11 years of blogging; perspective on tea culture

 

There's no compelling reason to pass on my opinion on tea themes now, just because it's back to the time of year I started blogging, but I miss writing beyond review scope here.

Rather than fill in more on how my experience has changed, since it hasn't much, I'll limit this to some thoughts on themes that define where tea culture and the tea industry is right now.

tea culture in the US:  it's not really moving forward, compared to where it was 5 years ago.  If anything a good-sized, but still limited, group of people exploring tea through social media discussion and online content consumption have went quiet.  It's natural, learning and exploring, then seeing that new range as just normal, and learning less.  Social media groups are changing, and some are dying; I'll add other sections on that.  The tea itself, preferences and options, hasn't really changed.

tea culture in Thailand:  in some ways Thai cultural development themes mirror and lag behind the US, and in others they don't.  In both countries very few people being really into tea has continued, with many joining groups, in real life and in social media, but that also leveled off.  Small event functions finally started to work locally this year, one mall-based conference oriented event in Bangkok, that finally didn't also include coffee.  Better quality version production has finally made more of a start in Thailand, lagging behind Vietnam's progress, way behind original source countries like China, Japan, and Taiwan.

tea culture online:  not different than last year; Discord groups and Reddit sub participation picks up, and Facebook groups go quieter.  One main specialty tea FB group, Gong Fu Cha, is slightly more active than 2 or 3 years ago, but vendors drive the activity, so a lot of that is marketing.  New active members there tend to be relatively new to tea, so it's right back to where online discussions were 6 to 8 years ago, exploring new types, and working out which vendors are actually good sources.  

I don't actively discuss tea online that much, beyond sometimes answering questions on Reddit.  It's harder now for me to keep learning, and my peers in background and experience have talked enough, for the most part.  I moderate a FB tea group, International Tea Talk, but it's mostly dead now, evolved beyond it's more active phase, even though it has over 30,000 members.

FB groups can still work well for organizing local gatherings

tea sources:  a new wave of Chinese vendors is driving Western facing sales to "the West," or at least trying to.  Chen Sheng Hao, a pu'er producer, and Oriental Leaf, a mixed type reseller, work as good examples.  Or ITea World is an example of a positive form with some kinks still being worked out; they used free sample distribution to engage online discussion, overdoing it for final amount of feedback in the Reddit r/tea space.  Use of novel forms of sample sets also works for them, but then ironing out uniform quality is ongoing; some versions are better than others, so value is a bit all over the place.  Selling sample sets offsets that; people should be able to tell what is better and what they like best.

I see this development as a good thing, as a potential for competition for a very limited set of main Western vendors.  Some new sources, including Western options, are selling pretty mediocre tea at medium pricing levels, and some actually go beyond that, offering novel range and good value.  Jesse's tea house, a Tik Tok based vendor, has replaced Mei Leaf, a Youtube based vendor, for drawing criticism for selling overpriced and medium quality tea.  Both vendors do serve a positive industry role in marketing tea to a new audience, and raising awareness.  That seems to get missed in the specialty tea industry, that if all the vendors only try to capture the most of a small market it will never grow.  Running standard ads isn't the only way to spread awareness and raise demand; novel forms of events can build up both slowly, bit by bit.

producer issues:  Darjeeling has been suffering due to shifting costs and demand context for years, it seems, so that's not new, but eventually the last plantation will be owned by a corporation instead of a family there.  Chinese producers seem to do ok.  A dip in the Chinese economy poses challenges, but built-up demand in China and in the West has set a strong foundation for demand for them.  

Nothing is really new; no new push for organic / sustainability themes, no new product ranges, and nothing novel related to presentation forms (eg. new compressed styles, although some experimentation continues).  Using health claims for marketing seems relatively played out, which is interesting related to tea probably really being fairly healthy.

Trump and tariffs:  this is the newest concern; a new wave of import taxes may well increase the cost of tea in the US.  Or maybe not.  Since tea is barely produced in the US at all, with limited exceptions, this wouldn't make sense, given the drive to make US companies more competitive, but not everything Trump and Republicans do is supposed to make sense.  It would be strange to have tea drinkers shoulder more tax burden; it's too small a factor to make any real difference, and doesn't relate to the broader trade issues.  But it could come across as vindictive, which would be part of the point, to escalate opposition, in theory to other ongoing unfairness.  

I doubt it will change much.  Tea costing 10 to 20% more wouldn't be a welcome change but also not so significant.  A larger new tax would sting more.

new styles, origins, something new being popular:  it's going to get harder to know what trends even are with social media becoming quieter.  There hasn't been a hot new source region in years, as far as I know; Georgia seemed novel and promising some years ago, and Nepal long before that.  Sheng pu'er keeps sucking the air out of the room related to popular range.  Surely a broader, but still small, group of well-exposed sheng drinkers has moved on to appreciating different range, well-aged versions, good quality boutique styles, and so on.  South East Asian versions gain traction, over time.  

The standard list of vendors are probably doing slightly better year to year (Yunnan Sourcing, White 2 Tea, Crimson Lotus, and so on), but this doesn't change anything.

a hybrid style Greengold Georgian white / green tea, reviewed here

inflation as a factor in the US:  probably anyone earning in the lower half of incomes in the US is struggling a bit from price increases, especially over the last two years.  Most people already buying $100 sheng pu'er cakes probably weren't in that group.  It could serve as a barrier to larger scale entry to better tea, for some, but limited awareness was already working out like that.  Specialty tea never was positioned to couple with a broad cultural form shift, eg. to benefit as coffee and craft beer had before.  If anything those other trends getting old for people might be the next main wave for tea; those interests are fine for a long time, but lots of types of preference go in cycles.

what's next?:  it's never easy to tell.  I had always been concerned that multi-level marketing would make a mess within tea exposure, but that came and went quietly (Steepology, was that?).  Intuitively new solutions like automated marketing and sales based on drop-shipping should've already happened, but didn't.  Or kind of did, but didn't gain any traction.  Automatically created content made by people who know almost nothing about tea are just too easy to spot.  

Jesse's tea business shows how just being one short step ahead of the beginner learning curve can work, and it's odd that's not more of the norm.  But then the smallest tea businesses have always struggled, and it's not easy for most people to create high quality social media content, and then use that for effective marketing.

I think earlier producer-side development progress elsewhere might consolidate within the Western markets in a different form at some point.  Vietnam has been driving better tea production and vending for a few years, and options have broadened in places like Georgia, Darjeeling, and Assam.  There's always a brief window when a new origin area emerges when novel offerings and value are both exceptional, then when demand catches up it transitions to more standard priced range.  All that happens based on small, well-organized vendors transitioning to become medium sized.  

A large foreign vendor like Moychay, the Russian version of Yunnan Sourcing, sort of, has been poised to play a larger role in Western sales for years, having established an accessible branch in the EU in Amsterdam, but they're still not such a familiar name.  Growing local demand by building pleasant tea drinking spaces and holding events supports their business, it just doesn't drive international awareness.

