Why compare 9 year old and 17 year old Xiaguan tuochas, when the 17 year old version might still need another half dozen years to age-transition to be optimum? It's more appropriate than those 4 to 6 year old aging snapshot reviews I've done in the past. At least these are closing in on ready, one 6 years ahead of the other.
I visited my favorite Bangkok Chinatown shop recently, Jip Eu, and asked what other Xiaguan tuochas they have, since I've bought a number of these 2012 versions. It's funny how that goes in there; if you don't ask it would never come up. Kittichai, the owner, said that he doesn't have very many 2006 versions left so he's not selling them, but he did sell me one. I bet that's still more of a count than when a tea enthusiast says that he or she only has a little left. He mentioned the grade name but I forgot that.
We tried the tea together there then, since he had another open, and I had time to visit. It's good. It's a little musty; their storage seems a bit extra enclosed, so inclined to add a slight musty edge of flavor to the teas. That fades after some months, stored elsewhere. I'm not sure if it's so much of a bad thing because hot, humid, and enclosed conditions age / ferment sheng fast, so a decade can seem like 15 years of transition, and balancing more positive or neutral flavor input may not work out.
Hot and humid enclosed conditions cause a funkiness to come up everywhere. It's just awful for a room full of books here at our house; it basically ruins them, fermenting even that. Anyway, on with trying these two teas. Or I should mention that their shop is here, on Maps, with a page here on FB.
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you can't tell much from this appearance |
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2012 left, in all photos, not that these look so different |
Review:
2012: it's good, but there's still quite a bit of green wood range bite to it, leaning towards leather, with warmer tones included, but mainly green wood. I brewed these for awhile to skip the part about waiting for them to become wetted (on towards 30 seconds), and I'm paying the price for that. This will drink more normally infused for 10 to 15 seconds; I'll skip more description until next round.
2006: interesting! It has a lot more depth to it, warmer tones, a brandy-like or aged leather sort of range flavor. Is this really ready, fermented enough that it would be a standard practice to drink it at this time? Yes and no. 17 years is getting there but for a lot of people they would want almost any Xiaguan tuo to be pretty far along the line for aging and fermentation level. But this spent most of that time in Bangkok, so it's more like a 20+ year old version stored anywhere else.
I think as rounds continue I'll say more about musty notes coming and going from that wet storage input, but brewed a little too strong it's hard to be clear on that. It definitely also has a cement block character, which I guess isn't too bad, but it's not really positive. It's a little challenging; let's see how a lighter infusion works out. That's after drinking a lot of water to clear the effect of these; it would've been prudent to discard the last half of each infusion to enable getting through an extra round or two later on but I didn't, since I'm not so into wasting tea.
2012, second infusion: a coffee note stands out in this; that's odd. These were brewed pretty fast, in the 10 second range, but they're still too strong. A couple of flash infusions should work well until they moderate intensity some. Backing off a high proportion would've made sense. I actually like this, but it is challenging. It tastes a bit like horse saddle, with so much mineral that it seems to even include salt. It's clean enough that I think this has great aging potential, that none of these flavors seem to represent flaws.
I really don't like the heavy mushroom effect in some Xiaguan tuos, and smoke seems to be a component that should fade, but some seem to include what comes across as a natural flavor towards smoke range, and maybe that doesn't fade as much. Some Xiaguan mini iron cakes I have, from around this time / age, include more dried fruit range, and are even cleaner and sweeter than this. This is fine though, especially to age, but I might drink this from time to time just to have this range of experience, even though it is a little harsh. I already own a few of these, and just bought two more.
2006: this is more a balance one would look for, much smoother, with more depth, and less harsh edges. It still has them, just less of them. There is a storage related flavor--or what I take to be storage related--that's not ideal, a sort of basement range smell / taste. That's normal for teas stored in Bangkok, in very closed environments (or maybe particular to Jip Eu's storage, but I take it to relate to putting any tea anywhere in a hot and humid and tightly enclosed space for many years). That will fade over months and years, per my prior experiences, maybe not really mostly dropping out until 1 1/2 to 2 years, if it has limited air exposure.
It's interesting that I contradict myself, in relation to what I just wrote in an intro while editing. That musty edge will be quite faded in about 3 months but it could be very hard to detect, so effectively gone, in more than a year.
By limited air exposure I mean that I store my teas getting too much air exposure, typically in ziplock or multi-layer bags inside a plastic storage container, but I open and close that regularly to get tea out. I use 3 of them, one for samples and what I'm drinking straight through, so I don't open the others every day, and one for longer storage I open much less often. To me that's still pushing it on the "extra air contact" side; they're all opened all the time. These I won't put in a ziplock bag; the cardboard case and paper wrapper will be enough containment.
