I'm finally reviewing a sample I'd lost track of from a Chawang Shop order early last year.
Trying older versions of sheng--relatively speaking; for some this 15 year old timetable isn't even close to that--is an interesting subject. I can't pull apart trueness to type for source region, storage as an input, quality level, individual version style, etc., so I'll mostly just describe how it comes across. I'm working on learning to make those distinctions but in spite of being a few years into focusing mostly on sheng I'm still closer to the beginning than to a relative end point.
This version doesn't seem to be listed on their website. Maybe this 2007 version is closest. That price looks wrong; $18 for a cake instead of a sample (but then it doesn't mention "gushu" in its description). Inexpensive, reasonable quality but lower demand versions of teas would turn up but that seems to be pushing it. At a glance this 2003 version from Yunnan Sourcing seems related (but who knows; I'm not claiming it is), listed for $90 instead. It's cited as from the White Dragon tea company, with a logo image that seems to match the Chawang Shop 2007 version listing. Although I'm skipping the Chinese character recognition steps that does appear in English (Latin script) lettering on the CS cake:
Anyone looking at the Chawang Shop online photos and description for that other (seemingly related) tea version should keep in mind that vendors don't tend to update listings year to year, or even over long time periods, so it would be from back whenever it was first listed. That cake's color isn't how the tea would look now, and description (not aspect by aspect anyway) is also for how it was. About what it is, it's hard enough sorting out if a tea is exactly like how it's described, but the description in that listing isn't very detailed, and this version I'm reviewing may not be so closely related anyway.
I will add an online reference citation about the "sheng tai" part, since that keeps coming up (although it seems likely that term would be used in different ways):
There are four predominant methods of tea cultivation; Plantation style (taidi cha), Ancient Tea Gardens (gushu cha), Sustainable Tea Farms (shengtai cha), and Wild Tea Trees (yeh sheng cha)...
...Sustainable farming tea (shengtai cha):
This type of cultivation method is aimed at a return to traditional organic farming practices. Tea trees are planted from seeds and are not pruned. They are also properly spaced with fruit trees planted in between to impart fruity flavors and to provide shade for the tea trees. Fertilizers and pesticides are rarely used. These tea trees are generally under 100 years old.
Review
First infusion: I'd be surprised this tastes as moderately aged (fermented) as it does if I'd not been through that related to relatively drier storage input. It'll open a little over the next two rounds; this early impression isn't what it will be then. Flavor intensity is moderate, but that's probably a main cause. Feel is fine, this early on, for not having developed. It's in between cured wood and warmer, richer flavors for more fermented teas, still spanning both ranges. Bitterness has dropped out, of course, and astringency has rounded off to a clean, reasonably thick feel.
Even this early it seems like the story of this tea will be evaluating it from two points of view, related to how it is right now and how longer storage seems likely to change it further. It's odd that the second part is as open as it will probably still seem given this is a 15 year old tea version.
Second infusion: flavors are warming a little; interesting. It has moved a little towards a familiar light tobacco range. I've heard people say that this isn't a positive flavor aspect, that they see it as a sign of moderate or lower quality tea, but really I'm not sure. Some versions end up tasting like that, and that flavor range can work better if it's within the context of other range, if that's not all a tea tastes like. Other aspect range also fills in the total experience; that goes without saying.
Probably this will shift one more round before leveling off to closer to where it will be across the rest of the infusion cycle. It's pleasant to me; clean in effect, with enough depth across other aspect range to let it work. Feel thickness could be more pronounced, and different in form, and trailing aftertaste is quite limited, with sweetness very moderate, but it still kind of works.
Third infusion: better; nice to see it coming on like that. Early cured wood vegetal range gave way to tobacco in the second round, and now a warmer and more complex range this time. Those earlier flavors are still there but warmer wood tones, deeper mineral, and a light degree of aged furniture and aromatic spice picks up. It would sound like I'm claiming this is intense in flavor range, for mentioning a few categories, but it's not; instead it's that what is present is subdued but complex. I'll place feel and the rest more next round.
Fourth infusion: this is still subtle in flavor intensity, but what is present is nice. Even a year ago I would have interpreted that profile more as a flaw than I'm seeing it now. It's one way that sheng can age, which people might fairly see as limited, or it could be a more neutral character aspect, that it lacks intensity in a particular range. Feel is reasonable; it's not that thin, just not quite up to average either. Reasonably aged sheng does soften, but varying types of thickness can remain, most of which this doesn't cover. "Pushing" the tea would ramp up some of all of those effects, but it would still be subtle aspects (flavor, feel, and aftertaste) dialed up; it would only go so far. Aftertaste is a gap; it doesn't really carry over much after you drink it.
