Tea Side 2021 "Chocolate Noir" small batch shu pu'er

 

I've written about Tea Side small batch shu / shou pu'er before.  It was exceptional.  Valerie of Tea Side recently mentioned finding some of an old batch that is also exceptional.  "Old" here means 4 years old; that's always relative.  A year or two is plenty to air out most shu, to get most of the fermentation effects to settle.  In some cases longer might make a positive difference.  Four years is definitely suitable.

The backstory:  Tea Side experimented with making small-batch, basket fermented shu some years ago.  Typical shu processing involves wet-piling a lot of tea, maybe tons, in a large room environment.  Small batch shu isn't unheard of; they definitely didn't invent that theme.  In theory it can produce very novel results, where larger batch processing is oriented towards achieving a standardized positive result.

I considered tasting this in comparison with another exceptional shu version, which might have shed more light on it, but to save time and keep this simple I won't.  Maybe I can refer to the other range of shu I've tried from memory.  I've reviewed a couple of very exceptional versions this year, one from Vietnam (really an anomaly), and another a great version from Farmerleaf, of course a Yunnan pu'er.  

[Later edit:  this was distinctive enough that comparing it to other versions or making general quality level assessments didn't seem so relevant, so I didn't].

Review:

1:  yep, there is dark chocolate.  Impressions and interpretations can vary, so maybe someone could make it through a whole tasting without placing that, but when you expect that it stands out quite a bit.  This is roughly as good as shu tends to get, sweet, complex, and balanced.  It will pick up intensity on the second round, once it's fully wetted, but it's already good.  Of course there is a pronounced mineral layer beneath the dark chocolate / cacao.  I'll save the rest of the breakdown for next round.

Sometimes I don't mention parameters, but I might as well.  Of course I've not measured an amount, but this looks to be 7 or so grams to me, a good bit, but not maxed out for a 100 ml gaiwan.  Water is hot, but not full boiling point, since I'm using a filtered version that is heated by a hot water dispenser, which wouldn't quite make it to that temperature.  Transferring it through a thermos would drop out a little more heat.  I brewed that for 15 seconds or so, and this next round a little longer, although shorter would also work. 

2:  Marshmallow really ramps up in this.  I've encountered that a half dozen or so times in trying teas, and it's pretty much always really pleasant, as nice an herbal input as one generally encounters.  To me this tastes more like marshmallow than cacao / chocolate at this point, but both are there.  I've included some background on the plant input that marshmallow is copying, or originally included, which is exactly what you'd expect, the root of a plant that grows in marshes used to make a candy version similar to but different from our modern marshmallow form.  If memory serves it was used more as a thickener than for the taste, but both could be pleasant together.

The flavor list seems a bit short, even though this comes across as complex.  It includes marshmallow, cacao, and limited dark-toned mineral.  Some of those warm tones resemble a really light roasted coffee.  Of course it's not bitter, astringent, or harsh in any way, instead smooth and rich.  Sweetness level is nice; the rest combines better for that being present.

3:  I'm brewing this a bit faster, around 15 seconds, mostly to experience variation, if that comes up.  One thing I might've already mentioned is that there is a particular sweetness and flavor to clumps of tea that form in the wet-piling process, called cha tou, or tea heads, and this resembles that particular sweetness and flavor.  For people who haven't tried that it wouldn't necessarily be informative, but if you like shu it should make your list of things to get to.  

There isn't that much variation in shu to try, so I'll list out what I see as other types or themes here.  Small-batch versions can be different, like this one.  High buds content versions taste different, and can be pleasant, sometimes referred to as Gong Ting grade, or imperial or palace grade.  Aged lower fermentation level shu is another type that is valued, often sold as CNNP / Zhongcha versions from the late 90s or early 2000s, usually as bricks instead of cakes.  There are lots of claims about gushu shu, or versions made from desirable material locations, even up to range like Bing Dao, but those claims can be hard to place.  One might try something offered as from a decent Jing Mai source, and let the more exotic range go, since it could be fake more often than real.

This round is slightly less intense for being brewed faster but it's still quite intense.  Aftertaste expression actually increases, for whatever reason, and it might seem a little sweeter.  Thickness of feel and complexity drop a little, brewed less strong.  Flavor range doesn't vary so much; only the balance or proportions of the prior list shift.  Marshmallow is really strong, but that was probably true last round too.

There may be one type-typical description of the cha tou / tea clumps / tea heads standard flavor that I'm missing, a different way to place that.  It's so bright, sweet, and complex that it leans a little towards tangerine flavor, but it's definitely not that.  Like vanilla?  That seems to work better.

4:  Not so different, but a bit more intense and complex.  Since I'm describing this as tasting like cacao and marshmallow one might wonder if it tastes like a s'more.  It does.  I don't think much of the graham cracker carries over, but that's probably still open to interpretation.  

This is already about as much as I'm going to interpret, without trying another half dozen rounds to explain later stage transitions, which would occur.  This already covers the basic, early infusions, main flavors.  Earthy range will probably pick up as this needs to be stretched a bit more to get the same intensity.  Brighter, lighter cacao and marshmallow should keep fading, but probably not that much over the next 3 or 4 rounds, only in the later stage.

