A friend and I just did a tea swap, and I sent some of whatever was around in exchange for aged shou and hei cha. So nice! He is Bruce, living in Chiang Mai; maybe you know him.
One is a 2004 Hong Tai Chang shou, which is probably tea from a Chinese producer made in Thailand, since I've tried a good bit of that. I own a 2006 sheng cake, or what is left of one. Tea Side sells those here, an online vendor (where I bought that). Looking back I tried that as a sample in 2015, and a 2006 shou version also from 2006, and bought that sheng then. Nine years ago I was not a very good judge of pu'er, and my reviewing and blog writing was a bit rough. Maybe it still is, but at least in a different sense.
The other is a 2011 Xishuangbanna version, from Yunnan (so "true pu'er"). Bruce wrote on the label that the 2011 represents a version and style he doesn't like as much, sent for comparison, so we'll see.
Review:
2004 HTC: it's smooth, rich, and mellow, with decent complexity and depth. My problem with shou has always been that it all covers too narrow a range; this and the best and worst shou versions I've ever tried are all not so different. Ok, maybe bad shou really is something else, but it's still a lot closer than for other types, nothing like bad sheng or bad Wuyi Yancha oolong.
There's a hint of fruitiness in this, like a dried berry or cherry. I'd bet that and going on more about mineral will be the story of this shou. If you use your imagination it could seem a little like spice, I guess, and that familiar dark earthiness does vary slightly. This is clean in flavor effect; there's that. Feel is rich and velvety. It's good.
2011 Xishuangbanna: there is something a little off about this. It has that barnyard sort of flavor, like a scent literally from a horse's stable. At a minimum it takes me back to experiences with country life from my youth; we had a horse at one point, and lots of other animals were around. I would go help an uncle bale hay in the fall; there is nothing like that experience, for work seeming like a workout. A tractor and machine does the baling; the workers' part is throwing it into a wagon, then taking it out and stacking it in a barn. Those must weigh something like 50 pounds?
This will clean up a little over the next two rounds, I think, and it's not as bad as I'm implying. It's not good either, not like that really dicey Honolulu Chinatown shou I bought a couple years ago, to fill a gap for not bringing enough tea. In bad shou you end up talking about fishy range, or petroleum-like character, not just a bit of barn smell.
HTC, #2: it picks up complexity; that's nice. This expresses a cool marshmallow flavor aspect that I've ran across before, really a nice flavor in shou, for how it integrates with other earthy range. Sweetness is good in this, and rich feel, and also complexity, depth, and refinement. This is roughly as good as shou gets, per my experience. Then again it's not that far off above average shou either, so if a vendor was charging 60 to 80 cents a gram for this, as they would, there's absolutely no way I would buy it. But then preferences and judgment does vary.
The rest of the description still applies, pleasant earthy range, of course mineral, and probably some spice, maybe some strange dried Chinese medicinal herb I'm not familiar with. It's good.
2011 X: rough! On the one hand this is pretty good, related to the positive range, and on the other it tastes like the smell of dried horseshit. I get it why Bruce sent it as an example of what might not be ideal, or even further toward the opposite side than that. It's interesting. After the initial taste the shock of that one aspect being so oddly placed in that range settles out, and it's really not so bad. The rest seems to pick up intensity as you keep drinking it, conventional warm mineral and earthy tones.
I haven't mentioned a brewed liquid color difference; the first is inky, and this is lighter, more reddish brown. These are both pretty far along for aging; 13 to 20 years shouldn't make that much difference for shou, unless one was not very completely fermented to begin with, then I guess maybe. I actually like this, once I drink a little more. I don't think I'd be reaching for it often if I owned a cake of it though.
I drink shou when I fast; I've mentioned that here before. I've fasted for about 60 days in the past two years, I think it is. It's a long story as to why; to gain supposed health benefits, to offset disease risk, to increase mental clarity, to adjust for insulin resistance, to clear whatever is stored in my tissues that shouldn't be there, maybe even to offset aging effect. I think it helps. Shou is the easiest on your stomach, as teas go, and I pretty much only drink that and some aged white mixed in.
HTC, #3: these will keep brewing, up to at least 10 rounds, even though I'm pushing them (brewing them strong). But I'll stop taking notes here. They won't transition that much more, and I have things to do.
Actually this is pretty much the same as last round. Which is good; it was really nice. I love that marshmallow flavor inclusion, and the rest balances well, the depth, intensity, feel, etc.
X: that more objectionable barn flavor did mostly fade already. This isn't bad at all. Maybe not great either, but it's pretty good shou. If I used my imagination I could come up with a list of ten different flavors in this, but it's also just kind of earthy.
Later: trying both again later a dark bread like flavor range stands out in the HTC version, like very dark rye. It's nice; it complements the other earthiness and fullness well.
The Xishuangbanna version has lost essentially all of that barnyard note, and a mineral aspect like slate stands out. It reminds me a little of Liu Bao character, how that can be similar in those. It's so heavy on mineral in a dark range that it's almost like smoke, but it's not that.
Conclusions:
These will keep shifting, a little; another few rounds would turn up another aspect or two. I just won't write about that.
I ended up liking the second more than I expected; it cleaned up nicely. The HTC version was better. I didn't go on much about age issues in this writing. Shou mellows and deepens in character some over a longish time, but I'm not sure the Xishuangbanna version will be all that different in 7 more years, matching the current age of the other.
I looked to see if Tea Side lists this, and they don't. A loose 2006 HTC shou version sells for $18.50 for 50 grams there; not as bad as I thought. Teas like these can vary quite a bit though, since beyond variations in original character storage conditions can change a lot. That may or may not be a lot like this tea.
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