Good and bad aspects of scifi, in relation to The Expanse

 

(photo credit)

I just watched The Expanse series on Amazon.  I've been way behind in catching lots of streaming platform content, because we were many years late in subscribing to any of it.  We first subscribed to Netflix a couple of years ago, although we did catch some shows and movies using an account from an aunt who visited some years back.  

It just seemed like the kids didn't need to keep up with a large volume of entertainment content.  We had subscribed to Disney + for a couple of years earlier, related to a local promotion being inexpensive, but in general they spent so much time on Youtube, shorts, and Tik Tok that it seemed like more than enough.  They also probably watched cable tv a little longer than most American kids.

It was interesting thinking through the pros and cons of different scifi content in relation to The Expanse, which was generally pretty good.  I had tried to watch a couple of Netflix scifi series but it never worked out; the writing was just too bad to tolerate it, never mind enjoying it.  I'm not sure why my opinion would matter to anyone, but I also write to collect thoughts, so I'll do that.  I'll start with what worked well, why it was appealing, and there's a longer list of potential mistakes they might've made, and did.

Positive aspects

Without generally good writing shows of any type are hard to watch.  The story needs to be good, some main premise themes unique and interesting, and character depth and arc needs to be there.  They accomplished all of this.  Acting was great in The Expanse; I tried considering which characters represent thin spots, but to me there were none.  Some parts of some character themes didn't work, but in general every character had depth, was acted well, and contributed to the stories.

The show was based on a series of books, which helps.  In such circumstances an online show can adapt a strong story--or they wouldn't be using that source, and limit what doesn't work in that format.  If there are huge plot holes or inconsistencies those will probably carry over to the show, and I'll describe some examples of that.

The sets and effects worked; the general look was good.  They seemed to use a lot of very detailed models, for the space ships shots, and that can work really well.  Shows or movies can adjust motion and lighting, to make panning shots look very realistic.  They need to add back in some CGI for explosions or lasers and such, and all of that was ok.  In one unconventional scene they actually never got around to creating a critical part of a space-based battle, someone destroying a missile, which seemed to be late in the season when they were rushing to finish production, during Covid.  But in general not much looked unfinished or not quite there.  Quality of effects varied, but for a tv series it was good.

There were other parts people might like, like depth of the worldbuilding being reinforced by accent or language development, or ship systems being developed in a more complex form.  There weren't so many "hard scifi" / realism gaps, beyond the alien technology parts being a bit absurd at times.  So let's switch over to that, as a main gap, followed by the rest.

It's hard to emphasize just how well some parts worked, for example how an unlikely villain role really came together, how a terrorist could be framed as having a partially valid motivation and approach.  Good acting is required to pull that off, and good dialog writing to get the ideas across.  Some characters keep switching motivations, and "sides," and it generally all worked.  That's rare; it took careful development to make that happen.

Thinner spots; what didn't work as well

The alien proto-molecule and technology:   this part was whatever the series needed it to be in any given context.  It looked like a micro-organism or infection at one part, then made up a hive-like community structure, and later the same thing was used to create alien hybrids and vast new technological systems.  Those alien hybrids were invulnerable, like terminators, and people affected by the "virus-like" input were capable of long distance ESP sort of communication.  

It made no sense.  It was never supposed to make sense; it was a vehicle for supporting every plot point the story needed.

Character arcs:  this takes careful planning for different media form development, and it may have come across better in the source writing.  One character goes from being an ex-military transport pilot, based on a full career of experience, to a fighter jock in a few episodes.  Some characters are developed extensively and then just drop out, before that develops to real plot input (like the "Andersen Dawes" rebel minority leader; his part never came to much, even though it seemed headed to main character status).

Killing off a character for off-screen reasons:  part of why Dawes just disappeared related to his actor not being available, and one of the main 4 or 5 characters was deleted quickly due to "me too" themed accusations.  The actor probably deserved it, but that negatively impacted the show.  It would've provided limited closure if there could've been a real life resolution to all of that, some summary of what really happened, but that didn't occur.  30 or more women came forward to say that he had acted inappropriately, and apparently there was message or image based confirmation of that, so he was gone.

