2008 Yuan Man Chen Yuan Hao (Yiwu sheng)

 

This is the last sample from a Liquid Proust tasting set.  Ordinarily I'd try this completely blind, based only on hearing a year and some foreign language terms, or name I don't recognize, but I'll mix this up and cite a real description first:

2020 Sheng Olympiad

~20g 2008 Yuan Man from Chen Yuan Hao: Taiwanese producers are always on my to watch list as I favor what they do. This is one of the earlier productions that Chen Yuan Hao had in which was priced fairly well. This is a Yiwu production that has aged well and provides a nice bold cup of semi-aged sheng.

Some of what I've said in the past could be interpreted as a claim that in general semi-aged sheng doesn't tend to work out.  12 year old sheng can vary a lot in fermentation level, depending on what storage conditions it experienced, so that could be pretty far along, or else not.

Different sheng versions can be positive in different ways at different fermentation levels, which is affected a lot by storage conditions, along with how the tea changes.  The specific age matters less than how the effects come together, especially in relation to the starting point.  It might be rare that sheng versions are at an optimum at 12 years old, but I don't see any benefit in trying to add a proportion or frequency scale to such a framing, unless the whole point is comparing and contrasting broad patterns, and then maybe.

I've been re-trying a 2012 Xiaguan tuocha recently, definitely not at the fermentation level most people would describe as optimum, even without trying the specific version.  It's nice though.  It's not even close to completely fermented, but the character works at that level.  I expect I would like it more in another 5 years, but then for having a half dozen of them running through one now and again checking on transition seems fine.  Or even drinking straight through a whole tuocha could make sense; why not?  It would be a shame to do that without owning at least one more and drinking it when it's more ready, but if someone finds it enjoyable that's up to them.

I don't know what this tea is going to be like, or how it started out, and I'm not so familiar with the broad Yiwu range that I can narrow expectations to a limited set.  All the same we tend to expect things to be similar to what we have already encountered, and experiencing a 2008 Yiwu brick I bought last year has been pleasant.  At first it seemed way too subtle to me, as if too much flavor and other character had dropped out.  Some of that could've related to re-adjustment after shipping in early tasting; in some cases the few weeks of rest people recommend doesn't allow for a full transition, settling.  I interpret that more related to expectations, being able to appreciate a tea that is more subtle across some range, with limited flavor intensity, but good depth and interesting feel-character.  I've drank it a number of time since and like it.

This might be nothing like that; all that was more about framing a related experience than leading towards an expectation.  A side-by-side comparison might have been interesting but I feel too lazy to go through all that.

Review:

First infusion:  interesting!  I keep saying that, but lots of teas really are interesting in different ways to me.  This tastes like aged wood or hay to me, like an old barn smells.  That probably sounds negative but I mean in a very positive sense; the effect is very clean.  Often the transitions for sheng versions over the first few rounds are positive, improvement in different ways, so this being interesting, distinctive, and generally positive is a good sign.  There's enough other flavor range and depth of feel that it's clear this has a lot to offer, and clean nature and sweetness is positive. 

I don't know how this was stored but the balance works, and I feel inclined to guess, even though that's meaningless, since I have no idea what I'm talking about.  I'm just not there for guessing back to starting point and filling in storage input.  All the same this has no significant bitterness or astringency at all, so I'm guessing it started out fairly approachable.  Wetter storage can lead to heavier flavors developing, but that's not how I'm interpreting what I'm tasting here.  It's like bright version of cured hay, or a dry scent in an old barn, not the damp, heavy smell both could end up with under wetter conditions (I mean for the barn and the hay; I'm still on the analogy).  

Really dry storage can let a fresh edge persist for a very long time, preserving the original character of the tea, but this must have transitioned, because younger teas don't taste like this, even though the smooth character could be achieved faster than 12 years.  I'm guessing an approachable and pleasant young version experienced moderate storage conditions, especially related to humidity level, that this wasn't stored wet or dry.

Second infusion:  I really like it.  The heavier wood and cured hay flavors, which were moderate, have cleared off, revealing a balanced input of those, a light version, and more depth of other range.  It's complex; listing out more flavors isn't going to frame how intense flavors aren't the story of this tea, but it covers range and has depth, related to flavor and feel.  Aftertaste effect is moderate, but even the subtle flavor experience does trail over.  

A flavor-list approach seems pretty far off what would describe the experience best but I'll add that anyway:  the wood and hay are very moderate already, reduced to a supporting background effect, setting up context.  A bit of cured grain picks up, not exactly malt, but a flavor not unrelated to a very mild version of malt.  The depth comes across as chamomile can, flavor range that's not easy to pin down.  Then sweetness trails more into chrysanthemum, floral, but mild and subtle.

