Pig butchering scams

 

There are already plenty of Youtube video posts about this topic, which is an easier way to digest summary information, but I wanted to cover a few interesting points here anyway.

The general theme is an online scam, relating to someone using social media contact to get someone to trust them enough to make crypto-currency trading transactions as an investment, which turn out to be fake.  Sounds pretty improbable, doesn't it?  It is, but the build-up is the crux of it, how they approach it.  I received this Line message not so long ago; this works as a good example:

A common intro is a wrong-number sort of message, like this.  You wouldn't necessarily talk to someone sending a message to the wrong Line account, but you might message them to tell them they've got the wrong number.  Often the picture will be that of an attractive woman, which may increase the chances that someone might want to be helpful, to explain the "mistake," or to talk further beyond that.  That one was a bit moderate (in emphasizing attractiveness); this might be a better example:

Then whatever the starting point is doesn't matter, because the scam would relate to making small-talk next.  This particular intro opens up asking questions about travel themes, and sharing travel preferences, a good lead-in for social discussion, even with a "wrong number."  They would probably tentatively offer to pay for guide services; there would different ways to bait the hook.

Later it would switch to advice about crypto trading, which becomes kind of a stretch.  They use a script to help people running the scam bridge the gap in between topics, cutting and pasting a number of discussion messages that lead to that.  It's not supposed to make complete sense.  This is an interesting Youtube channel summary of how it all works; I'll draw more details here from this, about who is doing this, and from where.

I've talked to one person online before attempting this scam, curious about why an online stranger was talking to me (maybe from a social media contact; I don't remember that starting point).  The transition was pretty clumsy in that example; I would imagine that approach and the message steps get a bit better dialed in over time.  Another source covers a reason why you shouldn't talk to these people, to intentionally waste their time out of curiosity or malice, more or less what I was doing.  

Per that Youtube reference, and at least one other I've watched on this theme, these scams are typically conducted by Chinese criminals, set up and ran by enlisting workers in isolated residence spaces, some of whom are pretty much captives there, victims of human trafficking.  In that sense two crimes are really occurring, the scam, and a forced-labor theme supporting it, hosted out of places like Myanmar, or Poi Pet, Cambodia.  The scam employees / captives might be expected to generate a certain amount of return, and might be punished for low conversion rates, for example beaten, so it might be a mistake to try to tie up their time in order to cause others to not get scammed.

Jumping the track a bit for a tangent, I've been to one of those places, to Poi Pet, two years ago.

Poi Pet looks a bit like Thailand, but rougher

development isn't consistent, but they had built out casinos and housing

Poi Pet felt a little off; there were literally shut-down casinos there, part of boom and bust phase of them attempting to become the next Macau, and that not working out.  Surely the reasons for that were complex.  Development seemed inconsistent; there were plenty of large-scale apartment and office buildings here and there, but then also those closed casinos, and roads in between developed areas that weren't finished, at some stage in between dirt and pavement.  Apparently that business failure and connection to Chinese interests, and limitations of local law enforcement / openness to corruption, all combined to make this a viable new criminal industry there.

One video reference on this theme, not that one I've cited, here instead about a Dubai-based operation, showed how they can work around using an attractive woman's photo, when it's really more often some Chinese guy being held captive.  Instead of pulling down online photos, which would make it possible to reverse-search the images, a more sophisticated operation can employ someone to play that role, to be the photo model, and even to be able to video chat with scam victims.

That's not a job that anyone would seek out, but they could enlist such help the same way they could turn up the other workers:  make false promises about a much more valid work position, and then set it all up as a difficult situation to get back out of once someone gets started.

It's still unbelievable that this could work at this time, isn't it, decades into people running all sorts of online scams?  Even if you somehow thought that you were talking to an attractive woman, who had become something of an online friend, would you really get started on investing in crypto-currency, which typically is a scam no matter the starting point?  Hopefully not.  

But they build up to that sort of thing, using complicated deception.  The videos describe how they have people start by investing very little money, $100, and then witness how easy it is to do the trading to apparently earn returns.  It just turns out that those are fake, based on using an app created for this deception, that mirrors the look and feel of real trading apps.  If you would see the person you are talking to on a video call, supposedly, and then see how you could rapidly generate profits on a small investment (seemingly), then it might make more sense to go further.  Not for someone sensible, but one part of this is the victim believing what they already want to believe, partly tied to the attractive image part.

Back to the message starting points, the messages that I never responded to, those were identified ordinary, attractive women, just planning a trip, per the shared context.  Supposedly organic discussion would lead to the topic of crypto trading, following a script, with plenty of allowance for variation for responses, all making it seem more believable.  The context built in some cover for rough English use and slight inconsistency; from the looks of it those women would be supposedly visiting from China.

This kind of thing might work out well using a dating site or online penpals themed site to initiate it, right?  I explored an example of the latter at one point, "Interpals," but lost interest relatively quickly, in part because of drawing more contact from scammers than genuine users.  I did make one online friend there, an older Chinese guy in Malaysia, and we talked about local culture issues and changes in modern society over a number of years.  Some other contacts were at least real people, but it all went nowhere.

Someone commented on a discussion once that they could tell if a woman was a scammer online, because any female talking to them would have to be that.  Unfortunately that's kind of how you could tell who was who on that penpals sort of site.  If a random woman starts a conversation, that looks like a model in her profile photo, with very little personal background in it, that's a scam.

I'm an admin for a large Facebook tea group and Facebook is being populated by these sorts of profiles now; they're joining groups to look more legitimate.  They're easy to spot for a similar reason; the photos are almost all attractive women, and the limited details don't add up, even within the two or three background items shown for group approval.  Most go to a university like Harvard, often work for Facebook, and come from places like California City, which is a real place, but drawing on minimal knowledge of the US that would be LA instead.  Somehow more sophisticated fake profiles draw on use of obsolete or inactive and older real profiles.  That way a lot of it can actually be real, and consistent, it just wouldn't show years of recent activity, which is also the case for many real Facebook users.