As for conclusions, it's pretty good.  The way they describe it works; it's distinctive, complex, pleasant, and exceptional.  It's as good as shu gets.  Related to value or fair cost range people would have to place that for themselves; options and pricing ranges vary from different kinds of vendors.  

It's hard for me to relate to the very highest quality and most distinctive style range of shu, or for that matter for any tea type.  Different versions out there, of different types, sell for $1 a gram or more, but typical shu range is at the opposite extreme, or more in the middle for the best versions.  It's interesting checking Tea Side's listing and seeing where it falls, and how they describe it:

2021 “Chocolate Noir II: A Long-Forgotten Stash” Craft Ripe Pu-erh Tea ($22 for 50 grams)

This shou pu-erh I crafted from old Thai trees, averaging around 300 years in age—the very same material I always used for "Raspberry Pine." The fermentation was completed on December 5, 2021. And the tea then went off into aging to develop the right, well-rounded profile.

Over the following year, I checked in on it regularly, but wasn’t quite happy with the flavor. So I shelved the box higher up in our warehouse and, honestly, forgot about it. After 3.5 years of storage, it resurfaced during an inventory check—and now, I’m completely satisfied with the profile.

This tea unfolds gradually, requiring water as hot as you can get it, and a generous steeping time. We didn’t separate tea heads from loose leaves: the leaves infuse fast, while the heads maintain excellent steeping durability.

The dry aroma is classic—slightly salty, woody. Once rinsed, the scent transforms into soft, sweet woodiness, with notes of chocolate and raspberry jam.

The flavor profile is smooth, dense, and even: teak wood, a solid chocolate body, and a pleasant coffee-like bitterness finishing each sip.

This shou distinctly recalls our “Chocolate Noir”, which was produced later, from different material and slight adjustments in processing. Over years of aging, the raspberry-berry nuances have faded, replaced by a harmonious, rounded fusion of chocolate and wood. However, if your nose is keen, you might still detect faint traces of berry jam in its fragrance.

The aftertaste is lovely: like a childhood chocolate candy, with the gentlest touch of coffee.

It probably would've been better using the hottest possible water, instead of in the 90-some C range, as I brewed it.

It's interesting that I did mention chocolate (also in the marketing) and coffee in this, leaving out reference to jam or dried fruit, and adding that it tasted a good bit like marshmallow to me, and maybe just a little like vanilla.  Interpretations would always vary; that's normal.  The general impression seems about the same.

If someone was open to spending nearly 50 cents a gram on a shu I guess this version might justify that as well as any.  It's probably as good as any shu version I've ever tried, and I've tried a lot, some presented as exceptional.  Still it's just shu.  I never could relate to people focusing on that type range as a primary preference, but then preferences do vary.  

Even for people not so interested in the type it might make sense to buy a little to see what the high end / most distinctive range is all about.  I probably wouldn't, but then having a tight tea budget narrows a lot of choices down to very few.  I wouldn't buy sheng for 40-some cents a gram either, and that kind of offering is a lot more common.

Moychay Pu’er Fields Menghai Shu Pu’er

their labels are great; this isn't even an above average example

some bud content, usually adding a sweeter flavor, towards cocoa

I’m reviewing another tea from Moychay, from a large set that they sent for review.  This is a shu, from Menghai; familiar ground, but not a tea type I drink so often.  At first I thought this might be a Myanmar version, and I considered trying it along with another from there, from Kokang, but since it’s a Menghai (Yunnan) tea it'll be nice to do a single tea tasting.

Here is their description:

Shu puer "Fields" from Menghai tea region, 2018 harvest.

357-gram cake of medium density consists of pressed brown and reddish tips. The aroma is restrained, woody with nutty hints. The infusion is dark, reddish-chestnut.

The bouquet of the ready-made tea is mature, nutty, with hints of herbs, exotic resins, autumn leaves and dried fruits. The aroma is rich and warm, nutty. The taste is full-bodied, velvety and sweet, with nuances of spices and sourness of dry berries.

Brew tea with hot water (95 ° C) in a gaiwan or a teapot made of porous clay... 

Since I only ever add those descriptions during editing I already know how that compares to my impression, but it'll be clear enough in the review part.  

At first I read that last sentence and wondered why they would recommend brewing it in a gaiwan made of porous clay, since those do come up but tend to be uncommon, but that was probably intended to refer to the teapot.  I brewed it using a porcelain gaiwan, which is ideal for tasting, and about as good an approach for keeping tea simple and getting good results as any.  

If people like to experience teaware for aesthetic purposes, or choose to explore how clay pots might improve their results, then there's lots of range related to that out there.  Moychay has been producing their own lately; I mentioned them sending a few pieces last time.  I get why that could add an interesting and pleasant extra dimension to tea experience, and I'm also quite clear on why avoiding that could make perfect sense.  It seems like a budget issue tips the balance; if someone has extra funds to keep going past tea expenses why not explore that range, and if it seems like a lot to just cover a lot of the tea part then why go there.  Next you might be buying special natural-fiber earth-tone clothes to drink tea in, and who knows what after that.

it is something though, isn't it, artwork to drink tea out of?

