On pu'er knives, and separating cakes and tuochas

 

One of the eternal questions:  do you really need to use a pu'er knife to separate compressed tea cakes, or can you use a letter opener, Swiss Army knife, ice pick, or whatever else is around?  And does the question change when discussing a well-compressed Xiaguan tuocha?

This recently came up in a Facebook tea group, but it gets asked in a Reddit pu'er sub several times a year.  I commented this:

A pu'er knife or pu'er pick can work slightly better than something like a letter opener, but there's definitely no need to spend $50 on something that looks more impressive. Inexpensive versions of the same devices will work in exactly the same way, and just as well. If your favorite vendor only sells something costly, because it's damascus steel or something such, just keep shopping. It probably makes sense to buy both an inexpensive pick and a knife, to see what you like best.

Others answered everything that you might imagine, every possible answer.  That reminds me of seeing a notice of a pu'er knife that actually looked cool recently, maybe not this one, but essentially the same thing:

That style is typically made by a blacksmith of some sort, either crafted from damascus (layered) steel or made from some novel original source, like from a railroad spike.  That would definitely work.  Those tend to cost about $70, which I guess may be about right given the labor that would go into making it.  This site sells them for $100, the first version that comes up on a Google Lens search about them, and in this Reddit post (showing that version) it had cost them $77.

I'd rather buy a tea cake, but that cake would be gone in a couple of months, and this novel knife could last forever.

Crimson Lotus sells this:  "The Bingslayer" Tea Pick  ($14.99)

The catchy marketing name works, and it should be functional.  It's funny how vendors spin all that:

May we present to you "The Bingslayer", First of their Name, Victorious at the Battle of Xiaguan, Breaker of the Iron Cake. Legend has it that this tea pick is so pure of heart that it doesn't open puerh cakes, the cakes open for it to allow it to pass through.

Setting that aside, $15 for a functional tea knife is fine.  Versions that cost $2 or 3 also work, probably just as well, like the one I've been using for a few years that a friend passed on, after I accidentally packed my tea pick in a carry-on bag, and the TSA got it (or actually the Thai equivalent).

my old pu'er pick; I really liked that too

I don't see any version of a knife or pick on either Yunnan Sourcing or White 2 Tea's sites.  Strange.  You would think they would find an inexpensive and functional version to sell as a service to customers, if not so much to profit from.

This Shopee version (like a Thai version of Ebay) sells for about $8; it's not far off what I use now:

Technique, the real problem

The problem people are really having relates to technique, not the form of the device they use.  That cause could get lost as they explore both devices and approach, because their technique would improve as they gradually kept swapping out devices, and the same devices would keep working better and better.  A pick works about as well as a knife, when you are good at using one.  I'll explain how to break apart a tea cake then, or at least how I go about it.

For the loosest pressed cakes it kind of doesn't matter.  You can pull a chunk off the side with your fingers and that won't break the leaves very much, which is the main concern.  More broken material will extract a lot more astringency, which isn't as pleasant.  For harder pressed cakes it works well to start from the inside lip of the pressed indentation (beeng-hole, some say), and work outwards towards the edge to peel off a good sized flake, maybe two inches across.  No matter how you approach it all you don't want to push the knife towards your other hand, so early on using a wood cutting board is ideal, so you stab that instead as you get better at it.  It could also work starting from the outside and working inward, I just don't prefer that myself.

For a very hard pressed cake this won't work very well, but then nothing really will.  It's an option to break such a cake into large sized chunks, probably using some variation of pliers, and then separating the layers by pressing a knife or pick into the side of the chunk.  The main idea is to work along the layers of how the cake or tuocha (ball shape) is pressed, and if you tear a chunk off a cake those layers will be evident.

For a tuocha holding the dome side downward and starting from the rim works well.  You can press the device into this lip, separating off a good sized chunk of the outside, again without pushing that knife towards your other hand, probably by resting the tuo on something that it's ok to stab into.  Typically you can peel off the outer one fourth of the entire tuo this way, piece by piece, and then keep going, working with the now-stranger-looking inner three fourths of the ball shape.

One last concern is what to do with the more broken dust and small fragments that can be by-products of this process, especially when separating tighter pressed cakes.  You have options.  Some people throw that out; it shouldn't amount to much, and it doesn't brew as well.  It could work to save it in a miscellaneous material jar and brew it separately, as a blend.  I like the idea but I almost never do that.  I put some in a tea-bag a year or two ago--from some spare bags a vendor sent along with loose tea--and saw that still stashed somewhere recently; when I actually do it I might not get back to it.  

Or you can let it collect in the paper wrapper and brew a round that's based on more broken material once in awhile, or a mix of finer broken material forms, broken leaves down to dust.  That's what I do.  

It throws off results that round, all to utilize a couple of extra grams of really broken material however often that comes up, but it seems disrespectful to the tea to just bin it, to me.  For looser pressed tea cakes this isn't even a concern; leaves might break a little, but it's not like how things go with harder pressed cakes.  I suppose this is why the "iron cake" form didn't last, as well as related to those not aging in the same way, being isolated from any and all air contact that might enable it in a normal form.

A 2011 mini Xiaguan iron cake, basically, last reviewed here in 2019.  I've tried this in the last 6 months and it's not quite ready yet, 14 years into aging.  In 5 more years I'll probably feel the same way.

Lincang and Fenqing Fu cake hei cha

 

Lincang origin version

Fengqing origin version

Fengqing version exterior; it's slightly darker than the other version

Lincang left, Fengqing right, in all photos

I'm reviewing two more Fu brick (cake) teas from Oriental Leaf; many thanks for them sending them for review.  Again these include plenty of golden flowers, Eurotium Cristatum, the fungus said to add positive character, complexity, and maybe even health benefits to this type of hei cha.  I'll start with their description:

On Taoism - Jingyang Golden Flower Fu Brick Tea - 190g Cake ($38.50 for 190 gram cake)

This 190-gram round Golden Flower Fu tea cake is the miniature packaging version of another of our best-selling 350g cakes. Although it is small in size and a bit lighter in weight, the quality of the tea is the same as that of the popular product.

The classic Golden Flower Fu Brick Tea from On Taoism Tea Factory is a signature product of our tea house.

We offer two options:

One is black-wrapped, made from grade one dark tea from Lincang, Yunnan, with a more intense tea aroma.

The other is yellow-wrapped and made from a particular grade one dark tea from Fengqing, Yunnan, with a deeper tea aroma.

Both types of tea undergo post-fermentation and flowering processes in Jingyang. The buds in the red packaging are more tender, while those in the black packaging are more durable for brewing.

These high-quality compressed tea cakes were produced in 2020. They stand out for their ability to be stored long-term and transform, resulting in a more mellow taste.

