Shipping rest issue; re-trying a 2007 Bailong Jinggu sheng

I tried a 2007 Bailong Jinggu sheng pu'er not so long ago, an inexpensive version from Chawang Shop, reviewed here.  Part of that review theme was to taste the tea right away, just after getting it, without letting it rest, then to get back to it a month later.  This is that part 2.

I had liked the tea but it seemed a bit subtle, with a generally low intensity that would definitely be seen as a flaw in the character.  But then not letting the tea rest after shipping is said to cause that, which I have noticed before, but never reviewed in the form of doing a split review (like this).  On to it; I never will quote that earlier post, so if someone is interested they can read it too, or there is a summary take on it in the conclusions part.

Review:

First infusion:  a little rough; some dry mushroom and wood / cardboard mustiness.  On the positive side that dry character seems like it will probably fade and transition over the next two rounds.  The appearance of the tea could be a little clearer too, although it's not so cloudy, just not completely clear.  As for flavors beyond that some light molasses sweetness shows promise, and cleaner woody tones seem more positive.

To be clear I've tried this tea between the initial review a month ago and now so I know where this is going to go.  I didn't refer back to the old review notes first, but I have tried this in the last week so it's familiar.  It did improve; I'll mostly leave it at that.  As I remember it seemed like it might have room to transition positively with more age, or at least there was indication that might occur, which I'll add more about along with tasting details.

Second infusion:  much cleaner.  This will be in a more typical part of its cycle next round but it's much more positive that fast, which is a good sign.  I wouldn't interpret this as tasting anything like mushroom, although a woodiness close to aged wood or furniture picked up.  The main range is aromatic wood, cedar or the like.  That's close enough to cigar tobacco; an interpretation as that would also seem natural.

It's relatively clean in taste, although it will probably be even cleaner during the next round.  The main story of this tea will seemingly be how it will keep shifting over the next few years, finishing out age transitioning.  That and how someone relates to that aromatic wood or tobacco range related to personal preference; some people would probably really like that, and others would hate it.

It's my impression that it wouldn't be well-regarded by some experienced sheng enthusiast general convention, but I don't try to prefer what others like.  Such conventions seem to evolve based on both shared-experience preference development (influence within a group), and a natural pattern of preference evolution that occurs, so I'm mostly rejecting the former as important to me, but I must tend to experience the second, to some degree.

Third infusion:  that's even better.  It's completely clean now, with a much improved feel, only a little dry, but more along the lines of showing a pitch-like resin feel.  Tobacco and aromatic wood evolved a small step further towards molasses, matching the warm, rich sweetness and the warm underlying mineral tone.  The resinous feel matches up with a pine-bark woodiness in this round, missing that herbal sharp note in the pine needles but not completely unrelated.

As I remember a distinct lack of intensity was problematic in the first tasting, and that's not the case for this.  I'm using a high proportion (the usual, maybe 8 grams in a 100 ml gaiwan) and quite short infusion times, a bit under 10 seconds.  It's plenty intense at that infusion strength, and would work well using flash infusions at this proportion, or for using only 6 grams for the same timing.

on the green side for this age, normal for relatively dry stored sheng

Fourth infusion:  flavor range shifts a bit towards roasted chestnut, moving off aromatic wood a little.  The feel is nice, with a little room for improvement.  It's not thin but not as substantial as for many sheng versions at this age, with the resinous dryness giving way to a smoother feel, but one with only moderate structure.  Aftertaste is similar; it doesn't linger in a very positive fashion, or for an extended length of time, but the experience doesn't drop away either.

The most positive part of the effect (aside from the limitations) is the way the experience balances together.  The flavor is in a relatively positive range, with no negative aspects.  Intensity is good (reasonable, in a positive range), and feel works for me, even if it could have more richness and depth.  Warm mineral tone is a little towards struck-match character, but bridged between molasses and that; it works.

I get the sense that some of this aged wood, not so far off a greener version of aromatic wood, is close enough to or partly through transitioning to something else.  That fresh edge seems to be what some people value in dryer aged sheng, that it seems to never completely drop out, even though over a long time the sheng will keep transitioning.  I kind of get it; if this tea had spent the last 13 years here in Bangkok it would be relatively completely fermented, but the earthiness would quite likely resemble damp basement character or geosmin (like beets or dirt; with more on that general effect or aspect related to beets here).

