2006 Shenzhen market sheng compared with 2007 CNNP 8891

a translation of some of this follows but it doesn't really help

no idea what any of this says

On that trip to Shenzhen and Hong Kong I bought two more types of sheng I've not reviewed here yet, another cake and this 2006 sheng brick.  I've tried both, maybe only once back in a hotel room in China, or twice counting when I tasted them in that market buying them.  I'm not sure if the idea of letting them rest even applies, since they only did a short flight from Hong Kong to here, I've just been busy.

I don't remember what it is, or what the vendor said it is, beyond aged sheng pu'er.  She should have mentioned a source region, but her English use was so limited there's a decent chance we didn't get far through that part.  If memory serves this cost about 240 RMB / yuan, or $35 or so; not much.  It wasn't presented as any specific quality level, or character, again mostly because all conversation was limited. 

Google Translate converted some of the label text:

she seemed nice enough; who knows about all that 90s sheng though

That rough translation could work as a lead for sorting out more about what the tea is but I sort of don't care.  Factory teas aren't always clear about what went into the products, and it may not be what it's labeled as.  The brewed tea character is more of interest in this case.

Western facing pu'er vendors use risk concerns about buying completely random sheng as a marketing tool, claiming that someone would be likely to ingest inappropriate levels of pesticide toxins if they undertake such a practice, but I'm not too worried.  The same concern applies to food, and I haven't switched over to a completely organic diet.  In Thailand that may or may not make a lot of difference anyway, given how controls of all sorts go here.  I buy most teas from vendors and initial producer sources that I'd tend to trust more and rest easy that the rest probably won't kill me.

I think a higher risk comes from buying the cheapest possible substantial quantity of randomly sourced tea you can find, a kilogram of a version that costs almost nothing at some Indian or Chinatown market, then drinking mostly only that for a few months.  Even a moderate dosage of any contaminant in that would really add up.  Obviously enough I'm varying what I drink.

I'm reviewing this in direct comparison with a 2007 CNNP 8891 red label.  That second tea is for evaluation purposes, as a benchmark for my own experience, since I reviewed it not long ago, but it will really work to help communicate what I mean about the other tea to anyone who is familiar with this one.  Often reviewing two teas is more about just getting through a volume of samples but in this case the comparison is more the point.

Review

I went with a slightly longer rinse step than usual, more to get the chunks to open up than related to concerns over toxins, dust, or whatever else (towards 30 seconds).  Then I used a really long first infusion due to not paying attention, writing this intro section and losing track of time.  That first impression will be about the character when over-infused, but at least that will get the initial rounds transition issue cleared away.  These teas aren't going anywhere fast in terms of "brewing out;" wasting a potentially more positive initial infusion or two isn't a concern.

this Shenzhen market tea left, CNNP 8891 right

that CNNP 8891 "red mark" version; a bit compressed

2006 Shenzhen market sheng brick:  it's not quite as rough as I remember.  Overbrewed it's pretty far from optimum but the flavor is still pretty decent.  It tastes a little like coffee and old furniture, but a much cleaner version of those than I'd expect from a too-strong initial round of some random wholesale market 13 year old sheng brick.  It might clean up to be quite decent in a much shorter second infusion.


2007 CNNP 8891 red mark:  brewing it too strong doesn't help this either but it's interesting noting how similar and different these are.  "Clean" isn't necessarily how most people would describe either of these, but I've tried badly stored teas before and the mustiness is different from the normal aging transitions these seem to be showing.


Remembering that Shenzhen version as much rougher than I'm experiencing it could just be due to a shift in expectations, for whatever reason, or maybe the initial guess here of how it will change later when brewed appropriately isn't accurate.  This CNNP version includes a sweeter old-furniture range flavor, a bit towards dried fruit.  Along with that old antiques aspect there's a touch of nail polish range too; it's only "clean" in that one limited sense.  It's smoother, and less intense, but not necessarily in a more positive range, just different.  Both aren't bad, and are interesting, but the next rounds will really tell the story for both.