The most distinctive feature is the high density of golden flowers in the compressed tea cake. These golden flowers, a beneficial microorganism, signify high-quality Fu Brick Tea. To emphasize this feature, workers split the tea cake in half before it left the factory, allowing you to see the dense golden flowers upon receiving the tea. As mentioned in a previous blog, the number of golden flowers is a crucial quality indicator of Fu Brick Tea; the more golden flowers, the better the quality.

This Fu Brick Tea, with its unique round cake shape, supports the traditional and natural growth of the golden flower fungus. Unlike the brick shape of traditional pressed tea, this tea undergoes a unique post-fermentation process using Jingyang water in Jingyang. This process, involving controlled exposure to moisture and air, enhances the tea's flavor and aroma. Thanks to the cotton paper packaging, the rich, high aroma can be appreciated even before brewing.

The Golden Flower Fu Brick Tea offers a unique taste and brewing experience. The tea leaves, known for their durability, can be brewed over 15 times. The taste combines fresh, sweet notes and a returning sweetness with a clear and bright soup base. The On Taoism Tea Factory maintains a clean workshop, ensuring the tea's high quality without washing.

I checked and that larger version (On Taoism - Jingyang Golden Flower Fu Brick Tea - 350g Cake, also from 2020) costs $65.50 for a 350 gram cake (19 cents a gram), which is relatively close in price.

It's a little confusing separating out what I've experienced of the two cakes in relation to this limited description, since I always add the product background after the tasting part.  The black labeled version, the Lincang (on the left in all these photos), is said to have more intense aroma, and the other tan labeled version, from Fengqing, is said to have deeper aroma.  If by deeper they mean warmer in tones that's how I placed it, and it might be slightly more complex.

The color difference is interesting (the Fengqing being darker in appearance); there has to be more to the story about fermentation processing differences.  I suppose in the end it's more about the experience than the story.  Both were good.  I think I liked the Fengqing version more, but that might change, if I brewed both a number of times, in different ways.  I might use a Gongfu / gaiwan brewing approach and relate how that goes in a different post.

As far as value, is $38.50 per 190 grams a good value?  That's 20 cents a gram, equivalent to a 357 gram sheng cake costing about $70.  It's hard to say.  I don't doubt that this is a unique character and quality level offering for hei cha, that if you kept trying lower cost versions, which would be out there, they mostly probably wouldn't match it for quality and distinctiveness, over and over.  There could be exceptions, but you might own kilograms of lower quality teas before you found one, unless sampling first worked out.

The other Fu brick tea I reviewed from them (YXT Jingyang Fu Tea Classic Yellow Can 300g, reviewed here, described in a vendor page here) sold for $50 for a 300 gram tin, so for 17 cents a gram.  It wasn't that far off this range, but as far as I remember these are a bit more distinctive.  I'd have to try all three to really confirm that; I last tried that within the last week or so, but it can be hard placing the finest level aspects.

One difference is whether or not these can be bought as samples; these small cakes cannot.  If someone knows that they like this general range of tea I don't think buying one for $38.50 poses much risk; they're quite nice, and type-typical, if anything just better than average.  Determining which one of the two they might like better is a different story.  To the extent I describe one as more positive than the other that may relate mostly to my own preference.

For background context I'm on day 3 of a 5 day fast, not eating for that time period.  That changes my palate a little but not too much.  Sweetness seems to come across slightly differently.  I'm not concerned about these affecting my stomach, as most tea types would, since I checked on that effect yesterday, trying another Fu version they sent.  It's like drinking shu pu'er; not a problem.

Review:

brewed Western style; this should be as favorable as using a Gongfu approach

#1, Lincang:  pretty good; brewed a little light.  I'm not familiar with Western brewing this type of tea, and also not familiar with how much weight the flakes off this cake amount to.  Eyeing out sheng pu'er to brew in a gaiwan is familiar; it always just works out.  Even for Western brewing sheng I might not get it completely right; I just know how that tea looks in a gaiwan, even if varying compression changes the appearance and form.

Flavor is nice.  Of course it's in that odd range, including a dark bread tone, with a bit of yeast input, warm mineral, and decent sweetness.  A bit of what comes across as non-distinct spice adds complexity.  It might be towards fennel seed, matching the dark bread flavor range.  I'm not noticing much of a dried fruit input; a very limited amount of that range could turn up in similar teas.

Feel is pretty good; on the full side.  Those aspects trail as aftertaste, adding more impression of intensity and complexity.  There are no noticeable flaws.

All that is positive, but how good is this, compared to the other versions, or in general?  It being being brewed differently than I've most often been brewing these and my palate being a little off related to fasting make it hard to judge that.  It might be slightly more complex than the YXT Jinyang version, or slightly more distinctive, but it might not be; I might be remembering that wrong.

Fengqing:  warmer in tone, of course with some overlap.  The dark bread tone is darker, more a pumpernickle instead of a dark rye.  The mineral is darker (warmer, or even heavier, however one chooses to frame that).  

There is still a light aspect range in between yeast and fruit in this, which is comparable in the other version, which I only summarized as yeast-like there, stopping short of describing that as fruit.  It's like a citrus peel sort of edge.  In going back and tasting the first a hint of fruit tone is there too, but more pronounced in this one, easier to pick up.  That might relate to this being brewed slightly stronger; proportion seems a bit higher for it, but only a little.  

Again it's hard to judge the amount in the flakes, the way the tea separates.  It wouldn't be with just a little more exposure, but this tea type is still a little new to me, in the sense of brewing it regularly.  I first explored Fu brick teas ages ago, maybe 7 years back, but of course that doesn't help with judging an infusion's worth by appearance.

Those darker tones and the fruit make this come across as closer to chen pi shu pu'er.  It's not like that, instead much earthier in tone, maybe with a little more depth, and way less citrus.  In this it's a faint hint, not as strong as the yeast-like aspect, which might come across more like an aromatic spice.

This is complex enough that someone with a good imagination could see all sorts of flavors in it.  I suppose brewing both Gongfu style would really lend itself to that; the compounds and flavors that are extracted shifts some round to round.  One of the strengths of this tea type is that you can brew it quite strong and appreciate an intense and complex character.  I didn't this time; these were brewed for about 4 minutes, or maybe 3 1/2.  I'll give them a longer soak next round to see how that goes, but of course some of the input of the "golden flowers" fungus has already extracted, so the flavor profile was going to shift either way.

Someone suggested simmering this type of teas in an online comment.  That could be interesting.  I wouldn't expect it to be so different than using a long soak, a 7 or 8 minute Western infusion, but maybe it would be.  Eventually I'll probably get to that. 

Lincang version leaves, left, are definitely a little lighter

Lincang, second infusion:  this is pretty strong; I let this soak for over 15 minutes, essentially fully brewing out.  The infusion strength is different, and flavors come across differently.  Earthy tones are all the more dominant, a strong version of autumn leaf.  That still includes some bread tones, like a dark rye, again including some spice range, along the line of fennel seed.  