Fifth infusion:  balance keeps improving slightly, but it hasn't transitioned so much.  I like the overall effect.  Warm underlying mineral stands out quite a bit, and decent sweetness, with the rest just shifting in relation to proportion of other flavors (pine bark or resin, tobacco, roasted chestnut, molasses, aromatic wood).  Feel isn't really dry, as it had been in the first three rounds, with that remaining more moderate resinous feel matching a seemingly paired flavor coating your tongue, and showing up as feel aspect in the rear sides of your mouth.


Sixth infusion:  this might be fading already, moving back to a slightly drier woody tone that's closer to where it started.  Or it might just be that feel and flavor effect vary by infusion strength, and dropping timing a little doesn't seem to work as well for me.  I'll check one more round and let this go.  Late rounds do tell a different part of the story, and I don't get the sense this is remotely close to the end.  But it seems like enough for this purpose, identifying how it changed due to resting for a month.


Seventh infusion:  I didn't really let this run longer, still trying it infused for around 10 seconds, to keep that consistent.  Intensity may be dropping off slightly but it's far from finished, and isn't into late-round transitions just yet, it would seem.  The same profile applies, not even really shifted in balance much from 2 or 3 rounds ago.  The character transition I had mentioned in the last round did seem to relate to using a slightly shorter infusion time.

Conclusions:

Again the idea was to compare the character to what I thought of it a month ago, reviewed here.

It didn't seem all that different related to flavor and other aspects description, but it did seem a lot more intense in this review session.  I've tried it again in the middle and that was my take then too; it didn't seem as muted as initially.  Feel intensity seemed to pick up a decent amount; per that description and my recollection it was a bit thinner then.  Of course interpretation is hard to pin down; what I've been drinking recently might set a standard benchmark, so whether it's in the better or worse range of what I own might matter.

Beyond flavor intensity ramping up just a little this might have picked up a trace more depth, a little more warm tones and underlying mineral.  This review mentions richness that borders on roasted chestnut, and that earlier version only talked about light cured wood tones, pine resin, and tobacco range.  In late rounds that shifted to root spice range in the first review, but I've dropped taking notes prior to that point here.

Within another year or two those warmer, more complex tones will probably pick up, as the green wood and lighter tobacco notes transition.  Or it could just go to straight tasting like a cigar; it's not as if the transition patterns are that familiar to me yet.  Often even faded flavor in more-aged sheng can pick up a cool root-spice effect, a depth that's not necessarily intense (in terms of flavor) but that seems pleasant anyway.  It's not completely unlike roasted bamboo flavor, mild but with pleasant depth.


It seems like people might use "menthol" in different ways in descriptions (and some even describe themselves doing so), as a way to place what isn't necessarily familiar, or to capture an unusual range that is as much feel as flavor, or in a strange place that relates to both mapped together.  I tend to not interpret aged sheng as tasting like menthol.  It's completely possible that I'm not drinking good enough aged sheng, or that I've not experienced some of the most positive range of potential age transitions.

That's going to keep being a limitation as I progress through more experience.  I won't be buying the standard, well-received, favorably stored $150 aged cakes that draw attention for combining good value and positive character.  My tea budget just isn't there to support that.  For that limitation this almost seems like a good place to leave off most exploration of aged sheng range.  The subject will come up again but all of the most obvious next steps I won't take, escalating quality level and expense of versions.

I really don't mind; it has been interesting to get as far as I have.  I have a bit of tea around, just not much as pu'er enthusiasts go, so I'll keep seeing how it changes over time.  That probably won't relate to doing many "progress check" posts, unless something triggers that.

There's more sheng on the way now, if it ever actually makes it here (transit time is drawing out), and there are always samples as an option, so I'll keep doing reviews.  The general point was more that a typical next-level direction seems to keep coming up, but I don't plan to escalate spending to pursue it.  Cakes like this are nice for enjoying variety and basic range, also covered by a few 2006-range CNNP versions I have, and a good bit of Xiaguan and Dayi cakes and tuos, and an occasional Yunnan Sourcing in-house production cake.

