On a recent visit to my favorite local Bangkok Chinatown shop, Jip Eu, the owner, Kittichai, gave me a Xiaguan tuocha. They'll often pass on a sample of something interesting, but I don't remember them giving me that much tea like that (100 grams; not so much, but a significant amount). It's very kind of him. I suppose it's partly in thanks for me writing here about them, and steering some business there, which to me is about helping others find decent tea, not really about benefitting me. I typically mention other shop options as well, as I did in the last post, discussing how Sen Xing Fa--another nearby shop--is set up better for doing extensive tasting.
I probably found what it was, more or less by chance. A King Tea Mall listing looks exactly the same, down to all the numbers listed, and Chinese text (as far as I can tell). Of course there is also Google Lens translation, but that helps less than one might imagine. It's probably this:
2006 XiaGuan "FT-Te Ji" (Special Grade) Tuo 100g Puerh Sheng Cha Raw Tea
Listing for $26 for a 100 gram tuocha there. That probably is market rate now. You can buy the newer ones, that need another 15 or 20 years to age more, for more like $10, but someone holding onto it to cover that part costs you, with varying storage conditions inputs giving different results. Then it's probably also an above average quality version, outlined in detail by that King Tea Mall listing:
Description:
The 2006 XiaGuan "FT-Te Ji" Tuo is part of the esteemed "Te Ji" series, denoting "Special Grade" in Chinese. This line of Puerh Sheng Cha, initiated in 2003 by XiaGuan, aimed to exceed the quality standards set by the JiaJi tuo cha. Renowned as "TeTuo" ("特沱"), an abbreviation of "TeJiTuoCha," this series underwent an official renaming in 2016, underscoring its prestige.
Distinctive Features:
The wrapper bears the trademark design of a "Pine tree and Crane," emblematic of the series' heritage and superior quality.
Variants of the "Te Ji" series include the general version and a higher-quality variant distinguished by a red-eyed crane.
The "FT" (Fly to Taiwan) version employs slightly superior tea materials, featuring more young buds and tiny leaves.
I had thought FT stood for "for Taiwan," but that doesn't change much either way. This shop, Jip Eu, doesn't carry this tea anymore, per my understanding since they've sold out of a large batch they would've bought back in 2006 or so. I do keep buying another 2012 Xiaguan tuo version there, which they still sell.
Review:
first infusion (after a rinse): flavors are nice, subdued, clean (as this range of tea goes), interesting and pleasant. The distinctive flavor that reminds me of aged horse saddle leather is there. Harsh edges have largely aged off it, in those 19 years. That would have to do with the hot and humid storage here; that wouldn't be true of the exact same tea stored in a cool and dry area.
second infusion: feel is thick, oily, and viscous. I really do like that odd earthy range of flavors, especially in a version that's closer to ready to drink than I usually try. I re-tried a 2012 Xiaguan tuo (from Jip Eu, the one that they still do sell) over the past week and it's close enough to enjoy, but not this far along for fermentation transition. Beyond the leather--or at least what I interpret as leather--there is good depth of other range, mineral content, towards medicinal dried herb, and a little towards dried longan or tamarind fruit, it's just not overly fruity. Feel is pleasant and the overall effect isn't harsh at all.
third infusion: it reminds me a little of smoke, brewed a little stronger. Often if a tea has contacted smoke that input will come out strongest right away, and keep fading. This might well just be a natural related flavor, which does kind of match with the rest. I'm not sure if this is a positive transition or not, related to my own experience just now. I'm open to teas tasting like smoke, natural (inherent) or added, and it does match the other barnyard scope, but it's not necessarily better for including it. Or worse either, as I see it, so just different.
fourth infusion: quite balanced at this level; everything I've mentioned is still going on. It's got decent intensity, of course. I'm brewing this using a moderate infusion proportion too, for me, maybe only 7 grams in 100 ml gaiwan, versus the more typical 9 or so (typical for me). Mind you not everyone would like this; to others it could be harsh, or off-putting. The 2012 was more so, with so much of the earlier rough edges standing out. I had my daughter Kalani taste it, and to her it was awful. She asked why anyone would drink that. I liked that version too (yesterday, I guess it was), but it wasn't quite ready, maybe by those extra 6 years.