One light tone I associate with the golden flowers (fungus) relates to a yeasty aspect, not completely separated from a brighter fruit tone, but again not exactly like fruit.  If you think of a warm citrus input, like a chen pi / dried tangerine peel, then it seems like that.

Is it better brewed stronger?  I think so.  Body is nice and stout, the feel.  I suppose it even resembles one part of a brown ale or stout beer character, that dark bread-like range.  As with any tea type not everyone would love this, but people on this page for aspect preference would.  It might be a little better than the better of the other two Fu hei cha versions from Oriental Leaf, or maybe just different.  

It would help to try all three together, ideally with brewing dialed in, and probably not while fasting.  My palate is fine, I can taste it in a similar way, it's not like at the end of being sick, when things are muted.  There's just some slight variation.

Fengquing:  this is even more different.  The fruit tone in this shifted; it's not mostly a warm citrus range now.  It's hard to place though, because it's a bit complex.  One part might be like dried apricot, but that's hard to separate out from the warmer tones that are stronger.  Warm earthy range is still a bit like pumpernickel bread, one part of it, and there's warm mineral range, but it's complex, not limited to that list.  Maybe it's just related to this being brewed from a slightly higher proportion but I seem to like it better.

Overall tone is warmer, and there might be a touch more fruit, setting up a different kind of balance or different inputs.  It comes across as more complex and intense.  The wet leaves are much darker; there is more of a story there too.  Looking at the wet leaves the difference in leaf amount is quite limited; this might be brewing to a slightly higher intensity level without that being a main factor.

One nice part of this tea experience is what isn't there; there is no pronounced astringency, no rough feel, no off earthy flavors, and of course no bitterness, or objectionable mineral tones.  You could brew this as strong as you like and there's nothing to avoid or work around.  Or it would work lighter, as in the first infusion.  To me why not go inky strong; it's suited for that.  These would work well thermos brewed, or "grandpa style."

And it's easy on your stomach.  If you try drinking most kinds of teas, especially this much of them, after 2 1/2 days off eating you're going to be in trouble.  Shu pu'er is pretty forgiving for that, and aged white you can get away with, just not at this dosage, drinking four large cups.  I always feel a deep emptiness two or more days into fasting, and that doesn't drop out, but there is no discomfort from drinking these, even plenty of them.

I'll skip taking notes on a third round; I'll need to keep this moderate, and two giant mugs of tea over an hour + is plenty.  It would be nice to conclude if these really were better than the YXT version, but I can't confirm that from memory.  They seemed a little more complex and interesting, but it's a stretch to conclusively say that.  I'll try these brewed Gongfu style later, and see if it works out better, or not as well.  

I wanted to also share photos related to making a holy basil / tulsi tisane during this fast, a chance to use herbs from our garden.  It was quite pleasant, and the first time I've used that herb as a tisane in a long time.

there's a few holy basil plants growing, and a small lime tree in the photo center

I've been brewing tea for the plants too, from fallen leaves

Comparing Son La (Vietnamese), Naka, and Bangwai sheng

 

Son La left, Naka middle, Bangwai right, in all photos

In reviewing two Tea Mania gushu sheng pu'er versions recently I felt as if I didn't really place quality levels and style as much as I'd hoped to.  In comparison reviewing a vendor's teas along with each other the main current benchmark, the other version, tends to be something similar in style and quality level.  This adjusts for that.

Of course there are flaws and limitations to the approach.  Style of tea varies a lot, and you need to take that into account in description.  Personal preference can favor a style most others would see as inferior to experience, related to their preference.  I try to make all that explicit in these notes, but I can't drill down too far across all the scope.  When reviewing a number of teas together it's natural to focus on flavor aspects more than mouthfeel or aftertaste range; that narrowing of scope of consideration happens automatically.

I want to keep descriptions short here because comparison reviews run long.  Let's let the vendor's descriptions introduce what these are.

Viet Sun Son La cake (the 2023 version, the one I tried, seems to be sold out; I can cover 2024 instead related to product description, and mention what I knew of the other).

2024, 200 gram cake, selling for $48

A very special tea from Sơn La province in northwest Vietnam.

This is a tea from arguably the best ancient tree gardens in Bắc Yên district of Sơn La province growing at 1400m. The people living and making tea here are of the H'Mông ethnicity.

This tea was made in an area called Tà Xùa, one of the more well known areas for old tree Assamica tea in Vietnam and is located just south of where the 2023 Sơn La tea was made. Tà Xùa mainly produces wok made green tea but we were lucky enough to have the chance to get some of the raw puerh version.

This tea has some aggressiveness and kiss of smoke from the wok which is typical of this area although subdued compared to the 2023 tea. This tea brews up into a rich gold green soup. Heavily floral, fruity and sweet with some citrus notes, medium bitterness/ astringency. This tea has a pleasant minerality with a rich lasting Huigan and strong qi.

Apparently the 2023 version listed for $77 for 370 grams, so 21 cents a gram instead of 24.  What is that, a 15% increase in a year?  Viet Sun teas always were going to increase in price once awareness and demand ramped up, and this is probably how this will go.  They'll outpace inflation for a half dozen years and level off as costing what main source Yunnan teas do now, $100-120 per cake.

Cheng Sheng Hao Naka sample, part of a sample set, selling for $79 per 195 grams.

That's not double the Viet Sun pricing but getting on towards that.  Some of their teas included were really exceptional, and some more ordinary, making it hard to assess value.

2022 Na Ka (那卡)

“Na Ka” is the sweetness representative of Pu-Erh tea. The soup has an attractive pale-gold color in the cup. The aroma and taste are alluring, exhibiting a noticeable peach-like flavor and strong sweetness in the later infusions. There is also a strong cup scent left behind in the early brews. 

Tea Mania 2022 Bangwai sheng, 200 grams for $111

Harvest: Spring 2022

Pressed: 2022

Typ: Sheng

Aroma: Spicy, much Cha Qi and sweet finish

Terroir: Bangwai, Lancang prefecture, Yunnan province, China

The rest of the description pretty much just says that it's gushu, from old plant material.  It includes description like this:

The Bangwai Gushu is celebrated for its meticulous, traditional handmade processing and the selective use of the finest tea leaves. This dedication to quality is evident in every sip, making it a treasured choice among collectors. Due to the limited availability, Pu-erh teas from the Bangwai region are released in small quantities each year, adding to their exclusivity and allure.

So these sell for 24 cents a gram (the 2024 Son La version, the only one available now), just under 40, and 55 cents a gram; quite a range.  

It's not a fair comparison with the Naka version because 3 of the 7 in that set were presented as more exceptional, higher demand, award winning versions, and the other 4 at representative of a local origin type.  There's no way to estimate how some better versions represent higher value for the average, without looking up other things that they sell, which I'm not going to do here.

