SOTD- sheng of the day

[shah8]

Sample G: 6g

The dry leaves have a bit of diversity in shapes and colors, and taken from the top of a surface. Doesn't look new. Looks firmly pressed, but easily broken up. Not very much dry aroma. The first brew is light, with a classic Banna honey-sheng aroma and taste, with a hint of sourness. Medium thickness, with smooth feeling of the texture, more slick than velvet or silk, and with light astringent finish. Qi shows up from the start and hits hard. Only aftertastes comes from converting astringency after finishing the cup. The second brew developed a distinct aroma sorta like leather, sweet grains, and barnyard. The taste also becomes more distinct, and I think of it as savory, slightly bitter, and a little like Essence of Tea's Wuliang Wild. Body thickens up and is still smooth with a minimum of astringency. Not much aftertaste, but a flavorless huigan shows up, cooling throatfeel, as well as more qi. The aroma of the third brew has a leatheriness that I can't place, plus a puff of potpourri that I associate with Wuliang Wild. The Wuliang Wild sensibility goes into the bark/soil taste, along with a hint of lightly sour molasses nutty that Mangjing can have, which also comes in the finish. The body is still very good, still little and late aftertaste (with some sensate sweetness on the tongue), and I'm still stoned by the soporific qi. The fourth brew is a bit less unusual and wild/transitional tree flavor in taste, and being more like what I associate with Mengku. There is a stronger throatfeel and more of a yun. This also gives sensate sweetness again, in the back of the mouth, like flecks of sugar grains scattered across the soft palate. Fifth brew is decreasing in the potency of the taste (which is still pleasantly sweet flavored), thickness, and increasing in astringency. Some yuns, and the qi is fading to the background. Continues to decline over the next four brews. Over the course of the session, have found that the tea gave a warming feel to the body. I stopped here and concluded that it was a wild or transitional tree cake firmly pressed into cake or brick, probably from an area north of Banna, eg, Ruirong DaXueShan brick from early 2k's. I also concluded that EoT Wild Wuliang is better because it's more durable among other reasons. The sample had better qi and better yuns, though.

It turned out that I was guessing zebras again, t'was Wisteria '07 Hong Yin. Which turned out to be perplexing to me since I've had a sample of this before, and I certainly didn't match the descriptions in comments 6612 and 6629 in terms of the taste, but I did find the lack of session dynamicism, yuns and no huigans, etc. This might be impacted by me having used a seasoned pot for the previous sample and a gaiwan for this one. I wound up immediately trying another brew, though (The back end of the session was reasonably pleasurable with strong qi, after dinner), and it tasted like what my memories suggests when I tasted it before, so that was just weird. It feels like I just got completely turned around trying to over-analyze the tea. While that was bad for identifying the tea, I think this was good, in that I understood the tea better after identification. I think there is some wild leaf used in this tea. It wasn't very bitter (but nicely so), and it had some of the behaviors I associate with wild/transitional leaf. The qi was much stronger in this sample than in the previous sample, however it wasn't that high quality of a qi. This qi more made me feel different and not better. I'd say this is one of those teas that you do buy if you can afford, with the caution that it may age just a little funky. Didn't make me quite as happy as some of the other samples, but it doesn't stand out for better or worse in what is a rather strong selection of samples.

Another thing that this try made me think about, was the difference between an empty mind and an open mind, in terms of investigatory approaches. Zen and Inspector Gadget! Go-Go Gadget Salivary Glands!!!!

...um...here's a towel, sorry man, didn't mean to wet up your face...

