Te Ji Tin Min Hong (like Jin Jun Mei, or maybe that)

It's interesting trying tea a bit blind again, it's been awhile.  That one friend I keep mentioning in Kuala Lumpur sent this, along with some gifts for my kids.  It's nice having an online pen pal to talk about things with but that level of sharing is really over the top.  To get a sense of who I'm referring to he offered thoughts on the original meaning of hui gan in this post (he's Cantonese).  He was contributing more about "gan," sort of related to the concept of sweetness tied to bitterness, but just unpacking that isn't as simple as it could be, never mind the "returning" part.

From the looks of it this is probably a black tea.  It really couldn't be that many other kinds of teas; they just don't look like that for dry leaf appearance.  Whatever it is seems to be very fine leaves and buds, probably a higher quality version of a black tea.  The darkness indicates full oxidation level, normal enough for black tea.  Leaves being this fine, as close to buds, reminds me of the general look of Jin Jun Mei, but that can also seem different.  Here's an example photo of a version, from here:

More golden (which could just relate to oxidation level), but also seemingly buds instead of very fine leaves.  When this brews and opens up that might offer more input about the leaf / material form.

As to the maker and type it's labeled as Te Ji Tin Min Hong from Donghu Tea.  Googling that doesn't help clarify things, any of it--so strange.  Not all that unusual though, really.  Te or teh is probably the other form of "tea," with "cha" turning up a bit more often.  I ran across this pretty nice listing of main Chinese tea types trying to look it up and it wasn't on there, any form of it. 

Here are the labels, all I had to go on:

Never mind; it is how it is, with or without back-story.  It could just be a different looking version of Jin Jun Mei, or a related black tea, but it doesn't matter.

Review

It's sweet, malty, full in body, with a good bit of bees wax flavor aspect.  It comes across like a variation of Jin Jun Mei.  Those can vary in character some but the better versions have this kind of sweet, mild malt undertone with a bees wax and honey sweetness standing out.  It seems possible this is slightly more oxidized than the versions Cindy sends (Wuyi Origin's tea); I could comparison taste that and tell. 

Hers don't have a light oxidized flavor range in terms of expressing vegetal character (eg. they're not woody, or express mild root spice), but it seems like finely balancing that level lets them maximize intensity, sweetness, and bright character range.  All just guessing, of course.  For having a bit heavier flavor this works well too; that extra warmth matches the rest. 

Second infusion:  this wasn't musty or off in any way but it still cleans up and gains some intensity.  Bees wax is still present but it shifts into more of rich mineral and warm earthy tones.  It's one of those complex sets of flavor experiences that's in such a tight range it comes across as simple, and in one sense it is.  Feel is cool, hard to describe.  This isn't exactly thick but it has an unusual structure to it.  It's like a rich brewed aromatic bark spice with a bit of metal in it, both in terms of flavor and how that might end up feeling.  Flavor isn't exactly intense, in a limited sense, but it spans an unusual range.

It will be interesting looking this up and seeing how it's supposed to be, how conventional versions are for the same type [except that didn't work].  It comes across as a high quality level tea, well made, based on good material as an input.  As far as how different people would react to it, how much they would like it, that would depend on preference, as is the case for every tea.  Not everyone would appreciate how much is going on with this version; in a sense it's subtle, in a different sense refined and complex.

trying it out a bit lighter, brewed faster

Third infusion:  sweetness and flavor intensity have scaled back a little (likely also related to messing with infusion time), but it's still quite intense across a limited range.  That unusual clean, complex flavor is still just as pronounced, and the feel is still cool.  This will fade faster for me using a much lower proportion than I usually do.  This being a measured individual pack helps identify specifics in this case; it's 5 grams of tea leaf.  I had thought I'd been crowding more like 8 in a gaiwan in a typical session, quite a bit for a 90 ml or so gaiwan.  I tend to brew teas using very short infusion time as a result, with this stretched out a bit, towards or at 20 seconds instead of around 10.

That last description, that this covers mild, warm, rich bark spice range, along with underlying dark mineral, does capture the main flavor effect, but not so much how that really comes across.  The remaining bees wax in the background really works to balance that, to give it depth, and keep it interesting.


Fourth infusion:  it's tapering off already, that effect from using less tea and longer infusion times.  Bees wax is picking up a bit in the lighter profile, probably just relating to what shows through more at different infusion strengths than an actual transition in what's there.  It's easy to test that warmer mineral tones and heavier earthy flavors stand out a lot more in stronger infusions; just vary timing across rounds for any tea including that.

Lapsang Souchong (left) and Jin Jun Mei leaves for comparison, or buds in the one case

Conclusions

What to add?  It's pretty good black tea.  It would be really strange if I got that part wrong and it's not even black tea.  It's so close to Jin Jun Mei that even if it's completely unrelated this would probably end up being sold as that part of the time.  The overlap in the malt range and bees wax flavor aspects really stood out; JJM can be like that.  For being fine twisted leaves those never really opened up; it seemed more like bud content.

Whatever it is it's good.  Many thanks to that friend; and here's hoping I get a chance to return that favor appropriately.