Second infusion

Shenzhen market tea left, CNNP right

The CNNP chunks seem more stubborn about loosening up and opening, and the quantity seems slightly different (I just eyeball amounts, a carry-over from brewing loose tea for a long time before I ever got more serious about it).  It would be possible to try to compensate with brewing time but this isn't supposed to be an informative direct-parallel comparison of similar types anyway, with the CNNP just giving me a better idea of where this other one stands.


Shenzhen brick:  it's odd how this is a good bit better than I remember it; it seemed really rough tasting it back in that Shenzhen hotel, earthy in a less approachable way.  It's conceivable that it settled or aired out to some extent but I'm guessing that the variation is probably from my judgment.  I never really get as clear an impression when drinking teas with a vendor because they're making it per their own standard approach, and the extra stimulus of being in a different place and either discussing teas or failing to do so due to language issues adds too much else to distract me.  Using different water when tasting in the hotel may have caused a real variation.  It was a bottled water version but who knows what the mineral content in that was like.

The "coffee" range has dropped back but the old-furniture effect is still strong enough.  I suppose some of this flavor is geosmin, or the taste aspect from beets, but it's balanced within other range that's not so earthy.  There's a sweetness to it that's pleasant, in a toffee-like range.  Other flavor range is in between vegetal and earthy, kind of a tree-root sort of general theme, or maybe tree bark instead, or both.  Oddly it's much cleaner in effect than any of that list implies.


CNNP:  so different!  Some of the earthiness overlaps, that antique furniture range, but beyond that it's completely different.  The sweetness that can pair with that aroma is different, extending a bit towards nail polish, but in a mostly good sense.  It's much lighter, and much less earthy.  There really isn't all that much geosmin / beet effect, although in tasting it alone I might see something like that as a dominant aspect range, with this seeming lighter and less earthy in comparison with the other.

It has a woody character (as the other did), but in a much different range, like a very mild version of well-aged dark tropical wood, which works a little better than tree root or bark in the other.  There's a slight musty hint too, like balsa wood, which could be interpreted as cardboard instead, but I don't see it as that.

It's hard to explain or justify why I like these teas, given the flavors I'm describing (beets, cardboard, bark, antiques).  Maybe that's not how personal preference works anyway, that someone can explain why floral range works for them better than fruit, or why they hate grassiness but love earthiness that's much closer to dirt.  It probably helps to have been exposed to a lot of shu, and to like those, to appreciate a lot of variations of more earthy aspect themes.

Tea group discussions, some comments and forms in them, can tend to imply that preference curves tend to follow similar progressions for different people, and that although relatively subjective personal preference is a valid and individual yardstick that somehow more experienced individuals can just be further along the path others are on.  That can be valid, to a limited extent, but I don't completely buy it. 

On the one hand I've experienced some of the transitions I'm "supposed to" have went through, like adjusting to appreciating a balanced level of bitterness in young sheng, when earlier on a lot more of it just tasted like taking an aspirin (but then that example cites a coarse level of preference adjustment, doesn't it?).  On the other hand I don't necessarily see most of my preference for types or individual aspects as having followed such patterns.  Shu pu'er alone throws off the idea that there should be a consensus, since people divide on whether it's a reasonable type preference or not.  It's conventional for more experienced pu'er drinkers to just skip that type altogether, to see it as a pale shadow of well-aged sheng, more one-dimensional and unpleasant in character.  But it's not clear to me that people retaining appreciation for shu is an objectively negative indication of their judgement.

At any rate that's probably enough philosophy of tea for one tangent.

Third infusion

It does look like these are nearly identical quantities of leaf once this CNNP version's chunks opened up, facilitated by stirring the leaves with the gaiwan lid.  These should be relatively close to parallel in terms of proportion, without that much difference from the brick version brewing out faster in the rinse and first two rounds.