Over-use of music:  a music input can really add depth and emotional tone to a scene, but they overused it for this series, at times for extended scenes, so it would just keep going and going.  Less can be more; if it's not spanning 10 or 15% of the content time it can work better.

Parts that mostly worked that could have been better:

Time jumps:  for a long term saga sort of story this can be tricky, signaling when time has passed.  They did a good job of explaining when a gap had occurred, but with more careful writing they could've did more than just have one character tell another about an event.  Using flashbacks would be too much to demand to add more filming, CGI, and storytelling, but character interactions could flesh out critical themes without it just being short exposition ("this happened").  

One character formed a personal relationship with a villain character from the last season, turned into a sympathetic figure, and they crammed all of that transition into a short video call, mostly as context based, so the viewer could figure out what had changed.

Use of language differences:  for the most part this belongs in the "what worked section," to me, but that's a judgment call.  The story used a New Zealand accent to represent a minority group (asteroid belt residents), because a main character was from New Zealand, and it worked better to draw on an established accent than to make one up.  It seemed to me others were using more of a Singaporean accent, and one guy sounded a bit Irish.  For me that really worked, mixing different accent inputs, even for people from the same places, but someone else could see it differently.  

The same could be true of making up racial or origin area designations, or slang.  I was fine with all of it, but someone else might see it as overdone, as a bit beaten to death with repetition.

Complex story line gaps:  again this is part of what worked well and potentially huge gaps, depending on how one took it.  The alien technology themes were never really developed, as to what it all meant, and the show stopped before a conclusion phase that would resolve that.  There was a second alien input group that was introduced, and played a critical role in two plot points, and there was nothing at all developed about them.  

One character was transmitted mentally, in the form of a dead earlier character, and it was never really filled in what that meant, or how it worked, even though he was later split into two characters, as a fictional projection and as the real earlier guy coming back.  For some it would've worked well, and leaving parts vague could've been a big part of that.  For others it would seem like they just never told parts of the story, or those never even existed.

A story line about a new set of alien themes at the end went nowhere, there really only to develop a starting point for later possible exploration (and a time-gap later book series event sequence).  Maybe some found that interesting, and a positive addition, but in general wasting a couple of hours on developing a sequence that goes nowhere and doesn't interrelate is a negative.

Overuse of misunderstanding to move the plot along:  it's a little more trivial but the writing relied on explanatory gaps or misunderstanding between characters a bit too much, in spots.  Characters wouldn't say what they really meant, or explain themselves, allowing plot tension and conflict to develop and to be easily resolved later, when other characters understood what they hadn't initially.  It's a good work-around for a problematic point in a story, but if a writer uses it over and over it seems lazy, and takes you out of the story.

Dark tone:  this kind of thing is especially subject.  A dark, tense, somber tone can be a very positive context in a movie or series, if it matches the rest, and that's what the theme is.  It's a big part of what worked well in the first groundbreaking Blade Runner movie.  I think the main negative part relates to me being tired of seeing it, and not wanting to experience tension or dread over many hours of viewing.  They did break up the experience some with positive personal interactions, or it would've seemed relentless, but the dark imagery (literally, even; it was all dark), tension over ongoing conflict themes, somber music, and dark character themes were all a bit much.

On the whole

Most of it worked, really well.  They developed perspectives and themes related to Earth resident activities and themes, and those tied to Mars and asteroid belt culture and communities.  It was a lot to tell connected stories around, and it worked.  Some of the characters were really compelling (I guess especially the Amos character, a dark sort of antihero type).  It didn't draw on any of the minority representation or female empowerment themes that can be problematic; characters varied by race and gender in a seamless and sensible way.

Because it all worked so well the thinner spots, or what didn't work, stood out all the more to me.  I suppose the same comes up with Star Trek series, and the like.  If a series is weak, the acting is patchy, story lines make no sense, then only a limited audience can appreciate any of it.  But if it's strong then limited flaws can stand out all the more, story inconsistency, less realistic aspects, or one character that doesn't work as well.  