No one is driving any industry change or expansion.  Blog writing, like this one, have lost a lot of following, and Youtube content never gained it back.  There are thousands of people showing photos of tea on Instagram, and hundreds of people selling tea event services and training, or probably that is thousands of people globally, counting events, education, and tourism oriented options.  It's still not changing much.  Few of us take up interests and lifestyle practices by deeply exploring and going all-in on novel themes like specialty tea.  More people just drink a little tea, often moving slowly from tea-bag flavored blends on to better loose versions of flavored blends.  It's fine, but per the perspective of the other kinds of tea enthusiasts it misses a lot of potential.

A broad group of people have normalized drinking decent tea, following most of the learning curve that they ever will.  That group is broad but very limited in overall scale.  Specialty tea may never "have its moment," in a scaled-up industry demand sense, but for them it already is, every day.

I'm not usually in pictures here, here with my family

the tastings are better with visitors

Tea fossils (cha hua shi) compared to cha gao (instant tea / resin)

 

cha gao left, tea fossils right

Some months back a friend passed on some tea samples, which included tea fossils, lumps of what looked a bit similar to cha gao, instant tea / tea resin, but not really the same.  I never tried them; somehow as I worked through the most interesting samples I never got to those.  I really thought it was a version of cha gao, which I've not had great results with in the past, but then I've not tried much of it.  

It turns out it's something else altogether, a variation of cha tou, or tea heads, the clumps that form when fermenting shou pu'er.  Or that's the claim in a Reddit discussion comment, here:

Cha Hua Shi (茶化石) literally means tea fossil. It, along with another similar product Sui Yi Zi (碎银子, lit: silver loose change) are members of this family of product known as Lao Cha Tou (老茶头, lit: old tea head). Supposedly these are produced during the wodui process to make ripe puer, where some tea dusts, gum (pectin?) coalesces into hard lumps that can't be disentangled. So it's basically ripe puer lumps.

However, the market is also full of fake ones that are produced from cheap ripe puer dust and artificially added gum to bind them into this form. I've heard a few opinions from Chinese tea circles to avoid these products due to the difficulty of differentiating real and fake ones. Nevertheless, I personally don't think it's any concern, it's more like a novelty product, and has lower value for money than legit ripe puer if you end up liking the taste.

Interesting!  I've had good experiences with the more standard, larger clumps that are presented as cha tou, tea heads, clumps formed in shou pu'er.  I've reviewed a few versions here; they tend to be similar to shou pu'er material, because they are that.  They might be a bit sweeter, maybe fruitier, in an odd malty sort of range, with an interesting flavor.  I would expect many readers here to be familiar with that, but here's a category description as part of a Yunnan Sourcing cha tou sampler listing:

Cha Tou is a kind of tea nugget that forms naturally from the pressures of compression and heat that occurs during the fermentation process. Typically during fermentation process to make ripe pu-erh there is a pile of tea about 1 meter high. It is kept wet to allow the fermentation process and the pile is turned every few days to allow for an even degree of fermentation, moving the tea from the bottom of the pile (where it is hotter and wetter) to the top of the pile where it is cooler and drier. The "cha tou" are the leaves that ball up and get stuck together. The best cha tou are ones that have not been over-fermented and are smaller in size.

Here is a product listing that basically repeats those two accounts (just for completeness, since I've only offered a Reddit comment to support that these even exist so far).

The next thing would be to try the tea fossils example I have on hand, and to communicate how that goes.  

I'm comparing these to cha gao; I had a version to try passed on by Peter, the Tea Mania owner, in a visit here awhile back.  It would've been nice to reference a listing for the Tea Mania cha gao, instant tea, especially since it was labeled as being Jing Mai origin gushu material, from 2015.  Made into cha gao?  Strange.

It will work just to describe how it is (both, but I mean the cha gao, which I'm using for comparison).  They don't sell anything like it now, so there's no other background from their site to reference.

Review:

both black as ink; the tea fossil infusion looked lighter in the pan

cha gao (instant tea from Tea Mania):  way, way too strong.  I expected it to be too strong, just not to this level.  I can adjust that; I'll dilute it by a little more than half now.  

It's ok, but maybe keeping on diluting it would make sense.  I had used a cup of water for two good-sized chunks, which I kind of expected might be single-serving amounts, but didn't know.  It reduced some while simmering and stirring it to make it dissolve, so it's down to 3/4 cup now, with half expanded back up to a full cup by the end of the second dilution (8 ounces, 250 ml).  That's about right.

I can't say that I like it.  There are redeeming characteristics, but it's rough, harsh.  Of course very heavy mineral dominates it; one might expect that.  It tastes like drinking rainwater condensed down to a brown liquid after sitting out in a plant pot, reducing there.  A pine note isn't bad though, and it lacks a lot of the disagreeable character of cheap shou.  It's not a lot like peat, it doesn't include off earthy flavors, or fishiness, and so on.

I diluted it again, and it's slightly better, but it's still going to taste like that, so heavy on mineral tones.  It's not so close to the flavor range of shou pu'er, but of course it is closest to that.  I overbrewed some Fu brick tea recently and this also reminds me of that.

tea fossils:  it's better, but only in comparison with the other tea.  I wouldn't drink this.  I will drink these cups; I tend to not waste tea, but I mean there's no way I would purchase this, or repeat this trial to check if other versions are better.  Related to the experience being novel it is quite interesting though.

It has a tapioca sort of flavor, not far off that one flavor aspect that comes out in bubble tea.  Beyond that it may share a little ground with barley tea.  It's actually not that bad.  Warm mineral is there, but in very moderate proportion compared to in the other tea.  It also doesn't taste all that much like shou.  A little, but not much.  

Shou is a broader category than just a little sampling might indicate, so I should qualify that by saying that if we consider the atypical edges of shou experience these may be similar to different ranges of those.  What I see as good shou is a narrower range, or versions that are type-typical.

second impressions, drinking back and forth between the two:  the usual round-by-round, divided format doesn't work for this, where I'm drinking one version of each.  I'll add thoughts and impressions related to drinking these for awhile, while trying more.

The cha gao has an intensity and dominant warm mineral flavor range that some people might like more than I do.  It's not "off," to the extent that it could easily be.  Probably drinking this quite light would make sense.  I've diluted it a lot, related to the original starting point, but I can keep going.  

It is better diluted more, for a third time.  It's interesting how that warm mineral and then earthiness, not completely unlike a heavy French roast coffee, all come together, with a lot of other typical tea / shou range just missing.  Sweetness isn't bad; that helps.  This might be ok sweetened, with milk added, turning it into something really unusual, an instant tea latte.  

That heavy mineral really coats your mouth and tongue, relating to a strong aftertaste experience.  Often that's a sign of quality in tea, a marker for it, but in this case it just seems to be how this instant tea experience works out.  It's not negative, the aftertaste experience, but it's not positive either.  It's a little like when you can taste a metal spoon (not how that's supposed to work), just without clear placement of that being good or bad.

The tea fossils are in a somewhat opposite place, related to them being light in this brewed form, probably with a capacity to take on a much different character brewed strongly.  I simmered them for nearly 10 minutes (probably 7 or 8), but there isn't a clear limit on timing for that, and higher proportion changes intensity too.

I can't really guess if this is how tea fossils are supposed to be.  Per input from a Reddit thread comment they are a lot like cha tou, really a version of those, "tea heads," clumps of shou pu'er that form naturally during wet-pile fermentation.  Or they could be made to look like that from other material, shou dust clumped together using some sort of starch, like tapioca.  