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her, posing |
It's hot as Hades here, trying this tea in Bangkok at noon. I should at least turn a fan on, but I've not even done that. It was so nice living in Honolulu where the temperature is between 75 and 80 F all the time, maybe 25 to 28 C, and now it's back to 30s / around 90 F all the time.
fifth infusion: the complex balance of flavors keeps shifting, the proportion, but the range isn't changing. Smoke isn't gone but it was only a main flavor input for that one infusion. Sweetness is nice for this; to me that one input helps tie all the rest together. Feel is nice, and intensity, and aftertaste expression. Layers of leather, barnyard flavor, medicinal herb, and some dried fruit really complement each other. But only for people who like aged Xiaguan, of course, and it's hard to imagine someone preferring newish, untransitioned versions.
sixth infusion: not different. I might even drop taking notes here. There probably will be some degree of interesting change as this wraps up, around infusions 10 to 12, or it could be pleasant and interesting up to 15 rounds or so. Intensity is high enough for this that I'm using short infusion timing, 5 seconds or so, which will enable it lasting longer than if I was soaking it for longer.
Seeing a Tiger Balm pack of balm on the table reminds me how someone might interpret this as including quite a bit of camphor. I suppose that it does, as people use that term. I've never been completely comfortable isolating that as a description very often, but it's there. Food range makes more sense to me; you get chances to eat those things, and it associates more naturally as a flavor. Something like smoke is familiar enough from foods that this connection often makes sense too.
Then I just can't remember specific floral ranges or incense spices. Maybe this tastes a lot like one of them, and I wouldn't know. Interpreting it as including incense spice would make sense too, but it would be helpful to be familiar with a half dozen of those, to break it down to that next level.
seventh infusion, comparison tasting with a Dayi (8582): I was re-trying a standard Dayi cake with breakfast, not to see if it was ready, because it wouldn't be, from 2016 (9 years old). It's pretty far along for spending that time here in Bangkok, but it needs at least another half dozen years, and it will level off closer to where it will be in another 10. I keep trying the teas to see the transition patterns, because they're interesting. It's not even about education or learning, it's just interesting.
The Dayi tea is harsher; it's not there yet for age transition. It includes a green wood component, and a harsher form of astringency. This is much better than it was two years ago when I first bought it (reviewed here then), becoming more pleasant. Positive warm-toned flavors are developing.
It's interesting how that "barnyard" range stands out in the Xiaguan. It's not just that it's further along for transition, and it is that; the basic flavor range is also different. There's a nice sappy effect that goes along with that, crossing over from flavor to feel. I'm not sure what I expected this comparison to highlight. The flavor and other character differences are interesting, but not informative. It was sitting on the table beside me doing the tasting, so it seemed as well to try both and mention it.
This stopped short of guessing where the Xiaguan stands in terms of being relatively fully age transitioned, fermented, or how it might change over some of the following years. 19 years of transition in Bangkok storage is a lot, but it will keep changing over the next decade, probably mostly for the better. It's definitely not going to run out of intensity. Most of the green wood type flavor range and harsh-edged feel is gone, so it's fine to drink now, but it might still be a good bit better later. I'd have to try it in another half dozen years to know. I suppose that I probably will mostly set it aside to see.
Benchmark reference: Liquid Proust now carries a similar Xiaguan tuo
I remembered seeing a mention of a Liquid Proust (vendor) Xiaguan tuo of about the same age, and that will help set what a market rate is for this. Here is his listing:
2006 Xiaguan FT7653-6 100g, THB 1,016.95 (around $30)
Out of all the storage I've had there was always the Yang Qing Hao and Wistaria house notes that couldn't be rivaled. Then comes along this 2006 Xiaguan random tuo that has been pushed in warm and humid conditions in Taiwan. The depth of the tea with the smoke notes that are matured into something new with the puerh... it's a treat that I will miss dearly. This might be one of those extremely lucky finds.
Per the comments it's the aging conditions that give the tea great value, and the one Hong Kong shop that James of Tea DB keeps mentioning, Yee On tea, carries something similar for about double that cost, so $60.
So market value is somewhere between $30 and 60? That's a good bit for a Xiaguan tuo. Next one would need to compare storage inputs to determine if the one I've just reviewed is really as good, or better, and personal preference would enter in so much in making that determination that it really wouldn't work, as an objective finding.
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Thai minor deity tea cups, in the MBK mall; something different |
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