These teas are from 2023 (the Son La version), 2021 (Naka), and 2022 (Bangwai); that will throw off comparison a little too.  I won't emphasize likely changes from aging input and storage conditions here, going more by experienced character, because again a three-way comparison tasting is a lot to cover, and to read.  

I really wanted to try a sample of a 2024 Son La tea with these, to get to tasting a little sent along with the last re-order of a 2023 cake, but to keep the aging input more consistent I didn't.

Review:

Son La #1:  this won't be a fair comparison at this stage because this version is loose, ready to start brewing right away, so I infused it for less time, 15 seconds or so, versus over 30 for the others.  It still won't balance; it will start faster.

This is ready to review for flavor profile description, even if a little light.  Floral range is pronounced and complex, sweetness is good, bitterness not really started yet, and feel is starting in.  There might be a faint hint of smoke but I think that drops out.  It's good, a personal favorite.

Naka and Bangwai:  I'll skip saying anything; even next round these might not be started yet.  Compressed forms are like that, and separating apart these forms is not easy.  

I'll use 10 seconds for the Son La version and a minute or so for both others again to get these to balance being wetted better, but that will probably even up more in a third round.

Son La #2:  intensity picks way up.  Bitterness does really enter in, and sweetness elevates to match.  Flavors range is mostly floral, although I'd interpret some of it as fruit as well.  Feel is nice, a bit full, not overly structured, and not challenging.  Intensity draws out aftertaste experience already, even though this has only been brewing for about 20 seconds so far.

Naka:  there's an odd woody flavor component to this.  I've always wondered if using cardboard as storage container wouldn't impart some flavor, if that's not what I pick up when some teas taste a little like cardboard or wood.  It will probably fade fast as the main tea flavors pick up.  I had an interesting experience with the earlier two Tea Mania teas I tried barely getting started in the first two rounds, as the tea opened up and wetted; that may be going on with this.  It's not soaked through yet.

Bangwai:  a really catchy fruit tone shows through.  It seems like it's probably coupled with a spice input, which makes it seem all the more complex and interesting.  It's still too light for clear evaluation though.  I'll again brew the Son La version for about 10 seconds and the other two for over 30, backing off the full minute I gave them last round.  Of course I'm breaking normal form and discarding most of these first two rounds, since tasting three teas will add up fast for volume.

Son La #3:  a bit strong; I've probably botched proportion for using an amount too close to my normal range, maybe backing off to 8 grams instead of 10, but it's still too much.  [later edit:  wetted leaf volume, a better indicator of amount, if you don't weigh the material, indicates there isn't as much difference as it seems through most of this tasting].  Warm tones pick up in this round, and intensity is high.  Bitterness is pronounced, and sweetness; they balance.  

It's clear from the leaf color alone that oxidation level varies in this tea, which some people would see as a flaw.  For me the final experience is the thing, and this works, so it's not really that, just unique in style.  That warmth and richer flavors in the profile must relate to that, at least in part.

Naka:  this tea is quite decent, but it's probably going to suffer in comparison with these other two.  Sweetness level isn't pronounced, but it includes some sweetness.  Floral range is there but it's also a bit muted.  Feel is decent, with moderate fullness, but it all seems a bit muted in comparison with the Son La version.  That tea is much further along for brewing, so it's not a fair comparison.

Bangwai:  flavor range is quite novel for this.  I'd place that mainly as root spice, at least at this round.  Floral range fills that in, but it's less distinct.  Bitterness and feel aren't so pronounced or challenging, but it works for balance.  It comes across as refined; there are no negative inputs or rough edges, and there's an experience of depth.  

A friend recently asked what I mean by root spice.  Does this taste like sassafras, ginseng, ginger, turmeric, or horseradish?  It's the first, a lot like sassafras, maybe leaning a little towards ginseng.  There are other roots that can be brewed as tisanes, just as there are plenty of other bark spices beyond cinnamon.  They can tend to group up across a common character range, even though many are very spicy, while others are mild.  I went through a decade long tisane drinking phase, during which I could've placed all that better.  As a placeholder, if someone is thrown off by this description, they can just swap in sassafras root, and if that's not familiar think of it as tasting like ginseng, or ignore the description.

The Son La version is dialed way up across most aspect range in comparison, with more intensity, flavor complexity, bitterness, sweetness, and feel structure, but there's something pleasant about a more limited flavor range, good balance, refinement, and depth.  It's a different kind of pleasantness.  Again this tea isn't fully wetted yet, so it might change a good bit over the next two rounds.  Some leaves will have been brewing for 5 rounds by then, so it will gain complexity by mixing inputs across an infusion cycle.  

Son La #4:  bitterness seems to stand out all the more.  How much I notice that might vary over time, depending on expectations, or just paying attention.  In comparison with less bitter teas it's hard to miss.  I'm still brewing this pretty fast but at a high proportion it's going to be intense; I would imagine most people might like it lighter, using less leaf and still a short infusion time.  Probably how I drink teas varies day to day, with mood, especially infusion strength.

Some of the plant-stem sort of flavor that relates to a connection with bitterness might divide people on preference for this.  I'm fine with it; it works for me.  Five years ago I probably wouldn't have liked it as much, but I've drank a lot of relatively bitter tea in that time.

Naka:  again this tastes like pretty decent sheng, and it balances ok, and has a decent profile, but it comes across as muted after trying the Son La.  It being two years older probably isn't helping with that.

It's probably better that high bitterness and edgier feel are not present, that it balances more at fullness.  It just doesn't have pronounced sweetness or strong floral range to fill in complexity.  I think tasted alone it would seem better.  No part of this seems like a flaw, beyond flavors being limited.  Feel is fine.  Given it was described as being unusually sweet I guess that's a let-down, but still it's ok.

Bangwai:  this stands out for being the opposite, in a sense, unusually distinctive.  It ties mostly to a limited range of flavor input, that's not all one thing, but is complex across a limited range.  It seems like mainly root spice, to me, with some floral input supporting that, and range that might seem more vegetal across a more medicinal range, like herbs.  Feel is smooth, full, and "round," not challenging at all, bringing across an impression of depth.  

For someone looking for the blast of bitterness, sweetness, feel intensity, and strong flavor in the Son La this could also seem muted, but to me there is a good bit going on.  It's just a very different kind of experience.

I've not been mentioning aging input differences, and that could be a factor.  The Son La is from 2023, the Naka from 2021, and Bangwai from 2022.  The Vietnamese version would pick up depth and lose sharper range and some intensity over two more years.  I see that as good and bad; to me those are positive, they work.  Maybe since intensity and complexity is so significant it will improve from that trade-off.  I've drank about two thirds of this cake, so it won't be around for me to know in two more years, but I bought a replacement of it to fill that role.

