Andrew Richardson of Liquid Proust on tea culture

 

random captures never have everyone looking at the screen

That circle of friends and I met with Andrew Richardson, of Liquid Proust, not so much about any one theme, but this summary will narrow it down.  Huyen didn't join, busy related to observing Easter, and Suzana, Ralph, and Mr. Mopar (John) did, who I wrote about meeting with recently.  I was joining from a car and while out visiting local cousins, not really ideal, but beyond being a bit distracting it works.  We talked about lots of themes; the idea here is to pass on a bit of the perspective, not to summarize it, or even touch on most topics.

Discussion of how tea works out to connect people socially was interesting, about how individuals generally relate to the experience, and how that builds up and is supported by online social networking forms.  To be clear this is my own interpretation of a shared group discussion, not all what Andrew was saying.  I'll attribute a few statements to him but that's not meant to imply that the rest is also what he said.  The last part is all my commentary on some of the rest, not about the discussion.

Andrew mentioned how early on he connected with people through Steepster.  I was "around" for that, a bit active on Tea Chat and Steepster back then, on the order of 8 years or so ago, when this blog started.  Steepster came and went pretty fast; it has been a shell of its former self for a long time, and was new back then.  It was an interesting and promising format, combining the conventional discussion topic theme with a participant tea review database, so that people could share input and connect in those two different ways.  It made for a decent reference.  Coincidentally I cited Steepster reviews in my last post, checking on how a Tulin / Nan Jian 2010 Wuliangshan sheng pu'er might have changed over time, by checking on reviews there that were half a year, 4 years, and 7 years old there.

that Steepster format and content were both nice (this Nan Jian / Tulin Wuliangshan page here)

One problem with using the reviews as a reference is that you can't easily determine how much exposure any one person has to a range of a type, or how bias or personal preference factors in.  That's overcome by what Andrew was talking about, a group of people who talk regularly sharing input about a lot of teas, so that they could learn how each other describe versions they are also familiar with.  That could work, and I suppose that it did.  There's at least one tea app that tries to replicate and update this form now (I was thinking of My Tea Pal, described here).

Moving ahead to now Andrew has set up his own Discord server (group), around his Liquid Proust tea business, but also just for social connection and discussion.  His business page is here, and Etsy outlet here, both interesting for including unusual product range.  He mentioned how in-person social connection is a local theme he values, how others who are very active where he lives, in Ohio, take up and sustain that, and use his home and sourcing as a central base.  Cool!  I'm originally from not far from where he lives, in North-Western PA, a bit below Erie, and I get it how tea is not a popular local theme back there, how it would help to build that up.  Pittsburgh seems to have been developing that, but there the gains in local awareness and popularity still seem limited (a tangent I won't start on here).

Andrew and John (Mr. Mopar) discussed lots of individual teas and themes both have been experiencing over the years.  Some examples:  general storage and aging concerns, sourcing issues, how main "factory" teas are changing (especially Xiaguan), and how distribution of those teas changes.  One interesting theme was how mixed age material cakes seem to have worked out in the past (not well when new, but interesting later on), or shu and sheng blends, and the potential for that to be expanded upon.  I won't add too much about other vendors and sourcing here, which we discussed quite a bit, since all that gets a bit complicated, and a lot of it related to speculation about where things are headed.  Interesting stuff, especially tied to two perspectives informed by more sourcing exposure than typical tea drinkers ever experience, but most of that was scattered in range, and not suitable for broad summary.

Speculation about where tea industry sales forms are headed was an especially interesting subject.  An example:  it's a given that more and more small vendor exposure ramps up from producers or smaller sellers in China.  And there's no reason why new larger vendor forms couldn't change, eg. Dayi / Taetea couldn't change their approach, as they already did by blocking a lot of Taobao outlet resale, presumably to limit sales of counterfeit versions.  

Andrew covered in a bit more detail how overhead costs add difficulty even for a relatively small vendor, how just adding health insurance as an employee benefit for very few staff escalates overhead cost and required sales volume.  It's easy to overlook how all that would play out, since a lot of US based small vendors sell tea more or less as a sideline.  Factors like that account for why there seems to be a gap between very small sideline businesses and those that are more established, based on higher volume themes, without much in the middle.

Andrew mentioned that Steepster supported a lot of tea swaps, trades, and sample sharing, a practice which of course didn't end with the popularity of that platform dropping off.  He described that as an ethics common in tea sub-culture, and it does come up a good bit.  It's also routinely expressed how tea works well as a social drink that connects people, in some ways better than alcohol.  It doesn't drop social inhibitions in the same way but it sets up a more focused and energetic context.  An interview post here with Andrew covered his business direction of providing sheng samples to people, not really as a for-profit initiative, but instead as a way of giving back, or pursuing a direction that's not a direct financial input.  Keeping that up for over 5 years, when that was posted, is a significant accomplishment.

