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Nan Nuo right, in all photos |
I'm reviewing two more sheng pu'er from Tea Tracks, passed on by Jan, a friend who owns that (many thanks!).
One part that looked interesting about these was how aging would factor in, since they're from 2016 and 2018, definitely not fully aged teas. It should be interesting seeing how far along they are, and how it affects the experience at this point. I broke normal form and checked the product descriptions before trying them, in order to avoid trying two teas together that make no sense as a tasting session set, which comes up sometimes. They are these:
Zhang Jia Wan 2018 - 张家湾 ($127 USD, 114 Euro for 200 gram cake, also sold by sample)
Zhang Jia Wan is a village in the Yiwu mountains close to the border to Laos. This tea is made of ancient tree material (gu shu, 古树). This is an exciting tea! While it has the fruity characteristics of other Yiwu teas, it can show a bit bolder side after a few steeps. It starts off mildly and flowery and turns into a bitter sweet fruity brew.
After a few years of natural storage in Jinghong, in the southern part of Yunnan, it has hardly any astringency and produces a light, yet long lasting aftertaste.
Nan Nuo Shan 南糯山 2016 ($47 USD, 42.50 Euro for 200 gram cake, also sold per 25 grams)
This tea is from younger bushes in Nan Nuo Shan. Seven years of controlled storage in Jinghong has smoothed out the edges of it and it makes now a very enjoyable brew.
It has a sweet and flowery aroma and a fruity taste. In the long aftertaste are hints of citrus. This tea has a nice uplifting energy.
Taste: Fruity with a long aftertaste
Trees: Bushes （小木 xiao mu)
Origin: Nan Nuo Shan, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China
Harvest: Early spring 2016
The description of the Nan Nuo version character is just what I like in sheng; this may not be a fair test for this tea, in comparison with that one. To some extent I can break down other quality level oriented factors, beyond my own preference, but it's easiest to describe what I like or don't like about the teas.
Review:
Zhan Jia Wan: it's ok initially, but it's also seemingly in an odd place for transition. Bitterness and astringency is gone, to the extent these had been present, but sweeter floral tones don't stand out either. It's headed into a flatter sort of character, I suppose closest to wood flavor range, but that's really not it. Mineral base is still nice, and there is some complexity, and decent balance, but early on overall range is a bit limited.
Six years along for a tea is well beyond the initial partial aging cycle, where teas vary in character some over the first 2 or 3 years, or maybe 4, but still express an altered early form. People describe what they see as "awkward teen years" for sheng aging differently, and that really depends on the tea, and on the storage conditions. If you want a 6 year old tea to seem younger dry storage input could be better. If you want it to resemble a decade worth of age (under cooler and drier storage conditions) then warmer and more humid storage would be better. I think in the long run a gradual middle ground is best, as in Taiwan and Hong Kong, but then you often need to allow for 15 to 20 years for a relatively full transition cycle to occur, and probably longer in some cases.
Yunnan storage can be fine, as this mentions. I suppose conditions right where it was would factor in, since elevation could change temperature, micro-climate can affect humidity, and so on.
Nan Nuo: warm mineral stands out in this too. It's stronger; I may well have used slightly more, but it also seems to just be brewing a little faster. I have really liked some versions of Nan Nuo origin sheng related to those being very fruity, but I'm not noticing it so much in this. 8 years is a long time for transition; even more of the earlier character range would have shifted, from lighter and sweeter floral and fruity range on to heavier earthier range, maybe not earthy in the sense of peat, but on to more spice tones and such.
I have some teas that are around that middle range, 6 to 8 years old, that I try from time to time, but it's not the most familiar range to me. I lose track of what versions were like earlier, or in some cases what teas even are, if labeling is extra plain. This leads back to the theme of making it hard to judge these against my personal preference; I drink medium aged sheng, but I usually like brand new or versions at or under 4 years old better. That's for more drinkable teas, of course; I'll drink Xiaguan tuo tea when it's 6 to 10 years old to have an atypical experience, sometimes, but that's a bit harsh.
Zhang Jia Wan #2: depth and complexity really pick up; this may not be fully hitting its stride until next round. It's still in that subtle, somewhat narrow range though. To me this is just how Yiwu often works out; it transitions to taste like cured hay, or mild floral range, like chrysanthemum, with good depth, and pleasant fullness and supporting mineral base, but also limited flavor range. Then there's always the concern that maybe I've not tried the best of the best Yiwu versions yet, and that's almost certainly the case, but I've tried a lot of Yiwu presented as quite good quality versions, many of them aged to different degrees.
