An earlier version related to this has been one of my favorites, and this might be as well. It's from Wawee Tea (also here or here), so from Wawee, the main sheng production area outside of Chiang Rai. I won't be sharing a lot of backstory here; it's presented as Thai sheng (pu'er-style tea) from old plant material. Those links tell more of their story.
I loved the version last year for matching my own preference so closely. The same is true of Aphiwat's version I've been discussing, and one from Moychay wasn't so different. I think from repeatedly trying sheng versions from Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam the general style range has evolved to become my main tea preference, with the narrower set of aspects in those few the closest match.
I expect this will be a little closer to conventional Yunnan versions than the one from Aphiwat was, but that material seemed to be quite good quality, so maybe not better in that regard. His tea had an unusual plant or flower stem edge to it, a flavor that didn't pair with an astringency aspect as much as I would've expected, since the feel was rich but not rough or structured. It also had amazing intensity, complexity, durability, and sweetness, along with substantial bitterness. It's too hard to explain here but I don't think it's a type that's well-suited for aging, that it's perhaps as positive as it would ever be this year or next. Since it's such a personal favorite while still young that's not as much of a limitation.
This will be related in flavor range, I expect, but without as much of that one unusual edge. I would expect it to include less fruit range and more floral tones, based on last year's version, with bitterness level not so different, and feel different but in a way that's not simple to describe, more structured, fuller in feel. Never mind all that; this will be about this tea, not comparison to others, but if it helps define an aspect or transition expectation I'll get into that.
As to what comes before the brewed tea experience the appearance is just beautiful, as in the photos, and the smell is sweet, complex, fragrant, and floral. This is pressed a bit tight; that adds a little challenge in separating out a bit to brew, more care in not breaking up leaves. With a now more conventional loose pressing you can just push in the pick or knife from any direction and flake off a chunk of about the size you want. It'll slow aging transition slightly too, but otherwise it makes no difference. It's still much easier to separate off the tea than for older style factory cakes, more broken material pressed just as hard, which are looser and easier to access than iron cake versions, or typical tuochas.
I'm trying this on day 4 out of 5 of a fast; I've not eaten in 3 1/2 days. That won't change much. It's generally better not to drink most of a liter of sheng on a completely empty stomach but it'll be alright. I drank some salt water earlier, a sodium and potassium mix, which isn't nearly as good a stomach buffer as toast or cereal, but it will have to do.
Review:
First infusion: I let this brew about 15 seconds because I skipped a rinse step; that's a judgement call. It would've infused better with a rinse, and I'd skip saying "this is still a bit light," but it is still throwing out the tea. This will brew about 15 infusions, most likely, a half dozen more than I'll drink in a sitting, so that would've made sense. It's still a bit light; I gave half to a nearby plant to continue on making better notes. Of course it's as I already described it, sweet, floral, complex, seemingly well balanced.
Second infusion: that's it! Sweetness and flavor intensity pick way up; I can start brewing this faster and lighter. A honey-like flavor note stands out; it's always nice when it works out like that. There is good warmth to these flavor tones for being so young. I would generally expect it to be a little more oxidized than is typical in that case, implied by the mix of colors in the dried leaves. The darker yellow brewed liquid and mix of brown on the wet leaves would also more or less confirm that. For a version intended for long aging that's probably more negative than positive, but if someone plans to drink this within the first 2 or 3 years it can be more positive than negative.
The character right now is fantastic; no complaints. Then it's complicated and hard to sort out how a mix of varying extra oxidation level works out, if this really will age well, even long term, because many of the leaves are as green as could be.
Bitterness level is still considerable, but still in the middle of the scale in relation to typical Menghai versions. Floral range seems to stand out, but there is plenty more going on with this. The warm honey tone ties to mineral tones across a lighter and heavier scale, and to other warm flavor range that could be towards spice. To me the main flavor range, which is complex, and hard to break apart, combines both floral and fruit range.