The Naka is most muted from aging longer, 3 years instead of 1 or 2.  That can bring across a positive experience of warmer tones and depth, and to some extent that occurs in this version.  It's just hard to appreciate when it's giving up intensity, complexity, and distinctiveness in relation to the other two versions, as described in detail in these notes.  If someone really loves a softer, richer, less challenging tea version it could be better, but the Bangwai also lacks rough edges.

I haven't finished all of these rounds, discarding some, but part of 12 cups was already a lot, right when the second two are finally fully wetted.  I'll need to take a break and eat something to offset the stomach impact.

Son La, #5:  again quite pleasant.  Strong intensity, even brewed quite fast, stands out, along with sweetness, bitterness, and a plant-stem sort of flavor input.  Floral range that I interpret as including some lighter, hard to pin down fruit component makes it complex and balanced.  I think match to what I like is more of the appeal than some abstract and objective quality level, but not much of this would be regarded as a flaw, as I see it.

Naka:  again I think this would come across better without the direct comparison, because it seems a bit muted and lacking in flavor complexity.  It has good depth though, and is clean in flavor range, with balancing bitterness and full feel.  Flavor range is fine, but it's just indistinct floral range.

Bangwai:  that distinctive flavor range, a set, really, is evolving.  It's still in root spice / Chinese herb medicinal range, but different now.  I suppose preference for this tea would depend on if someone loves that kind of novel flavor experience or not, that particular version of it.  I could imagine a lot of people loving this as a novel experience but not preferring to experience it over and over, as a 357 gram cake.  These are selling as smaller cakes; 200 grams isn't the same thing, since this would still be novel for the first half dozen sessions. 

I think it partly relates to having basic tastes, preference, but for drinking a tea version over and over I'd go with the Son La.  This Naka version isn't offensive in any way, maybe the most neutral of the three, with pretty decent overall balance and depth, so it could work well as a sort of plain tea to have with breakfasts.  Why not have that be lots more intense though?  Maybe that's what sheng pu'er is supplying that I end up craving.

Son La, #6:  it's interesting brewing this faster across the whole tasting, but part of that is getting the proportion wrong, using too much of this.  It's more intense than the others but not that much more intense.  

later edit:  there is a slightly higher proportion, as shown by wet leaf volume, but not that much.  It's a more intense tea than the other two.  That's normal for it being younger / less transitioned.  Astringency is higher too; I don't mention much of that as a trade-off, because to me it's not so negative, but it could be to others.

This is better than ever; the initial rough edges are smoothing out, and it picks up warmth and depth.  Richness of feel picks up, evolving from a slightly rougher structure earlier.  The rest is as described earlier.

Naka:  not evolving, as described before, pretty good and decently balanced, just not as intense and distinctive as the others.

Bangwai:  not really evolved in relation to the last round.  This is the most unique and distinctive as flavors go, and has the most refinement and depth.  

As objective quality level assessment goes this is probably the best, but match to personal preference is something else again.  That flavor set someone might love or else not like.  I have no idea about match to a conventional local origin type or standard character.  

It would seem odd to me that this could be typical, given how distinctive it is, but I really don't know.  Maybe versions from there tend to be distinctive in different ways, so it is a common generality, just not in terms of this exact aspect set.

Conclusions:

Going in this wasn't a fair test for the Naka version, from the Cheng Sheng Hao vendor.  The Son La tea is a personal favorite, and Tea Mania is sourcing some pretty good tea versions, and selling those at medium-high pricing rates because of that quality level and distinctiveness.  

This Naka tea wasn't presented as one of the best versions from that vendor, more as representative of a local origin type.  I'm not sure that it lived up to that.  I'm particularly bad at memorizing a matrix of typical local origin sheng pu'er aspect sets, but per description sweetness was the thing to look out for, and it was no sweeter than the others, and less so than the Son La version, which included other range some might find off-putting.

The story of the Bangwai version was novel flavor profile, along with depth and refinement.  It's a pretty good theme.  The last post comparing Tea Mania teas mentions a tasting set that they sell; that's probably a good way to assess some different versions to help place them in relation to preference, and to judge quality for yourself.

The one limitation I want to address here relates to people not being able to experience a volume of different teas, to costs really adding up.  Of course someone could spend over $100 on sets from each of these vendors (often free shipping starts in at around that price level), and they'd have their own impressions, but $400 might be most of a conventional annual tea budget for a lot of people.  Drinking tea every day for not much over $1 a day is pushing it, but it is practical to only drink 5 to 8 grams of a 20-some cents per gram tea per day.  

It can get a little annoying seeing people present photos of $500+ orders in tea groups, as if this isn't even a factor for them.  It seems to be about them promoting being ahead in some sort of exposure game.  It would be nice to be able to spend thousands of dollars a year on tea, but I'm not trying to set up a high level of spending as some sort of assumed norm here.  

No one is missing that much for not ever trying these three teas, or anything like them.  It's just tea.  If you acclimate to prefer what others regard as quality markers, and seek out rarer in-demand tea types, your required expense will escalate, but it's not necessary to spend $100 on a cake, or 30-some cents per gram, to get decent tea now.  But to buy tea that's in the highest demand that's probably not even close to enough.

On the other side of that if someone spends $8 a day on a coffee drink they have the same beverage experience, over and over.  To me that's $240 a month essentially wasted.  It's better to spend $70 to 100 on a 357 gram cake, drink 8-10 grams of tea a day worth, and have that cover more than a month of experience.  Sampling different sheng helps with placing where to go with that exploration.  

Spending $100 on a month and a half worth of tea still works out to an $800 per year expense; it's still too much for everyone at or under the average in income, both in the US and in Thailand, the two places that I tend to live.  I suppose that's just how it has to go, that people experiencing above average quality tea on a regular basis would face an above average level of expense.  That doesn't mean that good tea is only for the wealthy, but there is significant buy-in, when it comes to above average quality sheng pu'er range.

Chen Sheng Hao Menghai and Emperor sheng pu'er

I'm reviewing two more of the Chen Sheng Hao sheng pu'er samples sent for review by the producer (many thanks!).  The others have been nice, diverse in style, with some variation in quality level, matching the general descriptions in the site reference for which really stood out.

These are identified as two more of their signature product versions, so they should be nice.  They don't tend to list out a lot of aspect description, just some character reference, as follows: 

2022 Yi Pin Chen Sheng Raw Pu-erh Tea Sample Box

2022 Chen Sheng #1 (陈升一号)

One of the featured and award-winning blended raw Pu-Erh tea of Chen Sheng Hao. Selected early spring large-leaf arbor tree leaves in the Menghai area. It has a balanced taste and good coordination in all aspects of aroma, taste, and “cha qi”. It is friendly to new Pu-erh tea drinkers. 