Review:

First infusion:  a good bit of dark rye bread / pumpernickel effect; I like it.  For people not so into dark bread this might not be as good.  That flavor is clean in the same sense that pumpernickel bread is, sweet, towards a rich grain, not musty or heavy on mineral or petroleum or the like.  One part could remind someone of a dried fruit, but it would have to be a really “dark” version of a dried fruit, definitely not dried mango and the like.  I always imagine that the betel nut flavor people talk about is a lot like this, but never get around to tasting it.

I went a little heavy on proportion (the usual for me), and the infusion time, at 20 seconds or so, and it really doesn’t need that long.  It pushes the earthy flavor out towards roasted coffee; strong.  Now that I think of it this tastes about as much like an upper-medium level roasted coffee as any tea ever does.  It just doesn’t have that coffee edge, the additional bitterness, and sharper feel, some astringency.  I’ll go lighter on the next round to see what that changes.

slight color variation in the leaf is unusual but not meaningful to me

Second infusion:   I brewed this for about 5 seconds but it’s far from light, based on appearance alone.  Maxing out the proportion means that this just won’t be brewing lightly.  It’s good that I like shu on the strong side.

Again towards dark bread, although an interpretation of this being like a mild form of coffee would make sense to me.  Even brewed light the mineral seems to play a slightly stronger role, adding a touch of char, matching up with that roasted coffee range.  I guess this is a lot like having a piece of strong black bread with coffee for breakfast then.  I’d definitely eat that, probably for weeks straight before getting tired of it.  I’d probably add a good bit of butter to the bread, shifting it off this flavor profile a little.  I don't put in the legwork that's required to eat interesting types of bread in an Asian country, so the last time I had decent dark bread was on a visit to Russia, 2 1/2 years ago now, in Murmansk of all places.

I took no pictures of that bread, but this tea break there was nice

just before that break, riding a reindeer sleigh

I get a vague sense of some fruit but it doesn’t really come across as significant, compared to the other flavor levels.  It’s like a hint of blackberry jam.  I really could be imagining that part, but there does seem to be more depth there.  The char I’ve described could easily be described as peat or even a hint of tar instead.  It’s earthy.  I would imagine most shu drinkers would like this, but someone into the much milder, lighter range in shu might not.  It’s not edgy in the sense that some lower quality shu can taste like a cement block smells (or Liu Bao, shu’s cousin), but it’s not exactly smooth and light either, compared to the most subtle examples of the range, which aren't really my favorite.  The way that tippy shu (gong ting) versions have a main cocoa effect comes across in this, but it’s integrated with the rest.

It’s interesting how I’ve just described quite a flavor list--black bread, coffee, warm mineral, trace of berry preserve, peat, pronounced cocoa--but the tea comes across as simple in character.  All of those are close to each other (except the berry); the end effect integrates to a profile that doesn’t span as much range as I’m making it sound.  

I just met a Russian guy here, Alex Panganovich, who would probably like this; he’s into shu, and checking out different teas.  I feel way too lazy to get out today though, for keeping really busy for a few weekends in a row.  I might brew a couple more rounds and drop making review notes on account of that.

visiting with Alex in my favorite local Bangkok shop, Jip Eu

Third infusion:  this really looks tar-like; I wasn’t rushing the infusion enough and the time crept closer to 10 seconds.  This tea would work just as well brewed at two thirds this proportion, probably, so that the times could draw out a bit longer.  I really like sheng pushed for infusion proportion then brewed fast but shu varies less related to how you make it.  This would be fine brewed Western style, or grandpa style, or thermos brewed, as long as you back off the proportion enough for each.

The same balance repeats, just shifted in order of proportion of flavor aspects.  It moves towards spice range some though, a heavy, woody, bark spice.  Or just fermented tree bark; that could be it.  Or wet forest floor, people might describe the same range as.  I could easily imagine people loving or hating this tea, depending on preference.  It would be odd for someone more on the oolong page to also love this, since it’s the opposite of lighter, refined, fruity or liqueur-like profile, but for a hei cha drinker this should seem great.  Or if someone loves the rough edges of a low cost, well roasted Da Hong Pao that’s not so far off.  I’ve drank so many tea types over so long that I can appreciate most of it, just green range less than the rest.  I do like slightly rough Da Hong Pao, tea versions that are probably a mix of whatever oolongs had came through the shop recently, blended to balance as well as possible for being less refined teas.

Fourth infusion:  I finally brewed this fast enough to be average infusion strength.  It loses something made that way; it seems thin.  I think this tea could be most appealing brewed on the strong side, to provide that earthy blast, within a narrow but complex range of flavor.  It still works like this but the flavor profile seems much thinner.  

Feel isn’t bad; it has some thickness to it.  That’s all relative; it’s just a bit of creaminess, not really a full feel as shu can potentially possess.  Aftertaste range is limited, not even that pronounced when drinking it stronger.  I kind of am of the “shu is shu” perspective anyway, that someone would be drinking it because it’s simpler, more approachable, and has that heavy earth range punch.

Fifth infusion:  this will be enough of the story for me, even though the infusions related to stretching the tea a bit are yet to go, probably a good number of them.

This tastes more like grain now, off the pumpernickel range, onto a more malted grain range.  To me it’s still pleasant, just losing some of the intensity, and flavor complexity.