It's almost a bit citrusy, or actually is, not in one distinct form (lemon, orange, tangerine), but I would expect that to evolve and seem to link to different range across infusions. This is a lot like the version I really loved earlier this year (last year's tea, and I think most of a year of aging transition amounted to a lot more than it would've in a cooler and drier place, when I tried it in February or so).
I suspect that a lot of South East Asian teas are slightly more oxidized than Yunnan versions not just because they don't process them quickly enough, but because it's pretty warm and humid across a lot of the entire region (not so much at elevation in northern Laos and Vietnam, but maybe even there in comparison with a lot of Yunnan). Everything changes quickly as a result; cereal can get stale still in the factory sealed packaging, and leaving partly brewed tea out overnight doesn't go as well as elsewhere. A picked fresh leaf would oxidize a little pretty fast.
third infusion: it's so good! That one flavor input, like honey, is probably closer to how beeswax smells, warm, rich, and sweet. A citrus edge warms up a little too, with other range I interpret as floral just as strong or stronger. Feel and aftertaste work together to support a more complex experience, in this case in a very positive form. It's rich and full, with a good bit of structure, and the bitter edge carries over to sweetness plus the other flavors trailing in aftertaste. Sometimes that effect can be even stronger; there is plenty of flavor experience a minute after drinking this tea, but for some versions it really goes on and on, sometimes seemingly even stronger than the actual flavor.
I'm saying that the citrus is warm in tone, but this might cover both a warmer tangerine range and lighter lemon input. It makes it come across as complex and satisfying, since that's only part of the range.
The version from Aphiwat extended to ripe and sweet pineapple, related to a fresh fruit version that wouldn't be familiar to most people in the US. Even if you try an exported fresh pineapple most plant types are sweet, citrusy, and intense but a little harsh, and other types here express a much warmer tone. That's like a branded version "Maui Gold," I guess (which sounds like a weed strain). Anyway this is different, more broad range citrus, honey and beeswax, and floral tones. A vegetal input is harder to place, maybe like a bit of green wood, not dominant, but there in the mix.
fourth infusion: I should've backed off my normal 8 gram or so proportion; without food in my stomach I might be able to drink a couple more rounds but will only get halfway through this infusion cycle, at best. This tea will be great in the afternoon but for doing a relaxed day while fasting I don't need to get blasted on caffeine. I have some errands to run; it'll help with that.
Intensity stands out in this experience (with the flavor set not transitioning quickly, so I won't add much about that). I think that's part of what I like about sheng, what I'm acclimated to. Probably if I would "get" the cha qi / body feel part more that would be intense too. When fasting energy levels tend to go all over the place, and sitting in a dark room is enough to bring on a crash, while doing something outside can trigger the opposite, great physical and mental energy and clarity.
Finishing this cup is probably all I'll have for now. My stomach still feels ok but the continual deep emptiness I've felt for days has shifted in form, warning me not to keep going. I'm sweating in a different way. I bet a couple of interesting late transitions would tell more of the story of this tea; maybe I can make notes over the next few hours as I get to those.
re-tasting two days later (I didn't make more notes): this won't be round by round, but I will add some thoughts, about re-trying the tea when I'm back out of fasting (I finished 5 full days last evening; that went ok). No change related to that factor, that I could tell.
I like the tea, in a style closer to conventional Yunnan versions than Aphiwat's. Bitterness isn't so different, but feel might have just a little more feel structure, and give up a little for sweetness level. Lighter mineral tones are stronger, which together with the feel makes it come across as a little drier. It seems like unusual flavor range in Aphiwat's version is replaced by a more standard floral range in this.
This tea might be better to drink a year or two later, to rest and settle a bit, and let the rough edges wear off, and flavor deepen. I didn't buy that earler Wawee Tea sheng version this year until late January / early Feb. or so, coming up on a year after production, which is only three months from now, but drank more in March and April. This character seems ok for longer aging too, drinking this as a 15 year old version, but I don't think Aphiwat's tea would have great potential for that kind of longevity.