 

[shah8]

Sample H, 6g:

The dry leaves look premium, older, with stems, and no real dry aroma. The first brew of a compact chunk yielded a generic Banna soup with some humidity in the aroma. Light taste, qi, texture, energy. The second brew has a relatively narrow and elusive woody scent to the aroma and likewise in the taste. There is a decent finish and feeling in the throat. More qi, more energy, and some huigans show up. There isn't much astringency. The aftertaste is pretty lengthy, and I begin to suspect that it's LBZ. The qi is very strong in the third brew, as the flavor emphasizes a Nannuo mushroom base that's plummy along with the wood. Not much of the herbs/conifer element I'd expect. The feeling and aftertaste in the throat are outstanding. Most of the time it was a really nice taste/feel on the throat, like pleasant walnuts, but really good slow, gentle, and complex huigans also show up. The soup isn't very thick, but there's a distinct texture going on with little drying astringency. After the swallow, the energy keeps going on, with sweet sensation on the tongue-tip. Enjoying this very much. The fourth brew has a better and more sophisticated top taste and aroma. Powerful feeling in the throat with occasional if brilliant huigans. Astringency increases a little bit, and the qi is strong and of reasonably high quality. Made the comparison that the taste/aroma is as broad as the likes of XZH Youle, CGHT MYS, but isn't as loud or as monolithic as those teas. The qi may be about the same as the Youle, but less violent. The fifth brew is more of the same bliss, only to note a bit more of a chocolate note in the taste, a bit of a cornstarch element in the aroma. Texture gains a feeling of high surface tension, almost mucilaginous. One really nice sip had a very York Pattie taste in the back of the mouth, and generally, there are strong mint hints in the fourth and fifth brews. A great deal of complexity in the cup. However, it begins to decline in the sixth brew, with aftertaste and qi hanging on the best. A little extra astringency. I end up lengthening brews a bit earlier than I might otherwise have thought. I mostly drink the late soups for qi. I made the guess that it was the '05 fall XZH LBZ, because the behavior was similar to the sample I had almost four years ago. In any event, I thought this was the best tea of the series to date.

The answer turns out to be another DTH Yiwu from Tony, this time from 2008. I wasn't too suprised. At least I got the right district, and the tea was just a little *too* like a "Nannuo". This is a spring tea, though, which makes the lack of durability in the taste a bit suspect. Best peak, but I'd like more than three, four cups. Way too many stems, and not really stems as part of multi-leaf picking habits or anything like that. A few are practically sticks. This tea doesn't have much in common with the 2012 DTH Yiwu, which had a denser aroma, much more of a throat cooler, much less qi, no huigans (since it's young, it should have fierce huigans if it's from the same place), and the taste didn't really have mushrooms like the 2008. In my, clearly inexpert estimation, I think this 2008 is roughly from the DingJiaZhai and Zhangjiawan areas. It does have some common elements to the SampleTea DingJiaZhai '08 and the XZH '11 Zhangjiawan brick.

 

[shah8]

Sample I, 6g:

The leaves in this sample were mostly separated. Looks premium, with some years on it, and no scent. The first brew gave a surprising note of condensed milk in the aroma and taste, in a generally Banna soup. Some qi shows up, but no thickness or texture, and the aftertaste is weak. The second brew had a stronger aroma and taste, with that same condensed milk element. Some added complexity of sweet flavors in the aroma, but the taste seems to have an aromatic straw taste I've associated with tea from Jiangchen. A little qi, more aftertaste and cooling, but still a thin soup. After the cup was done, there was a nice, long aftertaste. Hasn't been a really good tea so far. It doesn't change much with the third brew, a bit of barnyard in the flavor and more cooling in the throat. The top flavor is relatively short, and the thickness is still poor. Finishing the cup left me with a bit of astringency in the mouth that converted nicely and a plum yun also showed up. The fourth brew finally had better thickness, but the Jiangchen sensibility is also stronger in a weaker taste. Qi is fading, but some shallow huigan showed up. From then on, the tea doesn't really change much in subsequent brew, though it is fairly durable. A slight bitterness does show up in the longer brews, some unpleasant, but some also helped make good aftertastes happen. I made the guess that this was 2008 Yongpinhao Yiwu.