There's not much conclusion here.  It goes without saying that you shouldn't send money or get started on investments based on advice from a random online contact.  These scams will keep changing form too; they'll figure out a next way to extract money from a stranger based on limited conversation under a set of false premises.  Later on chat-bots will be doing this, not human-trafficking captives.  Eventually they'll even be able to video chat.

2016 Kokang Myanmar sheng and 2011 Mingdee Thai sheng

the Kokang version left, Mingdee right (in all photos)

In visiting a local tea shop a couple of weeks ago, Ju Jen in the Paradise Park mall, a tea contact I was there to meet shared a few teas with me, including these.  One is a 2016 Kokang Myanmar sheng, and the other a 2011 Mingdee Thai sheng.  I have two other versions of Kokang sheng around, part of one cake (2018, that was) and two small older cakes (I think from the same producer).  

Kokang is both an area in Myanmar and a producer name, if I've got that right.  The category name of pu'er doesn't necessarily apply to these, being from Myanmar and Thailand, but they're the same type of tea, made from the same general type of plants, related Assamica versions.  

Mingdee, the producer, rings a bell but I may have never tried any version from them.  I think them and Wawee Tea might be the two main producers, but the subject of Thai sheng keeps such a low profile it's hard to be sure.

that shop visit

Review:

2016 Kokang Myanmar sheng:  it's pleasant.  It has picked up good warmth and depth in the last 7 years, for sure.  The brighter floral notes are transitioned away but there is plenty to appreciate; complexity and balance are good.  It seems as well to turn that into more of a list on the second round.  Bitterness is non-existent but it will probably kick in more next round.

2011 Thai (Chiang Rai / Wawee) Mingdee:  generally pleasant but this may be right in the in-between age transition place where teas tend to go a bit quiet.  Pushing it later may help a little, but if it's at a point where former compound profile is half transitioned to different forms that may only go so far.  Again checking on a list of aspect will probably go better next round.

Kokang, #2:  nice!  This range is familiar.  Sweetness is good, and mineral base (in between light and warm, or maybe spanning both), with an earlier floral range (likely prominent earlier) now shifted to warmer tones, cedar wood, spice range, maybe a touch of warm dried fruit.  Whether or not this is a relatively optimum aging level for drinking this could vary by preference.  

The vendor sales page for the other Myanmar sheng I own (one of 3 versions) described it indirectly as good but not great, along the lines of typical for tea material like this.  That was from Chawang Shop.  Maybe this had slightly more complexity, intensity, and aging potential, so the other could be a little more faded at this point.  It would've made more sense to compare this tea with that but I really wanted to try both of these, and I have a few other teas around to get to.

Mingdee:  it's not bitterness that's ramping up but depth and mineral base really is.  This is clean and complex, just not overly intense.  I think it has great potential to age into a more subtle aged range, not the kind of tea that's still undrinkable after 12 years, but one that can finish transitioning in a few more, picking up more complexity in a different range.  

Mineral depth is unusual in this, for being so heavy and warm in tone, and for dominating the rest of the flavor profile.  I think that's partly an effect from the other flavors still shifting from younger to older form, so it seems quiet, because there is a broad range there, but all at a subtle level.  As younger and brighter tones finish dropping out the deeper and warmer ones will be more evident.  It might turn out like aged Yiwu sometimes does though, on the subtle side.  Those can go further into flavorless, if not well-suited for aging, but some might just be subtle, or I suppose others yet more intense as aged sheng than I've experienced.  I might have only ever tried a half dozen relatively fully aged Yiwu versions, so that sampling is too limited for broad generalizations.

Given that I'm reviewing 7 and 12 year old sheng versions the timing for this evaluation is a little off optimum; these would tell a more complete story in 5 more years.  Those small 2006 Kokang mini cakes, are surely not ready even for being 17 years old, so I've not been re-trying them yet.  That style seemed suitable for 25 years of aging, given how the hard pressed form will slow transition pace.  I'll still try one over the next few years but it won't be ready yet.

Kokang, #3:  there is definitely a very catchy flavor aspect that's common in Myanmar sheng, that I've not described here yet, and probably not done justice to pinning down elsewhere either.  In a younger version one would naturally see it as floral + light mineral, but there's a little more to it.  It might be a spice range sort of flavor, along the line of bay leaf.  I've used bay leaves in cooking but not very often, so that's partly a guess, which conveys some general range.

Mingdee:  this is still quite subtle but it's evolving in a positive way.  Heavy mineral is still present but other range is balancing with that more now.  It's more in an aged furniture range, a mix of aromatic wood tones and non-distinct aromatic oils.  A bit of cedar wood dryness and edge joins that, but it's not dry in feel, it just has a dry component.  Texture / feel will keep shifting over the next half-dozen years too.

Kokang #4:  this keeps improving; that's always nice.  Depth and the way it integrates gets better and better.  That one hint of harder to define aspect seems to have a shifted to include a touch of lemon; it balances well with the rest.  It doesn't have the richest feel, or much aftertaste at all, but the feel it does express is positive.  There are no flaws, and the balance works; it's hard to place how those enter in as positive inputs.

Mingdee:  maybe fading just a little, although that probably relates to variations in infusion time, which I don't track closely.  There is nothing new to add.  I have a couple of things to do so I'll try one more infusion and quit the notes, even though these aren't quite halfway finished yet.  I'll steep a little longer so I'm not commenting that this is hard to place, which will probably shift results a little again.

Kokang #5:  this is quite pleasant.  That touch of citrus (lemon), light spice background, nice mineral base, mix of warmer and lighter tones all integrates really well.  It could easily seem disjointed or at an awkward phase instead; maybe in another 2 or 3 years it will be like that.  I'm not sure this has great aging potential, to be honest.  Intensity is fine at this stage but as it swaps lighter for heavier range that may fade, and it's not that intense now, for a 7 year old sheng.  

I might prefer to drink this particular tea aged 3 or 4 years, back when it hit a little harder, and retained more younger notes, but had lost a lot of it's more youthful challenging rough edges.  It's good now though, I just don't know if it would be better or worse in 7 more years.  There's a good chance it will fade (just a guess, of course).