Third infusion:  more of the same.  It's a little anticlimactic not describing any transitions but it hasn't changed much.  If it stays a lot like this over another half dozen to ten rounds it will make for a pleasant experience, it just won't be as interesting as it could be on a couple of levels.  

Really this is exactly what threw me off related to that other 2008 sheng version that I mentioned; what I did experience was quite pleasant, but it seemed to lack intensity and some experience dimensions, to me.  Then drinking it a few more times I came to appreciate what was present more.  

Not every version needs intensity as an attribute, or complexity.  Giving up both narrows the form appreciation might take, but there can be a different kind of appeal in a narrower but pleasant set of aspects.  At least there is nothing negative about it, so anyone could appreciate this, but I suppose a wine or coffee drinker might see this as way too close to drinking water.  There is a depth to the feel and flavor profile though, you just need to tune in to appreciate it.

Fourth infusion:  I suspect this won't transition all that much.  That said, a really cool, sweet root spice picks up, like that found in root beer, but a natural version (so sassafras).  Maybe a bit of drift within a narrow general character scope could still be really interesting.  I could definitely drink another ten infusions of this just like this round and enjoy it though.

Fifth infusion:  the root spice is joined by a touch more autumn leaf range, and mineral is picking up in this.  Part of that range is close to a distinctive part of aged shou mei, both the warm, underlying mineral and the autumn leaf tone that leans a little towards cinnamon spice or dried fruit, along the line of prune or date.  Maybe I got that last guess wrong, about this not transitioning much.  These last two rounds have shifted a good bit.

Sixth infusion:  not so different than last round, but then it had been in a cool range.  The thickness of this tea is nice, towards seeming creamy.  That's part of what I had learned to appreciate in that other Yiwu version of the same age I had mentioned (a year younger when I was writing about it, but also 2008).  It's not fair to say this tea lacks flavor complexity, but that occurs over a narrow range.

The tea was pleasant, and pretty close to the version I was checking on it potentially being similar to.  This might have been slightly more complex in flavor range, which did help the overall effect.

Seventh infusion:  I let the next round run a bit over 20 seconds and that helped, bumping timing.  A touch more body develops, and a hint of feel structure, offset by the flavors seeming more woody when more concentrated.  The wood tone isn't negative, towards cedar, but I suppose I liked the root spice and autumn leaf combination a couple of rounds back better.

Even if this does transition a good bit more I think I'll drop the note taking.  This burns up time, mine and readers', and the more interesting parts of this story have already been told.  

Conclusions:

Given that this is about as mild as an aged shou mei at this point I'm curious about what sort of aging potential it would have.  The flavors could warm some from here but there is absolutely no bitterness or astringency present that would represent aging potential, experienced aspects that I would associate with compounds that might convert to other types of compounds.  It could become even smoother but it's kind of leveled off as very smooth already.

That "middle-aged sheng not being positive" theme relates to a couple of types of starting points not working out for the best around 8-10 years along (this is 12, a slightly different case).  For as much transition as this had potential to undergo it might've went through it.  Again just guessing, but that probably related to this being a mild, flavorful, approachable tea to begin with, not one exhibiting a lot of bitterness and astringency, or intense flavor range like heavy mineral tones, or natural smokiness.

Often for sheng versions around 12 years old you are either waiting for them to fully transition through fermentation or else noticing that they'll probably just fade from here on out, and at a guess the second is where this is.  It has enough intensity and complexity I think it would still be pleasant in another decade but I don't expect there is any compelling reason to wait to drink it then instead.  It's good now, and it can't soften in tone much, so the flavors might just warm and deepen a bit, or I suppose it could fade in intensity.

I may not have done justice to how exceptional this set would be for introducing someone to novel types of sheng pu'er, since I've been comparing these to what else I've experienced all along (except the sheng and shu mix; that was new to me).  For someone close to the start of the path this would open a door to a new world.  For me it was great for adding more exposure to interesting, great quality, diverse sheng versions, with many similar to some I've tried before.  

I really appreciate that Andrew does this to promote tea exploration, the evangelism theme.  It's not so much to provide profit, since I really do believe that he subsidizes these types of sets versus earns from them, so close to a group buy theme.  The world of sheng can drift into "my tea is better than your tea" implications too often, sometimes even when people are just genuinely and enthusiastically sharing what they are going through, not trying to one-up anyone.  These sets and this context isn't related to any part of that, it's just for people to gain exposure to teas.  And it worked, in my case; it has been fascinating experiencing them.

If you wanted to see more of what Andrew is exploring following him on Instagram would work for that.