This turned out to be 2006 Sunsing Mahei. It's a little sad, but this one definitely brings up the rear of this set of tea samples so far. Just not a very premium tea, though it's not bad either. The real issue is that I think it's got some stuff in it that's not Mahei, and it certainly doesn't perform like the 2011 fall Mahei from Sunsing. I also think that it has been aging poorly since I last tried this tea two years ago. Better things to buy with money you'd spend on this tea.

 

[shah8]

Sample J, 6.2g:

The dry leaves doesn't look that premium, and kind of has a dull look to it that suggests of some age, with no aroma. The aroma rising from the first cup was a pretty standard Banna smell, with some extra notes. The body isn't thick enough, but the sip yields generic leather and Banna flavors with additional sweet notes and sensate sweetness. It goes down the throat, and leaves a good feel there was well as good energy in the mouth. There are deep, if slight huigans and aftertastes generally improve was one drinks the cup. The second cup greets my nose with good floral elements, wood, and generic Banna-ness, but the aroma didn't last that long. The taste isn't as impressive at the start of the cup, and it's generally not that loud. There is texture present in the soup this time, but it's still thin. The performance in the throat continues, and there are plentiful proper huigans, that gets better as I finish the cup. A light and pleasant qi asserts itself, and light astringency generates good lasting aftertaste. The third brew has a distinct wood and fruit scent that doesn't rise high from the pitcher. The taste resembles the scent, but with an added floral element that reminds me of floral legumes like kudzu--so a kind of nice, sophisticated taste that reminded me of XZH Puzhen. The taste is narrow, and doesn't fill the mouth. In contrast, bitterness and astringency gets stronger, and they generate many huigans and aftertastes that provides for entertainment. The throatfeel remains good, and the mouth gets the best out of the texture, with high surface tension, even if it is still thin. Qi is moderate and pleasant. The aroma and taste declines in the fourth brews, and quality is more dependent on fewer and softer huigans that are still very nice as well as astringency conversion, which leaves a long taste after the cup was done. The aroma revives a bit in the fifth brew, with heightened legume florals. Thickness finally grows some, but it's pretty much down to energy, throatfeel, qi, and aftertaste (one nice huigan). Sixth brew has a sligthly interesting aroma, little top taste, so it's just finish and aftertastes again. Astringency declines, but a yun and a few complex huigans show up. It goes along in this vein, and continues in the back end of the session after I found out what it is. I was thinking this was Mengsong at first, and then got shoved off with some "northern" notes, and decided with not a little whimsy that I would guess 2002 Tai Lian Kunming Market Opening. It felt like a premium, but not super-premium taste. I was also thinking that the leaves looked kind of old.

This turned out to be 2007 CGHT Yiwu Chawang. It's markedly inferior to the 2006 fall Yiwu Chawang. A much narrower taste, and not that loud. The aftertaste wasn't quite so majestic at any point. The qi is less strong than the 2006 at its strongest, but more durable in the session. It does deliver a ton of huigans, and it's quite capable of holding your attention, much like the Tai Lian I like, but it's...not really as good as even that, at its best. I also think that the soup was just too thin to be truly proper. I wouldn't chase after it for what it goes for on Taobao, plenty of better things to buy. As for my wrong guess here, this never really came close to any classic Yiwu taste, and never really had the darkness or the chocolatey-ness of the 2006, and it didn't have a strong element of that heavy GFZ herbalness. It did not, however, taste particularly northern, either. Just not very close to any recognizable archetype.