Shenzhen 2006 brick:  it's a good bit cleaner; those earthier aspects had been secondary to what I've been describing as an antique furniture effect, with the sweetness also standing out more, and now they're diminished even further, transitioning out.  There's still a coffee-like edge as a main flavor, like French roast, related to the earthy effect coming across similarly to roasting char in coffee beans.  The tea doesn't taste like coffee; that's just part of the complex range.  The tree bark / root effect is transitioning to more of a tropical hardwood range (teak, mahogany, etc.), like the wardrobe (closet-like furniture) that I keep my clothes in.

The feel is interesting, full with a slight hint of dryness, more full in effect than dry really, but not full in the same way younger shengs are.  The aftertaste is persistent; that sweetness and roasted coffee flavor lingers a lot more than the rest, which is milder while you drink the tea as well.

The intensity is interesting; some sheng fades away a lot more by this age.  It's not a given that any sheng version will "come through" the awkward teen years of 4 to 10 years in age with plenty of intensity, and I have trouble appreciating versions that are either subtle or just don't taste like much, depending on how you interpret that.  If anything this intensity could round off a bit with more age and be fine.  I'm not sure how much the character will keep changing, but then I can't be certain this really is even 13 year old tea.  It definitely seems like it, but rapid aging and then drying back out might lead to a similar place in some regards.  I also wonder if this tea was even drinkable a decade ago.


2007 CNNP 8891:  earthiness picked up in this version; it seemed like limited leaf exposure was causing it to be more subtle than it naturally would be brewed at this proportion for a substantial length of time.  I'll try a fast infusion of both next to see how that changes things, one in between 5 and 10 seconds, more typical of how I brew intense younger sheng.

It's not necessarily "cleaning up" in character as the other is, if anything picking up more of that beet / geosmin range.  An extra bit of stirring might've thrown off the parallel in this round, but it probably drew them closer together in transition cycle since the other started out faster, with more leaf contact earlier.  Everything is slightly different from the aspects in the other tea, but in the same general range, and explaining "different how" may not be worth going back through an aspects list again.  I'll do that next round instead, to the extent I get to it at all.

Fourth infusion

Shenzhen brick:  the effect is different brewed very lightly, probably not optimum for my preference, but interesting for providing a different impression.  A trace of mushroom stands out, which may well have just not be detectable due to earthier aspects overpowering it brewed stronger, versus being a result of aspect transitions across rounds.  It's odd how clean this tastes, given all the specific aspect range present (I guess I'll just keep repeating that).  Even the feel has a pleasant quality to it, and a flavor echoing aftertaste experience is still pronounced, even though this is brewed very lightly.

I might qualify that when I say a tea tastes like "old furniture" to me I'm not talking about the couch from my childhood days in my parent's basement, more like the odd fragrant, sweet, complex scent of old cabinets in dry storage areas in a temple I was a resident in there, ordained for two months as a Buddhist monk.  It's like old, dark wood and the lingering effect of furniture polishes, stains, and clear-coats.

that one aspect is how you would expect this Polish tearoom to smell (Herbaciarnia Czajnik Zabrze)

even teaware is stored and forgotten in those old temple rooms

CNNP 8891:  really the catchiest aspect range in both of these teas is probably escaping identification as a clearly defined concept.  Old sheng versions tend to be described as tasting like camphor, tobacco, or betel nut, or using lots of other standard terms, that surely really would describe similar aspects present.  Maybe this tastes like a mix of all three and I'm just not flagging that.  I see that betel nut for sale every few years in Chinatown but never think to buy it, so I'm not at all familiar with that.