They sent me some maocha from 2017, so 6 1/2 year old tea, and of course I can't assume that the starting point was quite similar, but it will inform part of how this might age.
Flavor list interpretation would always vary a good bit, so the comprehensive, round by round flavors list--mostly missing here--might not be so meaningful anyway. To help make that point here are tasting notes from that friend that visited here, John Lim, for Aphiwat's sheng, which I've described as floral with some fruit, and a plant stem related bitterness:
Gushu material, viscous and mellow.
I get ginger , lemongrass and wildflowers. Relatively sweet as well.
Subsequent brews bring out its bitter nature as well.
This tea feels like life in the mountains. Filled with herbs, grass and wildflowers. Bitter sweet life experiences.
More poetic than my writing; nice! Lemongrass makes sense, which I've interpreted differently, as citrus range or pineapple. Floral we both agreed on (I just didn't narrow it further), and the plant-stem, slightly edgy input could be an interpretation of bitterness overlapping with herbal nature. Herbs tend to not taste like plant stem, usually covering a warmer range, but I've described that warm rich tone as relating to honey, if I remember right, or maybe that was beeswax. It seems to be about breaking down a very complex and broad range of flavors into sets that match foods, floral, or vegetal experiences, which themselves are often not one dimensional, so sort of equivalent sets can vary a lot.
Later I tried Aphiwat's tea brewed Western style and it did taste a lot more like ginger and lemongrass; it's odd how combining what would be a lot of Gongfu infusion range together can change things. Or maybe it was all related to suggestion, expecting that, then noticing it?
Also if you brew any tea much lighter or stronger it will emphasize a different range, related to flavor and other aspects. Judging from the look of John's brewing--a photo--he used about half the proportion of tea leaf, a more conservative and sensible 4 or 5 grams per 100 ml instead of 8 or so, which would make it much easier to dial in lighter infusions, probably using longer infusion times.
I've just screwed up brewing this tea in a way that highlights that, writing these second trial notes. While typing I let a round brew too long (nearly 30 seconds?), and then will often brew a flash-infused round to mix with that, instead of diluting tea with water. Tasting the stronger in comparison with the fast-brewed round they're completely different, and not just in terms of intensity, also differing flavor aspects come through. The light one is too wispy to make it out clearly, but just a touch stronger would make the point better. Mixing the two rounds lands closer to an optimum, in a form that's far different than both tried separately.
Sweetness has been picking up in this tea, and bitterness easing off; this is what I really valued in the other version last year (this overall experience, not that particular transition pattern). Still, if this rests for 6 more months--or a year or two--it will be that bit more approachable, requiring less dialing in for infusion process.
I have a few cakes now around 4 years old that are coming out the other side of that somewhat young but more settled range, not getting better every year now, fading some but well short of the broader character transition onto being aged. Essentially all of those I don't own enough of to make waiting out another decade of transition such an attractive prospect. I'll probably work on finishing most of them, leaving only tea I bought enough extra to age-transition around to wait out that longer cycle. I can't finish all the half-consumed cakes I own now in a few months, or even half a year; I mean I'll work towards that.
One last point comes to mind, that I've tried 10 year old dry stored teas that are less fermentation transitioned than teas tend to be here after 3 years. All of these times and stages I'm citing depend on the particular storage input, in addition to the tea character starting point, which I did say a little about.
Is this tea as good as Aphiwat's, or better or worse? Just different. Maybe I prefer his a little more, but I think the opposite would be true trying both as two year old versions, and they might be pretty even next year. Related to long term aging potential I expect this has much more. All that is just guesses though. I've tried a somewhat aged version from them before (I should link to that, right?), and I'll post another within another week or so.
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my company for tasting again. two marks on her are actually heart shaped. |
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so green in the rainy season |
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the other garden |
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impressive, but spanning across a walkway. since it's a Buddhist household he gets to use the space. |
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