea that reminds me of coffee. High caffeine content. Just put a couple or three grams in a strainer and steep for five minutes. I like it with lots of sugar. I can't vouch for the brand though. But I love puerh. If you don't like it, I will take it!!

Whatever you do, don't do this.

 

[Navig8tor]

OK. First tasting was today. It went pretty well. I followed the suggestions and used about 3 grams with the short brewing time. The first two steepings were poured off and we didn't drink them.

It tasted earthy but not too much, actually less than I expected. It has a black tea flavor but with much more of a depth to it. From the smell I expected more floral notes but I didn't get that. I liked it but I am still not sure what to make out of it. Between 4 of us we got 10 steepings not counting the first 2 we poured off.

I think tomorrow we try and oolong.

 

[Born2bwire]

OK. First tasting was today. It went pretty well. I followed the suggestions and used about 3 grams with the short brewing time. The first two steepings were poured off and we didn't drink them.

It tasted earthy but not too much, actually less than I expected. It has a black tea flavor but with much more of a depth to it. From the smell I expected more floral notes but I didn't get that. I liked it but I am still not sure what to make out of it. Between 4 of us we got 10 steepings not counting the first 2 we poured off.

I think tomorrow we try and oolong.

To get the real earthy taste, you have to go with an old sheng pu-er. Something around 10 years at least. You might want to buy a small sample to give yourself an indulgent try. I bought a 1999 8582 for such reasons. It comes out to be around $2.50 USD a pot but I pot usually lasts me the afternoon. So even for such a high priced tea it doesn't come out too bad in light of buying a soda or coffee. However, I think that you can get an earthier flavor from a cooked pu-er but I think this characteristic may be more predominant with inferior brands. There is a large teashop chain here that makes a rather earthy pu-er although it was my recollection that the earthiness certainly diminished with airing (Perhaps this could also account for the relatively less earthiness of the aged cooked pu-ers that I have been buying lately. Or it could be that they use a much moister wet process that causes the extra earthiness but it seems to come at the cost of complexity). But higher quality and older cooked pu-ers can take on a different taste too from what you have. I almost liken it to a bready or gingerbread like taste but it really isn't anything like bread. Hard to describe.

 

[thanks]

OK. First tasting was today. It went pretty well. I followed the suggestions and used about 3 grams with the short brewing time. The first two steepings were poured off and we didn't drink them.

It tasted earthy but not too much, actually less than I expected. It has a black tea flavor but with much more of a depth to it. From the smell I expected more floral notes but I didn't get that. I liked it but I am still not sure what to make out of it. Between 4 of us we got 10 steepings not counting the first 2 we poured off.

I think tomorrow we try and oolong.

Try 5 grams in 100ml gaiwan. 6 for 110. Start with a flash rinse, then move to 7s, 12s, 15s, 22s, 40s, 1:10, 1:50, 3m, 4m, etc. Feel it out. Was the tea liquor really dark, or golden yellow?