It is curious how so little of that general range of practices and perspective carries over to mainstream tea sales.  Vendors sell samples, of course, and monthly subscription services overlap a little in intended form (and I think Andrew offers something like that), but these develop community and awareness as clearly defined business functions.  Sergey of Moychay has shared how this is an important part of his business theme, that shop events, tastings, and presentations have to help develop these things, to drive tea interest and culture, and to connect people.  A few individual shops serve as bastions of local tea culture in the US but those are the exception.  Local Facebook groups do more, with Discord servers a newer similar input.  I experience a little of all that here in Bangkok, just not much.

Really discussion of specific teas, aging concerns, and vendors accounted for more of the discussion than these culture related issues, but again there were lots of points covered that didn't connect as themes.  It was discussed how storing cakes in leaf wrappers in tongs might change outcome, and how extra air contact could age the outer top and bottom cakes differently.  Andrew and Mr. Mopar have both experimented with different forms of storage related to how much teas contact other types, or are stored together, with interesting input on transfer of characteristics.  None of these issues are completely unfamiliar, if someone has been following tea group discussions for a long time, but it is interesting catching specific input based on informed perspectives.

A tangent and concern about tea culture transitions

One concern that I didn't raise, not really offering a lot of input about most of what we covered, is how tea culture is a positive factor in tea experience, in learning and adding depth, but how there are potential downsides to forms it takes on.  Sub-groups define shared experience and group inclusion very informally, but that tends to extend and become more exclusive over time, as an organic process.  Steepster moderation didn't naturally result in much of a member pruning process, as comes up elsewhere, but groups evolve to narrow scope, or in Steepster's case to just become inactive.  Andrew mentioned how interest changes are probably a main factor, but it seems to me the awareness and exposure curve / process itself could be another main part, a mechanism that drives people away.

It's hard to find an example that clearly defines this as a concern, beyond transitions in online channel membership and activity coming up often.  To clarify context further, in a recent video interview I said that the bottomless nature of tea exploration has been a main part of the appeal for me, along with sheng pu'er adding depth to that for adding storage and aging concerns as factors.  So far that's only positive, right?  But I suspect that an implicit average level of exposure in groups, not really formally required, but informally expected, "raises the bar" so that active social group involvement seems to become more and more demanding.

On to that example, there has been a lot of talk lately about Teas We Like opening a somewhat novel range of aged, Taiwanese stored sheng availability, with other small vendors copying this theme.  In some ways that can be regarded as positive competition (in some cases), or as negative, as less transparent and less functional derivative business models are developed.  Judgement errors in product evaluation can be a factor, with storage inputs an important consideration, even beyond the range of potential "fake tea" sales.  Other somewhat related format vendors like Liquid Proust (Andrew's business) and King Tea Mall fill in other range, and offer alternatives, beyond a large outlet like Yunnan Sourcing being a more primary source. It's still not clear how this is necessarily negative, right?  More options and more online discussion about those are both positive.  Combined with the subscription options I had mentioned, and vendor specific discussion channels, it all could add up to an unsustainable pressure to "keep up."

just a harmless joke here, but it is also a real part of the marketing

Of course anyone can limit exposure, to any extent and in any way they like.  Fewer people read text blogs now; that kind of change helps, to limit tea enthusiasts feeling put off by hearing about too much range, but Instagram exposure has replaced that.  My concern is that there is a natural slide to learn more and more, and to experience more, and the end result could come across as unsustainable.  Tea groups end up being themed around a "new to tea" context, or else one pushed pretty far to a high level of exposure, one that few participants could keep up with.  It builds in one more potential feedback loop to kill off the viability of any online group, as the most senior members go quiet due to dropping the channel or discussion form, with natural turn-over and new alternative channel forms already causing that life cycle effect.

It might seem odd that I'm raising this as a concern.  Surely I buy into pushing exposure further and further, right, for writing a blog about tea, and reviewing however many tea versions it comes out to per year?  In a sense, but at the same time my budget for tea exploration puts tight limits on that.  One recent controversial theme described one vendor selling a tea cake for $600, while another sold the same version--perhaps described as with better storage input, although that part was never clear--for $460, if I remember right.  I wouldn't even buy samples of teas selling at those kinds of rates, so I couldn't be part of that discussion, in relation to first-hand exposure. Taken alone that's not a problem, but it's easy for me to imagine others getting turned off by missing out on a lot of any one entire sub-theme range, or a lot of the whole.  People end up narrowing range by grouping by vendor following, which seems fine in general, a positive response.