All the same I like it. It's clean in character, and what is expressed is positive. I just retried another aged sheng version from Chawang Shop a few days ago that might help place that, this one, a 2008 Yong Pin Hao Yiwu Zhen Shan sheng brick. I was having trouble moving past a lack of flavor intensity in the first review, saying "this doesn't taste like much." The sales page description includes: "Brewed tea have deep yellow color and sweetly floral aroma. Mellow, sweet and pleasant round in mouth."
Now I get the appeal more, of this general range. That Yiwu version feels fuller than this tea; it has a good bit more thickness, or roundness, put another way. But in both cases you have to be able to appreciate subtle flavor as defining the character. Maybe slightly more aftertaste carried over for that, in spite of flavor being so subtle.
This is probably a good time to mention that I was surely missing some of the same range in what I could appreciate back when trying Yiwu Mountain Pu'er teas, a vendor that sells sets with teas of different ages for comparison. It may be a generality that sweet, mild, floral range Yiwu teas often fade to losing intensity across flavor over time, versus teas that start out on the harsh side never quite reaching a low level of flavor intensity, but becoming more pleasant.
I was brewing this for between 10 and 15 seconds, probably close to the second, a bit long for how I brew some sheng versions, but still moderate. I'll stretch that a little out past 20 seconds and see how that changes things.
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a little green for 15 year old sheng, but relatively drier storage works out like that |
Fifth infusion: stretching out intensity added a little dryness to the feel. It adds some structure, but pulls the effect in that direction. Again flavor intensity is still moderate, but the range it spans is pleasant. Darker mineral tone increased in proportion, which can happen related to transition across infusions or from shifting infusion strength (or both, which goes without saying). It's a bit like struck-match, without the sulfur range. This would be that much better if it ramped up just a little dried fruit (Chinese date) or extended a little more into aromatic spice range. As it is the flavor range is simple, it just covers a bit of scope.
I'll try a faster infusion, back to 15 seconds, to separate transition versus differing intensity input, and then close out taking notes.
Sixth infusion: the overall balance is as positive as it's been, or maybe slightly better, a good sign. It's a shame I missed trying this before I re-ordered Chawang Shop teas at the end of last year; even if this wasn't down in that crazy low pricing range for an aged tea for moderate cost this is pretty good. At a guess intensity would probably keep leveling off as it ages further, to some extent, but character is pleasant and positive.
The tea stayed pleasant for a good number of additional rounds.
Conclusions
This is probably better than everyday teas people at different levels of appreciation and exposure are drinking (per my preference), just not enthusiasts who have "graduated" to spending $1-2 / gram on aged sheng as an everyday experience; for them it might seem undrinkable. The other option is for people to have started exploring sheng a decade ago or longer, with plenty of cakes set aside at earlier moderate new-release pricing.
It seems conceivable that this could sweeten and shift to a warmer flavor range over the next half dozen years. Or also possible that it would only fade. Either way it wouldn't break new ground for being the most exceptional aged sheng even people with moderate exposure have tried (like myself), but it might still come across as quite pleasant and enjoyable. Just a bit subtle.
It seems possible this is coming out of a quiet phase often described as teen years, related to aging transitions. Ordinarily that might occur a bit earlier on, and be at a different place by this time, but that can relate to storage conditions.
On the "dry storage" subject, it does cause sheng to ferment slower, retaining some of the younger character across a long time-frame. All the same that doesn't necessarily mean "wetter is better," or that traditional Hong Kong or Taiwan stored teas are the only range worth experiencing. That last part is subjective, tied to personal preference, but online convention and hearsay seems to tip a bit too far in one direction, to frame it as an absolute.
I've had limited exposure to a broad range of older, varied storage condition, higher quality sheng examples, so it'll be awhile before I can place all the factors in relation to each other. But I can say that problems can come up related to storage conditions within different climate ranges, and teas that haven't fermented as fast or as much as they might in wetter conditions can still seem positive and interesting. For many value is also a main concern, and throwing money at the problem isn't an option, seeking out best regarded versions stored under relatively optimum conditions.
It might seem like I'm struggling to make an argument for people to drink cheap tea, or poorly stored tea, but the intention goes beyond just communicating that. Exploring a range seems to make sense to me, versus going with what one hears they are supposed to like, or trying a dozen teas and fixing preferences in a limited direction. Sheng versions I'm holding onto do seem to be aging a good bit faster where I live, in Bangkok, where it's definitely not dry, with results a little different than for Kunming storage, maybe even "better." I've also tried teas stored here that pick up a distinct musty edge, that takes a few months to settle out; local climate seems to only be one relevant factor among many. To me it's interesting trying teas from different source areas, across a range of quality levels and character types, that have been stored differently.
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at a school fun-day outing at Kalani's old school |
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playing with her brother, who was representing Penn State |
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like those balls hamsters run around in |
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up to the top on the third try |
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