There's a hint of sourness in this too; that's odd. I guess damp storage could lead there, especially related to oolongs that aren't sealed well, but it doesn't tend to come up in sheng much. I'll try to see how much remains next round, and do more with comparing flavors between each. After drinking more water, again; these are intense enough that drinking them with food might make sense, having something like a butter cookie to help moderate the experience.
2012, third infusion: that's better, brewed lighter and softened a bit by early rounds development, but it's still really intense. The tones are generally warm; this has progressed a lot for fermentation transition, since I started drinking tuos from this batch a half a dozen or so years ago. A good bit of green wood remains but warmer tones are on equal footing with that now, towards leather, or well-aged wood. Mineral base is really strong, again more in a warm range than lighter, which wouldn't have been true a few years ago.
Mouthfeel / astringency level is a little challenging; this is not smooth and mellow. It's not like a Dayi cake in it's first half dozen years of life, before edgy and sharper / greener range transitions to warmer tones, and astringency is really rough, but in its own different way it hits as hard as a six year old 7542 cake. It's a Xiaguan tuo; it's not messing around related to intensity.
2006: maybe the first round that's conventionally drinkable, among all of them, with that last one of this version borderline. A brandy-like character is developing; I bet that will pick up over the next 10 years, and that this will be fantastic as a 27 year old tea. And only maturing that fast due to rushed wet storage fermentation rate. Both that sourness and the basement / cement block range have mostly dropped out, just like that. Early rounds tend to have that effect with some challenging versions of sheng, that rough edges can sort of burn off fast. Those things are still shaping its character, but in a much more subtle, secondary effect way. Now a rich and full feel also includes a decent amount of dryness, which is hard to place. It's almost like the odd mouthfeel reaction from taking an aspirin.
Which reminds me, I've made it almost through three rounds without mentioning bitterness. These are bitter; no doubt about that. In a sense that goes without saying, as the assumed base context. But they're not really bitter at all compared to all that young sheng I've been drinking, so it seems quite moderate to me. It's not moderate at all, in a more balanced and objective sense; it's still a significant part of the experience. It just seems mild to me related to a conditioning bias, to normal younger sheng.
It's going to be hard to get these to compare well as set of two flavor lists, one natural approach. Overall effect is really dominant, how that intense feel comes across, base mineral tone shifting context, how flavors impact experiences like bitterness and sweetness (there is sweetness to comment on, I just haven't). If a dominant flavor reminds me of brown sugar, for example, then talking about sweetness makes sense, and if one seems to resemble aged leather, or cement block, discussing mineral tones or seemingly related feel might tie in more. Bitterness and astringency might connect with green wood flavor tone, and so on.
2012 fourth infusion: this round's infusion looking a little darker than the other's brings to mind a question: why does this seem to be the same age, or even older, related to leaf color and brewed leaf appearance? Just not flavor and feel character; that's not as progressed. I'm not sure. These two cups are not the exact same shape, and this one is taller and narrower, and it might only be that. I divided my cup collection between here and Honolulu and I tend to use these two different shape cups together, so there is one of each mixed sets in both countries. Maybe there's something else I'm missing going on.
This is finally on the light side, for infusion strength (as very powerful sheng goes; an oolong drinker might spit this back out). Let's do a flavor list: some green wood, integrated with the rest; warm tones resembling leather, but a little towards very aged wood; warm mineral base; bitterness; sweetness, not so pronounced but it balances the rest. From there alternate interpretations of all of that range is possible. Maybe those warm tones really include fallen autumn leaf. The bitterness and mineral include a bit of a chalky nature, along with warmer range, which is more like artesian well. An alternate interpretation cutting across these ranges could see this as tasting like copper, like sucking a penny. Altogether it's interesting and complex, but a few more years of aging wouldn't hurt, mellowing character and deepening flavors.
2006: I keep refilling water to clear my palate, now in between teas in addition to rounds. I'm going to be hydrated after this. People speak of how they like the experience of flavor and feel building as they progress through rounds. They're talking about not drinking the water, and letting a milder character tea experience build up over time. Intensity is an issue here, a concern, not something to be appreciated and embraced. If this was a 17 year old, wet-stored, standard Yiwu version I'd be trying to get it to extend intensity as much as possible. Here I'm brewing it light and still working through the intensity.
This is finally on the too-light side, four infusions in, using near flash brewing. I can finally brew these for over 10 seconds, maybe around 15, and experience them without intensity issues. I'll do this version's flavor list next round, since it's going to work better at normal intensity. Actually you can often split apart flavors better when a tea is brewed wispy light (this isn't that, but it's light), but I'm not in the habit of experiencing tea that way, so for me it's not ideal.