It's hard for me to say which character didn't work well in The Expanse, as a written character or related to the acting.  The series started slowly, and there were some jumps in character arcs, but in general all of that range was really solid.  These other gaps are the same; they stand out more because the rest is so well done.

Nong Xiang Tie Guan Yin and Longjuan Meizhan Oolongs

I'm reviewing two random oolong samples from Moychay, a Nong Xiang Tie Guan Yin and Longjuan Meizhan Oolong.  Pretty much only TGY means much to me; I'll cite their descriptions to explain what these are.

Flame Tie Guanyin Oolong Tea (Nong Xiang Tie Guanyin)  (60 grams for $23.36)

Origin:  China · Fujian · Sanming, Around 1,300 m · handpicked

Nong Xiang Tie Guan Yin · deeply baked · traditional processing

A traditional deeply baked Tie Guan Yin with a rich and warming character. Roasted fruit and honey meet persistent orchid notes and smooth minerality.

The body is full and rounded, followed by a long, sweet finish.  The liquor is clear amber-red.  Main taste notes:  Roasted · Orchid · Honey...

The intensive baking transforms the greener character of Tie Guan Yin into a warmer profile of baked fruit, honey, orchid and mineral notes.

Longjuan Wild High Mountain Meizhan Oolong Tea , 7g  (only available as 7 grams for $5)

Longjuan Yesheng Gaoshan Meizhan Youji Wulong Cha (2024)

Meizhan is a traditional Chinese oolong tea from Anxi County, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province. Grown at altitudes between 500 and 800 meters, this tea is hand-picked during two main harvest seasons: mid-April to mid-May and mid-September to mid-October. The plucking standard is one bud with three leaves, and only manually harvested leaves are used...

When brewed, Meizhan offers a floral and toasty aroma, with a balanced, rich, and smooth taste profile.

What is Meizhan though, a tea style, cultivar, or something else?  Google AI weighs in:

Meizhan (梅占, or "Plum Blossom") is a versatile and robust tea cultivar from China primarily processed into oolong, though it is also adapted for black or white teas.

• Origin: Native to southern Fujian Province (Anxi County), Meizhan has also been widely planted in the Wuyi Mountains (Wuyishan) since the 1960s to produce rock oolong (yancha).

• The Bush: Often called "tall stem" or "big leaf" Meizhan, the plant grows into a tall tree-like bush with a distinct trunk and thick, leathery, elongated leaves. It is one of the earliest sprouting cultivars in the spring.

Note that primary references it is citing are credited there (Rivers and Lakes Tea, Tea and Whisk, and Nannuoshan's Youtube content).  That's not offering so much source credit, but at least it's a start.

So it's really a plant type.  Probably not necessarily a cultivar, in the strictest sense, since that's usually intended as meaning only a plant type with controlled genetic character, like a Taiwanese hybrid.  Older, broader plant types, like Qing Xin in Taiwan, or Rou Gui in Wuyishan, would vary quite a bit, as genetics drift over time.  It still generally means "plant type," I'm just making that clearer.

On to how the tasting notes relate to all of that.

Review:

Tie Guan Yin:  just getting started.  This is really promising though; the roast input comes across nicely, in a novel form.  There's a root beer sort of sweetness and depth to this.  It should be good, but I'll add more flavor list next round. 

Longjuan Wild High Mountain Meizhan:  also slow to fully infuse, but faster, related to this being open strip form oolong, and also very promising.  Warm roasted tones stand out in this, in a different kind of way.  This tastes like really nice Wuyi Yancha can, when deep floral range is brought out by roasting, instead of masking and replacing it.  One part inclines towards spice, not so far off cinnamon, just not exactly that.  It has great mineral range and depth, and a touch of brandy or liqueur like aromatic range, which is both pleasant and a good indicator of quality.  

