This follows on something like 9 months of ramping up exploring sheng, with a lot of that related to Yiwu Mountain Tea samples of different types and ages (that links to other posts; the vendor site is here).
Now that I think of it trying a set of boutique producer versions from the Golding shop in Kuala Lumpur back in 2016 was probably a related start, or trying a series of Thai versions of sheng from Tea Side prior to that. In a sense this is one form of culmination, of this later round at least, trying two moderately aged versions of considerably better than average, familiar style and region sheng.
These are both still youngish by some standards. Decades old aged pu'er qualifies as truly aged versions by everyone's expectations, with 15 to 20 years as a more moderate consensus for the beginning of that threshold.
One point of this broader set of reviews was to see what's out there for different sheng pu'er, and to get some feel for the input of different production areas and aging / fermentation related changes. I tend to not try to place any of the sheng I'm trying on a scale, either of how good it might be related to other similar teas, related to a range of all sheng or to some subset of what I've tried. These teas I'm reviewing were good teas, and I did like them, but that's about as far as I usually go with expressing that, more focused on describing aspects instead.
An online tea friend mentioned that it's probably time to drop hedging opinions as relative to limited experience and just get on with expressing them, but there are a lot of factors related with this particular tea type. It's not mostly about modesty related to judging based on only a few years of tasting experience (which isn't that much, to me).
Sheng is more complex than a lot of versions of tea, with a broader range of those inputs (origin, processing, age, storage, etc.), and with more related aspects to sort out. Preferences would vary a lot, and there is less of a singular standard, true-to-type better quality range to compare to. I'll say more about how that after the detailed review.
Review:
2007: this tea is still loosening up but already shows interesting complexity and depth. That taste range is familiar but it's going to be a challenge to break it down. It's earthy, with all the former brighter mineral tone and bitterness converted into that earthier, "darker" range. Mineral in a completely different sense than found in young sheng grounds the range. The feel has a fullness to it but the overall intensity is dialed back compared to younger sheng versions, with aspects covering a depth of different range instead. I'll add more specifics in the next infusion, I'm just laying out the general impression here.
 |
both teas are a bit darkened by aging (2007 left) |
2010: this is similar, with even more of dark tree bark sort of range filling in where the other tea is grounded by warmer, deeper mineral. The floral range in both (what presumably would've been much more pronounced in younger versions) has also given way to that transition.
This reminds me of tasting a number of Thai versions of sheng quite awhile back in an earlier round of exploration, maybe between 2 and 3 years ago. I did buy a favorite of that set, a Hong Tai Chang cake from 2006, an apparently identical tea to a version that Olivier Schneider sent two months ago (which I reviewed here as a sample three years ago, and re-reviewed here two years back). It raised the question, where does this tea stand related to other Chinese sheng? Of course that kind of question comes in levels, about if the input of growing conditions varied character, or how processing was typical within a range of different choices and skill levels, and about aging. Some of that will be resolved just a little more in comparison tasting the two versions together, but related to the basic theme I just needed significantly more experience for comparison.
Initially that tea tasted a bit like tobacco to me, until I tried another version that really did taste a lot more like tobacco, and I realized how far off that comparison was, at least related to the aspect describing an overall flavor range effect. Mineral and dark wood worked as partial description, but never really captured it. I'm not sure I'm prepared to get much further here. It may be that in addition to lots of exposure tea drinkers who have went through more of a formal training and initiation process, a sort of ordination process, in traditional tea drinking circles, may acquire not just exposure to a broad range of teas but a conventional vocabulary for describing the experience. I'm not exactly eating foods that remind me of deeper mineral tones, tobacco, obscure spices, and tree bark.
 |
the 2007 tea (left) brews darker, but is more subdued |
Second infusion:
2007: the last infusion I let go for towards 20 seconds, to get the process moving, and the intensity was a bit much. For this one I didn't use a flash infusion (in and out) but closer to that, around 10 seconds. This tea is quite pleasant at this light infusion strength. Flavor description is elusive; I might end up only describing these further in contrast, mentioning how one differs from the other.