Conclusion:

A nice, basic, earthy shu; how those should be.  I think having more rough edges might indicate this has more aging potential; as this stands it should just smooth out a bit from here on.  To me there are no negative aspects to fade, no fermentation range that needs to drop out, so it’s fine to drink like this.  I drank another five infusions during editing, or in between, and it's just thinning a bit, holding up ok.

I don’t always mention price but there’s a story to be told related to that; this is listed for $17.15.  To me it’s a great value for that price; anyone who like shu who is already buying teas from Moychay would be crazy to not add this to their cart.  It would be even crazier to buy a smaller amount of it than a full cake.  A few teas like this would more than justify placing an order, never mind whether something more unusual or refined turned up or not.

One nice part about Moychay’s selection is that pricing usually reflects quality level, so that you can tell what you are getting from that indicator.  As teas push upwards towards 50 cents to $1 a gram they really are that much better.  Not so much a clear indicator in this case; this would be a good tea selling for twice that, and it’s probably comparable to what a lot of vendors are selling for slightly more than that.  Based on trying a number of their teas I could probably make a list of some of the absolute steals in their listings, for teas that punch way above their weight.  I won't though; I'll just mention one.  Along this character line a compressed Da Hong Pao bar worked as another good example; that was way better than it should’ve been for moderate pricing.

I get it why not everyone is searching for exceptions like this, why people with a looser tea budget are seeking out the higher end range, at fair market values or even relatively higher cost, paying whatever they have to pay for getting unusual versions.  Even for someone in that position I’d think having “basics” like this tea around for when you feel like one would still make sense.  

The idea of very high quality shu tends to make less sense to me, although a German tea friend I've mentioned many times, Ralph, has passed on that a Myanmar version from Moychay struck him that way, as unusually good.  I just tried a Myanmar "wild gushu" sheng pu'er version that Alex passed on, which I'll probably get around to reviewing.  I think the plant types there that are on the bitter side probably provide a good leaf compound base for fermenting into a really intense and pleasant shu.  Or that's a guess for why some versions have stood out, at least.

Today the power went out, making for a good reason to do a tasting session outside.  It's the Thai rainy season but the weather held up for that long, to taste tea in the usual spot.

it's so green out there during the rainy season

Trying Assam falap, a variation of bamboo sheng

still in the bamboo cover, part of it

with cheap pu'er pick for scale; it's the size that you would expect

a bit different looking; hei cha versions tend to be like that

This reviews a type of tea that's new to me, falap, or the Assam equivalent of Chinese bamboo pu'er (per my understanding, at least).  It was passed on by Jaba Borgohain in her recent visit here from Assam, related to this black tea review.

I've heard about and intended to try this tea type for a long time.  I even ordered and paid for some once, the only time a vendor ever cheated me by not sending tea.  That was a special case, not worthy of a detailed tangent here.

Of course it's not possible to try good versions of every tea out there; it doesn't work that way.  There will always be something you just didn't get to yet, no matter how many teas you try.  Even if you are a completist with great connections and excessive purchasing habits new kinds would still keep turning up.  For example, sheng (pu'er-like tea) produced in Taiwan has been mentioned recently, and oolong made from Assamica plant types in Vietnam, and I've seen Oriental Beauty from Japan in photos (or tea made in a similar style; even for people who aren't type purists it wouldn't be identical).  I know of tea growing untended in a non-tea producing country, due to an aborted earlier attempt; as soon as someone picks some of those leaves, processes it, and puts the word out that will be a completely new origin category.

I expected it would be a bit bitter and a little smoky, not really approachable for being on the young side, but I didn't know the age when tasting it.

I don't have a vendor review or background to cite, because this was forwarded by Jaba without saying who made it, the producer.  Which reminds me of an earlier content error, the unrelated conference Jaba visited to attend wasn't hosted by Chulalongkorn (a main Bangkok university), it was only located in essentially the same area in Bangkok, which led me to assume that connection.  Or remember wrong; however that went.


Jaba mentioned that the tea is one year old, and also that it takes three months to produce the it, that it's not considered a finished version until after that processing time.

I have more tea from Assam to get to since, from the Tea Leaf Theory vendor, so I'll go ahead and cite their description of a different version instead.  I checked if they sent a falap version to try; they didn't, just Assam and Darjeeling.  That description:


The Singphos, a tribal community residing in parts of Northeast India, Myanmar, and China, are believed to be among India’s first tea drinkers. To this day, they continue to process tea by first heating the leaves in a metal pan until they brown, and then sun-drying them for a few days. To make the more flavourful, smoked tea, the sun-dried leaves are tightly packed in bamboo tubes and smoked over a fire. After a week of storing these bamboos, the processed tea hardens to take the shape of the tube. It can then be preserved for up to 10 years, with small portions sliced off with a knife to brew a fresh cup of tea. Like wine, the smoked flavour of the tea matures more with time and we choose to pick up the ones which were aged for 4 years. 

When processed and brewed correctly, a cup of Singpho tea, which is had without milk or sugar, is a lovely golden-orange colour. The leaves can be reused to brew two to three cups, the flavour getting better with each infusion. According to locals, the tea’s organic production and traditional processing retain its medicinal value. The Singphos say a cup after every meal aids digestion and believe it has kept the community relatively free from cancer and diabetes.