I'm mostly addressing sheng pu'er concerns, right?  Higher quality oolong versions can still sell for $1 a gram or well over, or previously a race to brag about trying a broad range of fresh spring teas fastest was more fashionable.  Collecting teaware also never really drops out as a theme.  

Or maybe many subject interests work out like that?  That it's easy to start, with lots of subjects seeming inviting, approachable, and wide open, and then as you keep going it's harder and harder to match what others with a lot of exposure are doing.  For cos-play teens at the local university, where my kids take swim classes, would pin on some ears, a tail, and make-up, or carry a plastic sword, but at the "higher levels" those costumes involve a lot of creative input and expense.  

In a more closely related example I worked through a cycle of a few years of wine interest, pursuing different types range as my preference shifted, then eventually just dropped it.  There was no one reason why, I just tended to transition interests back then, before social media group reinforcement became what it can be now.

Maybe social group life-cycles decline relates to other factors more instead, for example in relation to a core group of participants just getting burned out on repeating similar discussions.  Maybe this exposure creep issue is a real thing, but not so negative.  Something new always comes along that restarts interest cycles, which is what Andrew, Mr. Mopar / John, and Ralph were also talking about, in relation to new forms of Xiaguan products coming up, or aged and new mixed input cake blends, or teas originating from "new" areas, SE Asian versions.  

A broad shift in tea demand could change everything, but we've not really seen that happen yet, just gradual expansion.  Maybe those new tea offerings and new vendor paradigms, those direct sales outlets, can keep renewing and expanding tea awareness and uptake, and moderating pricing, as fast as the natural evolution of preferences steers existing circles towards being defined by a spending divide.

It goes without saying that I've already mentioned routes to circumvent that buy-in divide, instead of just obtaining an IT job that pays $150k per year.  Tea bloggers are given teas for review, just not like in the past, and people acting as small vendors can offset their personal spending.  Group buys always factored in, along with trades and sponsored sample sets.  Personal perspective about one's own tea preferences also plays a lot of role in all this, emphasizing "horizontal" exploration of more range over just valuing higher quality.  Or becoming comfortable with exploring whatever range you get to, without seeing exposure to so much other scope in social media as a defined lack of many potential experiences.

Three exceptional sheng from a Liquid Proust introductory set

Yiwu, Yunnan Sourcing Impression, Kuura Vector (from left)

I've been meaning to take part in a Sheng Olympiad event by Liquid Proust (Andrew Richardson) since interviewing him about group buys and selling teas in interesting ways a year and a half ago.  He had been into selling novel blends for awhile, like French Toast Dian Hong, but switched over to plain sheng a few years ago.

This set isn't the Sheng Olympiad, the group buy he talked about then, it's a beginner's set, designed as an introduction to pu'er.  In a sense that's not ideal because I'm already introduced but I'd still like to see what it's about, to check out the range.  I'm sure some of it will be new ground to me.  To some extent it could work to share a more informed impression with others who are trying the set based on limited background (more his intent), but taking part wasn't really mainly about that.  It's not as if I could communicate what these teas are really like; I'd just have one more person's opinion on them.  The point is to help get the word out, or maybe more about just seeing a notice in time.  He posts about these things on Steepster and Reddit but people not active in those places wouldn't even know he even sells tea, never mind about catching word of a group buy.

Andrew seems to not do this for profit, probably losing a considerable amount of money on this particular venture, using profits from more conventional sales forms to fund it.  I had to double what he asked for in compensation so he would make back some tea expense instead of just covering overseas shipping.  Towards an explanation, selling tea is not his day job.  That's all very admirable, isn't it?  I've taken up some degree of role of tea evangelist myself but not like that.  I'd recommend for others who are interested to take part in his group buys, and also to help him keep going with it by buying teas at closer to market rates (probably still on the really low side for mark-up, from the looks of things), from that sales page.

all about the sheng (credit his FB page)

Choosing teas to try in order from a large set is an interesting aspect, in this case as a set, as I tend to for comparison posts.  One approach might be to try less expensive to more expensive, to get a feel for the range from more basic offerings first.  Or trying more familiar teas first might make sense, for the same type of reason, to ease into comparison from a familiar direction.  Ordinarily side-by-side tasting only works well if the teas are very similar, and that would involve considerable reading up to try to make that judgement.  Most in the set have limited information available about what they are, with one only listed as "raw."  I'm curious about that one.

Given how critical aging is as a factor comparison tasting from the same year makes sense, and probably starting with this year or last year's versions, to take out storage and aging as a variable initially.  I suppose that's a reference to the "familiar versus unfamiliar" approach.  Aging changes different teas in different ways, with storage environment playing a large role in that.