KL shop sourced loose shu pu'er

A friend in Malaysia passed on a set of teas awhile ago and I finally got around to mentioning another here.  I reviewed pretty good Tie Guan Yin versions here, a lightly oxidized and more roasted version, and what I take to be the most traditional style, one balancing moderate oxidation level with some roasting.  I'd meant to clear through trying the rest but was busy with sample sets or versions that I bought since then, over a year ago.

I'll be moving away from mentioning tea versions that aren't really novel in some way.  This is on the borderline; it's definitely not a typical shu style, at least in the sense of flavor profile, and it's a good version, but all the same to me shu varies less than many other types.  Mentioning it almost relates to having made notes, and it's a good chance to thank that friend again (thanks!). 

no detail in the labeling

I think this was from a gift shop type outlet.  The tea is quite decent given that.

Review:

First infusion:  a bit of char comes across; this tastes a good bit like a Liu Bao.  Even that slate-mineral range matches.  It seems like those will clear up and more smooth sweetness will emerge after the initial round.  Beyond that it's good, on the clean side.  Dark wood tones fill in, and a bit of peat, but it's clean in effect, not murky or muddled.

Second infusion:  flavors do evolve to clean up a bit, but otherwise not change.  Dark wood stands out more, along the lines of aged wood.  Not so much old furniture, an effect that crosses over from how old books smell, into a perfume-like range related to traces of aromatic polish.  Roasted chestnut warmth and richness picks up.  This seems a perfect tea to start the new year with (the Chinese version); an especially Chinese tea from a Chinese-Malaysian friend.  It's not completely typical of a lot of shu range I've tried, which works well the better the tea character turns out.  So far so good, but I think it will keep opening up and improving.

Third infusion:  this style is a little unusual, that dominant roasted chestnut aspect.  It's not as if that never comes up but other range seems to usually stand out more.  The supporting aspects are good, level of sweetness, clean nature, moderately thick feel, and some aftertaste.  As with shu in general the subtlety and depth only goes so far but the range really works.


Fourth infusion:  I'll give this a bit longer soak to mix things up, moving past the 15 seconds or so I've been using.  It should just intensify aspect results and thicken the feel.   There's no limit to how strong an infusion would work for this tea; it could brew for minutes and it would just be inky and intense, but still pleasant. 

It doesn't seem different; this might be losing a little intensity already.  It's unusual for being what looks like a true loose leaf shu, which seemed to let it open up right away early on, not to take a couple of rounds to start.  The leaves weren't even twisted or compressed in any way.  Beyond pressed versions needing rounds to expand back out even loose versions often seem to get a bit twisted or pressed during the fermenting process.

That roasted chestnut range seems to be adding a bit of fall leaf character; cool that I was just thinking about craving that recently, from trying a really strange tea years back that reminded me of sweeping up leaves in the driveway.


Fifth infusion:  this tea is wrapping up.  I brewed this for a couple of minutes and the infusion strength didn't increase.  Wood-tone picked up due to the infusion time difference; that kind of thing is normal.  Usually it's astringency that increases, or roast effect in versions when that applies, but in this case an underlying wood tone did instead.  It's still pleasant, just thinner, in spite of the long soak.

The tea isn't overly intense or complex but I like it; what is present works well.  I'll stretch it for one more long infusion but basically its story has been told; it should just fade a little.

On the positive side the flavor range was quite nice, and pleasant for covering that much roasted chestnut and fall-leaf flavor.  For limitations shu can be thicker and creamier than this was, and some is relatively intense, and brews a number of rounds consistently.  I think this faded faster for me using slightly less of it and for it being more like loose leaves than shu somehow typically tends to be.  I don't know what that means about how it started or processing steps, or if it's seen as positive or negative for any reason.

It's good tea, just a bit basic.  Anyone could like it, but I suppose people leaning towards aged sheng preference wouldn't.  Or maybe it would cross over well, for some, since it comes across as a bit simple but lacks any of really earthy range some shu possess (peat, etc.). 

In looking at the dry leaf photo as I edit this I'm reminded of how it seems likely this wasn't as fermented as many versions are.  Maybe this version would really develop over the next decade or so, if a less complete initial fermentation left compounds behind that could still transition.  I'll never know; I'll drink the rest of this or share it for someone else to try.  I need to clear out some extra samples I've kept around to keep the space tea is taking up reasonable.

Chinese New Year

No mention here of Chinese New Year yet, right?  Happy New Year!  I was in Chinatown that week for an outing but I didn't write about that, and avoided going closer to the eve or first day of the year.  It would be crowded, and my wife is paranoid about the corona virus.  I think only 5 cases have turned up here; risk seems pretty low at this point.

That outing related to checking out some bubble tea and odd pour-over tea set-ups in a mall shop.  I don't have much to say about that; it is what it is, not the kind of thing I typically talk about here.  It probably was and is generally better than typical bubble tea versions.  This second was a Thai tea, the orange flavored kind:

By the time you add cream, ice cream, and sweetened condensed milk to a version, as in that second, the base could be coffee instead and it wouldn't turn out so differently.  It would be good with coffee, or fine with different types of tea.  I think it would've been better infused by soaking it versus "poured over," but then again it probably hardly matters.  It's experiential; it was an experience to see it.