Review:

I used a rinse and went a little long on the first infusion, adjusting for brewing a smaller proportion than I usually do.  Instead of brewing for between 5 and 10 seconds for using more sheng (usually 10, first round, to get it started) I let this infuse for closer to 20.

And it's a bit strong.  I'll be able to back that off to 8 to 10 seconds and still get plenty of flavor out of this (and mouthfeel, and the rest).

redder color might indicate aging, or that could be oxidation

Of course bitterness is part of the story, but a novel flavor is more interesting.  And the form of the bitterness isn't completely familiar; that never really means just one thing.  I'll focus on the taste and probably never will do justice to what I mean by that second idea, but in a rough form it seems clear enough.  MSG is salty but it's not salt (mono sodium glutamate instead of sodium chloride); something along that line, about compounds and tastes being related but varying.

That flavor will be hard to pin down.  It's mostly mineral intensive but also vegetal, just not overly so.  It's a little like how the mortar used in laying bricks or cement blocks smells, but in a catchier, more pleasant, more food-like form.  I guess an unusual type of herb might be closest, or some relatively rare food item.  I'll try to do better on that part next round.

Brewed faster this makes more sense, only around 8 seconds or so.  Again bitterness is one of two main aspects you notice, but not in an identical form as in sheng, and not overly intense, at a level that does balance (so not what I expected).  I'll probably struggle with defining the main basic flavor of this for the entire review.  It's odd saying that it doesn't taste like anything in the food range but it is novel.  Do you know how bitter gourd tastes, beyond the bitterness?  It's not that, but not completely unrelated.   There's a lot of mineral.  That's not necessarily in a range that's familiar, maybe close to the smell of galvanized pipe.

It's funny referring back to my construction work days so much to describe this tea.  I helped my parents build their house when I was 13, which made for a year of long days.  It wasn't our first go at major renovation, and even then, with support from an uncle and a crew that actually did that work, it was all a bit much.  It turned out nicely though; it's a beautiful house.  It's integrated into that location (kind of along the Frank Lloyd Wright "Falling Water" theme, just not that integrated), with two levels on a higher side (on a slope), and the bottom two levels facing a lower yard slope, of a two story house with a basement.

building a smaller house might have been easier

This tastes pleasant; that could get lost in the building materials descriptions.  Mouthfeel and aftertaste aren't bad, not as pronounced as in the best examples of sheng but enough to fill in the experience some.  It's probably closest to hei cha, both in the tea realm and also related to how foods come across, I'm just not thinking of one that's similar.

I suppose it's like hua juan variants, Hunan Chinese hei cha from Anhua province, since those are similarly compressed versions, which are probably made in a similar way.  But it's different, at least than what I tried, lighter in style and flavor range.  There's a review of one related tea and another hei cha here, for reference.  This review of a compressed "mystery tea" version, of an unknown type, includes more of review of different hei cha versions and background.  That seemed to be related to decorative productions from tea by-products (extra dust), but was probably made to drink, so not exactly that.

That second post cites some of Tony Gebely's background from Tea:  A User's Guide, a very nice summary reference.  It just doesn't seem to mention either falap or Chinese bamboo pu'er (I just scanned it to check), so picking it up as background for these types probably wouldn't work.  Oddly Wikipedia's page on fermented teas (hei cha) includes reference to dok / ddok / tteok cha from Korea but not falap, even though it's probably a better known type; so it goes.

dust cleared already (why lots of people strain teas)

Third infusion:  I'm mostly not using these headings, but a place marker here or there can't hurt.  I'll give this an 8 to 10 second infusion too, to keep strength up but moderate it to that range.

This isn't transitioning in terms of being different but it is catchier, smoothing out a little, picking up some complexity and sweetness.  It's much more pleasant than I expected, closer to hei cha range but still more unique than I thought it would be.  Novelty can make new tea types seem that much more pleasant and interesting, but you have to be able to relate.  Without a bridge of experiences with hei cha this might not seem like a standard tea type.  Since it could be interpreted as between hei cha and sheng in style range it seems normal enough to me.

The flavor moves a bit towards spice range, trading out some mineral for warmer, earthier tones.  Following the earlier theme it's not an easy spice range to identify either.  It might be a little like birch or aspen bark, warm and aromatic, mineral intensive, but not a close match for anything in a spice rack.  It might overlap a little with turmeric, even though that's something else altogether, a novel root spice that's like a much different version of ginger.  It's that complexity that would make breaking the range of flavor down all but impossible.  I'm guessing that this is a good version of the type (or falap, which may or may not relate to including consideration of Chinese or other-origin bamboo pu'er), but with this being the first one that I've tried that would only be a guess.

Back on the subject of endless tea types that one tea friend from Laos, Somnuc, ran across a version of bamboo pu'er from Vietnam, I think it was.  I just saw him here in Bangkok in the last week but he didn't bring a lot of teas to try, since he'd only planned to visit the North East and extended a trip to Bangkok.