2010: again this tea has more of a darker wood / tree bark / spice intensity to it. The other older version is well balanced and more subtle, but this has those edges to the character, intensity in different specific flavor ranges. The aftertaste might draw out a bit more too. In both cases the intense mouthfeel of a younger sheng has given way to a depth to the experience that's much less pronounced. Those other elements remind me just a little of tobacco, all not that far off what I'm remembering of that older Hong Tai Chang Thai sheng version.
In a Yiwu tasting last year differences in storage transition input seemed notable, as an extra layer of flavor and feel that was expressed as both a distinct additional aspect and as a form of change in the rest. Of course those teas were of varying ages, and they weren't the same to begin with, not from the same producers, although they were from the same narrow village area. It made it hard putting it all together, to know what led to what for final results. Clear patterns seemed to emerge, like Malaysian stored teas having a specific softness and deeper underlying funkiness, a touch of root-cellar character. These teas are clearly transitioned but the overall tone and aspect range is clean and clear; no funkiness.
It is nice getting back to teas it makes sense to comparison taste, that are similar enough that it's not just about managing the challenge of trying two different teas at once.
Third infusion:
2007: it's interesting that the color of these leaves are darker, and the brewed liquid is darker, and the flavor range is slightly more subdued, or even the aftertaste. The flavor range is really complex for me not getting very far with describing it. It's towards that char one encounters in roasted teas, it's just not quite that. To me it comes across as mostly mineral, like the deeper complex tones I've mentioned before in comparison with an artesian well, or very old rusting oil well equipment. It has some sweetness to it but I'm not really reminded of dried fruit, at least not much. There's a dark wood / tree bark range to it as well but the main range is more mineral. It's complex in the sense of experiencing a lot going on, a depth, but not complex in the sense of that experience spanning a lot of range.
2010: again this version is more focused on the dark wood tree bark and spice range. That deeper mineral tone is there but less pronounced. This version expresses feel across the middle of the tongue, versus the other tightening slightly across lots of your mouth, but as I've mentioned I'm not attached to specific feel aspects beyond those adding depth to a tasting experience.
Fourth infusion:
Let's skip the split tasting format this time. I went with a really fast infusion again since the teas are pleasant that way, and the 2007 isn't really transitioning. It's a bit subdued, although the experience is pleasant. I guess this could easily represent tea aspects going a bit quiet as one hears of. It goes without saying but these differences may not relate mainly to aging exposure differences; I really don't know.
The 2010 shifts aspects proportion, with darker wood tones and tobacco shifting more towards the spice, almost picking up a bit of rosemary. The feel thins going really light but the 2010 tea retains a nice long aftertaste. It doesn't remind me of what I think of as hui gan, a bitterness-related sweetness tied to feel experienced in the rear of your mouth and throat, but it does linger in a positive way. I'll try a slightly longer infusion time next but I don't expect that to be more positive, it's just something to try out.
 |
2007 left; a bit darker after brewing |
Fifth infusion:
One 2007 tea aspect comes across more like char when infused for more like 20 seconds. I'm not completely sure what to make of that, or if it implies anything, just pointing it out. It's not like that roasty range in medium roasted Taiwanese oolongs, or the stout edginess in Wuyi Yancha, more like a slightly burned Tie Kuan Yin (a mild version of that), not so different than inexpensive shou pellets often express. Of course it's a completely different effect as a minor supporting element along with deeper mineral range, where those cheap shou versions just taste a little like brewing cinders. Woodiness joins the mineral and trace of char, like a well-aged hardwood, or maybe even a tropical hardwood.
The 2010 tea hasn't changed. The balance is nice, pleasant in the early infusions too but nicer in the last couple. It occurs to me that part of the depth of this is not just mineral tones but a bit of what I was calling an old furniture taste in reviewing a medium roasted oolong not long ago. It's a little towards nail polish but it's not fair to say the tea tastes like a chemical; it doesn't. I guess as standard pu'er descriptions goes maybe calling it a touch of camphor works, just a mild version of it. After thinking of it that way that matches the 2007 version too; it probably would be natural to have been using that as a clearer description.