Mingdee:  more or less the same as it had been, mixing the same aspects described in earlier rounds, with proportion and overall effect not changing too much.  At least this is really clean in effect; there are no flaws from storage inputs or original negative character.  Limitations only seem to relate to what wasn't present initially, to the potential it had for aging.  

I think this would be quite good in 5 or 6 more years, but that's only if someone likes subtle aged sheng, versions where intensity is quite low, and rich feel carries the weight of a lot of what you experience.  The warm flavor tones and mineral base won't completely drop out but with this being limited in intensity as a 12 year old tea I'd expect it to be on the subtle side as an 18 year old version.  Which is ok, if someone is really on that page.  

It's more natural for me to prefer versions with lots more intensity that need a little more time to complete transition.  Those sorts of "challenging when young" versions, that aren't quite there at 18 years old, develop great depth, good balance, complexity, and really interesting flavors, but only at closer to 25 years old.

For drinking at this stage it's still pleasant.  That touch of dryness doesn't come across as overly negative, and the flavor balance isn't bad.  It not being optimum relates to an imagined potential, not a real experiential gap, beyond what isn't in the cup right now.

Myra visits while I do the tasting

Conclusions:

It was interesting trying two very different tea versions, again.  It's interesting how the much younger one worked better in the current aspects balance than the older version, per my preference.  There is a common perception related to sheng pu'er that older is better.  To me every version has an optimum transition level, but that can only be defined in relation to someone's individual preference. 

For focusing mainly on aspects and only doing tangents on aging potential and likely earlier changes it seems like I've not fully addressed how much I like these.  This style of Myanmar tea, and the distinctive aspects that seem tied to there, I really do like.  Familiarity alone might make it more pleasant, and it fits in with what I've been drinking most and liking more recently.  I drank half a small cake of that one related Myanmar tea about a year ago, a tea I took to Honolulu to drink regularly there.  It's not tied back to the same producer, but very similar in character. 

The other might seem somewhat related to all the Thai sheng I've been drinking, but the style was probably different to start, and I'm not regularly drinking any from a 12 year old age range.  To me this probably isn't a completely ideal tea for long term aging, but then it probably wasn't in a very approachable when young style either, more in the middle.  That doesn't make it bad, but it loses a little.  

It may be at its best aged in the 16 to 18 year range, or at least relatively already peaked then, perhaps better yet at 25 to 30 years old, but also not so different.  If this had spent more time in Bangkok it might be more fermented (transitioned) now, but to be clear I don't know where it stayed.  It doesn't seem like it started as a very challenging version, so maybe not completely unlike the ones I drink now, or it would still have more for rough edges, beyond a bit of extra dryness.  The North is still tropical but not as consistently hot and humid as here; not even close.

Both were pleasant and interesting to try.  Both are much appreciated; it's nice having a local friend who shares teas like these.

another small shop in Bangkok, off Soi 6 in Yaowarat (Chinatown), not related to this post

the market alley it's in

2021 Myanmar old tree sheng "pu'er-like tea"

 

I recently wrote about a Thai forest tea tree reclamation development project, although that's just one possible way of framing that.  Those trees are "wild," growing untended (with more on that here, or more pictures in a FB group post), but per my understanding they were probably brought there and intentionally grown at an earlier point, so they could be seen as "feral" now.  This post is about tea from another country and context anyway (from Myanmar, although maybe the origin conditions are similar), passed on with that Thai white tea by that contact who shared it, Leo Shevchenko.

I'll skip saying more about the origin, in part because I don't know more.  I'm not sure if it will relate to that forest growth development project to sell Myanmar tea versions too, or if he just had this, and was sharing it because it's interesting.  It's much appreciated either way; sheng versions from Myanmar are interesting to me, and the others I've tried were all uniformly positive, either good or really good.  I just looked back through what a search turns up in this blog for past posts and three past versions, reviewed between 2016 and 2020, were all distinctive and pleasant (and not more bitter than average, which comes up as a factor in this review).

There is basically a civil war still going on in Myanmar, per my understanding, but I'm not clear on the details.  My deepest sympathy goes out to the people there, and in Ukraine, and wherever else conflicts are impacting people's lives.  The world should be better than this.

I always say that I never weigh tea, and for once I made an exception, since there is scale in the kitchen, that my wife bought for cooking.  This is probably 10 grams of tea, prepared in a 100 ml gaiwan, so a really high proportion.  Using 8 might be more normal for me; it looks like I went a little heavier than usual.  I say "probably" because I washed the cup and gaiwan, restoring their color back to the original color tone after repeated use, and I think a gram of water might've ended up being weighed too, and it really showed 11.  

This will mostly fill the gaiwan when leaves are wetted, which isn't a mistake, that's generally how I prepare the tea (maybe using slightly less, but still roughly this).  I've just read a comment about how someone else thought a very high proportion negatively affects the aspect balance, not giving the tea time to soak due to the fast infusion times that result from using such a high proportion.  Maybe; it's not as if I feel that I'm dialed in on optimums.  It seems suitable and positive to me, and the general approach is developed habit.  For some sheng styles it works well, pushing the limit for proportion, and for others not so much, so we'll see.

Review:

Rinse:  it seems strange starting here, but why not.  Sweetness already stands out in a fast rinse, a step used to really throw that liquid away (which I see as probably unnecessary, but still conventional, perhaps tied to getting the leaves to unfurl, or to early fermentation by-products including toxins).  Mineral already stands out, and maybe even a faint hint of smoke.  The label did include that the tea was hand-made, using wood fire, an unconventional processing detail inclusion, but also a nice image.

First infusion:  bitterness really kicks in, and it probably will escalate one level higher next round.  It's fine though, not the overpowering version or level present in some sheng.  It makes it hard to pick up the rest, for the proportion of that flavor aspect being so dominant.  Mineral is definitely adding a nice base, and sweetness adds balance.  Other flavor might be mostly floral range, and a bit of vegetal range might enter in as it develops.  I think there is warm tone included too, along the line of aromatic cedar or spice, but it will be easier to label in two more infusions once early bitterness and astringency develop then even out just a bit.