All that led me to think a lot about where specialty tea fits in related to commercial RTD / bottled teas and other types, bubble tea, Thai tea, and whatever else is in that range.  So few people even know it exists in comparison.  It has traditional roots, which could make it seem more valid, but in economic terms or related to being a social trend it's not on the same level as even flavored teas, never mind tea bags.  I like "better," interesting teas, they meaning something to me.  On that personal, subjective level there's that.

Comparing different age versions of Liu Bao from KL

2018 "younger" version left, but it looks older

That one friend in KL that I've mentioned sent more Liu Bao.  Not just to try either; he sent a lot, tea to just drink, with extra to share.  Everyone should have friends like that.

The idea here is to comparison taste it along with one he sent well over a year ago.  I'm not certain what years these versions are but they may well be 2018 produced tea (the newest one), and the other could be going back to 2016 (reviewed in Oct. 2017; it depends on how old it was then).  Liu Bao requires processing time (post fermentation), and isn't necessarily a Spring tea (not that I confirmed that by looking it up), and it's hard for me to work back to when a certain year's version would be available, which wouldn't have to relate to when one is typically sold.

The idea of exploring age-transition in relatively younger Liu Bao through this really doesn't work since I can't address the similarity or difference in starting point, how identical they were at the outset, before aging transition.  I could refer back to that post, the better part of two years old now, and check differences in my take from that, and I will scan through it before the final edit of this [I did; my reviews were less specific then, which probably actually made them more readable].  For reference I think both versions are from here, Kong Wooi Fong Tea Merchants, with a website link here.

For now it will be interesting just to see what differences there are, regardless of the causes.

Review

2019 left; going a little heavy early on to rush character transition

2019 version (which may be older than a 2018 production, but that seems likely):  the mineral is pronounced; it tastes exactly like an old slate chalkboard smells.  I guess people would split on whether that's a good thing or not.  It's not as musty as that might sound, although the flavor will clean up a little over the first two rounds or so.  A bit of peat comes across along with the mineral now.  A touch of char is present as well, the same smell (and also taste) of charcoal.  I suppose I like all of that more than it sounds like someone would; to me it's nice.  It'll be nicer once the flavors mellow a little over a couple of rounds of transition.

Upon reflection that "peat" part is really geosmin, that characteristic taste in red beets, which really does sort of taste like dirt.  Raw potato skins have a similar flavor, if those more familiar.


2017 version (as related to the first I don't know the production year):  this version overlaps in character but it's quite different.  Every flavor aspect I mentioned in the other is also present, just in much lighter form, and it's offset by more sweetness, and a warm tone closer to spice, or at least aged tree bark.

Regular readers would be familiar with where that odd flavor reference is coming from; I grew up in Pennsylvania and split a lot of wood as a child, using wood not just for a fireplace but also for home heating.  And for heating an indoor swimming pool; we didn't exactly live in a log cabin, although the exterior style did draw on that aesthetic.

dressed for -40 F when it was -15 during a polar vortex

same view showing that house exterior, on a warmer day and year

If this really was exactly like the other version when both were first made then it would seem like a few more years might really soften it, add sweetness, complexity, and depth.  A lot of people tend to only drink 10+ year old Liu Bao, not because it completely changes character over that time-frame as sheng pu'er does, but because it does soften into a relatively different range related to effect, and to some extent for experienced aspects too.

Second infusion

2018 (I'll just guess production years):  the flavors are cleaning up a little but the slate is only giving way to the geosmin, the potato skin / red beet / dirt flavor.  When I say "cleaning up" I tend to mean tasting less musty, less muddled, not necessarily literally less like dirt.  It probably will move back to tasting more like char in the next round or two, with that mineral and the geosmin pulling back to supporting range.

Some teas are an acquired taste (someone new to tea wouldn't start with this version), and some work better with food.  This would pair well with dim sum, with a broad range of oily, savory, complex-flavored and sweet foods, cutting across all that complexity to reset your palate.  Some teas work much better brewed Gong Fu style (what I'm doing here, using a higher proportion and short steep times) but this one may come across better brewed using an approach closer to Western style, one longer infusion at much lower proportion, or a variation on that theme.


2016 / 17 (probably produced in 2016 though):  the aromatic wood / spice / fermented tree bark range picks up in this; it's interesting, quite complex.  It's cleaner in the sense of tasting less like dirt (or potato skin, however one puts that), but really neither is musty or murky in effect.  It's sweeter; a lot of times natural sweetness helps different ranges of aspects that could be challenging balance.  With sheng pu'er that might relate instead to balancing out bitterness, which can be very pleasant when the rest of the range in a tea makes sense along with it.  A lot of black teas aren't challenging in any way (although CTC / ground-up commercial versions tend to be), so the sweetness just works well with other rich and complex flavors, along with aspects like cinnamon, cocoa, roasted sweet potato, cherry, or mild and "darker" mineral tones.

It wouldn't seem wrong for someone to interpret this version as tasting a little like fruit, towards a dried fruit aspect.  Really the earthier range comes across a lot stronger, what I interpret as tree bark, or which might get called a wet version of "forest floor," the complex, sweet, earthy scent from a forest environment.

Third infusion

I'm brewing these about 15 seconds; shorter would also work at this proportion, since that relates to drinking them on the strong side.  That will help push both through a transition cycle, and although this won't go long for rounds descriptions I can try a shorter brewed round to see how that works instead too.