More of the same next infusion (4); it's softening, warming, and becoming more complex.  For as broken as the tea was the finer parts are probably already "brewing out" to some extent, and will contribute more of a woody flavor from here on (just a guess, but the trend comes up often).  Bitterness isn't overly pronounced in this, especially after the first 2 infusions or so.  That part was a surprise.  Maybe the spice / root part closest to turmeric is picking up a little, still with plenty of mineral supporting that, and a wood-spice range close to tree bark, not woody in any more typical sense (green wood, cured wood, sawdust, tropical or aged wood).

On the next infusion it's probably tapering off a little already, the effect of using 10+ second infusions versus the 5-8 for sheng (along with a packed gaiwan proportion; that's the main change, not tea intensity).  It will still brew a few more rounds but I'd expect flavor and character transitions to not be as interesting.  It's more or less just flattening out a little in this round, thinning slightly, pulling back to a narrower and more subdued range.

I'm off to a swimming class so I'll drop note taking and add some final thoughts later.  This was better than I expected, more distinctive and interesting.  I'm not sure why it was so much of a surprise that it seemed a lot like a hei cha instead of just like a sheng.  I guess I just didn't think that part through, and let the "bamboo pu'er" concept shift preconceptions.

leaf color in between new sheng and aged

Conclusions:

It was nice, interesting and more positive than I expected.  It's odd that I didn't mention smoke in that review, at all, and bitterness was quite moderate, and well balanced.  I did try a few more infusions before the class and they were as I expected: still pleasant, but tapering off a bit.  Wood flavor might have picked up a little but less than I expected, for the finer bits of tea brewing out to the degree they must have by that many rounds.

I wouldn't expect smoke to drop completely out very fast; maybe it ended up not having much processing contact with smoke?  It is smoked, which may relate to a mild heating step as much as intending it to change flavor, since it is encased in bamboo (but not sealed well on one end?).

Jaba discussed how a platform and cooking area are part of a traditional kitchen design, but the ideas didn't really come together for me related to just how hot I expected this tea to get.  In comparing notes they do use bamboo to cook in a similar way there as here in Thailand, pressing sticky rice into those bamboo wood tubes to heat it.

traditional Mising (Assam) cooking area (photo credit)

Vietnamese trà chít (or trà bó), and local Laos sheng

trà chít (or trà bó), Vietnamese tea I don't know much about

that same bundled tea, the separated leaves

Phongsaly (Laos) sheng; it turned out "young" refers to the plant age

From talking to a random contact online, who sent some tea, I'm trying a type of tea that's new to me from Vietnam and a Laos sheng.  The contact is interesting (Somnuc Anousinh):  he's from Laos, but was visiting Vietnam, and had a chance to mail some samples from Thailand in a short visit to the North East (in Isaan).  It's cool talking to people about very local, rare tea types.  It's a bit much to ask them to actually send some, but he did offer to.  I need to get some of what's around together to send back, to turn this into a tea swap instead of just a random gift.

I get the sense he's just a tea enthusiast who takes a hobby interest to unusual extremes, but I'm not sure.  Maybe he does sell some of these versions to support a local travel habit, since these teas are coming from relatively remote places.

One I thought was bamboo pu'er but it's not (the trà chít).  It's not really compressed.  I've seen experimental Sri Lankan black tea leaves prepared in lots of unusual ways that this resembles (although I've never tried any of those), bundled up, or that plus some shaping.  The idea for Yunnan bamboo sheng and falap (more or less a local Assam version of the same thing) is compressing tea down into a bamboo casing then heating it, doing the kill-green step with roasting versus frying, adding bamboo flavor and smoke to the tea, to the extent either transfer over.  This is just bundled leaves instead.

I asked my Vietnamese friend Huyen and she said "we call it trà chít, or trà bó."  Few people in Vietnam would probably be familiar with it, but she had a picture of it, and knew who that other contact picked it up from, and had just been visiting there a week before he did.  It's a small world.  She had passed on some very rare Vietnamese tea versions earlier, so she also gets out (with two reviewed here, and about actually meeting her in Bangkok here).

That other version picture:

Huyen visited the same producer just before Somnuc did, so that tea she is holding should be closely related.  It's aged; 10 years old (which would explain the color difference).  Somnuc mentioned that the version I'm trying is from 2017, so it's had time to age (ferment naturally as sheng does) a little, just not that much.  The scale of that bundle she is holding is a little hard to identify since her hands probably are on the small side:

Compare that earlier picture to a five-year old holding this year's version bundle:

Huyen also shared a picture of Vietnamese bamboo sheng, which I still have to get around to getting ahold of:

I was going to just try the that first tea alone but after two rinses it still just tasted like mineral, like slate, and I wanted to get further with tasting range, to not just talk about why it's like that or mention some degree of transition, in case it didn't.  Combined tastings are nice for me, although it's usually a bit much tea.  My son did go to his Chinese (Mandarin) lesson this morning, and the entire household with him, so it's a quiet space here to taste and write.  On to what these are like.

Review

Fermented Vietnamese trà chít left, Laos sheng right

Fermented tea:  I'm not sure to what extent or through what processing this is really fermented but since it was presented as such that'll work as a more familiar working label than trà chít.