 

[shah8]

The last sample, sample I, 6.2g:

The dry leaves look premium, with a few stems that have tip complexes. Slight dry aroma, but exudes a nice scent when heated. The first brew aroma has a strong and broad woody scent from Banna. When I sip, there is an instant silken feel, with just enough body, and right after that, a loud and broadly majestic taste that fills the mouth with aromatic wood, other wood flavors, with a solid mushroom flavor in the middle. There are nuances to be sought after in the length as one swishes the sip in the mouth, and it coats the mouth with lasting flavor past the swallow. Only a little astringency in the throat, a little bit of cooling, and maybe a bit of qi. A great start! Second brew repeats the strength of the aroma, and adds to with fruit-wine notes and a spicy vegetalness common to Yiwu (well at least the MingYuanHao). This translates to the taste, but there was a powerful and slow ben-gay feel in the throat, along with some nice finishes. More qi shows up to settle a calming weight. The third brew loses the fruit notes in the aroma, but the silkiness is better supported with thick liquor, and leaves a stronger astringency in the mouth. There is a powerful, classic, and pure Yiwu sheng taste that I suspect would bowl over Nada (very much like a high end Yiwu version of the 2010 Mr. Feng Shi Rei offered at Essence of Tea, only less "green"). Lots going on, in terms of nuance, and not too much macro-complexity of different flavor notes. Generates a slight yun, good throatfeel, a few slower huigans, and there is more good, relaxing qi. Many Yiwus aren't that impressive about qi. This has a bit of moderate qi. It took a long time for me to finish by then a cold cup, because I savored each sip. The cold soup reveals a slight bitterness and sourness that mostly adds character when everything was hot. The fourth brew has increased aromatic complexity with fruit tones back, the soup is like the previous one, maybe flatter and weaker, a little. Soup is thinner. Otherwise, mostly the same. This tea isn't that dynamic, and changes only very slowly. The fifth brew had some good huigans, and otherwise, the later brews are about softening taste with sweeter caramel flavors edging its way in. This was just a very nice session, and has much of the character of a decent to good Wuyi session that I like from woodier Yiwus. I made the guess that it was 2006 XZH Yiwu. I didn't really think so, because it's just a lot woodier than what I remember the sample being like. I hedged with 2007, which is a lot closer in style, but with its own differences in having more complexity in taste, and definitely less qi.

Answer was a midge unsatisfying. This doesn't have a name. It's a white wrapper Yiwu Zhengshan picked up from an anonymous shop in Kaohsiung made in 2011. There isn't much to say about this tea except that this was the most orthodox Yiwu in what turned out to be a mostly Yiwu sampling. It has a lot of similarities to the 2005 Mingyuanhao Yiwu Yiehsheng, but more rich like the 2007 XZH, in smell and taste. Unlike too many places, this one was the real thang of high quality. I think I'll talk about rankings tomorrow.

 

[shah8]

'11 Dingjiazhai autumn from TeaUrchin, maocha.

Other reviews have adequately described the tea. Will add that it has a consistent low aroma, decent thickness, and there is qi in earlier brews. It's not a good tea on account of a lot of hongcha in the first two or three brews, without much of the virtues of good hongchapu. The taste, by and large, is very short, like the PuDi from Sampletea. It's not an unpleasant tea, but there are far better hongcha and hongchapus out there for $89/bing.

 

[TwoDog2]

2011 Laoman'e Gushu. Just barely hanging on to any of the floral youthful elements. Beginning the slow spiral into the dark abyss.

 

[shah8]

Day before yesterday: '06 SE Memorial. Great tea. Strong aroma, strong taste, good thickness. Not *that* durable, but enough. Has a bit of old tea qi. A bit narrow in taste.

Yesterday: 2013 EoT Zhenyuan pesticide tea. It's okay, and pleasant as a green tea. Pesticides cleaned out by overspilling the pot (mostly desoaped), and pour/waste the first brew, and that worked well. It's a good tea on the back end with very nice sweet flavors. Relatively thin soup.

Today: '05 MingYuanHao Yieh Sheng. Not good today, pulled out a chunk from the middle of the cake and wound up with mostly taida cha. One big slap in reminding me it's place in the scheme of things compared to all of that wonderful Yiwu I've just had.