2018:  this is turning a corner for style, "cleaning up" further.  The same flavor list as last round still applies but it's lighter, milder, and better balanced.  At even faster infusions from here on out it would be quite pleasant and drinkable, only lengthening those once it starts losing intensity, which would probably take awhile.


2016:  the same applies to this version; it's not different in terms of how a description would go, but a shift in how the aspects balance changes things.  I don't remember this tea being this sweet and complex, or this far off that mineral / geosmin / char range; it may be transitioning nicely.  My friend in KL doesn't necessarily try to age these teas (to store them to get them to change), or value them for being different than they originally are, when young.  That's because he likes them that way; simple enough.

I see it as similar to how acquired tastes across a broad range of other foods changes what one likes when new to the theme versus later.  Initially beer tastes bad, in general, and then later seeking out bitter versions of pale ale or pilsner might seem preferable, beer versions that would taste even worse to someone new to the subject than Budweiser.  Or Leo, here in Thailand; Chang and Singh are the two main domestic brands but Leo is even more simple, light, and sweet, or watery, if someone sees all that as a bad thing.  The same could apply to people liking oak-chip adulterated sweet Merlot early on and then later preferring structured Cabernet versions that taste a little like there was a nail stored in the bottle.   The "preference curves" or patterns of variation probably follow some standard patterns, but it also might be as well to not overthink it, and keep sticking with what you like as it changes.

Fourth infusion

I'll let this go after this round, trying a fast infusion to write out how that goes (around 10 seconds instead; not a flash infusion), but then skip the last half or more of the infusion cycle.  The teas will be at their best in the next 3 to 4 rounds, and a new trace aspect or two could turn up in description, but the general character will probably just soften and deepen a little.


2018:  a warm wood tone picks up, closer to the forest floor I was describing in relation to the other than anything that has been present.  It seems quite clean in effect, with that geosmin / beet / potato skin down to a supporting trace of aspect, along with slate mineral.  Char is present but hardly noticeable; that never did really stand out in this.  Feel is complex, the way it stands out in adding a dryness or tension across your entire mouth, trailing into a pronounced aftertaste.  An aged sheng drinker (or shu drinker; those who prefer the pre-fermented pu'er type) may not love that for the form being so different but it does add complexity to the tasting experience.


2016:  the sweetness moves a little more towards a root spice from earlier balance, nicely sweet, quite a bit more approachable than the other profile in a conventional sense.  A little of an "old furniture" effect stands out beyond that, a trace of mineral oil or aged exotic hardwood (not "old couch;" that would be something else altogether).  If what I'm getting at seems completely unfamiliar think of how an old collection of leather bound books would smell in a dark-wood paneled den or study; it's like that.  To me it's quite pleasant but all tea experience is a matter of taste.

I looked back to see how it had changed in nearly two years, this version, and ran across a general type description of Liu Bao character passed on by that Malaysian friend (which he calls "Luk Bok," the Cantonese term for the type):


In many aspects, almost indistinguishable with Pou Lei [pu'er], but distinct and different at so many levels...  The tea tasted like decaying dry wood or tree branches as its elementary characteristic, with layers. At certain times, it is like the smell of tree bark. On numerous occasions, it tasted like the oh-so familiar of biting the '叉燒' or 'Char Siu', thus the similarity with Pou Lei. However, this tea, it is the additional smell almost associated with the smoke emanating from the burning of the dry leaves and old tree.

Luk Bou also evoked the feeling of one surrounded by furniture made of '酸枝木' or 'Shuin Ji Muk'. Sometimes, it is like walking into a room with old books lining the shelves, not exactly moldy but dry with warmth and inviting, not the secondhand bookstores with a mixture of acerbic feel and unforgiving.

There is this intrinsic 'old-time' quality, an almost antiquated attribute about Luk Bou, not found in Pou Lei. These are the layers of characters, making Luk Bou lavish in its character, but a constant not 'in-your-face' taste that neither scream for one's attention nor being intrusive, when drinking this tea, of which I believe the uniqueness of Luk Bou. Also, the fact that I am partial to Luk Bou.


In a different discussion he described one savory taste aspect as similar to that in crispy barbecued pork; that also works.  Not only is it nice to have a friend who generously shares tea his writing is great, as if speaking from an earlier time period.  The style and tone seem to predate English language use becoming simpler and less detailed, when people took making ideas clear more seriously, and valued form as an aspect of language.  I loved all that, at one point, before settling on just rambling on as a personal communication style.

The rest of my own description in that earlier review (in Oct. 2017) isn't clear enough to piece together a change vector.  In those notes I mention the same types of aspects (char, mineral, old furniture) but it's the balance and overall effect that describes the experience, not such a list.  I mention that tea (this 2016 version, maybe it was) softens to become more like a mild form of coffee in later rounds, and that works; it still does.  Not this younger version, so much; maybe it did start out a little edgier than the other, even within a year or so of the production time of both.


