Moychay Krasnodar (Russian) shu and Chawang shop Jinggu shu pu'er

the Chawang Shop Jinggu brick version

This is a novel form of review, trying two shu pu'er versions that I expect both will need some more time to settle, related to not being very old.  I thought that earlier covid taste sensation impact would still be a problem at this point but it's been clearing up fast over the last 4 or 5 days, and that's pretty much behind me now.

Here's what they are:

Krasnodar shu puer, 2021 (from Moychay, a Russian vendor)

An experimental tea made in Khosta region from local tea cultivars (harvest 2019) using the Menghai Shu Puer «wodui» technology.

In appearance: medium sized curved flagella of dark brown leaves and buds, a small amount of thin cuttings and sticky lumps of «chatou». The aroma is intense, with notes of baked chestnut, toasted bread and spice. The infusion is transparent, with a chestnut-yellow shade.

Since this is listed as unavailable (out of stock, or perhaps to be returned to stock again later) there is no pricing listed, which I suppose is as well given the current events context, which I'll add more about after the other tea's details.  It's interesting seeing the tasting comments; as usual some people really liked it and others didn't at all.  The style is a bit unconventional, and I think the tea needs time to rest to really be at its best.  It doesn't say when it was fermented (wet piled), which is really most relevant with regards to when it will be rested from that process, not the harvest date.

2021 Chawangpu Jinggu Lao Shu Zhuan 400g

Material for this brick come from two villages in Jinggu and collected from 2018-2020. Larger leaves from spring and autumn harvest, also called huang pian, are pure old tree material. Fermented in Menghai during winter 2020 by well experienced master and the result is very good! 

Dark and clean tea soup with some dry fruit notes. Sweet and smooth.

15USD per 400g brick is special offer !

Manufacturer : Cha Wang Shop

Production date: Harvest 2018- 2020, pressed 11/2021

Harvest Area : Jinggu area, Puer

That pricing is unusual, per a separate post notice a special offer related to the tea not being fully rested yet, and as a kind of bonus to regular customers, not selling at that value related to a conventional business practice.  This tea is probably better than some of the shu cakes Yunnan Sourcing sells for $60 (at a guess; I've tried versions of their Impression sheng cakes, and at least one other in-house version, which were all nice, but not their shu).  I'm basing that guess related to placing a lot of shu versions, and to me this is well above average, rated against my preference.  That does include that it really seems to need a bit more rest, maybe even another year of it.  There's one standard style of heavy, peat-intensive, fully fermented shu, that can transition to lighter flavors and creaminess with some age, and this isn't exactly that, which I see as positive, since I like that, but I like positive variation from that more.  

Lots of shu made now seems to be maxed out for fermentation level, but this might be backed off a bit from that.  It's possible this has good potential for a 10+ year old version as a result but to me that would only make sense to check out related to buying a few of these cakes tied to value, not so much in terms of seeking out absolute best results.  It's decent shu, at a minimum, but to me aging shu doesn't usually tend to make enough difference to warrant a decade worth of storage oversight and wait.  The first year or two can really straighten out newly made character, letting it settle, but to me the whole point of shu is that it's easy to drink and really doesn't need time to reach an optimum.

There's not much to add about this one tea being Russian, related to that war, currently the main news item.  Obviously my full sympathy goes to Ukraine, and the sympathy I have for Russians suffering economic impact is a bit tempered by the comparison to that far more severe case, and the cause, that their own government initiated an unjust war, and what I see as murder of a neighboring country's civilians and ongoing war crimes.  All the same citizens of Russia didn't cause this, any more than citizens of the US caused a relatively unjust war against Iraq (the second one; them taking over a neighboring country that first time wasn't ok, just as it's not for Russia to do that now).  Some Russians might believe state propaganda and see it as a just war but everyone I hear from online expresses the opposite.

Russia, the US, and China really need to move past all this, and do their best to work towards the common good of their own citizens and that of other countries.  Of course that's not the kind of world we live in.  What Russian leaders are in the process of doing goes a couple steps further than the horrors that are the norm, and the most severe economic sanctions in history are a natural outcome from that.

I'm a fan of all three of those countries' cultures, and others.  Visiting Russia four years ago was one of the most memorable experiences of my life, as visiting China three times was.  It's a shame that appreciation can't extend to the leadership of any of the the three.

a friendly Russian offering guidance in the Moscow subway; how I remember the people there

friendly Russian tea shop staff; there were no exceptions from that theme

Moychay will take the same hit the rest of Russia does.  This post isn't intended as implying that Westerners should be ordering tea from Russia at this time; how that works out per a standard perspective is obvious enough, and it would make sense to get back to that only after this war gets resolved.  Supporting a foreign Moychay branch wouldn't necessarily offset the end goal of these sanctions, since there must be few Russian companies not operating at a loss just now, outside their oil and gas industry, so tax revenue trickling back to the Russian economy wouldn't be much of a factor, related to companies operating at a loss.  