Why would someone do that?  If they could sell cheap shou for a lot more by putting it in a coffee grinder and then mixing it with starch why wouldn't they?  You could buy a cake of very cheap shou for $10, and make half a kilogram of these lumps.

This version being as clean as it seems would lead me to guess that it's "real."  Cha tou, the normal version, the larger lumps that you see more often, have a distinctive sweet, towards fruity, almost berry-like, malty kind of flavor, and this isn't far from that.  Cheap shou just tastes like cheap shou; earthy and rough.  

It sounds pleasant, when I describe it that way, and I do like cha tou, the versions that I've tried.  I'd rather just drink cha tou though; if this is a very typical experience then it's a little thin on some of the other shou character that makes cha tou pleasant, mixing lighter, sweeter, maltier character with the earthiness and depth of shou range.  I suppose to close out all those ideas these tea fossils taste a bit like dark rye bread.  That's not bad; in a slightly different presentation it could be really nice.

The cha gao also isn't bad, in one sense, but it's also not really pleasant.  Someone accustomed to drinking strong black coffee might actually like it, relating to the heavy mineral range differently than I do.  Pleasantness is a subjective determination.

I did try it mixed with milk and sugar, prepared like tea-bag tea or coffee; that is interesting.  It's actually good.  It's hard to describe.  The earthiness drops out, and stronger mineral tone scales way back.  That touch of pine you can still make out.  There's almost a fruity character to it, which is odd, because there's nothing like that in the unaltered version, that I can notice.  I don't know if I would drink that regularly or not but it's better than instant coffee.  There may be potential in this for people trying to switch off coffee.

I brewed the tea fossils again, simmering them for another 10 minutes or so.  Results were similar; not bad.  Maybe really better than that for being novel and interesting, but only so-so as the experience itself went.

Jip Eu Lao Banzhang and Xigui sheng compared with Moychay LBZ

Jip Eu Xigui left, then JE LBZ middle, and Moychay version right, in all photos

I visited my favorite local Bangkok Chinatown shop over a month ago now, before visiting the US, to pick up some basic Shui Xian for gifts "back home."  The owner, Kittichai, gave me some coins of what look to be interesting sheng pu'er.  His description of what they are:

This tea is the product that the shop sells. It is raw Pu-erh tea. There are 4 production sources: 1. Laobanzhang, 2. Xigui, 3. Pingdao, 4. Yiwu (ripe Pu-erh). It is produced by Si Da Ming Pu Company, which is a factory owned by relatives.

They were #1 and 2 of those, the LBZ and Xigui.  

Given how LBZ works out the next question that arises is always "is it real?"  There is a narrower village area, what LBZ is really supposed to mean, and then the common claim is that much of what is presented as such is really from a larger area, so related but not exactly the same.  I'm not accusing that shop or this tea of it not being legitimate; I can't really weigh in on source location issues like that.  Which brings up how one might even begin to guess about that origin issue, or weigh any evidence.

it would've been cool if the tiny discs had age stamps on the labels

I've tried a number of LBZ versions, or teas presented as such, maybe a half dozen or so, or at least 4 or 5; it's hard to keep track.  I just noticed that I had some from Moychay LBZ from a few years back, a 2020 version, so I can compare the versions.  Of course one version being aged longer changes everything, and it's not as if teas from those narrow source areas are necessarily all completely identical.  Every year micro-climate issues change the harvest, and very local growing conditions factor in, along with processing, and there should be some variation in plant ages and type.

Trying three teas together would be a lot, but I do like to lean into combined tastings to keep these multi-part reviews moving along.  I'll do it!

I'll be skipping the part about referencing vendor product listings, because I don't have access to any.  The Jip Eu tea is sold by a Bangkok shop, and I didn't do an extensive search to see if I could find this online, but that's unlikely anyway.  I looked up the old review I wrote for this Moychay LBZ version (here), but it didn't reference a product link.  The post said that one was up but it didn't have pricing details yet; I really should've referenced it anyway, back then, in case it might still work now.  That review mentioned a lot of fruit, and of course it's on to warmer tones now, almost four years later.  The time just flies.

I never did get a production age from Jip Eu until after I tried these.  They're from 2018, so two years older than the Moychay version (2020), aged 6 years now, or maybe 6 1/2, depending on when they were made.  It was interesting considering that during the tasting, because it's not at all clear from the character.  They seem significantly aged, but not fully aged, and there is a lot of space for potential age in between a couple years old and a decade.

Review:

Jip Eu Xigui:  a little light; I didn't really try to stretch out a first infusion time enough to make this more conventional.  It works well getting a limited first impression then really starting on round 2.  

This will be good.  Complex floral tones already show through, supported by warmer range.  This almost has to be a good bit older than half a year old, this year's tea, judging from that character.  And from the brewed liquid color; both are too dark.  At an early guess this is probably better than the average sheng I try, maybe even some versions presented as exceptional.  There's a faint hint of smoke.  I'll do more of a list description next round.

Jip Eu Lao Banzhang:  in a sense forward flavors are less pronounced, but a richness and depth comes through better than for the first version already.  Again this just can't be a 2024 tea, or a whole section would be needed to discuss how that kind of anomaly could even occur, but I can't guess how old it is yet.  This is also clearly very exceptional tea, even based on getting a limited early impression.  Floral range is pleasant, and there's lots more going on with it.  Warm mineral depth is nice, positively supporting the rest, and feel is already positive.

Moychay Lao Banzhang:  this is going to hold its own with the other two, at the least; it is also exceptional.  It might be getting a slightly faster start for being maocha initially, for opening up and brewing faster, related to never having been compressed.  For this being a 2020 tea it has transitioned a good bit; early fresh, bright flavors have evolved to become pleasantly complex warmer tones, with an awful lot going on.  It has a pleasant fruitiness, which I'll describe more as I go.

For sure it's not possible to buy this tea, and hasn't been for years.  It's a shame; I can see why adding significant spending to tea sourcing to set away versions like this for mixed lengths of time would add a lot to tea experience.  If this had been a relatively costly (but perhaps still reasonable) $3 / gram setting aside an extra 50 grams would cost more than a standard boutique produced cake, as long as it wasn't gushu.  Along the way the same sourcing issue would come up; is it real?  It's quite good, but I never could definitively guess about origin location claims, even for more mundane source concerns.

JE Xigui #2:  these should be brewing just fine, on to guessing about infusion time for less material than I usually brew, maybe about 5 grams.  I'll err on the long side this round, just in case, and go close to 30 seconds.

There's a bit of smoke in this, pronounced enough that you can't miss it, but not overpowering.  There was a hint in the aroma the first round but you couldn't taste it as clearly; here you can.  It's strong enough that it's a main flavor input, so that does change things, so that someone's feeling about that input would determine the entire experience.  I don't mind it, but it's hard to see it as positive, an improvement.  Beyond that the rest is fine, some mixed floral range, good supporting mineral, and other harder to isolate warmer tones.  It may need to drop out over more rounds to enable a clearer interpretation of the rest.  

The smokiness tastes like wood fire smoke, like a fireplace that's empty but that has been used a lot.