Of course I'm brewing this relatively quickly, with this infusion pretty strong for it brewing for around 10 seconds.  At this proportion, for a tea of this character, it will work best to brew the first half dozen rounds at or well under 10 seconds.  Is that a problem; would it be better with 5 or 6 grams in this gaiwan, using 15 second times?  I should check that by trying it again, but I won't mention it in this post if I do, most likely.  It's only practical to write review posts based on one tasting, otherwise it relates to merging two sets of notes, and then an inclination to taste a tea a third time to see if variation came from differences in me, or related to slight approach differences.  Reviews are an impression and interpretation of a tea, not an objective, final description.  Really that's true of my reviews and also others', regardless of approach.

Second infusion:  much faster, only a 5 second infusion this time.  For how intense this is backing off proportion probably would be better, enabling dialing in infusion strength more.  For me that's only usually true of bitter and especially intense versions of sheng, which definitely come up.  One of the first Thai shengs I ever tried was a maocha that was a lot like this, so many years ago my interpretation baseline makes direct comparison impossible, which I tried prior to starting this blog 8 years ago.  For a milder tone Laos "wild origin" sheng that I tried last year this proportion would make more sense, pushing the tea to experience maximum intensity.

It's good.  Bitterness is balanced by honey sweetness now, and warmer tones are picking up.  On the deeper range it could be aromatic wood (cedar) or a non-distinct spice, but floral tones also seem to include fruit range that could seem warm, grapefruit or dried orange peel.  It's mostly floral though, and one could easily interpret some of the bitterness bite as coupling with a vegetal range, a tree bud tip or flower stem, or something along that line.  Actual foods like that don't come to mind; maybe my grandparents ate some bitter greens that were closer, but I can't refer back to foods I would avoid eating as a child as a reference.

Third infusion:  it's odd I've not been mentioning smoke; they seemed to be able to limit smoke contact with the tea material, which isn't how that always goes.  A little smoke can be fine, or a variation of that flavor aspect can seem to occur naturally, perhaps not from actual smoke contact, but I'm not noticing either in this.

Richness of feel picks up a lot in this round, and the extra depth in flavor experience is mirrored over to aftertaste more.  Bitterness still dominates the other aspects, as I suppose it will throughout the entire cycle.  That can be great if someone loves that experience, or it's a good sign related to intense range that can transition well through long aging.  I'm ok with it, but I suppose I like the sweeter and less bitter sheng range more. Those parts I already described balance well, and it's hard to describe how balance and depth make this a different experience than last round, based on roughly the same aspects.  I'll add more tied to a list or attempt at describing those "emergent property" sets of aspects next round.

Fourth infusion:  it seems like a fruit tone is definitely ramping up in this, edging into an already complex profile, that includes dominant bitterness, pronounced mineral base tones (which themselves cover a range, warm and also lighter), aromatic wood (alternatively interpreted as a spice tone), and plenty of floral range.  Richness of feel might have increased just a little too, but it was already rich last round. The one drawback of this tea experience is comparison with how much potential it seems to show, even for moderate aging changes, related to what it might be like in two more years.  That bitterness isn't going anywhere, at least not soon, but it moderating and allowing warmer and more complex range to develop could make this tea exceptional.  

Fifth infusion:  I don't mention the subject of hui gan much here, what sometimes gets translated as "returning sweetness," the effect of bitterness drawing out the experience of sweetness after you swallow a tea, related to aftertaste effect, seemingly combined with a throat or rear mouth feel.  If you drink water between rounds when experiencing a tea like this, as I just did, that causes a taste sensation of sweetness.  It's an interesting and pleasant effect, and it also clears your palate so the bitterness doesn't seem oppressive.  For me having mild food with a tea like this might make sense too, really limiting the build-up of experience of intensity, I just don't eat while I review teas.  Something like a neutral rice cake would really tone down that intensity level, which of course wouldn't be more positive for everyone.

The tea seems better balanced, maybe in part from giving my sense of taste a short break.  It's progressively warming in tone, so what I was saying was at the edge of vegetal range, offset by lesser inclusion of warm mineral, wood, or spice, is now shifted to that warm range being much more dominant.  To what extent that includes any fruit seems linked as much to imagination as actual experience; it could just be additional warming floral tones causing that effect.

Sixth infusion:  maybe as well to take a round off writing, to avoid this wall of text build-up.  Floral tone seems a little stronger, into more of a perfume-like range.

Seventh infusion:  it's not just palate fatigue that's going to be an issue; this is a lot of tea to keep going.  People discuss cha qi effect, which is surely a real thing, but let's just consider caffeine.  Typical tea versions contain 25 to 35 mg / dry tea gram, and this may well be on the higher side.  Even if it only contains 30, and even if the first 7 infusion only extracts two thirds of that, 10 grams of tea would've dosed me with 200 mg already, two cups of coffee worth.  With a heavy breakfast two cups of coffee, or a strong brewed large mug, isn't that noticeable, but I just had two sticky rice and banana (things?) for breakfast.  I'm at a loss for a category; it's this, khao tom mad:

I asked my son what that means, and through checking Google Translate it's "bundled boiled rice," which is hard to determine without typing that in Thai text to find out.  That's an obvious reference to the banana leaf wrapping enabling roasting of the mixture to cook the banana.  The beans should be black beans, as shown, and the linked recipe gets that part wrong.  I was living on those visiting Laos back when I was a vegetarian, happy to find such a filling, pleasant, and convenient breakfast food.

Back to the tea, warm tones might have evolved, a little.

Eighth infusion:  mineral range is more dominant now, even leveling up to on par with the bitterness, which has seemed to change to a deeper level experience, integrated with the rest differently.  This tea would probably be pretty good in 15 years, but I think it would change in interesting and positive ways in just 2 or 3.  It's fine now, if someone is ok with unusual bitterness and flavor intensity.  I've not been discussing feel so much; general richness stands out more than the structure that might also common pair with this flavor range.  It's not that it lacks pronounced feel structure though, it's that flavor intensity throws off me describing that, since it stands out so much more.