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probably enough of the nearly identical photos |
2012, fifth infusion: maybe I'll take a break after this; powering through 10 cups of these teas is a lot. Where some teas would be tapering off after this point I think these are just finally reaching their main character range.
A touch of sourness picks up in this; brewing it slightly stronger shifts the aspects range. Green wood stands out more brewed a little stronger. It's hard to describe what I would mean by calling this still clean in effect. It could have a chalkier, dryer feel, or off flavor range (which I guess that touch of sourness is an example of, but I mean as a dominant aspect). Sweetness is good in this, and bitterness level is where it should be; it all balances as it should for a sheng of this type, and Xiaguan character, at this age level / fermentation level. Some Xiaguan versions aren't like that, not that I'm an expert in that scope. I have another example in between these age ranges that I could've compared these to that's just not very good, so I left it out. No way I'd try drinking three Xiaguan tuocha versions at the same time anyway.
2006: nice! Relatively speaking, if you like the type range. Onto that flavor list: a brandy-like effect stands out, tying to warm and rich flavor tones, to tree bark or spice range. It has an almost medicinal quality to it, connecting with a root-spice range that reminds you of a Chinatown herbal medicine shop. I think most people would cite camphor as a main aspect, and that does fit. The feel is interesting, rich and full, a bit smooth, but with some residual dryness. I get the sense that at 17 years old this still needs another half dozen years to even get into that final aged range, and maybe a decade to enter a more optimum range. So the other might need 15 more years? These teas do lend themselves to an aging long game.
That flavor list derailed, let's keep going: leather joins the brandy, tree bark, spice and camphor. Sweet and rich tones might include dried fruit, along the lines of tamarind, but not that, maybe more like dried longan, but not as catchy and pleasant as dried longan, as a secondary input. Bitterness is quite moderate, but included, and sweetness does couple with the range more at this stage. Sourness is almost entirely gone in this round, hard to make out. Then for any of that range alternative interpretations might work, and someone could really see leather or autumn leaf as a part I'm not describing as that.
Off to take a break. Maybe one more round in a half an hour will turn up different final thoughts. These teas are only halfway through an infusion cycle, but brewing 15 grams of Xiaguan sheng at one time is just a bad idea. I should be more flexible about shifting brewing approach, and drop the proportion when it makes sense to.
2012, sixth infusion: not bad at all; as good as it's been. The warm tones I've been describing ramp up while the green wood settles to a lower input level. It balances better.
2006: this too; the slight mustiness / sourness is still present but it fades, and that brandy or cognac note shines through more. It tastes cleaner. I'll go one more round even though I expect to just repeat these results.
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the darkening from aging is apparent |
2012, seventh infusion: again the best this has been. It should have a few more solid rounds before it tapers off much at all. This isn't the kind of tea that is suitable for comparison tasting; it's too strong for that, and the infusion cycle is such that the first half dozen rounds are it just settling out a bit. The mineral depth, warmth, and flavor range is much improved, and overall balance. This seems to include a bit more toffee sweetness than it had in the earlier stages.
It's still hard to describe though; lighter and darker wood, spice, leather, and dried fruit tones mix, maybe including camphor, in ways that different people would interpret differently. Using slightly different water temperature or different mineral profile water would probably change results more than for most teas, because it's complex and prone to a lot of transition across rounds.
2006: an aged effect picks up in this, an old book or furniture flavor. That's odd, isn't it, that the general effect wasn't as noticeable for so many earlier rounds? An effect I was describing as related to brandy or cognac seemed to transition to that. It's tempting to say that it's because it's cleaner in character now, but that's sort of it but really not. Seemingly the earlier "cement block / basement" range also changed to that, with that camphor / cognac range shifting more to aromatic wood preservative oil range, something like a linseed oil, I guess, or whatever is going on with really old furniture preservatives. I suppose it's better, for sourness and slight dry feel dropping out, but to me it's more just different. It's interesting.
There would be more such transitions to follow, over the next half a dozen rounds. But my patience for taking notes is worn out, so I'll skip that.
Conclusions:
Kind of what I expected, I guess. I had tried that 2006 version within the last week, so it was just about focusing in more, and experiencing more rounds. I'm not at all surprised that an 11 year old version seems quite young yet; I try that tea from time to time, when I feel like having something challenging.
I guess I'll put them both away and try the 2012 version a couple times a year for that purpose, and then mention here how they've changed in another 3 or 4 years, if I'm still writing this. I think that older version will be so nice in another 5 or 6 years, or given how this process goes maybe 10.
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Happy, my favorite local shop cat, has edible plants to snack on, maybe a type of bamboo |
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