2022 Emperor (霸王青饼)

Another award-winning and featured Pu-erh tea of Chen Sheng Hao. It is well known as a raw Pu-erh tea that has strong and penetrating characteristics like “Emperor”. It has strong bitterness upfront, penetrating aroma, pronounced salivation and sweet-after-taste, long cooling, and powerful Cha Qi. It can last for 15 infusions and still have good taste. 

As for pricing 2782 baht comes out to $76.55 right now.  I think this had been $79, and that change relates to fluctuation in currency exchange rates.  

Is that good, is the value ok?  It always depends on quality, since it's a relation of cost to quality.  Then different people could be on different pages related to budget, so that for one person keeping spending in a very moderate range would be a fixed requirement (15 to 20 cents a gram, let's say), and for another 40 could be the same as 30.  

This works out to 40 cents a gram, on the high side for pu'er per cake, but samples do run higher, and for exceptional quality level everything shifts a bit, maybe even a lot.  It's jumping ahead a little but for these two that rate seems fine, because they are a bit exceptional, then maybe the more ordinary range versions don't hold up quite as well.  

Looking at the expense in different ways might help place it.  $90 to 100 per cake is pretty standard now for higher quality in-house versions from specialty vendors, and those are often 357 grams, but then you just get the one tea version, and if you don't like it as well, or if it works out to be lower in quality level, then that's it.  As the sample description mentions if you were to drink 7 grams of each per day (one fourth of the 7 cakes) that works out to 28 days supply; about a month's worth.  For me spending around $80 on tea for a month is a good bit, but it's not for lots of other people.

Review:

Chen Sheng #1 (Menghai):  I let these soak awhile to get the brewing started, around 30 seconds, and this is a little too strong.  It's fine for getting a feel for character, just in the opposite form that I usually do, too light for an initial round.  

Of course bitterness stands out.  From there floral range is a main input, all framed around warm tones, over a strong mineral base.  This should come across quite differently brewed at more conventional strength.  A tea friend visiting mentioned brewing teas strong to get a better feel for characteristics not so long ago, and I've sort of been doing that, but it could be more familiar.  This is still pleasant and agreeable, but also too strong.  Flaws or off aspects don't stand out, just that intensity.  

It will be interesting seeing how a somewhat vegetal edge settles at more conventional infusion strengths.  That may well be tied to normal astringency that shows up more early on then settles out.

Emperor:  also too strong.  A perfume-like floral range is quite pleasant in this already.  It has good depth and complexity, and feel is nice, even though it's brewed wrong (wrong for anything but an odd form of evaluation approach).  It's quite promising.

#1, infusion #2:  brewed for just under 10 seconds infusion strength is more typical.  The usual ranges stand out, bitterness, astringency structure, solid mineral base, but there's another catchy aspect that's hard to place, that sort of re-frames the rest.  Along the line of warm spice tone, I think, but there may be some dried fruit in this as well, so it may really be two things standing out as related.  Spice would be vague, but some type of incense spice.  Fruit maybe along the lines of dried Chinese date, jujube.  I love that flavor, and to me it works really well in combination with other warm tone range.

Emperor:  rich and complex floral range stands out in this, but it's not just that.  The feel is quite full; that lends depth to the rest of the experience.  Bitterness might be slightly more moderate than for the other, or at least it comes across differently, positioned against different other aspects.  

With the other tea a couple of aspects pull it into a unique and pleasant balance, and with this it's distributed as an effect from across the entire tea character.  It won't describe clearly, since most of that range is floral.  There's an aromatic, perfume-like character that some better tea versions tend to express, as if some of the solvent effect is also present.  One might think of it as comparable to brandy or cognac instead.  Sweetness is pleasant, but it's how that sweetness comes across, as linked to complex floral and warm-toned range, and associated with a thick velvety feel.  I suppose the other may come across as more structured or drier in feel in comparison, depending on interpretation.

#1, infusion #3:  it's interesting how this comes across as narrow in flavor set range, with a number of inputs kind of closely integrated, but still complex in a different sense.  It's bright but also warm, sweet and approachable but also somewhat high in intensity with good depth.  Bitterness has fallen into a nice balance with the rest, somewhat limited, in relation to where sheng in general or one in this style would be.  It would be way too much for someone who only drinks oolong, but moderate for a young sheng drinker.

That one catchy range is still present; it hasn't transitioned away.  I think it might be a spice range note combining with a clearer underlying dried fruit tone, the jujube.  A hint of citrus picks up.  How am I calling that narrow or simple then, since it's quite a flavor aspect list?  There's an impression that it's all closely linked, that it integrates well, belonging to a somewhat unified whole.  It's complex but the range seems to all link together.

Emperor:  the perfume-like depth of this is really something.  It's almost entirely floral, in diverse floral range, but one part might seem like rich fruit, like dried apricot.  Bitterness comes across as lower in this than the other, but they're no far off.

It's interesting considering what these warm tones mean, where they are coming from.  This is two year old sheng; it shouldn't have transitioned that much, in normal medium humidity and temperature storage conditions.  Here in Bangkok teas change fast, but that's a different thing.  Flavors get heavier and some early range drops out quick, even over two years.  It almost seems like some of this has oxidized some, related to the warmth, dark tea color, and variation in color of the leaves.  I'm more or less a fan of sheng that has transitioned from extra oxidation in processing, it seems, but that would probably come at a cost in relation to long term aging potential.

I should clarify, this is nothing like the Vietnamese sheng I've been drinking that is a short step towards black tea from conventional sheng pu'er style, quite oxidized.  It still seems to represent standard sheng character, just a modified form of it.  Maybe that is from early aging; two years is long enough for things to change.  This version is compressed at a lower level than the other, much looser, and that could make a difference in relation to how it reacts to environment exposure over time.

Probably warm mineral plays more of a role than I'm describing.  It adds a lot to the overall balance, even though the richer perfume-like / brandy / cognac range is more novel, and stands out.

I'm feeling these teas; 6 infusions is a lot to rush through.  I ate a good-sized wheat biscuit breakfast cereal earlier to offset stomach impact, which would offset drug-like effect intensity (cha qi), but still it stands out.  I'll eat a little food and drink water to get back to a normal baseline.

#1, infusion #4:  it drifts towards warmer spice range; that's an interesting transition.

Emperor:  the light citrus note in this shifts, to a different light citrus note.  Like dried grapefruit peel?  It's something novel.  It works with the rest; it's interesting.

#1, infusion #5:  not so different.  I've shifted to brewing these relatively lightly since intensity is fine that way, even optimum, for me.  They're not that far along for being brewed light, after that first round.  These would go for another half dozen rounds easy, but I'll stop taking notes soon, off to do activities with the kids today.  They'll both probably express at least one more interesting transition too; I'll see later, but may or may not make a mental note of that to include it.