In conclusion, both teas are nice.  It seems I'm seeing a lot of value in age-transitioning these teas a little, letting the flavors soften and deepen, and become slightly more complex.  Some of the mineral intensity is swapped out through such a process; it wouldn't be positive for everyone.  In two more years I can do a re-tasting and get a clearer picture of to what extent it was age-transition causing the difference in character, versus the two just starting out as different.

a cheerful tasting session visitor

that "just the basics" reviewing set-up

Tea exchange, and exploring Liu Bao through a Malaysian friend

I tend to talk to random people online, often about tea, or sometimes other subjects.  One online contact--or friend; let's just go with that--is Malaysian, a very well-spoken individual who also loves tea.  He's the one that offered those well-developed thoughts on "gan," related to exploring hui gan in a post.


We will exchange teas.  The format he insisted on is that he gives me some tea as a gift, and I can return the favor with a second gift if I choose to.  Or that's per my own understanding, at least; I'm still sorting out the part about evening up the balance and sending some tea to him.  It's nice when online social interactions help restore your faith in humanity, not that I'm in a crisis related to that.  I'm an optimist, so I can't ever completely lose that faith, especially since I also retain it for the benefit of my children, but sometimes things can seem negative, related to all the bad news and killing.

Death has been a main theme this year; almost always a bad subject to be on.  As I write this initial draft it's the funeral day of the former Thai King, as beloved a human being as ever lived.  He died a year ago, so this ends a long mourning period, but if someone means a great deal to you the loss is never completely resolved, you just get on with accepting it.  Of course there was a public shooting in the US recently, but I won't get into all that.  We lost a cat this year too, to me a death in the family, not just any cat but the most personable cat I've ever met, who was very close to my daughter.  But the comments sections of most internet posts is really more what I was talking about related to negativity.




This really has to circle back to tea.  He sent a lot of Liu Bao (more than a pound of it, it seems), and also a sheng pu'er cake.  It's too much, but it will be nice to be able to drink a lot of that tea, and to be able to share some.  Two other tea exchanges are currently in the works, and with a lot of that tea parting with even 50 gram "samples" wouldn't change the overall amount.



He mentioned a source shop for the Liu Bao, and even though it probably wouldn't be helpful to anyone outside of Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) I'll mention one contact anyway, a Facebook page for the Kong Wooi Fong shop

Review

The tea smells nice, a bit earthy of course, but in a pleasant, complex, mineral intensive sense.  It doesn't have as much molasses sweetness as some shou tends to have but the scent is rich and clean.

After a rinse I went with a relatively longer infusion time than I expected to provide optimum results, to jump right into experiencing a strong version of the tea, versus a more typical easing in by way of an initial light infusion.  I guess that related as much as anything to curiosity.  Later I'll experiment with different water temperatures and brewing techniques.  My friend mentioned that he often uses "grandpa-style" brewing, as we now call one version in Western tea circles, leaving a relatively small amount of tea in water for an extended time to "brew out."

The tea is nice, interesting, and definitely complex.  It has a lot of the earthy mineral range I'd expected but there is a bit more of a certain kind of structure to this version that I didn't expect.  It's not as soft and limited across feel range as those other versions I've been trying.  One might initially think that's because this is younger, and those have had time to mellow, but two of the last versions I was drinking were from 2014 and 2015, not aged for a long time.  It will be hard to describe what that part of the feel is like, and the related taste.  It's sticking with mineral range not far off slate, as those did, so in essence tasting like a blackboard smells (chalkboard, if one would rather).  Of course that's only going to work as a partial description, and it's hard to assign a mouth-feel to a blackboard.

I expect that the tea would be better brewed a good bit lighter, and that it will transition to soften a little across another infusion or two, but it's still very nice as it is.  Someone would have to like an earthy range of tea to appreciate it, of course.  Beyond slate peat also comes to mind as a taste description.  I'll expand on that more as I keep trying it, but I'll also check in with his own description of the general range:


In many aspects, almost indistinguishable with Pou Lei, but distinct and different at so many levels...  The tea tasted like decaying dry wood or tree branches as its elementary characteristic, with layers. At certain times, it is like the smell of tree bark. On numerous occasions, it tasted like the oh-so familiar of biting the '叉燒' or 'Char Siu', thus the similarity with Pou Lei. However, this tea, it is the additional smell almost associated with the smoke emanating from the burning of the dry leaves and old tree.

Luk Bou also evoked the feeling of one surrounded by furniture made of '酸枝木' or 'Shuin Ji Muk'. Sometimes, it is like walking into a room with old books lining the shelves, not exactly moldy but dry with warmth and inviting, not the secondhand bookstores with a mixture of acerbic feel and unforgiving.

There is this intrinsic 'old-time' quality, an almost antiquated attribute about Luk Bou, not found in Pou Lei. These are the layers of characters, making Luk Bou lavish in its character, but a constant not 'in-your-face' taste that neither scream for one's attention nor being intrusive, when drinking this tea, of which I believe the uniqueness of Luk Bou. Also, the fact that I am partial to Luk Bou.


That probably works as a full review, really, but I'll keep going anyway.  He's using the Cantonese term for Liu Bao instead, Luk Bok, if I've got that right.  I didn't mention that he's at the opposite extreme related to English language use than I'm accustomed to living in a foreign country, a couple of levels above simply being fluent, but then quoting him in that hui gan related post had already conveyed that.

brewing in a gaiwan; not as black as I expected

The next infusion, a shorter one, is softer.  The first one wasn't musty or "off" in aspect range but this one is a bit cleaner (possibly due to just being brewed lighter).  It's funny how old books and furniture really can describe a clean, positive taste, and I'm even relating to the barbecued pork description (the char sui).

