My scale got broke so I haven't had much pu recently except for shu that I didn't mind not knowing the dosage for.
Yesterday, I had 2003 Xiaguan Baoyan. Light in flavor, mostly the same as it always had been. Had an unexpected amount of older tea qi, more than I've felt from things like the 2003 Youle Round Cake or the 2003 Yongpinhao. Very nice and relaxing alertness. Generally smooth, and had some of that aged huigan that doesn't spout up the throat, but seeps up, almost like hongchapu, except it's from deep in the throat. The throat constantly felt warmed/chilled and caressed. Might be junk leaves, but it was junk leaves for 2003 and not today.
Today I had 2010 YS Yakouzhai. This tastes and smells good, and as a Nannuo should be. A little body, no qi, some dynamicism in session, but I didn't find it compelling enough to drink this tea very long, like I did yesterday. I did have a few more cups in the evening so it wasn't wasted. Well worth what YS wants for it, but not awesome.
Do keep in mind that from around Christmas to February, merchants will be making decisions on how much their tea costs next year, so if you're thinking about buying tea, have an idea what you want to do in the time allotted. Sooner or later, the not-so-good tea is going to stagnate or drop. Maybe not this year, maybe into next year, but it will happen. When people start, as a group, caring about the actual qualities of tea, and strong provenances, the better stuff that don't drop will keep getting more expensive, especially as more Westerners get into puerh tea.
Yesterday, I had 2003 Xiaguan Baoyan. Light in flavor, mostly the same as it always had been. Had an unexpected amount of older tea qi, more than I've felt from things like the 2003 Youle Round Cake or the 2003 Yongpinhao. Very nice and relaxing alertness. Generally smooth, and had some of that aged huigan that doesn't spout up the throat, but seeps up, almost like hongchapu, except it's from deep in the throat. The throat constantly felt warmed/chilled and caressed. Might be junk leaves, but it was junk leaves for 2003 and not today.
Today I had 2010 YS Yakouzhai. This tastes and smells good, and as a Nannuo should be. A little body, no qi, some dynamicism in session, but I didn't find it compelling enough to drink this tea very long, like I did yesterday. I did have a few more cups in the evening so it wasn't wasted. Well worth what YS wants for it, but not awesome.
Do keep in mind that from around Christmas to February, merchants will be making decisions on how much their tea costs next year, so if you're thinking about buying tea, have an idea what you want to do in the time allotted. Sooner or later, the not-so-good tea is going to stagnate or drop. Maybe not this year, maybe into next year, but it will happen. When people start, as a group, caring about the actual qualities of tea, and strong provenances, the better stuff that don't drop will keep getting more expensive, especially as more Westerners get into puerh tea.