Emperor:  similar to last round.  Again the shift in the citrus tone is interesting.

#1, infusion #6:  I decided to try one more round brewed longer, a bit over 30 seconds, back to strong again.  That intensity comes roaring back.  Warm tones stand out a lot more made like this.  Nothing like a flaw emerges, even brewed strong, a good number of rounds in.  I had mentioned a vegetal note that I never got back to; that stands out more in this.  It's almost in between warmer and vegetal range, between cured hardwood tone and heavy mineral, or towards a forest scent.  It's complex; there's a good bit going on.

Emperor:  this is softer and richer.  Warm tones stand out in this too, but in a different way in a different other context.  Rich floral range is still present, and that hint of dried fruit and citrus, a bit obscured by the heavier flavors in this round.  This is pretty nice tea.

I've not made much of splitting out a quality level assessment against preference to type review here.  There's plenty to go on in relation to both, but just listing shifts in the aspects seemed like a lot.  Quality level is good for these.  I can't judge best-of-the-best range, because I'm not out buying $300 cakes, or even sampling that kind of material, but these are definitely decent, well above average.

I like the second version, this one, more for being so novel.  That rich floral and fruit range is nice, and the way a soft but full feel ties it all together.  The citrus note alone really changes how all the rest comes across.  I've not went on much about feel structure or aftertaste here either, again because there was so much to say just about sets of basic flavors shifting.

Pretty good teas; this has been interesting and pleasant.  I didn't make more notes about later changes or additional thoughts after this, so that's it for a summary take.

Viet Sun Lùng Vài Vietnamese white tea

 

Steve of Viet Sun sent a few extra samples with my last order; very nice, much appreciated!  White tea sounded good, so I'll try that one.

When considering what it might be like it occurred to me that I end up saying roughly the same thing about most white teas (and some other types too, really), that flavors can be novel and pleasant, and sweetness, but complexity and feel range tend to be limited.  So I can end up liking a tea but it's hard to not balance describing that with discussing limitations, about what aspects aren't as developed.

I hoped that at least this is in Moonlight White style range, my favorite white tea type, and it must be that, for looking like it [and from the description, which I didn't read until after the review].  Those tend to be extra fruity and sweet, really showing off what works well within white tea range.  Next maybe I like Bai Mu Dan best; those can be complex and intense, to an extent.  

Drifting off topic a little, I last drank an aged Gong Mei white last week, mixing it up, drinking different versions I have around.  I should probably save that for fasting; along with shu pu'er it's very mild on your stomach, ideal for when you aren't eating at all.  It's 8 years old now, reviewed 6 years ago, so already appropriately aged.

Per usual process I'll come back and add Steve's thoughts from a sales page later, and move on to review notes first (including all that sales page entry, since the content is interesting):

Lùng Vài White 2023

This tea was processed in the Moonlight White style from old and ancient trees in the Lùng Vài, Hà Giang.

Lùng Vài is northeast of Tây Côn Lĩnh mountain, the tallest mountain in Hà Giang province. Information about Lùng Vài and other wild origin tea producing areas here.

Nice 1 bud- 2-3 leaf picking. This tea has heavy sweetness with a complex floral fragrance. A light bitterness keeps the flavor profile in balance. Brews up a rich crimson gold soup that goes many rounds. Lasting huigan and strong qi.

I think this a great candidate for aging as the raw material quality is really high.

Very flexible and forgiving, I like brewing this tea with a lower leaf: water ratio at 90-100 degrees for long steeps. Grandpa and thermos brewing are also good options.

290 gram cakes ($0.15/ gram)

I'll add more thoughts on that in a Conclusion section.

Review:

first infusion:  fruity, but subtle still.  This is what you get for not using a rinse step with compressed tea; I'll start notes next round, giving this a longish infusion to get things moving (around 30 seconds).

second infusion:  this does actually have a nice creamy feel to it; that's an exception for how white teas can work out, not expressing structure or the same degree of velvety feel that even some black teas can show, as his black tea version I've been drinking does, but creaminess can be nice.

Fruit flavors are in a typical Moonlight White range.  I like those best when sweetness is really intense and they include some dried berry, and this is more towards melon, but it's still nice.  It's odd how I hate that general melon flavor range across all melons but watermelon (which doesn't have it anyway), in cantaloup, honeydew, and so on, but in tea as a trace aspect that's only similar I like it.  That's about the only fruit I don't like, beyond durian; guava is only so interesting but I would have some if it was in a breakfast buffet.

It's nice how complex this is; I guess that's another exception.  A simple and limited range of flavors can come across as somewhat complex if that includes enough supporting notes and tones, or even just forward flavors (berry with citrus and melon, for example).  Warm tones underlie this experience, and the creamy feel seems to connect to actual flavor range, so it's a little like a creamsicle (but not exactly; it doesn't match that artificial orange flavor).

third infusion:  warmth picks up; it's different.  It leans a little towards cinnamon, maybe just not exactly that.  Melon seems to be transitioning to warmer and heavier fruit range too, maybe moving a touch towards dried persimmon.  Sounds like I'm making that up, doesn't it, letting my imagination run a bit?  I think it really does though.  A light and counterbalanced version of melon, dried persimmon, and cinnamon is nice.  

Intensity is moderate in this, maybe even light, especially for me being accustomed to sheng and black tea range lately.  I'll need to keep compensating by using longer infusion times, 20-some seconds at least.  Lighter range flavors would probably show through better brewed wispy light but it's harder for me to appreciate that.  

Using full boiling point water would probably extract the most, without heavier flavors or astringency being an issue at all, so that's probably best.  I use hot water from a filtration and heating dispenser so it's not at full boiling point.  There's an electric kettle sitting on the table beside me but it's hard enough to get motivated to write these notes, and I have a list of things to do later.

fourth infusion:  warmer tones keep evolving, although brewing a tea slightly stronger will cause you to experience that range more, as I'd mentioned.  It's not so different than last round, but a richness might be picking up, an almost savory range.  Dried persimmon has a bit of savory edge to it, in addition to warm and rich fruit tones, so I'm just saying roughly the same thing in a different way.  If you visit a Chinatown you should pick up some of those; they're so nice.

It's nice how this is fruity but also well into sun-dried tomato range now.  White teas don't tend to transition this much.  I think I've emphasized that by leaning into brewing heavier, but it's still cool experiencing that.  

fifth infusion:  more of the same.  If anything a mineral base stands out more now, lending a slight metallic edge to the rest, in a way that's actually pleasant instead of off-putting.  It might be more natural for someone to interpret that as a warm forest floor note evolving, as a transition from cinnamon spice and warm dried fruit tone earlier.  Heavy mineral tone, similar to that from an artesian well, and warm earthy range, similar to early summer forest floor, are somewhat different, without much overlap, but in a sense those two impressions meet each other at one particular place.  It has a nice heavier tone supporting base; maybe it's as well to leave it at that.

sixth infusion:  really more of the same.  Somehow a touch of citrus tone picked up; that's odd, for it to increase at this place in an infusion cycle.  I was just going to say that's plenty for notes but let's try one more round.  