 

[shah8]

Today, I tried out for the first time, a sample of the 2010 Mengdai Bingdao Yihao, originally from TeaUrchin. Sooo, what was it like? Well, the base flavor is very similar to the 2003 Shuangjiang Mengku cake that Best Tea House offers. It's more complex than that tea, and doesn't have a mustard element. However, I was somewhat disappointed because I'm not a fan of that general flavor. The thicknesss and texture is very similar to the 2010 XZH Upper Cave Art cake--like thick warm honey that's runny. Very pleasant. Aroma is reasonably there for the first few brews, and smells mostly like it tastes, but with some additional notes like sweet fleshy florals or pineapple. The aftertastes are there, a bit, but no where near impressive, say like what the 2005 Taihe can do, or the 2005 YQH Yiwu Chawang can do, both in the throat. Much of it is simply a mouth coat. This doesn't do, for example, the sort of aftertaste that the 2003 Xiaguan Baoyan can do. There is very little bitterness or astringency, so no astringency conversion, and generally rather shallow huigans, if any. No yuns. Some evaporative mouth aroma. This isn't a strong cooler in the mouth, compared to quality JingGu or many Banna teas. The finish can be good, though, like rice or almond milk. Early brews have good energy, which dies down. This tea is very durable, easily lasting past 16 or so, and I imagine that I can drink for 25+. However, it's not very dynamic, and the brew did not turn sweet until my last few brews, and it wasn't that sweet. The qi is generally strong and affects head and body. It starts off strong at the beginning of the session, then dies down. When I restarted for the back end, the qi came back, and largely stayed through the remainder of the session. Pretty good quality qi.

Well, is it any good? I will cite that it has an outstanding soup thickness and texture. It has outstanding endurance. It has strong qi. It is not, however, a particularly dynamic tea--mostly the same flavors with some delicate complexity. It is not a particularly potent tea. If you take away the body, the Tai Lian is far more potent in huigans, cooling, mouth aroma, lasting aftertaste, with far more interesting flavors and aromas, more dynamic session, and almost as much qi some of the time. However, it's much more bitter, citric, and astringent than this tea, as well as being lightly smoky. Sweetness at the end is better too. Again, without taking that thickness into consideration, the majority of early XZH lincangs and Jinggus would smack this around like a red-headed, soulless, stepchild, and the Diangu stuff is better even taking thickness into consideration. I did enjoy this tea, and were it cheaper, would seriously consider buying it. There's always a place for such a thick, qi-full, tea in anyone's tea-chest. At almost $300, I find this a dubious proposition, because it's pretty close to the sort of money that can get me older and better tea. 600g of that YQH jincha sounds more appetizing than 400g of this tea, and all I really sacrifice is a big of loudness, fullness, and some ease of drinking wrt astringency. I also am concerned about whether this will age well, since I've had the 2003 not so long ago, and it seems like this tea will really need time and real humidity to do nice things, and maybe even then, all I get is a slightly better Yuanyexiang gancang (which still has had real moisture) tastewise.

 

[shah8]

Today, I tried out the TeaUrchin 2013 LaoBanzhang. I shook out loose leaves from the bag and put the chunk back in. The leaves looks to be very tippy. When heated, they give off a good dry aroma. This tea is something that looks firmly south towards Lao Man'E, with real chocolate tones, and less honey/mushrooms/grapes. The second and third brew has stronger bitterness than is quite kosher for LBZ, but doesn't quite hit the Lao Man'E medicinal quality. The soup body reflects the amount of tips present with a persistent thick and oily texture. Not as thick as the Bingdao yesterday, but about as thick as EoT 2012 Bulang. Not too astringent earlier on, which I think was an issue, but gained pace later. The taste has some nice woody complexity along with the bulang taste. There was never a particularly strong huigan. A couple of early ones had fruit returns, but only on the back end was there some consistent fruit aftertastes rising from the throat, along with a mouth aroma effect. The back end of the session also got sweeter. This was a pretty durable tea, and more durable than some LBZ's I've tried. There wasn't much qi evident, though. I do think this tea is highly likely to age well.