Jip Eu LBZ:  as I interpret this it's in a place where initial brighter floral range is well along in transitioning to warmer tones, to spice range and such, with warm mineral replacing what was probably earlier on lighter mineral.  I don't think it's at the teenage-years threshold character where versions tend to not make sense, not fully switched over, but kind of showing gaps where the change hasn't filled in yet.  But it's not like a young / new sheng either; early sweet, light, bright range is well along with transitioning.  

Storage conditions varying so much related to changes makes it hard to guess the age.  7 or 8 years of dry storage can be comparable to just 3 or 4 in a warm, humid place, even if the changes aren't exactly the same.  It's not as if it's the same changes at a certain distance down a linear path.

Feel is quite pleasant, the way that full, warm mineral tones join a full, rich feel that seems related.  Bitterness is still present, but not much of it.  What is still there transitions nicely to sweetness after you drink it (funny how I never mention hui gan here; it's that).

Moychay LBZ:  that's so nice!  There's so much fruit present, in a very interesting and positive range.  A little dryness and bitterness offsets it, and there is plenty of warm mineral tone too, but one part of the flavor range is really interesting, complex, warm dried fruit.  This may not be a fair trial for the Jip Eu versions, if this has aged longer, and the extra couple of years has allowed it to evolve this depth and complexity.  Or it could be that varying storage inputs make that an uneven input, or that changes in initial form and potential mean the teas never would seem similar, even with the same storage input and amount of storage time to change them.

The warm dried fruit might be along the line of dried longan, but a root spice tone stands out just as much, as you try to break it down, towards sassafras.  The warmth and character range is reminiscent of cinnamon, it's just not a close match for flavor for that.  The fruit tone, or tones, I think people would interpret in different ways.  Dried longan is just a place-holder to give a clearer impression; really it's complex.  

Jip Eu Xigui #3:  I'm really feeling these teas already; that's the obvious drawback of trying a three way comparison.  I've already drank some water and ate a few nuts between these rounds; kind of early for resorting to that.

The smoke flavor might be settling out already in this, but it's still there.  It will probably take one more round to describe the rest better, which would work better if the smoke input happens to clear up.  I went with a fast infusion this round, no longer than 10 seconds, and that doesn't help the rest stand out more.

Jip Eu LBZ:  this is really good, quite exceptional.  It doesn't help it that the next version I'm comparing it to will be that much more complex and intense, across really interesting scope.  The two do overlap a little in basic flavor; dried fruit, with some floral range that's more in the background in the other that stands out in this.  The warmer tone range is comparable, mixing with other spice range.  

It may be that this isn't as transitioned as the other, so it's in a different place, back on floral versus fruit, not settled into warmer tone range yet.  It's good, and it's complex, but compared to the other it might seem a little muted.  It can't really be the "in-between" timing and fermentation transition concern; no matter how young or old these are this seems slightly less fermentation-transitioned than the other four year old version.  

Fall material versions can come across as less intense; an input like that might come into play.  That's also one way that LBZ material can turn up in remotely accessible or affordable forms, along with origin being just a little outside that narrower village area range, or from somewhere else entirely.

Moychay LBZ:  warmth and depth picks up in this; it's different trying it brewed this fast.  This may "brew out" relatively quickly, given how fast it got started, and that I'm not using that much leaf for this, maybe about 5 grams, or it could even be 4.

This is much more whole-leaf compared to the other two versions.  That should reduce astringency in this version, and increase it in the others (relatively), muting intensity a little in this, and adding more challenging aspect range to the others.  They're all pretty approachable though; that makes me think the other two must not be very young material, along with the flavor tones being warm, brewed leaf darkening some, and liquid color not being lighter.  

This Moychay version is quite dark in brewed liquid appearance, on the red side.  That's actually a little unfamiliar, a sheng of this age turning that red.  It's been here in Bangkok for some years (3?), and that pushes the pace of transition.  Still the brewed liquid color is reddish, not so far off how black teas appear, not just darkened, more gold or onto between golden and amber instead.

A bit more warm mineral tone and astringency edge seems to emerge, possibly a function of the infusion transition cycle, and also related to brewing this round faster.  It would seem odd if that was it's best flavor range already passed through, while the Xigui version is still dropping out an early smoke aspect.  I'll give all three between 15 and 20 seconds next round, to get back to a more conventional infusion strength (for me, I guess that I mean).

Xigui #4:  there is some darkened area on the wet leaves; that smoke seems to relate to char from the leaf actually being singed a little.  It may not drop out then, if it's not from smoke contact, instead from the leaf being slightly burned.

It's not dropping out.  There's good sweetness and pleasant aspect range beyond it, it's just harder for me to identify in that context.  This tea does seem to be good for quality level; feel is full and rich, and overall character is refined.  I suppose it would be complex floral tones that I'd be going on more about.  Complexity is probably pretty good too; there are layers of different aspects present.  If someone is fine with a touch of smoke, or even enjoys that, this could still seem exceptional.  

I can appreciate it as pleasant to drink but it's throwing off evaluating it related to it being a better than average quality sheng version, or related to describing other aspects in detail.

JE LBZ:  this is getting even better.  Richness is more intense; overall complexity and balance is better.  Intensity isn't necessarily a strength, but there's a lot going on, across a very positive range.  

Dried fruit mixes with other layers of aspects, or other range, making it harder to isolate.  That's along the line of dried mango, combining with limited warm floral range, warm mineral, and some spice tones.  Some bitterness and a rich feel, including a little dryness, adds to the overall complexity.  The final effect is pleasant, refined, and complex, just not necessarily as intense as it might be.

Moychay LBZ:  this is evolving, changing.  Dried fruit range is similar but different; spice range is just as pronounced, or even more so, but again it's changing.  Dried fruit had reminded me of dried longan, and a touch more savory edge is showing up in this, maybe shifting towards dried tamarind.  Spice range is different, in a way that's hard to describe.  

There's still a catchy set of complex, approachable flavors present, related to the earlier set.  Maybe a touch of warm menthol joins the rest, like a less edgy version of mint, or menthol.  Or camphor, plenty of people might move directly on to suggesting, given how standard interpretations go, but to me it's more like an extra hint of wintergreen mint.  

This definitely isn't fading yet; interesting transitions are still occurring.  Five rounds is so much tea though, 15 of these little cups; that might have to do.  I'll need another break just to get to that next round.

Xigui #5:  smoke input is lightening, balancing out a bit.  This is pretty good tea, evident in the layers of inputs, the complex flavors and rich feel.  It's funny how that one smoke input can really alter and redefine the rest.  As it is this is a good example of a pretty good tea, but a lot of distinctiveness drops out for natural focus shifting to that one aspect.

JE LBZ:  also a very pleasant, rich, complex, and refined tea.  It giving up range in terms of intensity and novel flavor inputs stands out a lot more in comparison with the other LBZ version; it would seem better without that comparison.  It'll be interesting to hear the age of this tea, to see how that input led to this result.

Moychay LBZ:  a little brighter, more complex and novel in flavor range, also warmer in a sense, with warm mineral tones and rich feel supporting the rest, and just as refined as the other.  It's hard to not conclude that it's better.  It may be fading just a little already, having spent a lot of early intensity relatively quickly.  