I'll let this go, and try a few more rounds I won't write notes for later.  For sure this can brew another half dozen positive rounds, and it probably won't be spent then.  [later edit]:  it brewed a lot more positive rounds, maybe another 8, not fading on a normal cycle time-frame, and still pleasant after it did finally lose some intensity.

Conclusions:

At one point I thought all Myanmar sheng was quite bitter, related to the first versions I tried being like that, but later I encountered a range of different flavor profiles.  This one was definitely bitter.

It's more typical for wild-origin material to be flavorful, sweet, complex, and somewhat mild in character, but of course it varies.  A purple leaf type I recently reviewed (aged, so hard to say what it had been like as one year old tea) was sweet, fruity, and sour.  Of course I think that plant genetics must be a main cause of drastic variations in character, with growing conditions and processing other main causes.  I just can't make guesses more specific, to map aspects to likely causes within one of those ranges.

It would be nice to try this a couple times at lower proportion, and then set the rest aside for a year to see how it changes (Leo shared enough to try a good number of times, not a small sample).  I think people who really value bitterness in young sheng would love this now though, since it was clean, complex, well-balanced, and transitioned in interesting and positive ways across infusions.  Intensity was definitely pronounced.

I tried two inexpensive factory tea versions after this, a Xiaguan and Dayi Jia Ji from 2010 and 2015, both pressed in tuocha shape, and finished editing and posting in the opposite order, that one first.  As anyone familiar with these type ranges would expect this Myanmar version was more or less objectively better, although pronounced bitterness would determine match to personal preference.  Those teas were bitter and astringent, especially the 2015 Dayi version, just not nearly as bitter as this one.  This Myanmar version was brighter, fresher, more intense, and cleaner in effect, good tea, after setting aside bitterness level as either desirable or undesirable.  That one aspect won't exactly fade fast, but it will reduce and fall into a different kind of balance with the rest long before this tea is fully aged, in another 12 to 15 years.

Myanmar sheng "pu'er-like-tea" gushu from Alex Phanganovich

 

I met a nice Russian guy recently at the Monsoon biodiversity study themed talk at a local Monsoon Tea shop.  Not Alexey Reshchikov, I don't mean, that researcher who presented there, although he definitely fits that description too.  There is a post in the works about that event, and forest biodiversity research.  Since that outing Alex and I met again at my favorite local tea shop, Jip Eu, and swapped some teas, and again between this tasting and the final post edit.  I'll try some of a tea that he passed on now, a Myanmar origin gushu sheng (which isn't pu'er, but it's made from the same plants in the same way, just one country over).

The gushu theme brings up some associations.  Of course it means old tea tree, and as I recall from back when I tried to pin down terminology more the age cut-off for the type can vary (normal usage; there probably is one clear convention).  Alex didn't play up the "wild" origin claims related to this, but if a tree really is over 100 years old it tends to not be growing in a plantation context.

There was a time when I thought I could identify aspects that were common to old-plant source sheng, more so than now.  The problem is that there are so many inputs related to final sheng character:  age of tree plant (it would make a difference), plant type, growing conditions (rainfall, soil related, sun exposure, etc.), and of course processing makes a lot of difference.  Storage changes a lot, even within a few months, but to a limited extent you can sort of "look back" to where any given aspects set probably started.  With that many variables it would be easy to get parts of it wrong, related to guessing out all causation, why a version is like it is.

I had thought that gushu sheng tended to be more intense in a limited sense, with more mineral undertone, often not quite as astringent, and potentially even slightly mild in flavor, again in a limited sense.  I thought that mouthfeel and aftertaste varied in characteristic ways, but then again the inputs all kind of mix.  I don't "get" feel effect, cha qi, enough to have ever been clear on that part.  The "wild plant" genetics issue complicates things, and variations in processing styles also do.  And trying teas presented as gushu that aren't really from old plants could throw things off; you can't identify clear patterns if your basic data set is corrupted.  

Now I tend to just not overthink things, going with whatever the experience is.  It helps in this case that I can't spend $1 / gram on teas I drink, so the subject comes up less frequently, and I don't have as much "skin in the game" as I might.

This is an odd case for me having tried this tea before, that day in the shop.  My reviews tend to never work out that way.  It's not because I think the more blind tasting is somehow better, although there are pros and cons to that, as there are to comparisons versus single tastings.  It's just how it seems to go.  If I buy a cake of something I could just as easily taste it a half dozen times before reviewing it, I just don't.  For samples there often is only two tries to work with.

This tea starts out really bitter, then that eases up after a few infusions, and really keeps mellowing out beyond that.  At one time I thought Myanmar sheng was like that in general, but I've since tried versions that aren't.  I think it relates to a plant type input difference, as with Lao Man E, but I don't know that.  Maybe I was more interesting to hear out when I thought I had more answers.  On with the re-tasting then.

Review:

First infusion:  brewed quite light, but still very bitter.  That's just getting ramped up too; the next round will probably be much more bitter.  I've made my peace with sheng versions being bitter but on the extreme side of that I don't like them as much.  The intensity and overall character is pleasant, beyond the bitterness, if that's not seen as an issue.  Related sweetness is nice, and flavors are clean, and overall balance is good.  I will surely like the range of effect after the third or fourth infusion better, once that intense bitterness plays through.  It's odd how it dropped out in this, the degree to which it did, in that earlier tasting session.  It's normal for some sheng to "loosen up" and be more approachable after 3 or 4 rounds but not so much for them to completely change character.  Transitioning a lot can come up though.

Maybe "bitter" is too vague; it comes in both degrees and types.  This isn't nearly as strong as I expect next round will be, but the actual taste is like biting into the flower from a dandelion.  Not as medicinal as taking an aspirin, but as pronounced in sharpness of the effect, just a little more vegetal.

Second infusion:  intensity picked up.  I went just over 5 seconds for brewing time, not short at all related to expected outcome, but I want to keep this part of the cycle moving.  It's actually slightly better for other range picking up, even though the bitterness did too.  Some vague warm tones increased, mineral range, and beyond that.  I suppose a warmer floral tone is the best description for that, with the sweetness of the dandelion (one other part of the floral experience) being joined by warmer toned floral.  This still needs two more infusions to be where I'll actually like the flavor.