Sixth infusion:
The teas are losing strength, at the point where longer infusions are required to draw out the same intensity, which shifts how the balance of different aspects come across. In general the same trends in aspect range and difference is occurring; the 2007 is more subdued, more in a mineral range, with the 2010 slightly more intense with a bit more tobacco / tree bark / spice. What I've noticed of wetter aging effect seems more pronounced in the younger tea, a faint echo of root cellar dampness.
Of course these teas are far from finished, so from this point additional description would cover how aspects transitions continue, in part related from brewing longer. In order to keep reviews moderate in length (or really long but not completely unreadable) I typically just leave off describing every infusion round, as I will here.
Initial Conclusions
These were interesting teas, good examples of this type and age, compared to what I've tried. I'm still not far enough along to judge preference in aging effects or put decade old aged versions on a relative scale but they at least seem to be in a typical character for decent versions within that range.
In that Yiwu vertical tasting event last year it was interesting how the teas became less intense throughout the progression through tea ages, beyond the other aspect range change. The brighter, more intense character in the younger teas transitioned to deeper, more complex, earthier range. Thaneadpol, the guy hosting that session, mentioned that it may have made sense to vary proportion instead of keeping all the parameters completely identical to allow for a more balanced, even comparison by doing so. The overall intensity of those older versions (a 2008 and 2005) was relatively muted.
I can't completely connect that to the idea that shengs tend to "go quiet" at some point in their aging process but to some extent it would seem to relate to that. That might lead one to guess that this 2007 version could potentially improve further once it ages further, it might move through a less intense phase. Based on more experience with aging progressions one might instead conclude that it would likely just fade from here. Either way it was interesting to try at this stage. I've not reviewed all the teas I have in this sample set, and I'll continue to use them as references in comparison with other versions that come up.
One might go further with comparison against similar teas, to narrow down the location origin for further comparison, or to reach further into the tea age issue, to sort out how these match up with others of similar type (specific place and plant source).
I just ran across an interesting Farmerleaf video on determining tea tree ages, relating to that "gushu" designation, on "how to estimate the age of ancient tea trees." The answer was a little anticlimactic: William said you have to cut a core sample to obtain an older bit of wood material (or actually he just said to test the old wood sample; he didn't mention how to come by it), and that tree size isn't a very good indicator, because the trees can grow faster or slower depending on conditions.
That said Philip Lee included a lot of pictures of older trees in the Yiwu Mountain Tea blog article "How big are wild arbor Gushu trees in Gaoshan?" There is probably scattered references of age estimations in their other site content but it seems as well to not do a tangent on tea tree ages anyway.
Placing vertical tasting, other related approaches
This still seems short on conclusions, given all that context, doesn't it? I kind of leave off with "that's interesting." I don't mean to undersell just how interesting it actually has been trying this Yiwu origin series. Check out this aged sheng sample pack contents sold by Yiwu Mountain Pu'er for reference to that, described as 6 samples included, 20g each:
2015 Yiwu Gushu Huangpian (yellow tea or "farmer's tea")
2005 Yiwu Gushu Huangpian
2016 Yiwu Qiaomu ("wild arbor trees," about conditions, not a tea plant age claim)
2012 Yiwu Qiaomu
2017 Yiwu Gushu
2010 Yiwu Gushu
It would difficult to seek out similar teas spanning that connected range of types and ages, and nearly impossible to do so related to purchasing samples. Some vendors do sell samples, of course, and as some have been following the "Liquid Proust" vendor (Andrew Richardson, interviewed in this post) has ventured into selling sample packs of pu'er, as much a variation on group buys as typical vending (covered in this interview post). But I've not ran across an equivalent to this type of bundling as a standard offering (which is not to imply that what I've seen fairly represents all that's out there).
It has also been interesting experiencing some degree of preference transition. As often noted sheng can be an acquired taste, partly related to appreciating a broader range of flavors, and in part related to appreciating aspects beyond flavor, feel and aftertaste effects, or even qi. I'll say more about that part in other sheng reviews that will follow.
 |
at International day, representing Japan (my daughter is on the left) |
No comments:
Post a Comment