Maybe more than the burning of dry leaves I'm reminded of the smell of a pile of autumn leaves, a very familiar smell from my childhood, being from a very wooded area in Pennsylvania, a name which itself means "Penn's woods."  We would pile up those leaves and jump in them, or stuff clothing with them to make a type of scarecrow, for no real purpose other than to play.  Those were simpler times.  There is really a range of scents that autumn leaves can express, related to different trees dropping them, to moisture level, and the scent varying for being in the deep woods or in an open yard, but I don't intend to try and narrow that down related to this tea.

autumn leaves in Pennsylvania (photo credit)

The flavor transitions a little the next round but it's not that different.  That feel aspect I mentioned falls into a really nice balance, fitting in well with the rest of the effect.  It was a little strong initially to integrate well, probably as much from going a bit far with infusion strength as from transition.  The aftertaste is a different aspect but the two seem to pair together, to overlap, so that you are tasting the tea and feeling it after swallowing it, in equal measure.  It's not the same as the experience that other local friend described as being "hui gan" in that Yiwu sheng tasting, when plain water tasted after drinking that one tea seemed very sweet, but I tried the same practice of drinking water after, to see how the effect changed that experience.  The water didn't have the same intense taste as it had then but the effect definitely continued and became a part of tasting that water too.


Those same aspects shift a bit in relative balance across other infusions but the tea doesn't really change.  Some teas do transition a lot across infusions and some don't.  For some that do it's about the best aspects fading out in the early rounds, but in some cases teas just express an interesting range of character that keeps changing.  This just softens, and slightly sharper mineral tones give way to warmer earthy range.  I suppose in a sense it comes across more like coffee, after the first 7 or 8 infusions (prepared Gongfu style).  It seems like one wouldn't miss that much for preparing it Western or "grandpa" style, and sometimes that can work out in positive ways that you don't expect, it can somehow be even better, for stacking up more of the aspects range in one go.  I'll check on that.

brewed leaves; not entirely blackened by fermentation and age transition

It goes without saying that this tea experience wouldn't be for everyone.  I like it, and I think a lot of people could relate to it, especially in a version like this one.  It is probably the best version I've tried yet, or at least on par with the other favorite of the set of three I've tried.  It's possible I like it better because I'm more used to the type, since I've been drinking it, and because the tea means more to me as a gift, so I'm biased in judgement.


I'll have to check the age on this tea, to see if that's a factor.  It didn't seem as black in color as the others, or as fermented, related to that and overall effect.  It could be younger, or both factors could work together, I guess, and it could have been fermented less.  I don't get the impression this is even supposed to be "great Liu Bao," if that's even how that tends to work, just a nice version that's typical of the type.  I've already tried the sheng too, and like that as well, even though it also seems to be a pleasant version of a modest "everyday drinker" type of tea.  But all of that is another story.

Golding Bulang Dragonball (sheng pu'er ball)

Interesting looking!  I'm not seeing this on the Golding shop website, but then they've communicated they're updating that site content now, with an alternate contact for them through Facebook.


Even the initial brew, with the ball just starting to loosen up, shows where this is going to go.  The tea is nice, good sweetness and complexity, with lots going on, and some of the astringency / bitterness /  mineral element / medicinal aspect common in sheng.

a little edgy to be tea drunk

Other pu’er drinkers might contest any of those descriptions as common sheng pu'er elements, although what I mean in general is probably clear enough.  Astringency isn’t used here in the same sense as in Assamica black teas, for sure, closer to related aspects in green tea.  Bitterness is often confused with astringency, even though they are different things, one being a taste (bitterness) and astringency a mouth-feel element.  More tasting will help determine which is present in this tea.


The taste range includes some mineral, it’s just not as clear that relates to the other flavors / aspects I’m saying it could typically tie to, that astringency and mineral flavors could be related.  “Medicinal” is more commonly used to describe an unusual aspect found in older teas, typically as something positive.  But then different medicines would have different tastes, so there would need to be more inter-subjective agreement on how it should be used for that description to really be meaningful.

All that aside, the tea is nice.  There is lots of honey sweetness too, along with floral tones, some mineral range, and below that a trace of a pleasant earthy aspects, maybe something towards leather, with a bit of spice.  I’m ok with preference for teas within that sheng character range, so all this just requires some dialing in and unpacking.


Early on even a flash infusion works, barely giving the tea a few seconds, tempering the more challenging aspects down to a background element.  The tea is even positive toned way down, brewed quite lightly, of course depending on preference, still letting the nice flavors step forward.  The flavors and character are going to soften and transition just from the tea loosening up and coming to life beyond some initial infusions.


After some it does soften a little, with that honey sweetness remaining as the primary flavor aspect, with floral elements and minerals below that.  I’ll leave off with the mouth-feel description since I don’t have developed preference related to that anyway.  The tea is nice, with good complexity, but it’s hard to separate into more flavors; I’m mostly just getting that basic set, and I’m not so good with breaking down “floral” into specific flowers.  Based on the dry scent it had seemed like there was a little more range that would come out, earth or spice, but it remains faint, or maybe only present in my imagination.  The mineral might correspond to a trace of overlapping vegetal tone, not like a green tea tasting like green beans or bell peppers, but there might be just a faint touch of something.  I'm not noticing much in the way of actual bitterness, just a touch at most.