These posts are never actually intended as direct marketing, I'm just passing on what I think about teas.  If I say that I think a tea has a really unusual character, is of unusual quality level, or represents an exceptional value, then I guess that could be implied, but even then it's just sharing perspective, not a sales pitch.  It goes without saying that personal preference, quality judgment, and impressions about value would tend to always vary.  The judgments here about shu needing a rest period to offset fermentation related aspects probably wouldn't be all that universally accepted either; it's just one person's opinion, based on trying moderate amounts of shu (only dozens of versions versus hundreds).

Review:

Moychay left; coloring is washed out related to light level for that image

both teas were normal shu color, brown

Moychay version left, Chawang right, in all images

Moychay Krasnodar shu:  nice!  I think this will clean up a bit with more time to settle, but it's nice like this.  A warm, dark bread tone dominates it, complete with dark rye and fennel seed tones.  Fermentation related funkiness isn't on the level I would've expected for this being less than a year old [if it is; fermentation timeline is implied in that 2021 date], but that does vary.  

A nice cocoa range supports that grain scope.  It has enough sweetness and complexity that it seems likely that fruit will fill in more once this settles a bit.  That mix sounds nice, dark grain, earthy seed range spice, cocoa depth, with good sweetness, and it is.  There's a little off-malt fermentation related flavor, which could be interpreted as in mineral range, not so far off cement block scent, but I'd expect that to only be an early round theme in this.

Chawang shop Jinngu:  the first aspect that hits you is an odd flavor input, not exactly like that cement block taste in the other but related, more towards wet slate, with a bit of mortar cement mixed in.  Again I think age will mostly drop that out, but for being stronger and more dominant than in the other tea it might take longer.  This version is from late last year, apparently packed at the end of November, so it is a bit early to be tasting this.  In looking at the description it was fermented in the winter of 2020 (which can mean two different things, that it's two years old or else more like one), and only re-steamed and pressed over the last 5 months.  But then it's not as if the "settling" step occurs on a fixed timeline.

Beyond that moderate level of funky range there is interesting scope.  It seems a little lighter, maybe less fermented than the other, with a lighter fruit and spice range potentially showing through.  It should be easier to describe next round.  Sourness stands out more in the first version when finishing this round of both together; this tea isn't sour, but there is an odd flavor aspect present.  Fermentation tastes should fade for both over the next year, or maybe even six months, given how the hot and humid Bangkok climate tends to speed up any transitions teas might go through, positive or negative.

Moychay Krasnodar shu, second infusion:  the sourness that stood out more in direct comparison seems stronger this round.  I suppose it works better for me because that flavor range, mostly around dark bread, naturally pairs with some sourness in the dark bread form, so it's easier to accept for sort of being expected, or even easy to overlook.  The cocoa tone is already starting to give way to a heavily roasted coffee input; this will probably finish an early transition cycle and be different next round.

Chawang Jinggu:  this is brewed stronger; that's apparent from just the appearance.  I didn't get the proportion (weight) to match, which is easy to get wrong when pairing compressed and loose teas, estimating amount by eye.  It's not that far off, and how fast these brew at different phases probably came into play as well.  The fast rinse for the Moychay tea was strong; it would make sense to be careful to only use a very fast rinse for that tea to avoid stripping out too much flavor.  I actually drank part of that rinse to check it, versus just tasting it, not that afraid of toxins as by-products from the fermentation process, even though they are present.

This is cool for being so distinctive.  That cement range mineral is moving towards struck match already, a lighter mineral tone, with plenty of warmth, richness, and depth filling in behind that.  It's better than my description implies; the complexity is good, and overall balance is nice.  It really probably does need a half a year to a year to keep settling, not really showing its full potential yet, as is probably true of the other version too.  This particular tea might be even better in two or three years.  Fermentation effect just varies, and even for this seeming to be a little on the light side, or maybe more accurately backed off a little from being completely fermented, the funkiness from it is significant.  It tastes much cleaner side by side with the other, tasted one after the other, for that sourness missing in this version, but that one flavor tone range is pronounced (cement moving towards struck match).

Moychay Krasnodar shu, third infusion:  someone's take on dark breads really would determine whether they love or hate this.  I'm on board; I really like it, about as much as I love shu in general.