So is this a good value? I think it's an okay LBZ. It's certainly nicer than either the 2011 or 2012 Puersom efforts. The tea's effect in the mouth is basically too narrow and only moderately loud to ever be considered real premium, and without a strong flashy effort in the throat or qi in the body, there's nothing that screams gotta have. The best thing about this tea is that it does have nice wood notes in the aroma and flavor, and it is a complex cup and a dynamic session. In it's rough weight class, it's still pretty good. I find it wierd that I didn't get much qi, a lot like the sample from Nada's personal cakes when he visited LBZ in 2008. That sample had a lot more power in the aftertaste, a bit more solid taste, but not as thick, or as complex. At the end of the day, this tea isn't really as good as the better teas from my recent Yiwu samplings (Ah, for everyone to note, the *light* GFZ isn't orthodox. The *heavy* GFZ, like the CGHT 2006 Fall Yiwu Chawang is orthodox for GFZ, so I'm not sure what all that floral sugarcane stuff is about), and I think the Mengdai Bingdao is better than this tea. More of a superlative texture, not especially boosted by tips, more qi. It probably will not age as well as the LBZ, though, given what the 2003 S.M. tea is like). I think I am very likely, as a result, to want to try the XZH golden brick with the LBZ/Yiwu blend first. Two bricks of those might very well equal or surpass one cake of this LBZ. I wasn't too surprised by the quality of the LBZ, but I definitely was hoping for better. At the end of the day, you can only trust people with the good connections more than people with good intentions.

Sanhetang has released a series of commemorative cakes that cite's the 10 year anniversary of founding. One of those cake wrappers features Tony Chen (dressed in ancient fashion) in an old Chinese style painting. He looked very feminine and peaceful <raised eyebrow>.

Houde's trolling for some buyers. They've put up the wet stored 2001 Yuanyexiang up for $130, which I think is very reasonable. There isn't a huge difference between the so called thin and thick paper. Just less or more wet stored. The wet stored cake needs a bit of breaking up and storing, and becomes a very nice, mellow tea after a bit, for a sheng. Also of note are CGHT samples put back in, nothing tremendous, just the usual '99, '01, and '03 samples, plus '09 shu sample. More interesting is that '06 Sanhetang maocha of Mahei and Nannuo are back up. These guys do not really age, and they have a rather funky oolong behavior, but I think for educational purposes, it's a good way to understand what a truly good Mahei or BanPoLaoZhai behaves like, when you get it to go with a good session. In a Botoxed youth fashion.

Now, if I shout right now, will the comment session echo back?

 

[shah8]

'02 Tai Lian, in an examining mood...

1) I pretty much do love this tea.

2) This tea has little in the way of true top flavor. Does its magic with extreme amount of aromatic sensibilities.

3) Soup aroma is full and complex...almost as intense as Yuanyexiang, only with more elegant and sweeter aromas

4) Soup itself is tart and the liquor very thin in the beginning. After a few brews, the tartness goes away and it boosts thickness almost to what the Bingdao was like, and gradually diminishes as the session goes on.

5) Qi is mild to moderate, but is of very good quality, with a pleasantly tactile and body centered feel. Probably excellent for meditation.

6) Long taste, and aroma will stick in the mouth.

7) I don't think the DTH 2012 Yiwu is like this in any way except that it does a really good job with aroma in a similar way.

8) This didn't have the strong huigan and cooling it could have, and never went sweet either.

 

[StillShaving]

.......

Now, if I shout right now, will the comment session echo back?

Yes! Your reviews and commentary are like a work of art.

 

[shah8]

Why thank you...

Finished off the sample of 2003 Wisteria Zi Yin, which is the Nannuo. This is merely a good tea. I really think that Wisteria made better teas after 2003. Far more happy with Taihe, HongYin, and LanYin, etc. This tea has a solid aroma, but not as nice as the TaiLian. The taste is relatively flat, with an interesting carrot tone. Pretty limited in cooling and aftertaste, though they do happen. Soup thickness is okay, and there is a bit of mild qi, looks to be just from age. Something I'd be happy to have, but not go out of my way for or spend much money on.