What the teas are

I won't write out a list but it is reasonable to post a set photo to start:

Just wow.  I'll get back to what all that is in other posts.  For now I chose these to start:

2017 Yiwu Chichang: given handwriting that may not be it, but it's surely a 2017 Yiwu.  There's a Yiwu Chawang on his site that looks interesting but the writing can't say that, it's too far off.

2017 Impression:  I assumed it wouldn't be hard to sort out what that refers to since it kind of rang a bell.  It turned out to be a basic in-house blended cake from Yunnan Sourcing, explaining that.

2017 Kuura Vector:  that's a commercially labeled product; exactly what it is will turn up (although their site is offline just now)


I won't read up on these further before trying them, saving that for the edited write-up.  I know what to expect from Yiwu versions, the general range, but for the other two I kind of only know the year.  Better that way.  It also seems as well to not make this write-up a description of what else is in the set.  One is labeled as "LBZ;" that stands out.  Some are various ages, most with a year and location origin mentioned versus specific version, with some exceptions.  One is a Liu Bao (a different hei cha), another a huang pian sheng (yellow leaf, people tend to call that).

For a sheng drinker it's Christmas in September.  I try a lot of tea samples due to writing here and this still stands out to me as a unique experience.


The next section is on general tasting concerns, with a longish round by round tasting notes following, ending with vendor input about what these teas are and limited conclusions.  If the tasting notes get to be a bit much it would work to just skip ahead.

On general tasting concerns

Tasting teas one by one works better in a different sense.  You don't get the same input about comparing fine levels of details in two, which can be helpful, but 10 or 12 infusions of a single tea is already plenty to take in.  If two teas are different and you comparison taste them together (side by side) you will pick up less detail instead of more; it will be too much to process.  To some extent tasting practice can offset that but only so much.  For tasting even a single tea outside inputs are problematic, interruptions, level of noise, limited time frame; for tasting two or three all the more so.

Eating food along with the tea is not a problem, if it's very mild food, and not mixed in bite for sip, more a counter to the effects of just guzzling lots of tea.  If you want to maximize the drug-like effect of teas eat no food with them; if you want to limit that eat some.  Comparison tasting a decent number of rounds of two or more relatively young sheng could be a problem for most people's stomach with no food input, but that would vary by person.

The idea of cleaning your palate comes up, both related to what foods you should avoid and which will help you get back to neutral between rounds if you are trying multiple teas at once.  Water that's cool but not too cold works well for that.  If a tea has a pronounced aftertaste (tied to the hui gan aspect / effect, which I won't get into more here) then one sip won't do it, and that will seem even stronger as you drink the water, but a few sips should tend to clear the slate.

Review

Yiwu:  this round is a little light, and the teas are still opening up, so this will have to just be first impressions.  This could definitely pass for a Yiwu; it's sweet, floral, bright, with decent intensity, and not too bitter or astringent, with a decent balance, with mineral filling in a base.  It will be easy to place related to style and quality level since I've been drinking so many but I'll hold off a round or two to give an opinion.

Impression:  Interesting.  This has some floral range but more of mineral tone that's not uncommon in sheng.  It's not as bright and intense as the Yiwu but with these still opening up it's early for any comparison.  It's definitely clean and positive in character, with a nice aftertaste showing up even with it so light.

Kuura Vector:  much earthier than the other two, in a completely different range, although I suppose it works to see that as a continuum, of bright and floral to earthy and broader in range, with the Impression in the middle.  On the light side early on it's hard to place that; woody, maybe, more in the range of young tree bark than lumber, or probably just as much in the mineral range, covering both a creek-bed scent and some aged iron bar.  It's hard to place in what sense I mean that as "good" or "bad," but to me not either is intended.  I'll fill in more about preference later; for now I'm just flagging initial impression of aspects.  I'm pretty sure this isn't Yiwu; that's all I've got for interpretation so far.  It's a little cleaner in effect than that aspect description probably implies, with less bitterness and astringency than I'd expect for being in that range; it's quite approachable.

Yiwu, YS Impression, Kuura Vector, from left

Second infusion

Yiwu:  I brewed these for around 10 seconds and this isn't as intense as I would have expected.  It's pleasant; floral, sweet, bright, with a nice light mineral base, clean.  It does seem like a year old Yiwu to me, not all that changed by age but maybe softened and toned down just a little.  This isn't astringent at all, with essentially no aspects in any earthy range.  I really like this style of tea but it's starting to just seem normal to some extent.  It's a decent version, it seems, with intensity and aftertaste a bit more developed in better expensive versions but this is pretty good, not really a basics version.