Chawang Jinggu:  this is cleaning up a little, which is nicer.  It's hard to say that it's a fruitiness that comes across, but it's along that line, mild spice and dried fruit.  The warm aspect range is a bit neutral in this presentation, not clearly any one thing or another.  Mild root spice seems the closest match, which tends to be a neutral range, in some forms.  I can give both a slightly longer infusion time next round and see how that changes things, since the early transition away from odd flavors seems somewhat complete.

It's a little odd reviewing what isn't present, versus what is, but there's a lot of range of fermentation related flavor that could have occurred but didn't.  People describe shu as fishy, and I tend to not notice it in that form as much as many do.  Heavy peat flavor is more common, and some can taste like petroleum or tar.  Musty range flavors don't come up as often as one might expect, but of course they can.

Moychay Russian shu fourth infusion:  I brewed this round for around 20 seconds, versus around 10 for earlier rounds, although these would be fine brewed inky strong doubling that longer time too, to 40 seconds.  Fennel seed jumps to a much higher level input balance again, and this seems better this way.  Sourness has faded quite a bit but those other stronger flavors are probably also overpowering it.   This seems fairly clean at this point, not really off in any way.

Chawang Jinggu:  interesting how this changes, brewed stronger.  Warm and pleasant tones ramp up, and that cement range odd character has largely faded, but an aromatic floral range ramping up connects with a soapy effect now.  It's not enough to really throw off the experience, but different.  Those non-distinct woody or spice range warm tones are nice.  It's a little closer to cedar this round, versus spice.  

I don't know if it's apparent from the description but this seems like it would be a good tea to drink with food, with pleasant complexity and depth, and a neutral enough flavor range that it could adjoin and pair with lots of other range.  This would be good with toast and jam.  The other tea is a bit more distinctive, probably pairing with a more narrow range for that, but still probably decent with some foods related to reminding me a lot of dark bread.

Permit me a short tangent:  the last great dark bread I experienced I bought visiting Russia, some years ago, which I bought in Murmansk. It seemed like it was just a typical version to them, nothing presented as special, but it was fantastic with some cheese I bought there, truly memorable.  Ordinary pumpernickel is great in the US, not that I've had it in a long time.  There are specialty bakeries here, and I could be seeking out much better bread than I tend to experience, but I eat more Thai food than Western, and tend to buy better lighter bread in Japanese bakeries here, where they're really not into dark bread.

Fifth infusion:  not changed enough to write more notes.  Both versions are the best they've been though, very nice at this round, and probably not yet finished, although the Moychay version is dropping out faster.   Both are good, I think.  Both clearly reject the "shu is shu" theme of all versions tasting similar, one critique I've made about the tea type in the past.  The general type varies less than sheng, or even oolongs, I think, but these are both positive and distinctive in novel ways.  And I think both will be even more exceptional in one more year; it would be a shame to drink through too much of them before they're really ready, even though both are fine to drink now.

Conclusions:

Both were pleasant, interesting, and novel.  The Chawang Shop version kept improving over rounds, and held up to a higher number of rounds at higher intensity, with a lot of the most positive range of the Moychay tea extracting earlier.  I think the Chawang Shop version included a bit thicker feel, which I really didn't focus on due to combined tasting often limiting the range of aspects considered.  It will probably settle into being a more conventional, balanced shu version, with this Russian version staying a bit unusual, which could be good or bad depending on match to preference, and how it changes over the next year of rest.

Small batch shu processing

 

First published in two parts in TChing, here and here.

Oddly the tea that reminded me to write about this may or may not have actually been post-fermented as a small sized lot.  I just reviewed the first Russian-origin shu "pu'er-like tea" version that I've tried, which was pretty good.  Since it was a test batch it probably was fermented as smaller amount, but I'm not sure of that production quantity.  It wasn't exactly the same character as the most standard Yunnan shu, but since those vary it could still overlap.  It was lighter, with an odd mineral / stone taste that probably would fade over another year of rest-time, probably from processing transition (wòduī processing effect).  But it was sweet and complex, reasonably well-balanced, with a good bit of dark rye bread and cocoa flavor.

that Moychay experimental version

That's a good lead-in for talking about non-standard shu types, since that essentially had to be a variety Sinensis based shu, with a completely different terroir background than Yunnan.  But I want to cover more on specific processing approach differences instead.

A Thai producer, Tea Side, first brought this subject to my attention awhile back:

As they say, Chinese technology doesn’t assume producing ripe pu-erh out of less than 3 tons of material. Allegedly, a smaller amount of material will not heat up to the desired temperature and, in general, the fermentation process will go wrong...