For some tea versions I might struggle to place just how good a tea is, or how limited quality or positive aspects are, when one really doesn't stand out.  These stand out. 

Tie Guan Yin #2:  I infused this a little longer than the other, to account for the form difference, and it needing to open up.  Not long though; the other I brewed for 10 seconds or less, and this for not much over 10, maybe 15.  It's good.  There's always the question of why traditional style, more oxidized, and well-balanced roast input form Tie Guan Yin are rare, with the bright and light versions most of what you see (nuclear yellow, a favorite old blog reference would call that, Marshal N of Tea Addict's Journal).  

This isn't exactly that older and better balanced style.  Roast level is high but oxidation input is probably limited, with more on that to follow.  

It's good, but the other version is probably going to make it sound more limited than it actually is, for being so positive and novel.  It tastes like TGY, that characteristic floral flavor (which some could peg to actual flower types), just warmed and changed through more oxidation and roast input.  

Warm, inky tones are a balanced part of the rest.  I suppose it could be even better with very well integrated additional oxidation, which would sweeten and warm the flavor in a different way.  But it's good.  Often higher roast will seem to cover a flaw in a tea, for example to mask when a version is really a year or two old, and is getting a bit stale, but these results are so positive this could be an intentional optimization of leaf potential instead (or an attempt at it; it would be hard to plan for and identify a perfect outcome).  I'll try to break down the aspects more as a list as I go.

Longjuan Meizhan:  there is no familiar flavor profile or style to this.  I've compared it to Wuyi Yancha, but it's not a close match to the main conventional types of that, even though Wuyi Yancha covers a very broad range of plant types, terroir inputs, and processing styles, so it would be hard to say what couldn't be represented there.  

The combination of spice input with unique floral range is different, and this oxidation input balanced really well with the rest.  It's probably roasted, but you can't identify the inky and heavy input as with the other, a more conventional form.  It at least seems like oxidation input has caused the main transition, and roast input is light, and secondary, supporting that.

Feel is nice, but it could be a little thicker.  Aftertaste carry-over is positive too, but that could also be stronger.  Interesting and positive flavor is the high point of this tea version, which is a nice thing to experience.  Warm mineral base input works, balancing the rest, in a positive and subtle way.  It's all balanced, and to an extent refined, which is a concept or term I use to express that lots of subtle aspects fall together in a very well integrated way.  The other tea version hits a few levels and notes pretty hard, which does balance, but this ties together a half dozen more subtle inputs.  For a sheng pu'er drinker maybe intensity is limited, but then tea character blasting you is more of a sheng thing.

TGY #3:  it's still quite pleasant.  I suppose this is an example of a more roasted but lighter oxidation input TGY, not the older and differently balanced style.  But it works.  Just adding lots of roast to a flawed or limited light version doesn't get you this kind of result.  There's a good bit of floral range, an inky minerality, and a hinting towards spice.  Feel is full enough, and there's some aftertaste carry-over.  If someone was promoting this as some next-level, 80 cent a gram quality range version I wouldn't buy that, but it's a pretty solid tea.  Those inputs balance and integrate fairly well.  There are probably plenty of people who would absolutely love this style and character outcome, then others who wouldn't.

Longjuan Meizhan:  it's interesting how those different flavor inputs balance, and shift from round to round.  This now tastes like a different bark spice than cinnamon, a range of themes I was more familiar with in my 30s when I drank a lot of tisanes.  I think people would unpack a flavor list in vastly different ways, so even though it is complex, balanced, and integrated there probably wouldn't be much agreement on what flavors are going into that.  That would be challenging related to creating a vendor description. 

This is from 2024, so it has settled a bit already, and that wouldn't completely shift flavor but it might let it integrate in a different way than initially.  Roast input could soften over time, but this doesn't seem to have been heavily roasted anyway.