Something unusual seemed to have been happening with how this age-transitioned; it seems as much like it's slightly oxidized as it seems fermented.  The color is a part of that, it being reddish, but a warm tone range reminds me of black tea character.  Quite often that comes up in lower quality sheng that's not made properly, which doesn't have good aging potential, and ends up tasting woody before it's even fully aged.  This isn't like that.  It's exceptional, and aging to be just as pleasant as when young, just in a different novel character.

Maybe the hot and humid Bangkok conditions pushed it through a much faster transition cycle than 4 1/2 years would usually enable?  Maybe it being maocha enabled that to go even faster, so that this is as transitioned as 7 or 8 year old versions stored under different conditions would experience?  It's possible that tea stored in cool and dry conditions, tightly pressed, would change less in a decade, and that the form those changes would take would vary.  It's quite good as it is though, the main thing.  

It seems at least possible that this lost some 15 to 20 year cycle transition potential along the way, that it's not in the right place to keep improving for more than another decade as a result.  Only time would really tell.  It seems likely that the other LBZ version would fade over the next 3 or 4 years, in addition to changing to include more warm flavor tones.

Conclusions:

The missing input in those notes had been the age of the two two Jip Eu versions (produced by the Si Da Ming Pu Company; mentioned earlier in the description, but not something I've been repeating).  It's from 2018; it was two years older than the LBZ version used for comparison, 6 years old now.

It makes sense that it's a bit less intense, related to having more time to age-transition, but that wasn't necessarily completely evident in the other character.  Level of transition seems pretty comparable, in relation to markers like color of leaves, color of brewed liquid, and range of flavor tones, or maybe slightly less transitioned.  That's not so unusual; the tea was compressed instead, and probably spent a good bit of time in Yunnan, maybe essentially the whole time.  Bangkok climate changes tea fast.  

I've been running in 90+F / 30+C high humidity (70% or so) conditions lately (in Bangkok), and it only cools down to 90 F / 30 C in the evening.  It's not the rainy season but it rains sometimes, and it's crazy how humid it is at other times anyway.  It's hot and humid for tea and for people.

It's hard to place why the Jip Eu LBZ would be that much less intense, but it had good complexity and good positive character, so that only stood out as much in the direct comparison.  Maybe it was autumn harvest material; that would make a difference.  One thing I didn't emphasize much in the review description was that the broken leaf character of the two Jip Eu versions should have caused much higher astringency experience; that should've changed the feel, related to the other.  Maybe the extra aging time offset that, without causing other changes that made it seem significantly older (but then 2 more years isn't that much older).

I can't say anything about value related to these, since I don't know any pricing ranges, but I could guess a little about quality level.  For the Xigui that's problematic because to me a bit of smokey character defined that tea experience, and to me that's not really a conventional input for better teas, as it had been more normal quite awhile back, related to how sheng often was a decade ago.  

That leaves considering which of the LBZ versions seemed better.  I suppose the Moychay version did.  It was more whole leaf (not necessarily better taken alone, but that can tie to more positive aspects), and a bit more complex and intense, and both had comparable positive character.  It was favorable that the Moychay LBZ expressed a bit more dried fruit, more supporting spice range, and then either a little mint or camphor.

The Jip Eu LBZ was well worth experiencing though.  If it was selling for a moderate price, maybe even beyond $1 a gram, given how "moderate" can be relative, then it seems worth trying out.  

Things shift for me related to trying a pleasant 10 gram--or so; about that--coin of exceptional tea versus buying a 200 gram small cake of one.  $10 is good bit to spend on two tea sessions, but not much for trying exceptional tea (not that I know the pricing for these; I don't).  There's just absolutely no way I'd spend $200 on a 200 gram cake, of just about anything.  If I earned three times as much income and my son's upcoming college education expenses seemed more sorted out maybe, but as things stand spending $90 on a standard size cake is already plenty.

It was really nice trying these.  It leads me to think about how these are in comparison with the last two sets of pretty good sheng I've been trying, the last two reviews, but it's too much to go into.  Sheng can vary a lot in character, and be quite positive in different ways, for different reasons.  That Tea Mania Mengsong from last week's review was pretty good (a 2014, with lots of variation in probably aging changes and related character), but this Moychay LBZ is in a really nice place now, and it's that much more novel, setting aside simple pleasantness of aspects.

where I run; the lights make it nice

the view at work, with a screen adding a digital effect

Tea Mania Mengsong (2014) and Bulang (2021)

 

Another sort of contrasting type theme post, related to these being different ages.  Sometimes it can be interesting comparing a shift in character over storage time so directly, or in other cases it just doesn't make sense together.  We'll see.  Both versions are presented as gushu (older plant material).  Per usual I'll add the vendor description after making notes. 

Mengsong Dragon Balls (50 CHF or $57 for 80 grams, 71 cents a gram)

...But the lovers of stored teas were a little bit forgotten. For them we now have a well stored Mengsong Gushu from spring harvest 2014. Dragon Balls, Long Zhu in Chinese language, of 8g were made from the tea leaves in Yang Ming’s tea factory to offer the tea in small quantities or as a sample. The tea was stored in Xishuangbanna under natural conditions until 2020 and is already very ripe.

Aroma: Mellow aroma, strong Cha Qi and fruity taste

Terroir: Mengsong, Xishuangbanna prefecture, Yunnan province, China

There's no need to take the "already very ripe" part too specifically; it's a general claim that the tea has transitioned quite a bit.  Of course this isn't remotely similar to shou pu'er; it doesn't mean that.

Bulang Gushu 2021 Balanced  (99.76 CHF, $114 USD, for a 200 gram cake, 57 cents a gram)

I'm not completely sure this is the "balanced" version and not the "bitter" one, but I'd guess that it is.  The description:

...Reminiscent of the legendary 2015 Bulang Gushu, which we still fondly remember and has long been sold out, this tea promises a similar allure.

Echoing the legacy of both the 2015 Bulang and the esteemed 5-Village Blend, this Bulang Gushu shares a unique connection – it is sourced from the tea fields of a former school friend of Yang Ming. This personal touch adds to the tea’s story, making it not just a beverage but a testament to long-standing relationships and shared history. Enjoy the depth of flavor and rich heritage encapsulated in each cup of this exceptional Bulang Gushu.

Taste: Strong, intense and deep

Terroir: Bulang Mountain, Xishuangbanna prefecture, Yunnan province, China

Not much description there, but I included some of that marketing framing in anyway.  If the tea lives up to it then colorful backstories are fine.

The Mengsong version is dragon balls, pressed spheres, and the Bulang is a coin or disc, so they'll also brew a bit differently.  In both cases it will take 3 or 4 rounds to get them to brew consistently, but it won't throw off the character so much during those early rounds, it will just be less consistent.  For tasting purposes that might make more difference than for ordinary drinking; you tend to focus in on relatively minor effects when tasting, versus just accepting a general impression.

I'm getting to the end of this Tea Mania sample set (and the Tea Tracks set as well; the two I'd been reviewing back in September).  Both have been really interesting, pleasant, and consistent.  To me Tea Tracks follows more of a selective and limited curator vendor theme, and Tea Mania sells based on direct sourcing of exceptional character and value sheng, and other types.  Both would be good sources, but Tea Mania stands out for including so much range, and a few that are really exceptional in quality and value.  Most I've tried are good, so the best exceptions are really something.