This is a good place to re-visit how some people wouldn't focus on flavor at all, more on the body effect, or at least valuing mouth-feel and aftertaste a lot, the overall experience.  It might be possible for me to change lifestyle and become more in tune with the drug-like effect of teas.  Sitting at a desk for a work-week seems to not help, the mental sluggishness that goes with that form of unnatural experience, and the effect on your body that pairs with it.  I exercise a little to offset that, running, mostly, and had been doing yoga, but my instructor is back in India for now.  Meditation would probably help.  During the pandemic I had been meditating for 20 minutes most days, a fruit of recovered time from my commute dropping out.  Maybe I felt a little clearer then.  

Yesterday I went through an odd experience that is dropping my energy level a little this morning.  There are political protests in Bangkok now, related to people claiming that the last election wasn't fair.  The military oriented government just shut down the train system yesterday, during the Friday rush hour, to prevent access to those protests.  I walked 8 to 10 km through crowded streets and rain to get home (5 to 6 miles, for Americans).  I'm feeling it.  

Ordinarily grabbing a taxi would make sense, and it probably was possible to walk a mile or two directly away from the disruption, and then take an indirect route home, but I'd planned for my wife to pick me up in the middle, and complete gridlock extended to that area too.  Bad traffic is normal here but it was strange seeing block after block of cars just parked,  for miles.  The government had shut down some subway access too, and local bus service, intentionally crashing the public transit infrastructure; not so nice of them.  Luckily I like to walk.  This will just delay a run I would've probably did today.

it did take about that long

Third infusion:  coming together nicely; the next round will probably be more where I enjoy the aspects.  This is brewed for about 5 seconds, fast enough to be light, but even shorter would work at this proportion.  It's just a matter of habit to always brew the same tea proportion (a high one), but I could vary that.

It gains a little more depth, with that bitterness softening and integrating.  It doesn't have a strong floral punch, or a lot of sweetness, or intense flavor beyond those ranges, but that's not so unusual.  It could be gushu, or maybe it's not; I don't think I'd know.  Aftertaste intensity isn't really what I would expect for that.  Bitterness trails on after you swallow it but the general effect is a bit light.  Mineral depth is notable but it could ramp up more than this.  Really judging how the bitterness ties to the rest is what evaluating this tea is about, and quite-bitter sheng isn't my thing.  Personal preference isn't a necessary condition for evaluating a tea but it doesn't hurt if it works out to use that as a yardstick.

Fourth infusion:  this is more in a range I like, with the rest ramping up while bitterness drops off.  Probably one more round will be even better, with that transition that much further.  This includes warm mineral and floral range, along with bitterness, but the balance is still tipped towards that one aspect.  It's nice how much depth joins that, and overall intensity, and how clean the overall effect is.  It picks up a richer, "rounder" feel.  Aftertaste gains more duration and intensity, and it's less of just that one note coming across.  I'll break down next round to more of a list, given how I'm saying the transition stands.

Fifth infusion:  just as the tea is getting to where I like it more I'm losing attention span for making notes.  It still lacks some of the range that makes sheng really work well for me, the sweetness, floral and fruit complexity, hints of spice and such making flavors interesting, rich creamy feel adding depth, etc.  It's pretty good tea, it seems, but much better if someone is ok with bitterness playing a dominant role in the experience.  Which I don't love.  It's more balanced now, more complex, so there is more to appreciate, but mineral and very mild floral tone fills in along with the bitterness.  A neutral sort of fresh cut wood vegetal range adds more beyond that, but it's mostly the experience of depth, not so much that being positive, or leading to a great overall balance.

I think this does contribute a bit more heady feel than I usually pick up.  I eat along with teas in order to cut that range back, because I'm not into drinking tea as a drug-like experience, but I get it that many people tend to be.  My life's ordinary mental or physiological experience balance is fine, so I don't crave shifts in it.  If I want to relax I just relax; if I want to feel excitement or energy I do something exciting.  My kids are all about being on that latter page; I could go chase one of them around.

That reminds me of a funny micro-game my daughter has taken up playing.  She's on the agile side, a natural dancer, and has long since loved games where she just vanishes and hides.  Her latest twist is that she hides right behind me, out of my field of vision.  It sounds like it wouldn't work, and it doesn't when you know it's coming, but if I'm not thinking of it then it can, and she can mirror my movements.  I can't tap into quite that level of ongoing spirit of play, but it's literally going on around me all the time, so I can, through them.  For this moment zoning out seems nice, recovering from the long march home, and enjoying the ever-present monsoon rain.  I should probably be drinking a black tea.

yesterday's game was rolling them up in blankets like a burrito

Sixth infusion:  the best it has been, per my preference; I think it will level off for a few infusions like that.  The bitterness has eased up substantially, and that cut-wood tone is giving way to more mild but light floral range.  The balance works better.  I'm still done with taking notes, tired of writing.  You can imagine how I'd enjoy these next few rounds even more, and then stretch it out for a few more after that.  

It's good tea.  It's not a perfect match for my preference, and doesn't strike me as really high quality tea, the kind of version that really stands out, but it might be gushu, and it definitely has good intensity, clean character, and balance.  

Pairing that much bitterness with no traces of negative flavor or other range isn't a given; just a touch of off mineral or fungus would ruin this effect, or the wrong kind of smoke input would.  A little more sweetness would also improve it by the same amount; it is what it is.  To be clear I think my personal preference for type limits this more than the general quality level.

Conclusions:

Trying a different Myanmar sheng helped place this, a version from Chawang Shop that I reviewed awhile back.  Glancing through that review I think I like it a lot more now; it might've needed more time to settle after shipping in April, or maybe it just developed a bit for ramping up to this humidity level.  The short story is that it wasn't overly bitter; it balanced sweetness and floral tone, and overall flavor complexity and moderately full feel with a bit of bitterness.  At the same time the range it covered was also a bit limited, and all of those positives were only relative; it was good but not great. 