The feel effect is different in both.  You might expect that this kind of aspect range is a good way to distinguish a difference between these teas, and to describe both better.  The first version has a conventional fullness--moderate in intensity, not pronounced--that is common to rolled oolongs in general, and this version is harder to describe.  It's not astringent; there is no roughness, and it doesn't come across as a structured feel.  But it's that little bit towards that, from typical oolong fullness, more impactful in feel, just not rough or dry.

TGY #4:  these teas are far from fading away but I'll still do one longer infusion round (20 seconds or so) and stop taking notes; this runs long enough, and they're not transitioning that much.  It's as positive as it has been.  That set of aspects balances well, the warm tones, mineral, hint of spice, and warm floral range.  It's interesting how as a list it sounds like the other tea, but in actual experience it's all fairly different.  The tones within those categories aren't the same, and the general effect is different.  Maybe for some they would seem almost the same, but to me they're not.

The base of this experience is a somewhat greener Tie Guan Yin input, with that distinctive floral range.  After the roasting input it comes across as deeper and broader floral tone, lets say including lavender instead of just lighter tones, that I'm not good at placing.  Let's ask AI what it thinks:

Tie Guan Yin oolong tea most commonly tastes and smells like fresh orchid flowers.

Depending on the specific style and how it is processed, the floral notes can also feature other delicate characteristics:

• Orchid: The signature and most famous floral note associated with the Tie Guan Yin Oolong cultivar.

• Gardenia: Lightly oxidized, modern green-style versions can offer bright, dewy gardenia and spring floral aromas.

• Osmanthus or subtle sweet florals: Traditional roasted styles soften the sharp floral bouquet into a warmer, toasty, and creamy sweetness with faint fruity undertones.

I could kind of see the orchid but that doesn't sound right, even though there are lots of orchid types, and osmanthus is also close but maybe not that.

Longjuan Meizhan:  like it was last time.  Maybe it picked up a little depth and complexity, or maybe not.

Where the other tea includes 3 or 4 main flavor inputs that balance this comes across as a complex and well-integrated broad range of flavor.  People could describe it differently, since it's hard to describe.  To me a bark spice flavor is central, not cinnamon though.  Floral range might be next, and it also leans towards or includes rich dried fruit range, like tamarind, perhaps with a touch of citrus zest.  Aromatic tones are even harder to isolate.  It might include something along the line of vanilla.  There's a touch of creamy effect, that could be interpreted as relating to a caramel sweetness input.  There's a lot going on, but it comes across as a broad and integrated range.

I suppose I like the second version better, and see it as a more novel and higher quality level tea.  It's approachable; there isn't much to it that I would expect some people wouldn't like.  But it's nothing like a conventional more oxidized oolong version, like a rolled "red" oolong, even though it's kind of along a similar line in some ways.

Oriental Leaf Bing Dao sheng pu'er

 

I'll copy the vendor's site listing here before posting this review, and just write a few comments first, then the notes.  Bing Dao is one of the two higher profile, known sheng pu'er types, along with Lao Ban Zhang.  Other origin area types would be great too; it just worked out that way.

I've not tried much of it, at all, maybe only a couple of versions.  So this won't get far with describing what it type-typical, and will focus on this tea.  I think it should be sweet, floral, and complex, with great depth and refinement, supported by a pleasant mineral base, and balanced bitterness.  But then that works for a lot of sheng range in general.  Maybe the flavor range should be distinctive, in a way I'm not recollecting.  Let's see how it is, and maybe refer to a second or third reference later, beyond the product listing description.

This is presented as a coin, or tiny single serving cake.  To me that opens up faster and works better than the dragonball / pearl style, letting all of the tea infuse at the same rate.

  

It's in an 8 gram size, with an indentation in the coin enabling splitting it to drink in two 4 gram parts.  That would make sense; for better quality tea it can work to go lighter on the proportion (than 7 or 8 grams per 100 ml volume worth), to enable more careful control of brewing timing.  At 8 grams you are more just flash infusing the tea, versus really dialing in the strength you want.  

I'll still use 8 for this initial tasting; it's more my habit, my own personal norm, and that changes things.  7 grams would be enough, but 8 isn't too much, even though I'll probably end up mentioning the trade-off for using a higher proportion in this.