This is on the second infusion after two rinses so it's clearing up in character a bit.  The last round had been really mineral intensive; it tasted like licking a slate chalk-board, with a trace of underlying char and old basement flavor.  It seemed it just wasn't there yet for "opening up."  For younger sheng usually that relates to bitterness and astringency easing up through the first few rounds but in this case more to clearing off age and mineral intensive flavor to get to a sweeter, milder, more balanced range.  It's not musty though, and it wasn't initially.

The slate / blackboard may have given way slightly to a touch more char, and it did sweeten and gain depth, but it's not there yet.  To me this tastes a good bit like a Liu Bao.  Those vary but the typical range is heavy mineral with a touch of char; just what this is.  Probably the best well-aged versions mellow out into a different range after a lot of years but I've think I've only ever tried younger or moderate quality level examples.  One that I tried was really musty from aging, probably stored in too wet an environment, or else the air-flow wasn't set up right.

Somehow I didn't think this was supposed to be pre-fermented (it seems it couldn't be wet-piled bundled like that), but that may be what it is; that would explain the Liu Bao similarity.  It'll be interesting to see where this goes from here.

The brewed coloring is odd.  One re-interpretation could relate to "fermentation" meaning "oxidation," as some Western vendors mistakenly use the term, more or less a case of bad translation.  It's not black tea, but it could be produced in a style that's supposed to be something like a more-oxidized white tea.  I came into the tasting expecting it to be like some type of pu'er, so that read on bad translation didn't even occur to me initially (or until the post editing step, really).  The brewed sheng is the color of sheng.

Vietnamese tea left (some leaves unusually dark), Laos sheng right

Phongsaly young plant sheng:  at time of tasting I wasn't clear on details but this is "young" sheng, as in from young plants, from around Phongsaly, Laos.

A bit of geographical aside:  that's quite close to Xishuangbanna (Yunnan) and not so far from Pu'er, which is a village name the tea gets that type name from, a designation also used to specify a broader area (prefecture) that also goes by Simao.  According to Huyen the bundled tea is from Ha Giang, which is on this map over in Northern Vietnam.  The Oriental Beauty version I just reviewed had been from Son La, which is closer yet, also in the North.

Luang Prabang is the coolest place I've been to in Laos, a really old, beautiful, quiet but lightly developed tourist attraction area, with lots of old temples and local markets.  Pak Beng is in the middle of nowhere, a small village we visited on a river-based travel leg.  They shut off the local power a bit after dark when we were there, and then depending if a generator kicks on wherever you are the nearby electric lights may or may not stay on.  That part was cool.  Laos is fantastic to visit, and it's nice that not so many people think so that it's ruined by tourism.  Back to the teas then.


This second tea is actually sheng; that much is clear.  It's really sweet and approachable for this being a first infusion after a rinse.  In some cases local tea versions can be whatever they happen to be, but this is normal sheng, not an interpretation, or a bit towards white or green tea.  It's earthier, sweeter, and more complex than most young sheng seems to be.  Wild-grown plants have a different taste to them, milder, towards fruit or spice, not so much just floral and bitter over light mineral tones as a lot of other sheng expresses (although sheng can include fruit, or smoke, or lots of different aspects).

One particular aspect in this I associate with wild-grown sheng (right or wrong; I've tried a good bit of quite varied tea but I'm no expert).  It's like tree bark, but sweeter, a little towards spice.  I've not been in temperate climate forest much for a long time but I'll go with birch tree bark, or maybe that towards hickory, something light and sweet and a bit aromatic (so nothing like maple or oak).  There is a faint trace of bitterness but that's really light, hard to pick up without trying to notice it, essentially none as young sheng typically goes.

I showed a picture of it to a real tea expert (of sorts; we're all just on a scale, even people at the further end), and she mentioned it hadn't been sorted to remove yellow leaves, which is referred to as huang pian when sold as a separate product.  That would make the flavor milder and sweeter, and cost the tea intensity in other range, since that's how huang pian goes.

Second infusion

Fermented tea:  this is still "cleaning up."  I don't mean that in the sense of odd fermentation or storage flavors wearing off, or in the case of young and astringent sheng needing a few rounds to be more approachable.  It's moving off that mineral with a touch of char flavor range.

It tastes more like tree root now, that mineral intensive odd smell you get when digging through roots in clay soil.  It's not that far from potato peel, to use a reference that might be more meaningful.  It's probably more positive than that sounds; who would eat raw potato peels, or want their tea to taste like that?  Slate-range mineral is still pretty heavy in the background underlying that but the char has diminished.  It's still a lot sweeter and cleaner in effect that the flavor range implies.

I'd like a Liu Bao that tasted like this, but if a sheng did I'd wonder what was going on with it.  Expectations do a lot in defining tea experience; it helps to have had mineral intensive teas similar to this before (other Liu Bao).  I thought this might be smoky but it's just not.  That trace of char could be interpreted as smoke but to me it's not that, it's a faint touch of charcoal instead.


Phonsaly sheng:  this is some really nice tea.  The first round hinted at that, the range being that positive, but this has increased in depth, complexity, and intensity a lot, in a very nice flavor range.  Tree-bark is still the main aspect but that description doesn't do it justice.  That leans towards root-spice, with so much sweetness and complexity that it seems after one more round fruit might evolve enough to put a label on it.  Or I could be wrong and it could add floral range, I just don't expect that. Some of the mineral layer isn't unlike the other tea's, that's just framed in such a different context it's more or less an opposite style.