Even though flavors are mostly in the range of honey, floral, and mineral aspects, not a description of my favorite tea types, the tea still works for me.  The flavors are really clean, and the character softened to a nice range.  I wouldn’t give up dark roasted oolongs and black teas to focus on sheng pu’er based on this one tea experience but it’s nice enough, pleasant.  Many infusions along that trace of spice did start to pick up a bit, it seemed.


It seemed to me there is enough complexity to the tea that different brewing approaches could draw out different aspects more, so even though I didn’t experience lots of transition the tea seemed like it probably could potentially express more range, in that sense.

Beyond the review

The tea raises some questions.  It’s not normal for blog posts to point towards gaps in what is covered, typically just citing a description and moving on, but I’ll do so.  It struck me as odd the tea wasn’t more astringent or bitter.  Per a Tea DB post that gets into sub-regional version characteristics of pu’er bitterness would be characteristic of Bulang pu’er, and of course younger sheng pu’er in general:


Located in Menghai county, Bulang stands in stark contrast to the light and subtle aftertaste characteristic of Yiwu. One of the principle tea regions for Menghai tea factory, Bulang raw pu’erh is usually bold, bitter, and strong flavored. Due to its proximity with Menghai Tea Factory it commonly finds its way into ripe pu’erh. It is less likely to find Bulang marketed as Bulang than Yiwu, even though it produces alot of tea. Perhaps most notably, Bulang is also home to some of the hottest, pu’erh areas including: Lao Banzhang and Lao Mane.


Very clear!  So different areas cover different scope, and designations can overlap, to some extent.

Back to the tea not actually being bitter (or even astringent), it makes me wonder if the tea hasn’t been aged, or how aging changes related to smaller pu'er shapes.



That citation also starts into pu’er origin areas, to what extent different teas from the same area express different characteristics, which I won’t follow up on here.  Based on experience with other tea types characteristics can vary a lot or not much at all by the type of tea.  Some black tea types or light oolongs can be relatively consistent, varying by quality level but not as much in range of aspects, or put another way some tea types tend to be relatively consistent by aspect.  Wuyi Yancha or Dan Cong oolongs can vary a lot, not just as different quality levels, with different aspects per equivalent teas.  Those express a wide range of characteristic flavors, aromatic components, preparation styles, etc.


Some of the rest of what remains open relates to my own preference, and preference development.  It seems at least possible I like this tea compared to those other pu’er versions from Golding more due to becoming more familiar with sheng range, again.  I don’t think that's a significant factor, but more tasting might help pin that down.  It just seemed like a pleasant, easy to appreciate tea, for some maybe not bitter and edgy or “structured” enough, per preference for such things, but quite nice to me.


All this reminds me of a more general consideration, the difference in interest between actually experiencing drinking a tea and in reviewing tea background (cultivars, processing, regional sources, types, storage issues, etc.).  To me they are two completely different subjects, even though they do overlap.  I have an interest in both, in learning lots about tea (and discussing all that, here or in groups), and in experiencing different teas, but for me I experience both almost as two different interests.

I can completely relate to people who are much more interested only in drinking tea, an idea raised by a friend recently.  Some knowledge of types is required in order to place orders but maybe not a lot more than that, maybe more accurate for other types than for pu'er.  Sorting out source areas, age, and storage conditions is required for pu'er, some of which you can skip if you can just trust a vendor to pick what you like (which is typically a cue to mention the White 2 Tea vendor; make of that what you will).

It's not as if I'm digging so deep in this post; it mostly does just say what the one tea version tastes like, so here just related to typical area-type characteristics.  Looking back the last version of abstract tea research in this blog related to Darjeeling cultivars a month ago, although research into a Wuyi Yancha type strayed a bit too, and I was covering a lot related to cultivars from Taiwan last year.  I may do more with pu'er background based on more Golding vendor input later; we'll see how that goes.

Golding (KL shop) private Nan Nuo gushu sheng pu'er

Back into pu'er!  Based on talking about tea with people online a shop in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Golding, sent some tea samples to try, including this Nan Nuo version; many thanks to them for those.

I'm relatively new to pu'er but not completely new, but as well to clarify that first.  I tried many around three years ago when I found a pu'er shop near my office (what are the odds), JRT Imports.  There is no website to mention; strange, but a street-view link is here, and a Tea Chat discussion of local Bangkok pu'er shops goes into background.  A friend recommended that I try drinking a lot of one type of pu'er, buying and drinking a lot of one cake, to get adjusted to brewing and the general profile.  I did that, finishing a lot of one back then--two and a half years ago?  the time flies--but I got side tracked on other tea types.

The Tea Side vendor sent a good number of Thai hei cha samples last year, but I didn't really make the switch to pu'er then either.  I didn't dislike what I had tried, sheng or shou, or variations from different regions, and it kept coming up a little.  But I tend to explore tea types organically, almost randomly, which led to drinking a little of every other main type instead, from lots of countries (except yellow tea, that's only came up once).  I just bought a 2006 HTC Thai hei cha cake / bing from Tea Side (reviewed in this post), sitting at home now, so maybe I'll do a comparison review of trying the same tea again later.  I tried that idea with a Thai black tea in a recent post, a re-tasting test, but I couldn't pin down year-version variations against review-interpretation changes.