Impression:  This changed and improved a good bit; I get the sense it's not really where it's going to be yet too, not opened up yet.  It's not challenging, not bitter and astringent; that works well for me for younger sheng character.  Again it's along the lines of young tree bark with mineral between rock and a little aged metal.  The warmth picks up and it heads a little towards spice though.  It has nice balance, good depth to it, and decent aftertaste intensity.  The metal and mineral really sticks around after you drink it, which is more pleasant to me than it might sound.  The effect overlaps with sucking on a penny; I suppose preferences would vary related to the taste of pennies.

Kuura Vector:  This develops too.  It's picking up more metal range, and mineral stands out more, with good complexity and warmth.  The slightly musty creek-bed mineral range has cleared up and transitioned (not musty in the sense people would probably take that; clean in overall effect, but more of a damp-rock range, that's different now).  Again the continuum idea of these teas seems to still work; this is more intense than the others, just in a different sense.  Where the Yiwu is bright and limited in scope and the Impression covers more range that's earthier and more metal oriented this goes a step further, in a similar direction.  It's probably as well to talk through a list more next round, since I don't like to repeat that, and it will be where it's going to go more then.

Third infusion

Yiwu:  This isn't transitioning much, but that goes along with the general type (per my experience, which I won't keep emphasizing, but I've been drinking a lot of Yiwu this past year).  People might interpret that flavor range as including plenty of fruit or none at all; it's a judgement call.  It's definitely floral, that doesn't seem a matter of interpretation.  The range warms up and deepens a little but otherwise it's not different.  At the same time it has plenty of bright, higher end range, which I interpret as towards a lemon zest citrus.  Body thickness and mouthfeel is decent, not pronounced, with aftertaste standing out more (long finish; however one puts that).  It's good, and type-typical.

Impression:  This tone is brightening a little instead of warming at this stage; it transitioned a decent amount.  It's not a stretch to say part is citrus related in this now too, with floral picking up.  The warmer mineral and metal range has dropped back, now just a lighter base.  The balance is nice.  Again feel could be more intense but for the tea not being overly bitter or astringent it's fine, with aftertaste drawing out pleasantly.  That's not the experience of a tea flavor being stronger after you drink it, or staying just as intense for 10 minutes or longer, but that aspect is significant, as it was for the first tea.

Kuura Vector:  This tea picked up a hint of smoke; that's interesting.  It also brightened a good bit, and bitterness picked up slightly, with earthiness dropping back; odd.  It's interesting the way these teas are drawing closer to each other, not really similar now, but not as different.  Unless I'm just imagining that.  I'll check back about it next round.

Yiwu, YS Impression, Kuura Vector, from left

Fourth infusion

Yiwu:  mostly holding steady; that slight transition over the last couple of rounds hasn't extended.

Impression:  where it was last round too; complex, more floral now, well balanced, with the mineral and other range falling together nicely.  I didn't expect these teas to be quite this good.  Getting some feel for the range of what's out there is nice but I think these represent well above average versions, related to randomly trying moderate priced commercial teas.  Style varies, related to regional inputs, processing choices, growing conditions, how finely material is chopped, and all the rest, so it's not just about quality determining character, but these seem good.  And they seem like three styles suitable for drinking young, to me; not all sheng would be like that.

Kuura Vector:  more of the same for this one too; bright range stands out now, floral and even citrus, with bitterness up just a little but still balancing well.  These probably are most different related to the base layer of aspects, the underlying mineral range, or how much metal comes across in aftertaste, with flavor closer than they'd been except for in that last round.  This has more aftertaste effect, as with the second sample not far off sucking a penny, but stronger for this tea than that one.  It comes across as the most complex of the three, picking up intensity slightly where the other two mellow out just a little.  All three are nice though, just different in lots of subtle ways, as much the same than different now in a sense.  There's an earthier / mineral base tone in this that's similar to a mild version in the second and missing entirely in the first, that's a bit hard to describe, I suppose like some kind of rock.

I'll probably just give these one more round since that's plenty of tea to drink, and they'll start to taper off around now, not fading, but giving up transitioning as much.

Fifth infusion

Yiwu:  as I interpret it citrus is stronger than floral aspect range now, which is cool, and pleasant.  It might've seemed like lemon zest earlier but now it's onto an orange peel range, warmed up a little.  The tea isn't really complex but it has plenty of depth and it's nice the way the positive, pleasant aspect range that's there is so intense.  To me this is how Yiwu should be.  There's always room for intensity, feel, or aftertaste to ramp up but this is pretty good.