Let's check the Oriental Leaf site listing:

Bingdao Aged Raw Pu-erh Coin Cakes — Mengku Rongshi ($17.50 for 40 grams, for five 8 gram coins)

Raw pu-erh from Bingdao's core growing area, made from 2020 harvest material that was aged before being pressed and released. Mengku Rongshi — the brand widely credited with establishing Bingdao's reputation — has been sourcing from this area since 1984. Classic Bingdao character: rock-sugar sweetness, a clean cooling finish, and strong salivation that stays long after the cup is empty. Compressed into 8g coin cakes, packaged in small boxes of five. Available as a single box (40g) or a full set of eight boxes (320g)...

Mengku Rongshi has been sourcing from the area since 1984, long before it was a name anyone outside the local tea trade knew. When the brand released their first Bingdao tea, the "Mother Tree" ( 母树茶), in 2005, it was among the first to formally introduce this material to a wider market. 

The raw material for this tea was harvested in 2020 from high-grade Bingdao area gardens — one bud plus two leaves, selected to the same standard as the brand's other Bingdao products.

Rather than pressing immediately after processing, the brand held the material in dry storage at their Yunnan factory — allowing it to settle, integrate, and develop before compression. The first batch was pressed and released in 2023 after aging in dry storage. Subsequent batches — released in 2024, 2025, and 2026 — draw from the same 2020 material, pressed and released in their respective years.

After leaving the factory, the tea has been stored in Xi'an, in northwest China. Xi'an's climate is dry, with low annual humidity and clear seasonal variation — a natural dry storage environment that allows aging to continue cleanly and slowly, without the intervention of high ambient moisture.

To me that was interesting background, so I included a bit more than I usually do.  I don't include the typical "is it real?" discussion point in this.  It probably is, but some people always question everything related to high demand origin teas, and there isn't much more to say about that.  For some maybe the cost would seem too low; it is a bit reasonable, which some could see as a red flag.

So this is 2020 material; interesting!  I didn't guess that it was that age transitioned.  Value seems really good for this high an in-demand region, and the quality and character is positive.  On with the notes then.

Review:

First infusion:  the smell is already sweet and floral, before trying it.  This will be a bit light for taking notes on flavors though; it's still opening up.  Initial impression is positive; it is sweet, floral, and complex.  But the next round will tell a more detailed story.  There's a bright, fruity, creaminess to this already, even though the intensity is low.

Second infusion:  bitterness emerges, along with more other sweet flavor range.  Intensity is good; this really hits on a lot of levels, even though it's really still opening up.  The mineral is a little intense, along the range of a dry rock type, maybe limestone.  Bitterness balances reasonably well, but it's still evolving, not even at its normal, opened leaf infusion character yet.  Flavor range is mostly floral, but it leans towards fruit.  

Aftertaste is starting to pick up already, even though the tea intensity and character isn't in its normal form yet.  It's clearly quite good.  Given how this is coming across I'd expect the next round to be much more intense, even brewed fast, with bitterness, mineral, and an astringency edge as pronounced as it will be, evolving to soften over the next two rounds after.  But we'll see.

Third infusion:  intensity is interesting in this, even for being brewed fast.  So it's on to the trade-off of using a high proportion already; there is no dialing the timing down to try a lighter infusion, at this proportion.  The mineral tone seems to include a little dryness, which isn't coming across as a flaw, but it is distinctive in a way that some would love and others might not.  It will probably fade soon anyway.

Intensity is good; it's a strong tea.  Sweetness level is pronounced; that works.  Floral range flavors--they're mostly that--are positive, complex and reasonably well balanced.  All of this seems a little non-specific, but that's my early impression so far.  I'm wondering how new or aged this is; I didn't catch a year.  It has a bright, fresh, young sheng character, but the warm tones suggest that it may not be completely new, maybe 2 or 3 years old.  But it's hard to tell.  A tea could be this fresh after 6 years in cool and dry storage, or longer, and a year or so of heat and humidity could draw out this kind of character here in Bangkok.  Within 2 or 3 years teas start to take on middle-age form here, what would be more conventional after 5 to 10 years elsewhere.  [Later edit:  it's 6 years old, older than I expected].