Pandemic theme photo sharing:

On a completely different subject I returned to working in my office (versus from home) at the end of last week.  The pandemic experience was interesting, but we're down to wearing masks a lot, and reducing group activities, with local restaurants facing an odd mix of restrictions that make it hard on them.  Bangkok malls aren't re-opened but that seems next up.  It's been different, and we've been really lucky that impact here has been minimal.  I'll share a few photos that cover what that was like for me.

beating the heat in a kiddie pool

me too

Kalani didn't let being shut in get in the way of looking fabulous

Keoni with a chalk image of me

growing a "pandemic beard" was a nice sub-theme

abstract chalk art

they made it back through a lot of their old toys, with focus on Duplo and also smaller Legos

visiting a grocery store in a closed mall

PPE overkill; I'm walking around like that when out now myself

that cat has mixed feelings about all the extra attention

Chawang Shop 2007 Jinggu Bailong TF sheng pu'er

looks ok, just a bit of stick, and my new phone has a photo water mark to get rid of

Not so long ago I ran across a sample of a sheng from a Chawang Shop order that I had probably overlooked for about a year, reviewed here, (a 2005 Bailong TF ShengTai Jinggu gushu sheng).  It was pretty good.  Of course good is all relative.

I tend to set aside expectations related to teas being "gushu," even though I do kind of get how general character typically works out for those.  Regardless of my impression it's now sold out anyway, of course, so I don't see any list price; it always works out like that.  Out of curiosity I tried checking the Wayback Machine for old pricing but it didn't turn up there.

I bought what seemed to be a producer-related cake version they carried with a recent order, intending to give away part of this set (two Dian Hong versions) and some other sheng from Tea Mania for a wedding gift for my niece.  Now that wedding probably won't happen, and even if it does my trip back there next month is cancelled, and it seems like global pandemic is probably slowing mail delivery a bit.  I also bought an interesting looking Myanmar sheng with it, but that other vendor order was more related to stocking up that tea type.  In retrospect, knowing this tea is ok, I should have bought them a cake of it too.

Enough tangent; the tea was this:

2007 Jinggu Bailong TF Raw Puerh Cake 357g

Let's get this part out of the way:  it's priced ridiculously low, for $18, like Amazon or Ebay cake pricing.  Their description doesn't really account for that, but let's consider it:

This is a good semi-aged classic Jinggu Bailong raw puerh cake, blend of different grades tea leaves from 2006 and 2007 harvest.  Silver buds and leaves have sweet and floral aroma. Brewed tea is smooth and fruity mellow. This tea is good to drink now or long term storage. This tea is relative cheap for its age and quality. Good choice to buy now and stock it! The quality of leaves is similar with 2003 Bailong "Jia Ji" cake we also offer.

Manufacturer : Jinggu Bai Long Tea Factory
Product date : 2007/9
Weight : 357g per cake

their photo, taken in 2014; it has definitely aged since

Obviously it's not the same thing as I tried in the last example, not gushu, surely not on the same quality level.  A blend of inputs is familiar, a tea made from two different years' materials is a little different.  That "floral" part seemed to have transitioned some but the sweetness still carries through, with more detail to follow about that.


One more critical detail:  this tea will be better in a month (I just got it), and I expect it will change just a little more within a month or two after that.  The common-knowledge theme that sheng versions need a month or so to rest when you first get them--or two weeks; versions of the idea vary--is right, per my understanding.

It just doesn't go far enough, as I see it.  The typical take is that teas will lose moisture or be affected by other unusual storage conditions in shipping, getting hot or cold.  It seems to me that teas also settle from the long term effects of where and how they were stored, beyond adjusting to a shorter transition period.  If a tea is a bit musty that may largely drop out over the course of 3 months or so, but minor variations in being flat or off in some way could resolve to some degree across different time-frames.  Being relatively dry stored I expect this will pick up a good bit of intensity and some depth over even half a year; it will really come to life.

Why taste it now, one might wonder.  Mostly out of curiosity; to see what it's like.  I'll figure out a reason to try it again, maybe along with some other tea, and pass on an updated impression within the next couple of months.  It won't work to guess how this tea will change over that two months but since I like to guess about things I have no basis for speculating about maybe I'll get to that anyway.  This post could make sense in retrospect for flagging changes across that shorter time-frame and again after another half a year.

Review

could be clearer (the tea, not the photo), but that's not so pronounced

First infusion:  It's woody in an unusual way.  I often mention teas tasting like wood in lots of ways:  like greener wood, or in sharper form like tree bud tip, then sometimes more cured in character, or like tree bark, with dark tropical wood and aromatic woods like cedar and redwood all forming different ranges.  This is different than all that, but it's closest to cedar.

