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Yiwu Mountain Pu'er huang pian left, Liquid Proust right (both 2005) |
I see finishing up trying another two dozen or so samples I have around as the last step in training on variations in teas before moving onto another level of essentially doing more of the same. It's interesting when the teas are new to me and interesting in a different way when styles repeat, a chance to see what range that type can cover. I'm comparing this 2005 huang pian sent as part of a Liquid Proust set with another I've already reviewed from Yiwu Mountain Tea (with a number of posts relating to different sample sets), so I guess this is the latter.
As background on the Yiwu Mountain Tea source goes, they are unique for offering different sample sets that cover different ages and types of teas, including some sold as a series of variously aged similar sheng versions. They also sell a broad range of sheng focused on that origin theme, on Yiwu.
Liquid Proust is something else altogether. On the one hand that's a curator-themed vendor, selling a range of different teas (mostly sheng) selected for being interesting, and on the other they offer group-buy sets of different kinds. I first did an interview post with Andrew Richardson about the group buy theme nearly two years ago (in particular about the Sheng Olympiad), and have reviewed most of the teas from this set I'm referring to over the last several months.
I have a 2019 Sheng Olympiad version set to get to, yet unopened (an offering not sold out yet, I don't think). I'd like to clear through some of what's around before moving on, so let's get to that.
Review
In terms of appearance the Yiwu Mountain Tea version is darker, pressed into what looked to be a more conventional cake, a bit more compressed. This Liquid Proust version still looks more like the original leaves. Since it's really about brewed character I'll focus on that. It is interesting how much darker the Yiwu Mountain Tea version looks and brews though, and odd the other tea could limit aging that much in a dozen years.
I just tried a 2006 sheng version I bought in Chinatown recently so the baseline for that rate of transition is that much more familiar. Humidity of the storage environment factors in as a main concern; stored a bit dryer a tea won't support the same level of growth of fungus and bacteria to convert tea compounds into other compounds.
I don't really get into what huang pian is here since I've covered that in other posts. The short version: "yellow leaf" tea produced from older leaves, sometimes referred to as "farmer's tea," often sorted out in other sheng versions. Using that leaf type input results in a milder, sweeter form of final tea character, trading out some of the intensity and standard character for that positive but more limited aspect range.
First infusion
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Yiwu Mountain Tea version left, Liquid Proust right, in all the pictures |
Yiwu Mountain tea: In a sense this tea is serving as a comparison baseline for the other in this but I'll review both together. The character is quite smooth; huang pian would be like that, and dozen-year-old version especially so. Instead of moderating infusion time and intensity to offset some aspects (bitterness, etc.) this will be about getting the infusions strong enough to optimize flavor and other effect. It's so smooth, warm, rich, and subtle that it starts to share character with well-aged shou mei. There's some caramel warmth to the sweetness, and a mild and pleasant earthiness, like a light spice, with mild mineral adding depth.
Liquid Proust version: it tastes slightly less fermented but not by much, not nearly as much a difference as the look indicates. Maybe once both develop further that little bit will seem less significant, or the aspect range difference could increase. It's subtle too, but in a different range. There is a trace of caramel warmth and spice but where the other was towards cinnamon this is in a more aromatic range, with a hint of that old furniture character.
Just to be clear I'm usually not referring to an "aged furniture" description as a tea tasting like an old couch sitting in someone's basement, or dusty wicker furniture up in an attic. I had spent a lot of time in a very old local Bangkok temple, Wat Pho, visiting or even sleeping in old rooms storing furniture and religion-themed supporting equipment that had been around for decades, or I suppose possibly centuries. More like that, like cleanly-stored, mostly wood, very well-aged furniture, with a touch of long-faded incense spice residue mixed in. An "aged books" aspect isn't completely different but it is somewhat related. Both teas' aspects should be clearer to break down next round.
Second infusion
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Liquid Proust version (on the right) is a lot greener |
Again difference in tea and brewed liquid color is amazing, kind of night and day. I wouldn't necessarily guess that one isn't really aged as much, that the labeling is wrong, since it could be that different storage conditions cause fermentation to occur at different rates. This YMT version doesn't seem musty, at all, so I don't think it was wet-stored in the sense of overdoing it to speed up aging, but it probably wasn't dry-stored either, somewhere in a happy medium.