I suppose there could be a faint hint of camphor in this, but tobacco doesn't seem quite right.  Not mentioning specifics beyond a vague complex wood-tone description isn't helpful either.  It seems closest to a lighter and more subtle version of cigar tobacco, versus cigarettes or pipe tobacco, and nothing like chewing tobacco.  Groups of people who regularly taste teas together potentially could agree on terms for impressions, surely informed from some branch of tradition, but for others it doesn't work so well.  To be clearer, what I'm calling dark tropical wood probably does overlap with mild cigar tobacco to some people.

Fifth infusion

Shenzhen tea (left) slightly darker; that makes sense, given storage input

The time flies.  These probably would be at this transition level after 6 or 7 infusions instead without letting that first round really run, or maybe after 8 or 9 if someone preferred drinking aged sheng infused very lightly.  This round is again brewed for 15 seconds or so, more of an optimum per my preference for these losing a little intensity already.


Shenzhen brick:  "catchy" describes it; the sweetness and earthy complexity is a little towards how root beer comes across, drawing closer to a sassafras root infusion.  It's as clean as that sounds, even though there is still dark-wood tone beyond that, and a subtle mineral input that I've just not mentioned since earthy range had stood out more (less subtle this round, with the earthiness fading).  It's odd how this tea really mellowed out while the other became a lot earthier and more intense; that could relate to it being so slow to saturate and unpack.

This tea is better than some random, inexpensive find I'd expect to stumble across.  It's not clearly a higher quality version either but the level of rough edges I see as obvious flaws is relatively limited.  It might appeal to a slightly broader set of people than the CNNP 8891, but then the general range of both is so close that if someone liked one they'd be likely to appreciate the other, or else dislike both.

Probably after a lot of exposure to even better aged sheng versions the novelty of these two just being aged sheng wouldn't have the same effect, as occurs with a progression of preference across any tea type. In the beginning any general-type-range medium quality versions are interesting and pleasant, and later one narrows that preference down, as experiencing better versions becomes normal and preferences become more specific.


CNNP 8891:  this is still evolving too, moving a bit towards clove.  I was kind of thinking of letting the notes go, saying they'd both transition some but that was already the main story, but another round's description seems in order.  To some the difference in feel and aftertaste might be what separates these but that's a complicated range to pin down.  They're quite comparable across that scope, just different.

Sixth infusion

I let this round go closer to 20 seconds since these are losing some intensity.

Shenzhen brick:  range of aspects keeps narrowing slightly but what comes across is still quite pleasant, as described in the last round.

CNNP:  both of these could be regarded as the best they've been, since both have settled into two different spice ranges, sassafras root versus clove, with mild earth and warm mineral supporting that.  Dropping out intensity and a lot of aspect range diminishes both in one different sense, so preference for a character type would come into play in judgment. 

Obviously enough tweaking brewing approach for the first few rounds to match preference better, or just not losing track of timing in one, would go a long way towards optimizing the experience of both.

Conclusion

A couple more rounds were uneventful; they just tapered off.

To me they're both nice.  But then even among people who like aged sheng the 2007 CNNP 8891 seemed to draw out two completely different responses in online discussion about it.  It could seem a little rough.  It's hard to be clear if moving past that character in preference progression makes sense or if it's just too earthy for many.

Some of the same applies not only to shu pu'er but also to hei cha; not everyone is into that set of tea types, Liu Bao and the rest.  I've got a couple of samples of them from Yunnan Sourcing from that last order to go through, and an online pen-pal friend just sent me a lot more of a Liu Bao version from KL, maybe similar to this one, so I'll be cycling back to say more about that.  It seems normal for some people to only like Liu Bao after 20 or so years of aging; although as with shu transitions aren't so dramatic after a few years longer term aging does seem to lend both a mellow character, and a limited degree of additional depth.

It's been nice sticking mostly to sheng, across lots of different ages, and then alternating with considering other types.  It's all a bit much but within another dozen or so reviews I'll be mostly through this wave of orders, market purchases, and samples.  I'll be ready to do less with this process and write a couple of research or interview posts instead, or just let this blog go quieter.