I'm not sure which tea was better in terms of some objective quality level.  Thickness of feel and aftertaste can serve as markers for identifying that kind of thing, or overall intensity, and sometimes a strong base mineral tone is present in gushu versions.  

That one bitterness note being so dominant in Alex's version made it hard to really appreciate the rest as much.  In those later rounds, even past the ones I made notes for, some creamy feel and a touch of lemon flavor stood out a little more.  Positive later-round infusions are a good sign, and it's more to enjoy.  It does kind of work to keep track of how many rounds a sheng brews, that are positive in character, and use that as a quality marker, but me not paying much attention or making notes for late rounds throws that off.

It doesn't seem like this ends with tidy conclusions; the teas were what they were.  Myanmar sheng is usually pretty good, relatively speaking, and these count as that.  This Kokang version also works as an example, which I didn't get around to mentioning here.  There is really positive other range, or greater depth and refinement, that the best Yunnan versions can exhibit, but that doesn't detract from how pleasant these two teas were.

Alex will move to the Chiang Rai area soon; stories about tea harvests and such should turn up as a result.  If you have leads for what to check out there pass those on and I'll let him know.  This blog doesn't have a "contact" section but the related Facebook page would work for that.

visiting with Alex at swim class; that avoids cutting a tasting short to go there

he met Kalani there; that doesn't come up too often

2016 Myanmar Jingdong Xiao sheng

label is white, except for this sticker

I just wrote a post with lots of rambling on about tea settling after shipping, and later transitions, so I want to keep this short.  I'll drink it a bit soon too but won't say much about that.  This won't cover anything about relative value either; as well to just talk about the tea experience.

It's a "2016 Myanmar Jingdong Xiao Bing Cha 200g."  I was really ordering black tea from Chawang Shop to pass on to my niece at a wedding (which of course I'm now not attending, and may be delayed), and I only picked up two sheng cakes from them (or 3 really; two of this version).  I bought her sheng, but from another vendor, Tea Mania.


Straight to their description then, Chawang Shop's:


The raw materials of this cake came from Jingdong, Myanmar, just west of the Xishuangbanna. The tea is not expensive but does not come by easily. Nowadays border tea is very popular on the market, Myanmar tea is very good to be used for blending. There is a particular recipe for "Lao Ban Zhang" is blend Myanmar tea with Naka and Lao Man E. 

It tastes a little bitter with rich aroma of mountain flowers. Mellowness with a pleasant finish, no astringent.


This tea is made by Mingshan tea house.



Back to that "border tea" subject.  I'm still not going there though, I won't be drawn into repeating that discussion here, since I just went through all that in a recent post.

Review

First infusion:  a bit light, more about getting the tea to open up.  Very promising!  The tea is sweet and floral, bright, with good intensity, thickness, complexity, and depth.  And all that from a lightly brewed version, barely started.  Bitterness is present but moderate; this is a 4 year old tea, even if relatively dry storage will have slowed the transition pace.  Next round will work better for a flavor list and the rest.

Second infusion:  Bitterness did crank up a bit; this is more what I would have expected.  The overall balance is still really nice, and I'd expect after two more rounds and settling of initial transitions this will be even better.  Floral stands out, a nice, bright version of that (wildflower?; it seems a bit light in tone for orchid).  Mineral depth balances that well at the "other" side, a light mineral character, limestone or lighter granite.  Sweetness is good; that seems to link with the floral character, or maybe that's added in interpretation.  The degree of fullness and roundness fills in the experience; it's not at all thin.  

All the same this doesn't cover the same kind of scope of aspects that blends tend to; it hits a nice range of some positive notes fairly hard and there isn't other range beyond that.  I could see why this would work well in a blend, to support other teas missing some of those aspects.  

It's interesting how different this is than the other sheng I just bought from them.  That was made from a mix of inputs, from two different years, from 2006 and 2007 (so much more aged), a standard factory tea, a Jinggu Bailong.  It wass subtle, more so for me not letting it rest long enough after shipping yet (which I'll get to).  The same is true for this; it will pick up a little depth and intensity over the next two weeks.  It has probably been in Bangkok for over a week but time spend in local processing and sitting at a desk in my office doesn't count (I'm working from home, so a rare trip in let me pick it up).

Third infusion:  not so different, but mineral seems to still be increasing.  It's expanding to link up with other range, or maybe it's just really complex mineral.  The level of bitterness is pronounced but balanced.  Without that sweetness and floral flavor intensity it wouldn't be as nice, but with them it works.  The mineral isn't directly related, as I interpret the experience, but it adds depth, along with pleasant length aftertaste reasonable thickness of feel (which is structured in an unusual way, to be fair, full and rich but also with a touch of dryness).

It's as well that I bought two cakes of this.  I think this is at a great place now to drink straight through it, after another 2-4 weeks to settle more.  Then it will be interesting trying it once or twice a year, and drinking it later as an aged tea.  I'd expect this would be fine in another dozen years, and it would be interesting to see if that guess is right.  This tea is ten times more drinkable than the 2006 Kokang version from them, to be clear.  That tea has great intensity for being very pleasant in another decade but it seems between the relatively dry storage and very high compression it's taking a long time to age transition, to ferment.  I retasted that since making these notes, and cover at the end how it changed in the last year.

I don't tend to talk about color much but it's pale yellow-gold.  It's what I'd expect from dry-stored, 4 year old sheng.  This would probably be darker if it had spent 2 years here instead of 4 years where it did, and flavor range would shift to deeper, warmer, heavier tones, less bright and fresh.  If it had range that needed to transition to be more positive, as slightly harsher teas tend to, that speeded up fermentation would make more difference than it does for this.  To me it's fine.  For some bitterness would be a bit much still, but this is moderate as younger sheng goes (teas in the general range of 1 to 2 years old, stored in a more humid environment; this isn't really showing the typical amount of transition in character for a 4 year old tea yet).