Review

Even the first rinse was promising; lots of sweetness, interesting mineral tones, not much similarity to taking an aspirin.  The first infusion was more of the same, sweet, lots of mineral, with a hint of smoke, really lots going on.  The general range was familiar, I'd just not been drinking teas in that range for awhile.

Brewing was going to be unfamiliar; still using quite short infusions the taste strengthened a lot due to the tea starting to brew.  In retrospect I'd added too much tea; more on that related to brewing difference description from the second go.

Texture came into play more, of course hard to describe.  At first it seemed like a dryness but really the tea caused a bit of mouth watering, the opposite.  What came across as mineral was really vegetal and mineral, in a kale range, with a little mineral close to chalk.  That might sound awful, or maybe to a pu'er drinker just a normal general range.  The effect was interesting, and it reminded me of a tea drinking friend's comment that people tend not to drink pu'er for taste, or at least there is less necessary connection, less emphasis on that.

With short infusions the tea still brewed light, with sweetness offsetting vegetal / mineral / slight bitterness, with just a hint of smoke.  The tea did cause an aftertaste, but I have no idea about throat feel or taste in the throat, those more exotic properties (more on all that here).

My assistant taster liked it. She said it tastes like flowers.  Either that's a standard answer (I had been drinking some Chrysanthemum in the evenings recently) or she's on to something.  It is a little floral, maybe especially after you drink it, the aftertaste more than the taste.  The scent on the gaiwan lid or in the empty cup includes more honey than I'm noticing during drinking it too.


After more infusions the smoke picked up a little and the honey sweetness became even more noticeable.  The mineral / vegetal / aspirin / sheng taste mellowed a little, and the tea was probably nicer for being more familiar, again.  The aftertaste was kind of different than the taste, related, essentially overlapping, but not as closely connected as is typical with other teas.  It seems to just not go away, to the extent that I wonder if I'm imagining it a few minutes later.

my back-up taster's back-up

I forgot the tea, interrupted by my kids, and gave it a long infusion; that didn't work.  At lighter strength the taste balance works; I think the floral-related aspect did pick up.  Other aspects are more interesting, the feel, a fullness and juiciness, and the aftertaste, which is pleasant, different. The light smoke seems to come and go, and a very mild bitterness sort of works.


I'm reminded of a recent Dan Cong, with a tartness that could be seen as a flaw or an integral positive aspect that gives the tea a nice balance.  Other tea types, oolongs, blacks, and whites, usually don't really get into much tartness or bitterness, so the challenge of how to interpret them doesn't come up.  A word on this bitterness; it's not astringency, a feel of the tea, but really a subtle taste element, odd to experience.  This could be one aspect people might describe as medicinal but it's really just bitterness.

Brewing parameter variation:  from light to quite light

A friend recommended brewing the tea very lightly, using relatively little of it in proportion to water, in addition to short infusion times, so I tried that.  This was really probably more standard practice; I just hadn't adjusted for the tea type properly, long out of the habit.  It was better, and also just different.

The bitterness essentially didn't come out, and taste range shifted to include some spice, maybe clove.  Clove is nice in tea, although real clove seems to be a complex set of related taste aspects, so this might have been just a part.  Everything evident in the tea was very positive, and there still was plenty of taste left to experience, so it was really more a matter of not being familiar with drinking tea prepared this wispy.  There was still evident aftertaste but issues related to feel sort of dropped out when prepared so lightly; it didn't feel like much.

I think there would be a balance point between prepared lightly and very lightly that worked best.  I mentioned in a post not so long ago I'd been drinking plenty of white teas lately, and that I was calibrated for the type, and I think I'm just not for sheng pu'er, related to brewing and drinking the tea, about taste range and brewed strength.


It's my understanding that some people enjoy white teas, particularly Silver Needle style, prepared so lightly that there is barely any taste to experience.  The subtlety--on the sort of getting something level--and feel is more the point, but I'm not one of those people.  I don't need to brew them up to black tea level flavor strength to drink them either, related to some people using really long steep times, but I tend to like having more going on with aspects in Bai Mu Dan style white teas anyway.  But then I've been drinking an interesting Ceylon Bai Mu Dan lately that you don't really taste as much as sense in some general way, even brewed stronger, and that's turned out to be a cool experience.

My impression is that it's a better tea than I can really fully appreciate, not just interesting and nice but refined, with complexity and depth to it.  It makes me further consider the issue of acclimating to a tea type.  As an analogy, I can't appreciate Scotch whiskey at all, but do I need to?  Coffee and beer worked like that, as acquired tastes, maybe not great examples since I don't drink much of either just now.  I think this may be a different case than with Scotch, that there's a shorter gap to bridge since I already like tea, in general.

But I will keep going with the other pu'er samples, and pu'er in general, and see what I make of it.  I'm reminded of something one of the more out-there tea friends I've met said, that one of the worst things that could happen to you is finding a pu'er that you like.  Maybe I'm playing with fire, and I'll turn into an even worse tea-junkie than I already am.