Review:

Mengsong (2014):  the effect the age transition has had on this is interesting; 10 years is awhile.  Warm tones include warm mineral and plenty of spice range.  It's a little towards aromatic wood, cedar and such, but to me this is complex all within the range of warm spices, like incense spices, or even more aromatic woods like sandalwood.  

The character is interesting and pleasant, and it makes sense.  This hasn't entered into a range where it's just quiet, or awkward for being in between fresher tones and that deeper range.  

Bulang (2021):  that has a nice depth and a cool, interesting character as well.  These will be better than I expected.  It's not completely different than the other in terms of general range, with mineral and some spice standing out, but greener, slightly woodier tones are also present.  This has an unusual degree of depth to it.  It's odd saying that about sheng, which often expresses complexity, intensity, and depth, but this is on another level.  

One interesting aspect is hard to pin down, maybe more along the lines of root spice, sassafras or root beer.  Maybe that includes plenty of ginseng range, and I'm just not clear on that flavor; I haven't been messing around with ginseng for many years.  It's not as bitter as I would've expected.  There is some bitterness, but it's moderate.  It seems like it might've already transitioned some, because this expresses so much flavor range and depth, but it has only been 3 years for this tea, not so long.  It must have started out more "approachable" than it might have.

I did a long rinse first, which I discarded, and then went long on the Bulang, and quite long on the Mengsong, and these are opening up already.  Both might need a round or two more to fully open but this won't take as long as I expected; knowing what to expect seemed to make some difference.  You also tend to brew longer earlier on, to get that early process sorted out, so it's slightly off optimum for that other reason, that you need to make adjustment in some sense for it, either using a long infusion or accepting a few rounds will be less uniform, partly unfurled and partly not.

Mengsong #2:  that's so catchy!  I last reviewed a Mengsong version a week ago, so in one sense part of this range might seem familiar, but this seems a bit further along for transition (aging and fermentation), and interesting for it.  Looking back that was a 2019 Mengsong version (from Tea Tracks); not at all young.

I don't always relate well to partly aged teas, versions in between a half dozen and ten years old.  They can be promising, or pleasant, but often the experience is about potential, not what you experience at that time.  This is good, both interesting and pleasant.  There are layers to what's going on.  One part is warm mineral, another a warm spice aspect, and a menthol sort of edge balances the rest in an interesting way.  Camphor, I guess that I should be saying.  The feel is even ok.  It has a bit of dryness to it, which I suppose will sort back out and transition to something else over 5 or so more years, but it's not unpleasant as it is now.  It all kind of works.

Bulang:  this is unusually interesting too.  Intensity picks up; there is a lot to this.  Often that could mean bitterness or astringency is high in the balance, for a 3 year old sheng, but it's not disproportionate in this.  I'm interpreting this as including camphor too.  It's odd, because I don't run across aspects that seem exactly like that effect to me very often.  I might say "camphor" once a year in this blog, almost never by sheng drinker tea blog standards.

The other seems more pleasant to me, a better match to my own preference.  That's not a completely fair judgment, because the warmer tones, greater complexity, and depth of the other seems to derive from positive aging transitions.  It is what it is though; maybe this will be just as good or better in 7 more years, or maybe it won't be.  

This includes a perfume-like floral range edge, which is nice.  A touch of green wood feel counters that, not perfectly balancing against it, but more just offsetting it.  It's as novel as it sounds; they both are.  Very often for reviewing partly aged sheng it's about judging how positive aspects are, and how it matches within a range of conventional character types, and for the second these are both kind of unique.  In cases like these a close match to preference could make them seem amazing, or a larger gap from that standard of judgment could make one seem interesting but not as easy to value.

This has been a lot of tea already, two rounds in.  I'll already take a break to eat just a little, and drink some water, and might have to keep these review notes short, limited to less rounds than is typical.  Pushing intensity to get early opening-up transition out of the way is a part of that; it would've been easy to drink 3 or 4 quite light rounds if these were cake material that came unpacked well.

Mengsong #3:  the color difference is striking now, this version being so much darker.  This tea is really nice at this stage, as I've expressed.  I would expect it to only get better, to smooth out and deepen in character, and to not change that much more over the next 5 years.  That touch of dry feel will probably smooth out, changing to greater richness.  

I'm not doing "warm spice tones" justice in describing this, or explaining how it strikes a balance between remaining floral range and deeper mineral flavors.  The descriptions always only go so far.  Without as pronounced a mineral range the rest wouldn't tie together as it does.  Dominant spice range and camphor are a nice primary flavors set.  I suppose someone could still find that feel edge a bit objectionable, too dry, or structured in a way they don't like, but it seems nice enough to me.  

Bulang:  every round it seems that pronounced, sappy, root spice (ginseng / sassafras), camphor, green wood edge range can't develop to be more intense, and then every round it does.  It has a sort of pine edge to it at this stage.  To me that balance works a good bit better than a heavier green wood inclusion did last round, which is still present, but more secondary now.  I'll brew both these on the relatively light side next rounds, a fast infusion, and see how that changes things.  Infusion strength was relatively standard last time, not brewed too long, but out to about 20 seconds, so it could be lighter.

Mengsong #4:  it's even more pleasant brewed lighter, still really on the intense side, brewed for about 10 seconds.  Sappy, rich feel balances well at this infusion strength.  Flavor complexity isn't so different than what I've been describing, just shifted to balance a little better.  

A touch of pine may be picking up in this too.  It's interesting how closely these seem to parallel each other, relatively different, but with some repeating notes.  Some of that could be from the power of suggestion, me looking for what I've already been experiencing, but some flavor themes seem to link between these, even though just as much flavor and other character is quite different.

Bulang:  brewing this fast has broken the cycle of that one set of flavors emerging stronger and stronger, but it fits into a more pleasant balance this round, it integrates better.  Even the green edge it had seems to be softening, as an experience of depth picks up.  

I must admit I hadn't been completely sold on the gushu theme Peter and Tea Mania had long since been promoting.  Good tea is good tea, and a few minor character aspects seem to kind of link to that, like a little more mineral range, but it also can seem relatively overstated.  It can seem like people over-value a limited type of depth, and that it doesn't actually make the experience that much more pleasant.  These are a little different though.  

It seems like tea being well-produced, grown under favorable conditions, and also well-processed both mix as related inputs.  Producers realize that old-plant material is valued, that it commands good product sales pricing, so they take care to get growing conditions, harvesting, and processing dialed in.  Then beyond that there really could be significant positive effect from that one cause, plant age, but it would be harder to spot for it all tending to mix.

Mengsong #5:  this may be a good place to leave off; even with eating some sunflower seeds and nuts and drinking water this is a lot of tea to ingest in one go.  If an interesting later transition occurs I can mention it, since I'll drink the tea later, but to me it's enough of the story told covering most of the cycle (half the rounds, at most, but most of the changes).