At this stage the hint of dryness in the strong mineral base would determine a match to preference for someone.  Then if that evolves, as I think it will, it would be something else later.

Fourth infusion:  a syrupy feel picks up; this had expressed fullness of feel structure before, but now it's in a different form.  The flavor tones warm just a little.  It's still mostly floral, but a hint of caramel range is emerging.  Someone could interpret this as expressing a light citrus edge; that could make sense.  Or I guess if you are really "looking for it" it could be as fruity as floral, maybe along the line of including some mango, or dried longan.  It's complex, but within a limited range.

Then mineral is a lot of it as well.  The dryness that I associate with that mineral tone isn't dropping out, maybe only shifting form slightly.  It comes across in the aftertaste expression, and seems to match with a dry structure in the feel.  This includes bitterness, but it doesn't carry over as a strong hui gan aftertaste sweetness effect.  Moderating intensity may serve this well, using the 4 gram approach instead.  It has plenty of sweetness and flavor to express, and brewed quite light it might fall into a different kind of balance.  That's not intended as an "oh no, I've screwed this up" kind of observation, more about where an optimum might be.

I drank a little cold water to reset my palate after this round, and experienced that sweetness effect that can come up, where it tastes like there is sugar in it, a carry-over from the tea effect.  The mineral and trace of dryness seems to mask that part of the aftertaste effect, for me, the sweetness after swallowing, but the water really brought it out.

This tea seems a bit strong, the stoney cha qi effect.  It would be nice if I liked such a thing more.  I have a history with drug use, well in my past now, so I avoid almost anything that shifts my balance of perception, I guess with the exception of running.  Tea also does, but I eat first, or with the tea, to offset that.  My normal mental balance is fine; my energy level varies a little, but my mental state is typically clear and positive enough.

Fifth infusion:  this is the most positive this has been.  The bitterness and astringency edge are fading, and strong flavors stand out all the more.  Mostly floral, still, or that could be interpreted as floral with some fruit input.  The touch of creaminess that stood out very early on is ramping back up.  It comes across as creamsicle, as a touch of orange combined with actual cream, or ice cream.  The other fruit range I was describing included a hint of citrus, and the rest isn't closely related, but it adds to overall complexity.  Intensity is pretty good too; I'm not intending to downplay that here.  And overall balance, refinement, etc.  

This tea should evolve positively over the next few years, and then I probably wouldn't like it as much as a more aged version later on, since it's positive now.  It's not one of the more approachable, easy to drink, oolong oriented style sheng pu'er versions, but it's not challenging at all either.  Mineral intensity, bitterness, and a touch of dry feel (astringency) balance well with the rest, but those wouldn't suit everyone in the same way.

For feel input alone drinking 4 grams of this at a time might make more sense.  It's strong.  Five rounds of two teas--a common review comparison form here--usually doesn't contribute the same kind of stoney effect.  I'll either try one more round and get blasted or take a 15 minute break and come back to this.  Maybe the break; it's kicking in plenty already.

Sixth infusion:  it falls into better and better balance.  The bitterness, astringency, flavor range, and depth are all the best they've been.  Tones were warming, and I suppose that hasn't changed since the last round, but it's warmer than earlier rounds.  The flavor list stays the same as described earlier.  I suppose within a round or two the overall balance will shift enough that it will seem different, or if I brew the next round fast enough that might change things.

Seventh infusion:  for brewing two infusions one after the other, and a second one lighter, intensity finally dropped off a little.  It's fine this way, but it's not more magical, or completely different.  To me the feel range is positive in this, but it's also intense, with a bit of drying effect, just less than earlier.  Good sweetness and positive flavor balances that, but in other really nice tea versions that can come across more as fullness than structure, if that makes sense.  Taken one way it sounds like I'm describing oolong in comparison with sheng; I mean within the typical range sheng expresses.  