That time, I thought the vertical pressure of the big mass is important. But then on photos, I saw the tea spread out over a large area in an only one-meter thick layer. To make a one-meter high heap, 3 tons are not required. Moreover, as you know, Liu Bao cha has been done for hundreds of years and its taste is very close to ripe pu-erh. To make it Chinese use just 20-30 kilos of raw materials, but fermentation takes at least one and a half years.

That is how the idea to make ripe pu-erh tea in a basket was born...

photo credit the Tea Side blog article

I've heard of two other independent sources making basket-approach shu, Moychay (that first reference), and one discussed by So Han Fan, of the Tea House Ghost Youtube channel and Guan Yin Austin-based shop fame (which was replaced with a West China Teahouse business).  At a guess this practice didn't evolve within the last decade.  I'm not disputing that the Tea Side vendor didn't sort out processing independently, only clarifying that the idea was not a unique discovery, since at least one of those other sources pre-dated it.  His results are good (reviewed here), and that article is worth a read.

In looking for a reference to So Han's process and outcome I just noticed that the Steep Stories blog reviewed a few versions only a few months ago; interesting.  So Han posts in TChing, with an overview of sheng and shu background here, but I wanted to cite that basket fermentation theme instead.

I'll keep this general, as a summary of hearsay input, because long and detailed citations don't work in short posts.  Per my recollection they were selling very small batch processed shu, created in such a way that it wasn't even turned (mixed), allowed to ferment with varying degrees of air contact across small piles.  This allowed different parts of the mix to have different characters.  The marketing spin took an unusual turn in that case, with different parts of the piles named separately (the part I didn't find a reference to).

The Moychay owner, Sergey Shevelev, has described an experimentation process essentially identical to that covered in that Tea Side blog, about making batches of shu in baskets.  The "secret" is trial and error; keep making different batches until it works, then adjust for further improvement.  It would be almost impossible to do that without exploring the original larger scale processing first, to work without those details as a starting point (as referenced in this video).  Just trying a broad range of unique versions could be helpful, as are sold on that Moychay site.  It wouldn't help that shu often tends to need a year or so of rest to really be at its best, with some versions clearing up a bit in character over the next year or two.

Since so many variables can be open to exploration (using different tea plant type inputs, adjusting fermentation level, and time, temperature based on controlling the process, amount of water used, etc.) a very broad range of potential outcomes would be emerge.  Matching the standard-types and producers results would be hard enough, and surpassing it very problematic, but to some extent "different" results could be seen as better, across a broad range.

Cha Tou, or clumps of tea that form during shu processing, which are also referred to as "tea heads," are a different but related theme.  Here's an interesting description of that, part of a Chawang Shop product description:

Classify sun-dried leaves by grades, put into pile by wet treatment to made it complete the late fermenting course quickly, the leaves producing a great deal of dissoluble sugar and pectin during the fermentation process, therefore, some tender leaves stick together and form small nuggets at the bottom of the fermentation pile. These nuggets are called "Cha Tou."

small batch loose shu and a cha tou / tea nugget from Tea Side

The idea here is that even within conventional, large-batch processing there can be some variation in results and effect (with Sergey showing that outcome in the Moychay video I also mentioned).

All this never does justice to how unique and varied small-batch produced shu (ripe) pu'er can be.  But then that's a main point here, that you can't really capture that well in a limited set of examples.  If you try a number of good versions you can get a feel for the effect and variation range, but there would be no way to fully explore the full potential.  Different material could keep being explored from different places, with different specific steps working best with that starting point.  In one discussion the subject of shu / ripe processed Tie Guan Yin material came up, something that I haven't tried.  Maybe that's just amazing, or maybe it's a bad idea; no small set of results samples would be clear indicator (of the second case; any given sample could definitely pin down one particular positive outcome).

getting off subject, fermentation level seems to vary in loose versions (from the Moychay site)

One twist is that lower fermentation level may support potential for positive long-term aging results.  Sampling what was made over the last few years couldn't tell that story.  This Teas We Like product description hints at how that could work:

90s Kunming 7581 Brick

...In fact, the original wodui process for the 7581, which continued until 1999 and includes the cake sold here, only involves about half the level of fermentation of typical modern ripe puerh. The fermented tea would be moderately heated for drying, pressed into bricks... and then sent for traditional wet storage for a number of years. After this, the tea would be rested in dry storage, often for several years, and finally sold.

As usual storage is another main input, further complicating assessing results.  There's no need to overthink it all though; trying novel teas can be quite pleasant, without zeroing in on the best possible long-term results, or sorting out all of what might be out there.