Impression:  it seems like I'm thinking "citrus" and could be adding that to the interpretation of these teas; it would be odd if all three had as much of a related aspect as I'm noticing.  That can happen; if you think malt, cocoa, or black cherry while drinking black teas you can tend to always notice pronounced traces of those, even if you wouldn't coming at them from more of a clean slate.  I'll do a second palate reset by sipping some water and check again.

Still there; I'm probably just stuck on that, with some of what's going on potentially interpreted as such.  Anyway, this tea adds a bit more flavor depth than the Yiwu, swapping out intensity and brightness for range, with more warmth filling in beneath that, hard to isolate for that brighter range standing out.  Both work really well.  Aftertaste isn't on the level of the third version but it's not gone as soon as you drink it.

Kuura Vector:  what I'd noticed reminding me of smoke has softened into what comes across as a maple sugar range now, tied to sweetness.  This tea is still picking up depth and transitioning, not at all tapering off.  One lighter part could be citrus related, getting back to that theme, but it covers a lot of flavor range.  The main version is an unusual form of wood-tone, a bit like biting a tree bud.  I get the impression that bitterness would seem a bit much in any of the three of these even slightly overbrewed, so I might mention that I'm not saying much about that because I'm still using 10 second or so infusion times, maybe on towards 15 in the last couple of rounds, but still short.  Overall intensity is plenty at that timing; for some I'd be brewing them too strong.  At a lower proportion it would work to double that timing, or more, depending on preference; I tend to go heavy on that out of habit.


I'm not saying which I like best, right?  They're just different.  In early rounds the Yiwu stood out for being bright, sweet, and intense but these other two evolved nicely to a great balance.  This third tea is best related to overall intensity, covering the most aspect range, and having the longest aftertaste, which often works as a marker for tea quality.  Really I think personal preference would determine which is best, that it doesn't work in these cases to say one is better than the others.  Intensity and positive aspect character stands out in the Yiwu, traded off for limited depth and aspect range, to some extent.  Any of these could be seen as very positive if someone loved the aspect set, and all three seem well balanced, lacking in flaws that would take away from the pleasant character.

I just went through a bit of discussion in difference of opinion related to aging with someone that I'll only touch on here.  To me these teas are pleasant, intense, and approachable now, and at a guess I'd like all three the most just as they are right now, versus in years to come, developing and changing through age.  To some extent that's a guess, but not a completely uninformed guess.

Others would not agree, based on likely transitions that would follow.  The limited bitterness present in these would diminish, and warmer, deeper flavors would emerge.  To some extent the bright range, the floral and that citrus, would probably swap out for other fruit or potentially earthier tones, a little more leather or trace of spice.  I suspect that my present preferences might shift over time; that's how drinking sheng tends to go.  Just two years ago I wouldn't have had the same tolerance and appreciation for bitterness as a component, so to some extent I'd have liked these better aged back then, but I expect I will pick up appreciation of another layer of more subtle complexity over time.  Of course we just experience teas with out present-day palate; it's a snapshot, of sorts.  I'm more into young sheng now.

I've had plenty of tea but I'll try one more round for last thoughts.  I might also mention that drug-like effect is something people seek out in teas, and tasting these combined I can't say to what extent any one contributes that.  The effect is moderate for any of these three, since it's not pronounced overall, which is still normal for typical decent quality teas.

Sixth infusion

Yiwu:  more of the same; very nice, just lighter.

Impression:  intensity may be dropping off a little but not so different than last round either, still very nice.

Kuura Vector:  given all three of these seem a step lighter my internal clock probably was more the issue, going with an infusion just over 10 seconds versus over 15, probably.  Often I'll brew one round strong to see how that compares but to me it makes more sense when I know I'll still like the tea as much, more for oolongs, white teas, or blacks.  I could swear this third tea is still transitioning, moving into a bit of pine-pitch range along with all that other list.  All three could potentially be seen as the best for different reasons, depending on preference, but this tea showed the most complexity, the strongest aftertaste, and transitioned across the most range.  All that is interesting, and cool to experience.

I have guesses related to why the character of the three were as they were, especially related to blending being an input versus a narrow range of tea source material being used, but for as long as this is I'll skip passing that on and move to the vendor descriptions.

Vendor descriptions and conclusions

Plenty of conclusions were already mixed in.  To repeat one, these are better than I expected, definitely not just type-typical but average quality tea.  For Andrew charging essentially nothing for these teas they're absolutely amazing.  They still would be nice if they weren't on this level.  There are other quality levels to be reached but these are reasonably far along that scale, definitely not standard, moderately priced factory teas.


Vendor descriptions:

I'll pass on even trying to look up the Yiwu source details or description (beyond Googling the apparent spelling--that didn't work); this will run long enough reviewing the other two.