At a guess the LP version was stored quite dry, leading to the tea not transitioning nearly as much over that time. Or it could not be as old as described, but I'm guessing that Andrew sourced this from someone who would sell it as it was, and would know themselves. Without having that much background with aged huang pian I kind of don't have an opinion; these two examples are the only significantly aged huang pian I've tried.
Yiwu Mountain Tea: more of the same. The tea is nice, but it helps to love aged shou mei to appreciate it. It has that warm, mildly earthy, caramel towards spice range, which is only diminished by being milder than it really needs to be. I like it but it's quite different from most of the sheng I've tried, even related to similarly aged sheng. One would expect that; it's a different thing for being made from "yellow" leaves.
LP: a woody aspect adds to what the YMT version is like. It doesn't come across as young as it looks; it has transitioned to quite mellow too. Depending on interpretation that could be a positive transition, to a warm, mild, subtle but pleasant character, or it could've just faded instead. The aromatic spices and aged furniture effect lends it some complexity, but it's complex in a very subtle way. A subtle fullness to feel and slight dryness is nice for adding a bit more complexity, and some aftertaste also contributes to that. The wood tone is like a well-aged fairly neutral wood, a very seasoned oak maybe, with the dryness potentially mapping onto a touch of balsa wood. It's different.
Third infusion
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both with a longer infusion time; the brewed liquid is darker |
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2007 Nannuo Changtai (left) and 2006 Zhong Cha for aging reference |
YMT: I let this infusion run around 30 seconds to try a stronger version. It doesn't draw out any new aspects to experience, and the balance works as well or better lighter, it's just really subtle that way. The earthiness ramps up to a feel experience more, nothing close to astringency, or even normal sheng feel-structure, but it's still there. It comes across a little more as a very mild version of coffee (a trace of flavor aspects commonality; the rest of the brewed tea character is nothing at all like coffee).
LP: vegetal range ramps up brewed stronger for this; the wood tone seems a little closer to a greener version of wood. The aromatic spice aspect is still in the background but that intensity didn't increase as much as the other flavor and feel range. I'll hold off on describing transitions until next round since these variations relate to intensity difference.
Fourth infusion
I like the balance of these better brewed lighter even though "really subtle" is the main description that comes to mind. Probably infused for 20 seconds strikes the right balance (or maybe 30 from here; these have dropped intensity a bit already), to taste like enough to get it without the earthiness and feel standing out (mild feel, but still). They don't seem to be transitioning enough to do a lot with describing that. Even when a tea doesn't change flavors the proportion of what is there can shift, or feel-related aspects and such, but that wouldn't always be interesting to read about.
I'll cut this short since I'm off to a birthday party soon, for one of my daughter's friends. In conclusion the teas were nice, just not typical of standard aged sheng experience, different in character. There was a time when teas being this mild wouldn't have been interesting to me but with more exposure the range of what seems nice broadens naturally (or at least it did in my case). I wouldn't go out of my way to drink silver needle / silver tips versions, or spend a lot on aged shou mei, but at least I can relate to and appreciate milder teas.
I think my favorite huang pian version that I tried so far was a shou version (or shu, I've heard might be more accurate), this Lao Man E origin version from Moychay. It was quite subtle as shou / shu goes, which isn't necessarily what most shou drinkers are going for, but the sweetness, rich feel, and experience of depth that gave it were really cool. It was a good bit stronger flavored tea version than these two; aging really has polished off rough edges until these teas are either refined or light in flavor, depending on the value interpretation one adds to that.
Of these two aged huang pian versions I think I liked the Yiwu Mountain Tea version better, but both were interesting and pleasant. It seems like the Yiwu tea had probably aged a good bit more, most likely related to storage conditions, to being stored in a more humid environment, but not one that was humid enough to cause mustiness. It's unusual to try a tea and not know the origin location--related to the other--but in a sense it doesn't matter so much, since that terroir input, growing conditions factor, processing, resulting original aspects character, and aging related transitions all mix as factors in how the Liquid Proust sample comes across now. It certainly works well for trying an unusual version of sheng, the main point behind that particular intro sample set.
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Kalani and her best friend at that birthday outing at a play area |
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that Bangkok play area, the Funarium |
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pretty cheerful about playing there |
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