There's a specific smell that a turkey call has, which comes from the mild scent of that wood mixing with a pine resin scent, that is much more dominant; it's closest to that.  I've not seen or smelled a turkey call in about 30 years; it's interesting the association comes back.  The shorter version is that it tastes like pine resin (or the scent of it), with some undertone of cedar, aromatic lighter wood.

photo credit

Since this is only the first infusion this and the next one will be part of an "opening up" process.  So far so good, really; the flavor is relatively clean, and the range is pleasant.  It's not musty or on the more fermented side as teas in this age range are when stored here in Bangkok.  A trace of geosmin (beet or dirt taste) can definitely start in around the 13 year mark here, even if the aging transition isn't really finished yet.

much clearer already

Second infusion:  flavor is a bit subtle; this hasn't really developed intensity as a transition.  Young sheng could stay more unapproachable for the first few infusions, it might loosen up, but for older sheng it might need a couple of rounds to fully saturate and get the right timing dialed in.

Of course I had just said that I expected flavor range, and perhaps other character, to be a bit muted, to restore more within the next 2-4 weeks.  I suppose this is still within the range of mild aromatic wood and fainter pine resin at this point.  I thought it might seem a bit younger, given experience with teas stored on the dryer side for less time.  It's pretty far along towards completely aged but I suspect it's in that "in between" character, more subtle also for not developing fully aged aspect range yet, with the earlier time-frame aspect range largely gone already.

Feel is reasonable.  There is a hint of dryness that matches that pine resin theme, but beyond that it has a bit of thickness, just not a lot.  Aftertaste is on the limited side, but then so is flavor intensity.  I'm not exactly pushing the tea yet though; these infusions have been for around 10 seconds.  For a young sheng 6-8 seconds brewing time might have worked better to keep the character more mild, but intensity level can vary across lots of aspect range for older versions.


Third infusion:  I suppose it drifts toward tobacco just a little, not that aromatic wood and pine resin was that far from it before.  That's closest to pipe tobacco, not so far off chewing-tobacco range, nothing like a cigarette or cigar.

(taken with my other phone); leaves fully opened up

Fourth infusion:  it's not intense; that's consistent.  I do like the range that's present but it seems likely this will shift onto warmer tones that work out better for "pushing" the tea.  I think that will happen relatively quickly, changing over the next half a year, but time will tell.  I could drink it just like this anyway.

It's pretty far off older Xiaguan range, the intensity that can either lean towards rich dried fruit or else mushrooms and smoke in some.  Old Yiwu--based on limited exposure, but some--tends to go mild in flavor, but retains a really cool thick feel, with a hard to place aftertaste effect that's subtle and pronounced at the same time, in two different senses.


Fifth infusion:  there's an underlying sweetness that's making this work.  It's like a trace of molasses, tied to a warm mineral range, but one that's very subdued.  I don't get the impression that this is really exceptional quality tea but I do like it, and match to preference is the point more than some abstract quality assessment.  If the rest of that wood tone shifts to become warmer, and tobacco shifts into a warmer and sweeter tobacco range, this will be much nicer.

There is no flaw to work around, beyond character being subtle.  It's possible someone might not like the character, and then any or all of the flavors could be seen as negative.  I suppose a limitation in thickness and aftertaste scope could count as a flaw; it's hard to imagine this will continue to come across as thicker.  If taste-range is going through a "quiet phase" (even beyond that shipping issue; related to where it is in an aging cycle) then aftertaste might shift along with taste while drinking it.  I'll give it a little longer, out towards 20 seconds instead of the 15 or so I've been on, and see how that changes things.

Sixth infusion:  all the range keeps transitioning, even though it stays subtle; that makes for an interesting effect.  It's more onto a mild root spice range now, in between ginseng and sassafras.  To work through which parts are carrying over most a bit of wood does remain, which is subtle but also complex in tone, spanning a light greener range and cured aromatic scope.   

The tea kept brewing but notes stop here; I got busy with something else.  I'm isolated in the house with my wife and two kids or this description might have been more detailed, with less banging around and shouting in the background to work around.

Conclusion

Not bad.  I could drink this once a week just as it is with a breakfast and be happy to have it in that rotation.  It's not the kind of tea I think will be much better with age because some negative aspect needs to shift, or would improve a lot if it did.  I think it will shift and improve (the character), but it's already on the subtle side, and that might well resolve some when it gets accustomed to it's warmer and more humid surroundings.