It's interesting that it's a cool morning, at 10 AM, but I'm sweating a lot.  This tea is affecting both my mind and body.  It has been an unusually rainy monsoon season, raining every day for a couple of weeks; that's a lot of it too.  

During that flooding cycle period last week it was over 80% RH during the days, the most humid I've ever seen it.  It must be in the high 70s just now (77%, 30 C, feeling like 32, my phone says; that relative heat index sounds a little unreliable).  A second source says it's 89 F (32), 73%, and feels like 103.  I'm going to go run in an hour anyway; I finally beat that foot problem I had, by taking a month off of running.

Eighth infusion:  smooth, balanced, complex, and tasty.  The mineral starts to resemble a hint of smoke, changing form from rock to include whatever other range.  It's definitely not dropping out.  For someone who absolutely loves sheng intensity this expresses an interesting and positive form of that.  That distinctive feel might not be for everyone, the heavy astringency structure and bit of dryness.  For a young sheng drinker it's just normal though, not even that pronounced in form, since remotely "young" factory sheng would express much more rough structure and dryness.  7542 would take a dozen years to be this approachable, or maybe 20 under dry storage, and by then the positive fresher flavor aspects would have shifted to a less distinctive, middle-aged form.

I suppose it's fair to say that I liked the Ban Zhang tea version character I just reviewed better.  Stronger sweet flavor range stood out even more, and feel wasn't as structured, or dry at all.  That's because I am acclimated to tolerate, or even crave, challenging, intense sheng versions, but I like strong flavored and sweet but approachable forms the best.

Conclusions:

So very positive.  It's not meaningful to say that I happened to like some other origin and source version better; that was more about my own style preference than a quality judgement.  Looking back on the review notes comment that might have related to really liking the fresh, bright, intense floral range that can tend to start transitioning to warmer tones within a few years, even if it can come at a cost in terms of heavier bitterness and astringency in some versions.  For me a broad range of bitterness is fine, if it balances with the rest.

It's interesting considering that this is a 6 year old tea version.  It had definitely transitioned some, but not nearly as much as any tea spending 6 years in Bangkok would, regardless of starting point.  The initial brightness and freshness is long gone when a tea spends that long here.  It seemed younger, to me, but that probably partly relates to that biased expectation of rapid aging.  10 year old dry stored sheng versions seem really fresh to me.

General quality level seemed positive, and character was nice.  It was a good sign that it kept brewing positive infusions, even well beyond the 8 described here.  It just wouldn't give out.  Let's consider their type-typical aspect description:

"rock-sugar sweetness, a clean cooling finish, and strong salivation that stays long after the cup is empty." 

I don't know.  It was sweet, and flavors were very positive, with good aftertaste expression, especially related to length and "returning sweetness" effect, hui gan, even without a higher than average level of bitterness.  Body feel and stoney effect really stood out; I tend to not notice that much, but for this I did.

I looked up an old Bing Dao listing to see if the character seemed similar or not, even though comparing two random versions of a general type or origin example is relatively meaningless.  The sample size is too small.  But I did review a four year old Bing Dao tea coin in 2022, here.  I guess it sounded a bit similar.  I didn't have a cost to compare it to; that seemed to be something a friend had shared earlier.  So I guess the point here is that you really need to keep trying different versions to have a baseline for comparison.  A couple of examples seeming somewhat similar is hard to place.

This tea experience reminded me of a recurring theme in this blog, about how sheng drinkers acclimate to bitterness and then later really crave the tea intensity (more about the second).  This tea was intense.  To me that's a great thing; it made for a very pleasant experience.  For others maybe it could seem a bit much, if they were more into oolong or whatever else.  It didn't have challenging feel structure, overwhelming bitterness, or unusually heavy mineral tone intensity, but it was intense across different range, just refined and balanced at the same time.  Especially for a 6 year old version; it must have softened and mellowed over time.