Again balance is quite nice, and of course complexity, intensity, and depth.  It hasn't changed much from the last round.  It seems like this might be a better tea than I tend to run across, in terms of final character after aging that next 5 or so years.  Or maybe that's more a comment about a match to preference, that I like this style and aspect set.  Even for drinking it right now it's quite positive, unusually so for a tea at the 10 year aging mark.

Bulang:  this is good too; it's not as if it's flawed, or doesn't make sense, in a bad place to experience right now.  It doesn't match my preference as well.  That really unusual and complex flavor set is really something.  Both of these are quite rich and full in feel.  I've not been going on about aftertaste experience but neither is thin or limited in the least, so the full range of experience is expressed, including that.  

Conclusions:

I would guess that I always would love the Mengsong version more, as it ages across different levels of transition.  Both are interesting though, and there's no reason why it necessarily seems better.  That's just a match to preference based assessment, as I see it.  It would be interesting to try it in another 7 years to check on that, to see how it changed.

Value is hard to place for these.  They seemed quite good to me, and "gushu" material versions can tend to cost even more than this.  Of course I liked the older and more expensive Mengsong version more; it would work out like that.  I didn't go on and on about it in the notes but it seemed to include a bit more structure and complexity, and flavor tones had evolved a bit more over the extra 7 years.  I could probably never bring myself to buy 80 grams of tea for $57 but for people more on that page, into that range, it could seem like a good deal.  That also means that I've tried many samples presented as selling for more than this but I don't own equivalent cakes.

I really also liked the Mengsong version I covered in the last review, from Tea Tracks, another gushu version, from 2019, selling for $124 for a 200 gram cake (or presented as such; it's always hard to say).  That divide in age makes any sort of direct comparison problematic.  Trying them side by side I would guess about comparing quality level, character, and starting points, or mid-way points, but saying that both were very pleasant is enough.

If someone is into higher end, somewhat aged sheng pu'er versions this cost issue would have to be something they live with, or they could drink a different kind of tea, factory versions.  I just saw a comment by a well-known vendor about how preferences have shifted, and a decade ago factory tea is most of what there was, and these gushu / boutique producer / narrow origin material versions are kind of a new thing.  It is what it is.  Someone could see this framing as a bit exaggerated, and think that quality and positive experience doesn't justify spending around $1 a gram (with these significantly below that level, maybe a good deal for that, or maybe that's still pretty normal).  

One runs across the idea that boutique sheng doesn't always age-transition well.  I could type some more paragraphs on that but it's hard to get the bottom of related generalities, and I'd need another decade of exploring sheng to have a more informed opinion.  Not everything I've tried that is sort of similar in category background has been as positive as these.  Some styles are positive and interesting for a few years and then die off more than they continue to improve.  

One red flag seems to be when a tea is too approachable when quite young, when bitterness, astringency, and intensity are moderate earlier on.  Of course I'd be guessing to project backwards in relation to these, about their origin.  I'm not saying that they'd need to have been unpleasant or relatively undrinkable for the first year or two, instead that sweet, floral or fruity, and mild feel versions might not age well.

These two versions were really pleasant to experience just now, the main thing.

Tea Tracks Mengsong Xiang (2019) and Ya Nua Gushu (2018)

 

Back to reviewing!  I quit while I visited family in the East Coast of the US, in Pennsylvania, and now I'm back in Bangkok.

I don't want to say too much about these, two sheng pu'er versions from Tea Tracks, sent by a friend to try.  I'm not that familiar with the narrow local areas, although Meng Song kind of rings a bell, and I don't know much about them for backstory.  The website mentions these details:

Meng Song Xiang 2019 - 勐宋  (114 Euro / $124 per 200 gram cake)

Meng Song Xiang is a village in southern Menghai. This tea is made of ancient tree material (gu shu, 古树). It has a full body and a pleasant bitterness, which lingers in the mouth as a fruity sweetness for a long time. Here is a review of the tea (in German): puerh.blog Meng Song review

Taste:  Soft yet bold taste. Upfront bitterness that turns into a sweet sensation.

Trees:  Old trees (gu shu 古树) growing in a natural environment

Origin:  Meng Song, Menghai, Yunnan, China

Ya Nuo 亚诺 2018 (You Le Shan)  (120 Euro / $130 per 200 gram cake)

Ya Nuo is a village on You Le Shan (mountain), one of the old six famous tea mountains in Xishuangbanna. This tea is made of ancient tree material (gu shu, 古树). The tea starts out very softly in the first brews with hardly any bitterness, but develops a nice sensation in the aftertaste. 

This is one of the teas that can clear your head on a cloudy day.

Taste:  Soft and subtle taste that develops a cooling sweet aftertaste.

Trees:  Old trees (gu shu 古树) growing in a natural environment

Origin:  Ya Nuo (village), You Le Shan, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China

Harvest:  early Spring 2018

The teas seemed pretty solid when trying them, but it's hard for me to evaluate value in relation to pricing beyond a limited range.  I could tell they seemed pretty good but not really how good.  I suppose then it's on considering how much I like them, setting that aside.  I don't buy pu'er that costs over 50 cents a gram, so of course I would run out of benchmark range. 

These are almost sold out on the website; there won't be much marketing function in describing these, since they'll be gone any day now.  The reviews might be partly about that but also just to communicate about trying teas, and to see what I make of them in notes.

Review:

Mengsong:  pleasant; definitely some bitterness stands out.  This flavor profile is somewhat familiar but I'm not going to do justice to describing it.  Beyond bitterness there is some sweetness, and from there identifying even aspect ranges is difficult.  Floral?  There is definitely a pleasant mineral layer, a little on the dry side, but pleasant in flavor and feel (to the extent that the two ranges map together).  There's good structure to the feel.

So far this just sounds like describing sheng pu'er in general.  It is pretty standard sheng, in one sense, just a better than average version, and only type-typical related to a subset, to Mengsong area versions.  5 years of aging has softened this, probably, although there is still plenty of bitterness and feel structure.  The tones have surely warmed some.  Maybe I'll readjust to reviewing more as rounds go by.

Ya Nua:  to me this expresses a distinctive root spice aspect.  Think along the lines of sassafras, but it's probably not so close to that.  It's not so far off the standard incense spice range, and if I had better scent memory of the main few incense spice versions I could reference one it's closest to.  That has the character overlapping just a little with aromatic wood tones.  Bitterness and mineral are dialed back just a little in comparison with the other, but it's still reasonably intense.  It might slightly less complex.  Better luck with deriving two flavor lists next round.

Mengsong 2:  I brewed these on the fast side for using a relatively high proportion, and for both being on the intense side.  It was still a bit much; I can switch to 5 second rounds to adjust further.  It's not that I forgot that I usually tend to overdo it with proportion, I just didn't offset it.

There's a catchy, familiar range in this I wish that I could describe better.  It's a way in which feel structure, bitterness, floral tone, and mineral all combine, in a very integrated form.  It comes across as a familiar set of aspects, that naturally pair together.  Maybe this is what people would seek out in standard Mengsong experience, a good version of it, but of course I can't claim that.  I don't retain a matrix of memorized local area types, and I might never, regardless of how long I kept trying different things.  