Fourth infusion:  that mineral gaining depth has shifted to come across as including a spice tone now.  As I expected the balance is much nicer, really evened out, with flavor picking up more range, and feel settling to be broader and smoother as well.  It's still only hitting a limited set of aspect notes across a broad range, as flavor goes, but I like that effect.

Fifth infusion:  not so different than last round, but a gradual, continuing transition cycle is nice.  To me there is nothing negative about this tea; all the aspects balance well.  For anyone who doesn't like sheng the bitterness would still be too much but for younger range sheng versions it's quite moderate, and well-integrated.  That feel is nice, smooth and full with some structure, and aftertaste duration keeps increasing round by round.  It's still only noticeable a few minutes later, not the kind of experience where the taste is stronger after you swallow it, and not diminished that much minutes later.  Floral tone is probably just a little deeper, warmer, and richer, shifted a little towards lavender from the original wildflower.


Sixth infusion:  there isn't enough transition to say much more about; this might be a good place to only ramble for a round.  It's interesting how the tea yesterday (an aged, more blended, small commercial factory sheng) was lots less intense, at the opposite side of the scale, related to that and character.  I think that would work well for a daily drinker, as a tea to not pay as much attention to, but this might be a bit much for when you just want a tea with breakfast.  

I re-tried a 2015 Dayi (Tae Tea) Jia Ji tuocha a few days ago that might help place that idea.  It was good, softening and gaining depth to a pleasant and drinkable range.  It's still just as intense as this tea (the Dayi), maybe with a touch more rough edge, but more complexity for being a blend, and one that started out a bit harsh and softened to where it is now.  These share some scope (sweetness, mineral depth--but both are more pronounced in this) but this tea is more specific.


Seventh infusion:  I could swear a bit of berry sweetness is picking up in this; just crazy.  It's closest to dried blueberry.  That original bright floral range had been shifting to deeper floral tone, and it just kept going.  The warm and complex mineral had edged towards a spice tone but leveled back off as just being complex, and stayed more an underlying theme.  To be clear this isn't covering a lot of flavor scope, these are still a limited set of pronounced notes, but they're across a broad range, and the taste does keep shifting.  Feel and aftertaste range stopped transitioning as much; those are still where they were two rounds ago.


Eighth infusion:  right about now my patience for reviewing usually wears thin.  If there was a little less chaos in the house I'd be taking less breaks to settle a dispute over who plays with what matchbox car (not something I care about, but they seem to have strong opinions), or to see how many pull-ups the kids can do.  Then it would be easier to focus and meditate and bang this review process out in an hour.  

I think I went a little faster on that round; this is lighter.  I'm brewing these for just under 10 seconds, not for long, and it makes a lot of difference if that's down towards 5 or just over 10.  Intensity is still good lighter and the relative effect of bitterness drops.  It already had dropped a lot from the level of the first 3 to 4 rounds, as tends to happen, but it's easy to shift the relative effect using a shorter brewing time.  That trace of dried blueberry is still present; it's cool.  

I'll "push" the tea for a 15 second infusion time next round to see how that changes things.


Ninth infusion:  it changes a good bit; it's hard to summarize what though.  Feel is thicker, the moderate bitterness plays a stronger role in what comes across, and aftertaste ramps up.  I taste the mineral more than the now-diminished floral range, and the light dried blueberry gets lost in all that.  It's not really "too strong" brewed for 15 seconds but for me right around 10 might still be an optimum.  I'd expect that to change soon; it's nearing where slightly longer infusion times are necessary, not 30 seconds or anything like that, but bumped to 15 to get to the same intensity level.


10th infusion:  I think that's enough caffeine.  I tend to not talk about "cha qi" but of course I'm feeling this.  It's a nice heady buzz, with a bit of body dimension to even it out.  It's a clean and light feel, for the most part, but since I'm living feeling hazy that carries over.  Working from home has somehow bumped my workload and level of restriction a little.  At work if I'm there I'm doing the role, even over in the break-room, but at home somehow it seems I should be sitting right at that screen all the time.


11th:  crazy how this isn't thinning a bit; if anything it's better than it was for the first 5 rounds, for that shift in character.  An 11 year old, who isn't really supposed to be drinking tea, split this round with me, so the issue of too much tea exposure was cut in half.  I'll still probably throw in the towel after the next round.


12th:  it probably is losing just a touch of intensity; I'm now brewing it for around that 15 seconds to get the same infusion strength.  Mineral that had evolved to touch on spice is just starting to stretch out to seem a bit more like cured hardwood tone.  It's not finished but I'd expect that trend to become less positive over the next 4 rounds or so.  After another hour or so I could drink more to check but that's enough for now.


Conclusions


I tried this for another 4 rounds during an online tasting with friends in India and Germany, Suzana and Ralph.  For the first couple it was a good bit thinner than the first 12 but still fine, and for the last two it was getting stretched a bit too thin.  The character never really became unpleasant in any way, it just faded away.

A high infusion count like that tends to relate to using a high proportion as much as anything else, and short infusion times along with it.  Better tea will brew to be more intense, and will often stay more positive across late rounds, and hold up better for intensity (in addition to aspect range), but more than that just using more tea makes a difference.

It's interesting that the intensity issue that caused the last tea I reviewed to be subtle didn't repeat (maybe because it didn't rest long enough after storage, more likely more caused by where it is in fermentation transition, and relating to it fading with age).  This tea might fill in a bit more depth within the next month, but it had a lot going on, good complexity and positive character.


I re-tasted the 2006 Kokang Myanmar sheng over the weekend too, based on talking to someone about that tea online recently.  It's much more aged (transitioned, fermented) but it's not ready yet.  It's a lot more compressed, intense in character, and still slightly harsher, probably in part due to using more chopped material.  It's a bit like a Xiaguan version, as aspect range and intensity goes.  14 years old would typically be getting there for fermenting a good bit but again the dry storage slowed that, along with the really tight compression.  

I didn't take a photo; a before and after from a year back would be interesting.  It really needs a couple more years, where this version I just reviewed is fine now for drinking better as a younger version.

it's darker than this now, easier to see in broken off chunks and brewed leaves

that tea brewed one year ago; I'll have to do an update post at some point