Flavors should warm some too; I'd expect that light dryness of pine resin and cedar to switch to something a bit deeper and richer.  Just converting to more intense tobacco range wouldn't seem unlikely, but expanding into include something like a touch of aromatic spice, light dried fruit, or roasted chestnut depth might happen.

I just had a shou mei with breakfast and this isn't very far off that for range (I only brewed one round, in a rush for breakfast, so what I'm trying again just now is better than it had been hours ago).  That tea is two years old, so it has lost the initial freshness, and has only started transitioning to warmer tones, but it was mild enough to begin with that I'm not even curious about how it will be after 7 years.  It'll be subtle.  That tea had a trace of cinnamon and dried fruit creeping in (and almost a tea-berry related mint tone, which was cool), but not enough flavor intensity to support a lot of further transition (at a guess).  This sheng has a little more depth to it, not exactly bitterness, but what's left of that from a transition process shifting way off it, which isn't completely finished yet.

It's odd seeming to claim that this might be a good sheng for white tea drinkers; I'm not sure that would make sense.  Aged, subtle sheng is a funny range.  I get it why people tend to like moderate intensity character across a lot of range; more flavor, thicker feel, and more aftertaste experience, along with valuing "cha qi" effect.  This might pick up flavor intensity, or it seems conceivable it could just fade.

I've already made it clear but I see this as part 1 of a longer review, a way to assess how much a somewhat aged sheng will transition from just arrived to settled in.  There's no way I would remember all that detail I just mentioned, and keeping the information here versus some sort of note works.  If this tea gets no better, if it doesn't change as I've said that it might, it was well worth what I paid for it.  If it changes as I expect it will have been a steal.  I don't even hope that it will shift to become an even more exceptional aged sheng version over the next few years, but I can't completely rule that out.

About tea preference and expense

A Reddit post about some people doing a Teas We Like group buy got me contemplating this subject, which never completely drops out.  They are a non-standard vendor, some experienced tea enthusiasts using long-term sourcing efforts to sell interesting teas, and no doubt to fund their own expensive tea habits. 

That post was about 10 people splitting a $3000 tea order, amounting to a about 25 cakes, so the end result was a lot like an unusual form of sampling.  $300 per person sounds like a lot, to pick up 2 1/2 cakes of tea, but then again that's not really even close to the more expensive aged sheng habit range.  The two orders I mentioned cost around $300, with about $100 worth of that intended for my niece.  It's most of what I'll spend on tea this year, but then my own tea budget is limited.

It just is what it is, right?  People have as much to spare as they do, and their preference lands where it does for type, specific versions, quality level, and balancing out what they can afford.  In a sense I can afford to spend more than around $20 per cake; I tend to buy older, moderate quality cakes locally (CNNP and the like) for more like $60, which is still quite moderate.  I'd be drinking better tea if those were $120 curated versions from Teas We Like instead.

I can't complain.  Some vendors end up sharing samples, so I can trade time doing tasting and writing for broader exposure than a Bangkok low-level IT manager salary supports (with raising kids soaking up more funding than tea spending).  There's nothing wrong with people drinking even more moderate cost and quality tea than I do, or spending 10 times as much and experiencing a range a couple levels higher.  As a tea blogger I might worry about reaching some abstract level of experience and preference, except that I don't.  It's nice when unusual value offerings stretch what I can drink regularly a little, and I don't mind appreciating broader type range instead of focusing on what tea enthusiast trends regards as best.

I was just checking what a Yunnan Sourcing tea version cost that adds detail to that, from a year ago:

That order has relatively early sheng exploration written all over it (I mean in terms of preference evolution, but it's fairly young tea as well), and that's fine.  It's interesting how much range those teas cover for pricing, all less than what more developed or budget-unrestricted range might cover.  Since I've got the page open sampling a Teas We Like initial range might help place that:

It's probably good tea, and good value.  Of course the older tea pricing tends to run higher; the point here was comparison with a selection from Yunnan Sourcing, which may or may not be typical.

This stops short of any clear and final conclusion, as a lot of idea threads I take up do.  It's interesting the range a sheng habit can cover; I guess that works.

people who make noise, giving me a bit of stink-eye for some reason

2005 Bailong TF ShengTai Jinggu gushu sheng

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.

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.

at a school fun-day outing at Kalani's old school

playing with her brother, who was representing Penn State

like those balls hamsters run around in

up to the top on the third try