Would people seek out a 5 year old version, and how is the storage input for this if they were inclined to?  Those are harder to answer.  This aspect set is dialed in though; the proportion of everything is as it should be, and there are no flaws, no out of place aspects.  You're signed on for bitterness in drinking it, but to me that's moderate, even if it's higher than I would've expected for a partly age-transitioned tea.  Maybe this wasn't stored in a very humid place.  To me that's fine, aging and changing a tea over more slowly, unless there is a reason to get it moving quickly, for example to get a factory tea that will need 20-25 years to be good to cover that ground in 15.  I suppose at a minimum saying more about the floral range in this would be helpful, but not much comes to mind for labeling it.

Ya Nua:  this picked up a little depth and smoothed out some in character; it's better.  It's slightly more subtle now, but it still has a lot going on.  Bitterness hasn't faded but it's moderate compared to the other.  There is plenty of mineral range and other deeper flavor complexity, it's just not as forward and dominant as in the other version.  Spice tones still make up a main part of the experience.  Feel has decent structure, even a touch of dryness, all of which prevents it from coming across as thin.  At 6 years old (probably 6 1/2) this will head into that range where it shifts over from being new to old right around now, and maybe flavors seeming a little less forward now is a part of that.

As with the other it comes across as quite clean and well balanced to me, lacking flaws or limitations.  I suppose flavor complexity either settling out, for now, or being limited earlier on could be a limitation, but I see that as more character neutral, just how it is.  Something being out of balance would be more what I'm referring to, or a negative aspect.

At two rounds in I'm already feeling this.  I'm finally back in Bangkok, which is why I'm reviewing again, back in this familiar hot and humid environment, and even though it's 9 AM it's warmer than Pennsylvania had been during a cooler mid-afternoon.  It's too bad that more people back there don't appreciate the great tea drinking weather.

Mengsong 3:  this is shifting, in a pleasant way.  A bit more spice tone picks up, not completely unlike the range found in the other, just not the same either.  

Ya Nua:  less transition, but the tones may be warming slightly.  This seems like a good round to let it transition and get back to describing it more next time.

Mengsong 4:  it's interesting how bright and fresh this is, for being a 5 year old tea.  I could try to guess about how this has softened in character over that time, how it would've been more intense and challenging within the first year or two.  In part that would relate to describing what could be taken as positive about somewhat drier range storage.  Or maybe just a medium humidity and heat input range version; it's easy to pick up a biased judgment of norm here in Bangkok, where both are dialed up to maximum.

It's also interesting to consider where this will go from here, what relatively full aging might look like for it, when, and in what character range.  It needs at least another decade, or maybe more for full transition.  It's in a decent place for drinking as somewhat transitioned tea now, I suppose not so far out of entering into the teen years phase, when it might not make as much sense.  I certainly can't project ahead and list out likely flavor range to develop, but the intensity and balance at this stage seem like a good sign, that it's holding up well so far.

Ya Nua:  this is less complex and intense, but it has an interesting character, and plenty of intensity related to providing a pleasant experience now.  It's not muted.  The earlier spice range is still dominant, and a bit of vegetal range might've picked up as well, along the lines of tree leaf, not exactly like wood, but kind of related.  Maybe it only shifted in form, and it had seemed more like aromatic wood earlier, now vegetal in a different sense.  In most forms that would seem like a flaw, a subject I've already referenced, but with plenty of spice tones and mineral range it integrates well in this.

For someone preferring intensity of experience the other might be better.  One might question if this doesn't express a different kind of depth, related to the gushu theme, a standard idea that forward flavors might not be as intense but a base of depth could stand out more.  I don't know.  Both are fairly balanced; both have plenty going on across a significant range.  Underlying mineral range is a strength for both.

A different kind of acid test comes to mind, based on having visited "home" recently, drinking mostly a half dozen versions of tea for a month:  which would I keep returning to, if I had plenty of both?  I really love approachable, interesting, sweeter range, even fruity sheng, more than these two styles.  Sometimes I do crave a more intense experience, and it's not hard to appreciate good quality in tea versions.  Probably I like the Mengsong more.  It's more standard and less novel, in a sense, and would fill more of a craving for intensity and complexity, when that comes up.  I tend to go in cycles, and I'll even drink harsher teas sometimes, a bit here and there for weeks, like not quite ready Xiaguan tuos (which seem to never be fully ready, maybe until 25 or 30 years along, even aged in Bangkok).

Mengsong 5:  better than ever; the character really integrates.  In terms of description it's still about the same, but the balance has shifted to work even better.

Ya Nua:  this is still interesting for being on the subtle side, as sheng goes, related to flavor, which is perhaps a bit odd since it's on the intense side as oolong or black teas go, never mind white tea.  Then it has a lot of depth, including some bitterness, and great mineral range, so the intensity is there, just not in terms of forward flavors, as in the other.

It's breezy out just now; that's not usually the case in Bangkok.  At 9:30 it's sort of cool (30 C / 86 F and 71 % RH), or at least what I'll need to adapt to as cool for here.  At its maximum the PA "Indian summer" was in the mid-80s, but much, much drier.  Running there was fantastic.  It was easy to pick a time to go out when it was only 60 or so (16 C), so "cold" that your body heat would never accumulate.

Mengsong 6:  I'm maxed out for tea, and these aren't changing that much anyway, so this will do for notes.  Again it's interesting and pleasant how the earlier floral tones have transitioned more into a spice range.  The brightness, intensity, and complexity are all quite positive in this.  This seems like the kind of tea everyone should own a cake of, I just don't.  This version should cost a bit, for as good as this seems.  I suppose it's possible that the most recent peak in sheng pu'er costs happened just after this was made, so it might be more reasonable than I expect [not really, unless more current pricing is really high].

Ya Nua:  quite nice; good depth, good balance, interesting character.  I love the other one more, so that offsets that positive judgment some.  I think that has to do with relation to preference as much or more as quality, or it being more interesting.  I suppose local area demand shifts pricing as much as any of those other factors, so cost could relate to what other people seem to value, or at least what the market takes up and promotes.

Conclusions:

Both pretty good teas.  I kept going back and forth over how good while trying them.  They seem better in quality than they are a close match to my own natural preferences; I like them, but they're probably better than a match to my preference indicates.

Since other people sometimes value more aged character ranges that I don't love it can be hard to project ahead to what others might like later on, as they transition more.  Often I'd fill in more guesses about that, but it wouldn't be based on much, and would be unreliable, so I may as well skip that part.

I had a fairly typical experience with trying a tea in this general age range just today, the day after making these notes, so I'll mention that.  I re-tried a Nan Nuo version that I really liked, that I had drank most of the cake of back when it was new, made in a really bright, fresh, sweet, approachable when young style, from 2017.  It was still ok, but not nearly as positive as it had been 6 years ago.  It wasn't simply fading away as much as I'd expected, but it had been a good call to mostly drink straight through that over a year's time back then, setting a little aside to see how it might change later.

These are different, and especially the Mengsong seems to be retaining some intensity and complexity.  The Ya Nua version had interesting character too, it was just more subtle already.  It's interesting how sheng versions need to be made in a very specific style, related to aspects included, and I guess to how versions are processed, or else the flavor tones warm but they seem to oxidize instead of fermenting.  Or so it seems to me, but then what do I know.

back to my favorite tasting spot

cleaning up after a month of unmanaged growth in the garden

October must have been a bit rainy