Sweetness is pretty good for it falling into this character type, of course nothing like in younger versions. Feel is rich enough. Aftertaste experience is significant, but with flavor range so limited there isn't that much to carry over. I think pretty good medium aged Yiwu can often be like this; it can age to lose a lot of intensity. It comes up in discussion that some of that can come back, that once a tea switches over to a different character later, after more aging transition, the effect can be higher intensity across a completely different aspect range.
Nan Nuo: complexity and intensity pick up a little in this version in this round too (I guess that I said depth in the last case; it's similar, if still a little different). I really want to notice fruit in this, but at most it leans a little towards dried fruit range, like apricot. A tone that's in between warm mineral, spice, and a medicinal character is stronger; it hints towards how older, more transitioned teas work out.
This isn't rough-edged at all, although it will smooth out some more and gain more depth over the following years. Body is more structured than in the other version; it comes across more as a dryness. This would probably be a good tea version to get to drink a little of now, to experience how it is, but to hold onto for 2 or 3 more years. It's really close to having a more fully aged character; it won't take long. For being 8 years old that seems to relate to transitioning relatively fast.
Quality level seems pretty good for both of these; it's more about where the character ends up right now in an aging transition cycle, related to how much someone would like either. For a lot of sheng drinkers it's also about how they might like either in the future. I probably would have liked this version more 4 years ago, as it had been at the end of its youth. It's probably shifting towards having a new form of appeal, and it's ok now, but it also seems a bit in-between, hence that teen analogy.
My son is 15, soon to be 16, right in the middle, and teenagers can get an unfairly bad image. Sure he's a bit silly, and can be annoying, but it's a fascinating life phase, pulling it all together as he is now. He's still a sweet boy. Maybe he is awkward in some ways that are similar to this tea, still sorting out what he's going to be, and what he is right now.
ZJW #3: there is a depth to this tea that I've not done justice to describing. Adding a lot of flavor and feel related adjectives may or may clarify that. So far I've said that the flavor resembles cured hay, and mild floral range, probably understating a mineral input.
I clicked through to another blog review cited on the vendor listing (might as well, since I've parted with the standard limited input approach), and that cited "mossy" as a main flavor input. That works. I could imagine others interpreting it as tied to forest floor, or even some variation of autumn leaf, but to me mossy works better. It's not vegetal, but to me moss stands in between the vegetal, earthy, and spice ranges, drawing on mineral input as well.
Nan Nuo: actual bitterness enters in, along with a varied form of vegetal input, more towards a woody tone. Feel is much more structured and drier. That's probably better than it sounds, but I'm still thinking that this has the potential to bridge to an interesting and pleasant aged character relatively quickly, within another 3 or 4 years. I had said 2 to 3 last round; intensity and structure picked up a little.
I suppose there would be sheng drinkers who have learned to really appreciate medium-aged tea versions, and then they would have their own individual preferences, and either of these could be regarded as very pleasant, right now. It could be that only one would be judged as such, and the other not, and that different people would land on opposite conclusions, liking a different one better.
They're fine, to me, but I've adjusted to younger sheng preference, to appreciating high sweetness and floral and fruit flavor level, at the cost of that adjoining more intense bitterness and astringency. These probably never were quite bitter teas, in the sense standard Lincang or Menghai versions more often are. That's just a guess, of course, and I'm not the best person for that sort of speculation.
ZJW #4: I drank a good bit of water to clear my palate after that last round, not noticing that intensity of bitterness and residual sweetness had built up so much. I took a break then, out checking on the garden.
This reminded me of considering why I like sheng pu'er more than other tea types, in part related to drinking really good Dan Cong recently, a review I'll finish and post here first. That tea was just as complex in flavor as almost any sheng, more so than these, with great intensity and depth, and quite good refined character. To some extent overall intensity isn't the same across pretty much all oolongs though, the way that sheng builds up to be such an intense experience, even beyond the frequent intense flavors and mouthfeel.
For that sampling experience, and maybe for drinking 50 to 100 grams of a tea, that Dan Cong was just as interesting and pleasant as any kind would be, in relation to my preference, but later on I would crave the other levels of intensity. That happens with black tea too, but for whatever reason I keep returning to black tea, as a favorite simpler form to experience in between whatever else I get to.
Back to this tea, mineral depth seems all the stronger. That mossy description fits even better for that. Still, sweetness and other complexity is fine, it's just subtle, more of the cured hay or mild floral flavor range. It's odd how one might associate that with having more of an aged character than the other tea, which is two years older. It definitely shifted to an age-progressed form a little faster, maybe related to being less challenging in character earlier on.
