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2010 "Genshe" version left, Fengqing right, in all photos |
I'm re-reviewing two Fu zhuan style hei cha from Oriental Leaf. The idea was that one brick version seemed higher in quality level to me, but I wanted to check that, and identify character differences.
I thought that it would be similar but better than the cake version, more complex and intense, with more depth. Really these were completely different styles of the same tea type. It's interesting that I had missed that. I could be more familiar with Fu hei cha range, even though I've tried a good bit of it. You really need to drink the teas a number of times, comparing impressions over time, and I've not done that yet.
One was from here, Oriental Leaf Fu zhuan hei cha comparison, Lincang and Fengqing versions (the Fengqing one), and from here, Oriental Leaf Jinyang Genshe 2010 Fu brick tea. I won't reference their background here; it's in those posts, including more descriptions, a site link, and costs for these. The brick tea costs more, if that helps in fill in some relevant background.
On a different subject, a tea group comment mentioned that it's not most favorable to brew Fu zhuan hei cha Gongfu style. I could check on that. I did review two of essentially the same cake versions brewed Western style a year or more ago, thinking that would work as well.
Even for drinking a good bit of those teas made in different ways it's hard to weigh in with a developed take. It also seems lazy to just say that it's a matter of preference. I think that you could get good results both ways, and using other approaches, which comes back to it relating to preference.
I'll get back to themes about style differences in the conclusions section.
Review:
2020 Fengqing cake: warmer and richer. A heavier dark bread note is very pronounced. This visibly had a lot more golden flower fungus, and that should be coming across as well, even right away. At this stage it's a little more intense than the other version, and probably slightly more complex as well. That may relate to it starting out faster, to more fungus providing flavor input versus the leaf, which is not fully soaked yet.
Both are quite pleasant. I had remembered the 2010 version as having more depth, but we will see. So far this is pretty even.
2010 brick #2: that spice aspect range is unique. To me it's close to clove, or one part of clove, and an incense spice, maybe sandalwood. Really I need to brush up on my incense spice scents to do much with describing them.
Depth is unique as well. Feel is thick and rich, and mineral range fills in complexity. It's unusually good.
2020 cake: just different. There are some warmer tones present in this, that people could interpret in different ways. The sweetness links to a dark toffee. Bread-like or yeast related input has balanced with the rest already, but it is in a pronounced dark tone range, like a very dark rye, on towards pumpernickel.
Drinking one right after the other reveals an interesting character difference. This version is more complex and intense, and covers a lot of flavor range. The other is intense while you drink it, but less so, with more finish or aftertaste coming across (or equivalent to the other; I mean the aftertaste is strong in comparison with the upper-medium level intensity while you drink it, with this version dialed up across both ranges).
The 2010 version has an edge for expressing a really unique and complex spice range, but this is just as good for the rest, for overall complexity, intensity, and refinement. I kind of expected the 2010 tea to stand out more. But then they're just different; someone might absolutely love either one, but not the other, or I guess could not prefer this kind of tea. But then these are really pleasant and approachable. There's a reason why reactions to this same 2020 version has always been favorable in group tastings.
2010 #3: there's a clean nature to this tea that's hard to describe. It's well-fermented, and the range of flavors expressed is more on the heavy side, just lighter than the other. But it's not off in any way, related to mustiness, or off earth or rougher mineral input. It's all light, clean, and balanced, while still being relatively rich.
The spice range is a main theme, but it's hard to narrow further. It's complex, including both incense spice range and one part of what clove expresses. Some dried fruit range reminds me most of Chinese date. I suppose some other flavor relates to cooked pumpkin, or someone could interpret that as butternut squash. We eat Thai and Japanese pumpkin here, which are closer to butternut squash than the orange skinned US version.
2020: spice range changes in this, and the bread-like tone also does. It's good, pleasant and complex. One could write out a good bit of flavor description aspects for this, depending on interpretation, and it's shifting some round to round, so that could keep changing.
It's tempting to say that it includes more forward flavors, with less depth than the other, but really it just comes across differently. A lot does hit you at first, including a touch of sourness that seems to tie to the yeast effect in the fresh bread range. The aftertaste may be a little less pronounced, but that could also just relate to the forward flavor being stronger in comparison for this tea. Feel and flavor aftertaste really extend after you drink it, covering the entire rear of your mouth.
There is more complexity than the flavor list I'm describing, but it's hard to pin down. Some dried fruit or roasted vegetable could be similar to the other, but different. The heavier dark bread flavor, and supporting warm mineral, really stand out. It might include a touch of cacao.
2010 #4: this comes across as really refined, compared to most Fu zhuan hei cha. It's not as if the other suffers from expressing a lot of rough edges, or flavors that seem like flaws, but this is clean and rich in a unique way. And lighter; spice is warm, and mineral gives it depth, but it lacks the heavy flavor range and rich intensity in the other. The color is lighter too. It's almost as if this resembles an aged sheng more, related to comparison to sheng and shou pu'er, with it having more depth and complexity to evolve towards for not being fully fermented yet. Or maybe that's wrong, and in 10 more years it will be almost exactly the same.
That refinement is a strange thing, in Fu hei cha. It's intense, complex, and layered, but also very clean.
2020: fruit tones seem to pick up a bit in the other. It's pleasant how it keeps evolving. The other shifts a little, but more to let deeper mineral and spice tones play a larger role. This is actually changing flavor. It might be a little more complex; there is plenty going on. To me that touch of yeast works well with the rest, but that might be a main dividing line in how others take this. It's a distinctive part of Fu character, but not everyone would love it.
This is clean too, but in a different sense. It's heavier in tone, with lots of complexity, and the dark bread and yeast effect gives it all the more range.
I really thought that this comparison would favor the 2010 version more than it does. I can see why I was so impressed by it, for that spice range being so novel, and for the overall effect being so clean and balanced. But this 2020 version expressing more intensity and complexity is positive.
Fifth infusion: the 2020 version starts to lose some intensity, but the 2010 doesn't, yet. I brewed this on the quick side (15 seconds or so); it would make sense to use longer infusions at this stage. The 2020 version picks up a molasses sweetness, resembling that complex flavor range in molasses. I can't really tell if the spice range in the 2010 version is changing; it seems similar.
Conclusions
Does it work to summarize that the brick version was less pre-fermented, and closer to sheng pu'er (comparatively), so that people who love aged sheng pu'er would like that better, and shou drinkers would like the other more? Not really. There is some comparison to be made, but these aren't pu'er. The pre-fermentation level part probably does work, but the mapping across types preference may or may not.
Can we guess that the less pre-fermented tea probably has more potential to keep changing, to pick up more intensity and depth over the next decade? Sure, it's a reasonable guess, but I don't know for sure if that works.
Both teas are great in different ways. I was so impressed with the brick version that I thought that it would seem simply better in comparison, but it's just different. It's lighter in range, with a different flavor profile, and different feel. I would probably have to keep drinking these to be sure of which I like more.
The brick version (2010 Genshe) is more refined, and some might judge quality level to be higher, as I had. That possible extra aging potential would be meaningful, to many people. But it's not simply better across most aspect dimensions. Plenty of people would like the Fengqing version more, especially if they value the heaviness, fullness, warm tone, and complexity in very good quality shou pu'er. But again it's not pu'er, it's different than that.
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