The Impression rang a bell because it's one of Yunnan Sourcing's standard offerings; they produce a few in-house series based on different themes.  This one is described as designed to age, but I didn't notice as much bitterness as I'd have expected related to that.  Anyway, here is the YS (Scott's) description:

This year's Impression is unique for this year and consists of tea leaves from Spring and Autumn, originating from Mengku, Bang Dong, and Jing Gu tea gardens. The tea has been grown naturally and processed in the traditional method. We blended various teas together to achieve a powerful blend that has strong mouth feeling, cha qi and a balanced sweet, bitter and astringent profile.

In 2012 I created the first impression blend to be an alternative to a Xiaguan or Da Yi 7542, but it has far surpassed those mass market teas in both quality and value!  I also feel strongly that this tea being very strong in aroma, mouthfeel, bitter/astringent, infusability and Cha Qi, makes it a good choice for long-term aging!

2017 Impression cake label (credit related YS page)

I was just listening to Scott's video review of it, which adds lots more detail.  I'm not necessarily agreeing with the aspect-by-aspect description (that's normal; aspect interpretations tend to vary slightly) but the general impression matches up.  It's complex, well filled in across a range of aspects (balanced), reasonably intense, and good quality tea.  I've been tasting a 2014 version of that 7542 Dayi he mentioned, reviewed here a year ago, and I've tried it since, in the past month.  I'm still waiting for it to become more drinkable.  It's ok, hanging in there, improving, but still on a different scale for bitterness than any of these three versions.  If bitter is better that 7542 is better than these three, even after 3 extra years of mellowing out, but of course it's not that simple.

To me that Impression version wasn't that powerful, strong, astringent, bitter, etc., but it had decent intensity and balance.  Mouthfeel seemed a little light to me, and aftertaste only moderate, but for an inexpensive tea more than one would expect.  This being that blended accounts for the overall complexity, which does trade off a bit of aspect distinctness, but it wasn't muddled in effect, to me.

I wouldn't say this wouldn't age but the difference of opinion on bitterness and astringency level change that interpretation of potential.  It doesn't need age, and may or may not improve with it, since it seems mild enough to just flatten out over time instead.  I'd have to buy a cake to see.  For people with even a moderate tea budget it might make more sense to buy at least two of these, one to drink and one to set aside for a long while.


Onto the next tea then, which I'll limit mostly to the vendor description of the Kuura Vector, since this runs long.  That vendor page isn't pulling up at time of final editing, but an earlier draft did access their sales page description:


VECTOR is a raw (sheng) puer cake made from a blend of material from various regions of Xishuangbanna. We made this cake after our own tastes for high quality daily drinking raw puer; as much sweetness as we could cram in there, with a rich base to add complexity and strength. Over time the sweetness will only increase, leading to some dark ripe fruit flavours and a hefty body. Perfect both as a hold-no-punches intro to high quality raw puer, and a solid candidate for daily drinking, hoarding, and ageing, with plenty to offer for newcomers and jaded junkies alike.

As is our general approach, the teas used all come from carefully selected growing environments, with strong biodiversity and minimal-intervention agricultural practices. This tea has been tested for EU 440 MRL and passed.  The tea was pressed in November 2017, using a blend of material from Spring and Autumn 2017.

2017 Kuura Vector label (credit Steepster, with other reviews there)

Scott mentioned that his YS Impression version had been tested per EU standards too; that is a health concern, over the long run, and a real selling point.

A price difference stands out:  Yunnan Sourcing's Impression was selling for $23 for a 357 gram cake, with this at $33 for a 200 gram version (equivalent to about $59 for a 357 cake's worth).  Both are reasonable; costing twice as much can still make sense if the character justifies that, and it did cover a bit more range across some aspect dimensions.  Personal preference factors in too though; if someone likes that different aspect scope better or not (but they did share a good bit of range).


But what do I know about aging transition, really; those earlier comments are just guesses.  It seems you need some bitterness and initial intensity and depth to serve as a basis for positive transition, but I'm not really the right person to flag where any given tea is headed after aging.  I don't agree with the judgment that the Impression cake is quite bitter as it stands now; I'm just not tasting that.  It expresses some bitterness, it's the amount or level that I'm seeing differently.

Of course those teas would all still be fine in another couple of years, and one could judge then if transitions seemed positive or not.  Per a standard take it gets trickier to identify how they'll come out of awkward ages where the aspects intensity drops off after that before picking back up related to more fermentation effect kicking in later, at some point after a decade.  At $23 per cake if the Impression seemed to mostly fade versus improving after being stashed away it wouldn't be a huge loss; I guess more so if a whole tong did.