Nan Nuo: mineral tone is stronger in this too, but in a completely different form. It's more along the line of rusted metal. It works better than it sounds, because there is other range adding depth to that primary experience input. Aftertaste experience is pretty decent for both, but then if someone doesn't love the flavor range while drinking the tea they might not love what carries over either.
Again I'm guessing that this has good potential as a more aged version, in not so long, within a few more years. It might be better yet in 5 or 6, more refined, not the most intense or complex form of aged sheng, but in a range that works. All depending on preference, of course.
Higher quality, more boutique style oriented teas tend to be more approachable and to land in a much different place than "factory teas" after significant aging. I just re-tried a CNNP / Zhongcha sheng pu'er version from way back when that's familiar to many, a 2007 CNNP 8891 cake, one Yunnan Sourcing must have sold a shipping container worth of by now, that I first reviewed in April of 2019. It's finally ready to drink, 17 years after it was made, after spending 5 years in Bangkok and at least most of a dozen in Guangdong, in relatively humid conditions, just not like here.
ZJW #5: a more distinct floral note emerges; this is interesting. It's pretty much in the range one might expect, light and sweet, but with some intensity and complexity. I wonder why that stands out a little more now? Natural variation in what extracts across rounds, I guess. But in general that sort of range would be more pronounced earlier, shifting to warmer and deeper scope later on. Sometimes early astringency or harsher edges can wear off, but that usually happens fast, in the first few rounds, and this wasn't really harsh at all.
Nan Nuo: a medicinal spice range tone picks up in this version, starting to shift a little towards aromatic bark spice, or incense spices. This is more or less what I was guessing this might show in another 2 or 3 years of aging, but I just needed to wait a couple of rounds to get to an early version of it. It's interesting how that relates to a different mouthfeel and aftertaste range, how this coats your tongue and mouth in an interesting way. I wonder when the product review was written? If those notes are from this year I suppose that I just disagree with that interpretation, but if it ties to an earlier and less age-transitioned form it tells a different story, of a tea going through some changes.
Interpreting the aftertaste as including citrus makes more sense now, in reference to that product listing description. For this changing as much as it has over the last three rounds it might shift a bit more yet. The other version goes through a more limited and subtle cycle of changes across rounds. Tied directly to experienced aspects the drier feel range and heavier mineral input in this version (warmer in tone; maybe less different in terms of intensity) there is aspect range and limitations to like or dislike in both, again depending on preference.
I would expect the Yiwu / Zhang Jia Wan to just keep fading from here, retaining good depth for an extended time, but already being limited in flavor intensity. This Nan Nuo version should shift in character; to me that edgier dryness of feel and heavier mineral could represent potential.
Conclusions:
These probably have one more shift in character to express, in this infusion sequence, but ten cups of them is a lot. I discount, or even reject, valuing drug-like feel experience in teas, cha qi, or however one puts that, but to some extent I probably value that too, along with other intensity. But it can also be too much, and I can never write notes on trying a full cycle of two sheng versions at the same time.
Quality seems good for these teas, and character seems in order for what they are. Age transition might be a little ahead of normal schedule, related to some teas being stored drier, but in general that's probably a good thing. They're not rushed for age transition as occurs here in Bangkok, where intense heat and humidity push that pace, probably a little beyond what is optimum. The story of these teas seems to be about where they'll be in another 2 or 3 years, although it's quite possible that someone might love them at this stage.
Adding a little more about the pros and cons of partly aged teas seems in order. One part I've stated; someone could prefer tea aspects at that stage, but others would not. Then it's an alternative to buying fully aged tea versions, which could be problematic related to both available selection and price. I've tried more older teas that weren't great than that were quite positive, and buying really good versions from a reliable curator vendor would come at a premium cost.
Gambling on inexpensive medium-level aged versions, not presented as exceptional quality, has also not landed on great results, typically. That one CNNP 8891 cake was pretty good, when I last tried it, but it probably wouldn't be ready yet if held in dry storage. I really meant buying inexpensive cakes; that CNNP would be more mid-range. These teas are of better quality, and a different style range; it's a different kind of case. I personally don't love aged Yiwu enough to justify the cost of one, but others do, and the Nan Nuo version shows a lot of promise. If it does age-transition to become exceptional, over however many years that takes, it's value would be significantly higher, and it may not take that many more years.
These are part of a Tea Tracks pu'er sampler set; I guess trying different versions to see what they think would make sense, versus buying one of these based on someone else's impression. There are black teas in that set, which I think Jan passed on samples of; those should be interesting too.
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