The Yuanyexiang got bought up right quick, I see. And I see someone made a mass purchase of the '06 Taipei Jincha, and only one is left for sale, currently.

 

[shah8]

Pesticide free Bulang from EoT. Not a very good session, probably had JakubT's review in mind, but also because I'm comparing with so many very recent and very superior teas. The taste is relatively tinny, with a not very good floral taste, and not too much menghai base. Bitterness is strong and lasting, and soup thickness isn't great. Aroma was okay, but mostly just generic young sheng.

 

[TwoDog2]

Pesticide free Bulang from EoT. Not a very good session, probably had JakubT's review in mind, but also because I'm comparing with so many very recent and very superior teas. The taste is relatively tinny, with a not very good floral taste, and not too much menghai base. Bitterness is strong and lasting, and soup thickness isn't great. Aroma was okay, but mostly just generic young sheng.

Tinny as in metallic? Or tinny as in I hit an extra "n" when writing "tiny"?

Today was another 06 Mengku tea. No reason why I am drinking these, except that they are so easy to drink and cheap as chips. Haven't been in a position to have a relaxed session in several days. That ought to change on the morrow.

 

[TwoDog2]

Why thank you...

Finished off the sample of 2003 Wisteria Zi Yin, which is the Nannuo. This is merely a good tea. I really think that Wisteria made better teas after 2003.

Oh, and I think the Ziyin is good, without the merely.

 

[shah8]

I'm drinking a sample of 2010 Changdahao originally from Puerhshop. Surprisingly drinkable, though it does have its pesticides. It also has some decent flavors for a cheap tea and a touch of cooling.

Tinny as in cheap stereo speaker sound, the way it'd be as a taste.

Merely good is just that I like it, but wouldn't go out of my way to get it or drink it again. I will say that it doesn't offer any advantages compared to the 2002 Nannuo White Tips from BTH, and it's the same degree of merely good as the 2010 YS Nannuo Yakou, except aged. I do wonder how the 2004 and 2005 Hailanghao Nannuos would compare. It also doesn't play in the same kind of unreserved "good" like teas from other areas, but about that same age that I've had, or the later Wisteria teas.

 

[shah8]

'07 an xiang sheng. Taste is good, but far too thin. Soup has decent thickness and good texture. A little bit of feeling stays in the mouth and throat. Not worth nearly the money asked for these days. Just a few steps up from 7542 or 7532. Finished off a four year old shincha gone all fuku in the fridge that was far better.

 

[TwoDog2]

'07 an xiang sheng. Taste is good, but far too thin. Soup has decent thickness and good texture. A little bit of feeling stays in the mouth and throat. Not worth nearly the money asked for these days. Just a few steps up from 7542 or 7532. Finished off a four year old shincha gone all fuku in the fridge that was far better.

Why did you have a 4 year old Shincha? Lost in the vegetable crisper?

I think the An Xiang is sizable step up from 7542, but still not worth the money that is being asked for it. You got it good and early.

Today 2003 Xiaguan Wudajingang Red. This is basically the same analysis as Anxiang. Good, better than most Xiaguan, not worth the money.

 

[shah8]

I rarely have the confidence to brew anything other than black and pu. Yesterday, I did almost five year old Doke White Needles. At least white tea can be aged. It was okay and drinkable.

Today I had the EoT '10 Mansai. Bad session. Short taste, relatively thin soup, little texture. Some aftertaste, a huigan. Aroma was very low in the pitcher and not compelling. I'm not thinking this is going to age into anything magnificent, even though this Mansai has a history of erratic session quality, but it's certainly not helped by being in the classic four year old no-man territory.

That Xiaguan isn't really as pleasurable as the same year baoyan, but it does have a much neater and louder top taste and aroma.