All in all a great start for trying this set.  Surely all of those other teas can't also be on this level (one wouldn't think), but aging transition will make some others even more interesting to experience.  And the few huang pian I've tried have been interesting so it will be nice to try another.  I'm very grateful to Andrew (Liquid Proust) for providing this experience.

Tea group buying & the Sheng Olympiad: an interview with Andrew Richardson

Initially posted here:  http://www.tching.com/2017/03/tea-group-buying-sheng-olympiad-interview-andrew-richardson-liquid-proust-teas/

I’ve not written about this topic before, non-standard tea sourcing.  A blog post citation from Cwyn's Death by Tea identifies the background:

More and more tea heads on vacation trips are dragging home kilos of tea they tested and bought for friends back home... The forums are full of people now offering to do group buys from numerous sources, employing their own sets of connections…

So, a new wrench for vendors to contend with is non-professionals selling to peers, directing their tea budgets away from current vendors. Furthermore, the line between professional and re-sale is blurry. If honesty and truth are really what buyers want, the non-pros might have an advantage. And who knows when the day will come when tea farmers decide to get into the action themselves, and sell online to the highest bidder.

A friend was a part of blurring that line, buying kilos of hard to get Nepalese tea both to drink and sell.  Now there are now more tea suppliers from that origin.  My favorite tea farmer, Cindy Chen, in Wuyishan, is part of the last trend mentioned, opening a sales website very recently, selling directly from the grower and processer, her family.

Group buys are another interesting part of the story.  Andrew Richardson is part of that, owner of Liquid Proust teas , who is quite active on Steepster.  One of his endeavors has been to create and sell very novel blends, like French Toast Dian Hong, or Rummy Pu [alcohol infused pu’er], which is really a separate story.  He also conducts a non-commercial group buy for sheng pu’er, the Sheng Olympiad (see more on both in this blog site). 

More about that project follows, explained through an interview format.

Can you say a little about the Sheng Olympiad?

The Sheng Olympiad is a yearly event that I put together for the online community to have an enriched experience and access to rare/exclusive raw puerh. I do this as someone who is passionate about community and I see a huge potential for people to come together over something as complex as puerh. The Sheng Olympiad isn’t just about shared bulk purchase of good teas. For example: During February 2016, I was talking to White2Tea and Crimson Lotus Tea to produce the exclusive material to be ready for that December. At the same time, I was working with Bitterleaf Teas to help provide some awareness as they were quite new to being an online puerh vendor. Lastly, to provide that rare aspect, I secured the last of Tea Urchin’s 2012 spring Bang Dong cakes so it could be enjoyed by many before disappearing. There will always be a theme focus because The Sheng Olympiad is to be as educational as enjoyable, and while it may be curated by me the discussions that revolve around the tea are the end goal.

Sheng is known as one of the least approachable teas, related to adjusting expectations and preferences to the style, finding good versions, and also to being touchier about brewing.  At the same time it is commonly experienced as an end-point tea type preference.  How does this work out related to participants experiencing a learning curve?

Actually, it’s quite beautiful how this handled. Since this project has a lot of support from those participate, I end up answering almost no questions because people are connecting with one another as they share tips, give suggestions, and ask questions of one another. With that being said, I myself am constantly learning as I read the conversations happen and that brings joy.

Sheng pu’er is actually a diverse version of tea related to styles, regions, aspects, and types, isn’t it?  How do you address that in the buy?

Each year I have an educational goal in mind. For 2016, I decided I wanted a solid production of a specific region spanning over years for participates to taste the differences. What ended up being used was a 2005, 2009, and 2015 spring material from YouLe; the 2005 and 2010 are both from Hai Lang Hao and 2015 was the first time in 10 year that they pressed a YouLe cake. For 2017 I chose the Bang Dong and in 2018 it will be Jingmai. Eventually I would like to do some ‘storage wars’, but for now focusing on harvest time and region seems to be working wonderfully.

Is there a core message you would like to pass on to a non-tea drinker? 

There’s no better time than now. First thing I always tell someone is to join the community. There’s no requirements for how long someone has been drinking tea or how much tea knowledge they have. Tea is like any other passion or hobby, it’s a journey.

In a recent Steepster forum post Andrew explained why he will stop selling teas (the Liquid Proust blends brand) but would continue ventures like this one:

I recently got a promotion at work… This alone will eat up my time… so I decided that when I do tea it’ll be pure community, pleasure, or education, and never business.  I will continue to host the Sheng Olympiad… Group buys will continue with the main purpose to provide education or experiences…

So due to becoming busier in the future he will only be a tea evangelist, instead of a vendor; cool enough.