I love this style of tea, the aspect set, the softness, and complexity.  I suspect not very many people are getting a chance to try teas like this, maybe not even that many experienced sheng drinkers.  It's kind of the opposite of factory tea for character, and not even close to commissioned sheng versions I've tried.  It has to be wild-sourced, locally produced tea, or at least produced from tea trees growing in a relatively natural environment.  Or I could be way off; what do I know.

Again if someone had no contact with tea versions like this I could imagine placing the experience as positive or negative would be harder.  It would just be unfamiliar.  The softness could be interpreted as a flaw, as a sign the tea is from younger sourced plants, when in fact that character seems to relate as much to a different range of plant types growing in a different type of environment instead.  This write-up would look odd if I included a description of the opposite origin and try to account for all the wrong guesses, but even after editing I never did hear more source details.

Third infusion

Fermented tea:  again it's milder and more approachable, although that was true of the last round too, just less so.  That root-mineral is easing up already, falling into a more balanced effect, and sweetness might be picking up a little more.  The flavor range is clean, just unusual.  The potato-peel flavor aspect (more tree-root) has shifted to raw potato a bit.  Slate is broadening in character, more to wet-spring rocks with a touch of corroded iron.  It's interesting.  This would now be more like a clean, complex, pleasant version of a Liu Bao, way off the initial char and heavy mineral.


Phongsaly Sheng:  that tree-bark root-spice effect has shifted, onto how pine cones smell.  It's rich, sweet, and aromatic, also woody but not in any typical sense one encounters in most teas.  I almost want to guess out which pine tree's cone this flavor aspect resembles but that really would be pushing it.  The taste resembles pine too, in between a blue-spruce pine flavor (light and sweet, but dry and mineral intensive) and the richer and sweeter range of pine-tree buds (which you can eat; they're delicious).

Both of these teas are more interesting than I expected.  Huyen shared some really pleasant and novel versions of Vietnamese sheng awhile back but in trying those the theme was more about how the style wasn't really exactly sheng, so the experience was about identifying what the character was, along with the novel aspect sets.  These are just as novel but the second seems completely like sheng to me, just not a conventional version of it.  I'd chalk the differences up to terroir and plant source issues more than processing (going off-script for typical production steps), but of course that's still a guess.

This second tea (both, really) doesn't come across as thin, or leave your mouth quickly, and there is some lingering aftertaste.  All that aspect range pairs more naturally with the mouth-feel, bitterness, and other flavor intensity blast you get from young sheng, from more conventional versions of it.  These just "aren't thin," which works for me.

Fourth infusion

These aren't transitioning fast enough to add a lot more description, given how long this is running.  It works to say the "fermented" version is pretty close to how it was in the last round.  The sheng too.  I think it's still picking up more complexity, kind of like how those Dragonball characters spend forever continuing to power up.  The pine aspect reminds me a little of tea-berry in this round, a sweet, aromatic, wild-tasting version of mint, with a touch of berry fruit (more or less).

Vietnamese trà chít

Laos sheng

Fifth infusion

I accidentally left these soak for awhile, distracted by something else.  I can describe what the effect of a really long infusion is at this point and given transitions had evened out anyway can stop there.

The fermented tea is just a stronger version of where it had been.  Oddly the balance still works; it had lightened enough, and never was challenging.  The root-mineral / potato peel effect is a good bit stronger but it's still pleasant, it doesn't really seem "off" for that.  That's an odd narrow aspect range to express, so this tea may not be a personal favorite for almost anyone, but it is interesting, and the balance works for me.

The sheng's greater intensity doesn't work as well as a more conventional infusion strength.  The pine aspect is a bit strong; it's like trying to eat a pine needle.  Brewing a tea that strong (which never comes up, just "stronger" does, when I get to it), allows you to identify feel better, and flaws, instead of being more pleasant that way.  None of the aspect range present (with flavors way too strong, made this way) is off in any way, beyond that intensity.

Conclusions

I really paid the price for drinking a triple-strength infusion that late in the rounds.  My stomach wasn't normal and I felt a bit off from overdoing the caffeine intake.  Oddly I could still take a nap (sometimes sheng works out that way, that you can sleep "on it"), but I didn't go back to feeling normal until dinner time.

Both were really interesting teas.  That "fermented" trà chít version wouldn't be a personal favorite related to that unconventional aspect range but it was nice for being so novel.  No teas I've tried were ever similar to that one.  The sheng was really nice for seeming like a good example of a wild-plant origin sheng (if it was that).

It would be interesting to know if the few guesses here were right about these teas, or to know more about the parts where I didn't even have a decent guess, like what "fermented" ever meant.  That tea couldn't have been wet-piled, and per the input from Somnuc and Huyen it wasn't aged tea, which rules out the two typical meanings.  Another tea friend said it looked like white tea to her, and that could account for a bit of oxidation, which would explain the dry tea look and brewed tea color, it just didn't taste remotely like a white tea.  At least it made for a very novel experience, positive as experienced aspects go, but even more interesting for being so unique.