These leaves really should be fading a bit because I've been pushing them, using longer infusion times (20+ to 30 seconds instead of 10 to 15, which I use for more intense tea versions), but they probably have a few rounds left in them.  Late rounds can seem less interesting to me, and I get bored of writing, and it must be a lot to read.

seventh infusion:  this really is more of the same now, with less interesting heavier flavors picking up, tree bark and such.  It's still pleasant, but not as good.  That heavier range matches better with the shifted form of fruit, the citrus (like dried tangerine peel, I guess), than earlier lighter fruit probably would.  All in all this has been very pleasant.

Conclusions:

Really nice!  Moonlight White is my favorite white tea range, as I said, even though I've not had one in awhile, and this works as an example of why.  Flavor range is quite pleasant, and it overcomes limited white tea depth of experience for including a rich feel and layers of matching flavors.

I don't want to criticize Steve's interpretation too much, since it's perfectly valid to interpret teas in different ways, but let's go there and review his sales listing notes.  I didn't notice any bitterness in this tea, and main range seemed fruity, not really floral.  The non-distinct sweet and complex background could be either, to be fair, so that part still actually works.

On aging potential, it is interesting how few teas can become more appealing with age, so when that is probably the case it's worth discussing.  I agree that this tea would probably be equally pleasant in a different way in 5 to 10 years.  Some of that bright range would get swapped out for even more dried fruit and heavy flavors, some of which are present already, like the cinnamon spice.  It's so good now it would be hard for me to wait and hold onto it, even if I owned a good bit of it.

It seems natural to me to frame how good I judge this to be in relation to how it is presented.  Sometimes white teas are offered as that one really exceptional range version, something truly refined and novel, well worth a 50 to 75 cent asking price.  That's just not typically accurate, to me, related to having experienced a decent range of new and aged white teas, not so many but not only a few either.  Now that I think of it I've set aside some of a buds-only white tea cake years back (I bought in 2017, reviewed here, but I didn't know the age then); I should try that and pass on notes to help make that point.  

Then if a vendor claims that a white tea version is pleasant and novel, relatively refined and complex, with good aging potential, but still offers it in a normal price range that's more appropriate, to me.  White tea can be interesting and pleasant but not refined in the sense Wuyi Yancha or Dan Cong can be, and not complex and intense as sheng pu'er versions can.  In one sense tea cost and tea experience are two different things, so that you have the same actual final experience whether you pay 10 cents a gram or $1 for it, so all I'm saying here is that value can shift around, with descriptions sometimes seeming to extend beyond what a tea-type range tends to ever express. 

This 290 gram cake is now selling for $43; that's a great value.  Maybe it's priced a little low, really, for what this is, which in general is probably something I shouldn't type out very often in blog reviews, leaving off at only implying that.   

Of course white teas can be unique, complex, refined, and interesting, but to me there's a limit to all that.  Supply and demand probably factor in even more, than whatever this point was supposed to be about.

If someone could buy two of these cakes and drink the second one after 7 years of aging (that old norm for more positive transition), they would have something fairly novel on their hands.  To only buy one and set it all aside would seem strange to me though; this tea is good now.  It can work to buy a cake and forget about the second half; I do that sometimes.  That piece of pressed silver needle cake I didn't even own that much of; it had a back-story to it, about giving an entire cake version to a Thai princess.  Since it meant more to me I didn't drink it, if that makes any sense.

2006 Xiaguan 8653 sheng pu'er, Bangkok stored

I visited that favorite Chinatown shop again, Jip Eu.  No one needs to mention this to my wife, but I re-checked how a 2004 7542 cake from there was transitioning and noticed it was over half gone, and it was so pleasant and improved that I wanted to buy another.  Really I should be sitting on a mountain of such cakes, since the pricing for some is either fair or else favorable, but I mostly just try to keep buying more than I drink.

That shop visit was nice; I don't even remember when I was just in there to hang out.  I met an online contact in there a year or so ago, and stopped by for a couple quick visits to pick up teas for gifts, and maybe an extra tuo here or there.  I might not have stopped to chat since covid started.

it looks like it's transitioning

Talking about sheng prompted Kittichai, the owner, to share some Bing Dao dragonballs, three of them, which I think he said were from 5 year old younger plant material, but decent tea.  They know a local Bing Dao processor, which would definitely help with getting tea that's "real," related to that kind of high demand origin area context.  They don't even try to source or sell Bing Dao, so it's not the typical case of vendors networking to know producers, he just happens to be from an old Chinese tea family, so they know different people.  

Since we were hanging out he brewed some of a Bing Dao cake, which was really nice.  The short sequence of rounds I tried didn't do it justice but I had to go, and at least that was one more example of the type for awareness sake, not that all Bing Dao is supposed to be relatively identical.  I had only remembered trying one version, which may or may not have even been genuine.  I can say more about that experience, and the earlier one, when I get around to mentioning more about trying those dragonballs.

While buying that 7542 I asked if they had older Xiaguan, since I keep buying a tuocha version, and they mentioned this cake.  Selling for around $60 the pricing seemed quite fair, for a 2006 version.  Of course I had no idea of online source pricing, and wasn't inclined to look that up to help with judgment, I just bought those two cakes.  After the review part I mention what turns up when you look for similar age-range versions, which is interesting.  This seems to be a sort of benchmark or known style version, which may be well suited to aging, to the extent that a 16 year old Bangkok-stored version might not be quite there yet, or at least that's pretty much what this review concludes.

Review:

First infusion:  so promising!  The color was so dark it flashed though my mind that I might've accidentally bought a shu, but it's just age transitioned, so the color went dark and into brown and lighter reddish brown.  

There's a bit of a funky edge but a deeper set of flavors is really positive and catchy.  That one part is like catcher's mitt, aged and well-cured leather, of a specific form.  I would guess that might fade over the next two rounds and the rest will develop.  This includes other range like bees wax and dried autumn leaf, nothing completely out of the ordinary for general range, but novel for individual flavor expression not tending to match those.  Jujube is probably a more natural interpretation, dried Chinese date.  This should be really nice.  

Feel is already developing some depth, on the first somewhat light infusion.  I went a little long on that one to get this started, over 15 seconds, which I'll scale back to drink at a normal infusion strength.  Proportion isn't absolutely maxed out but not light either; this might be a reasonable trial.

Second infusion:  that edge is still present; hard to say if it's fading since intensity increased quite a bit, which makes it hard to sort out effect of what comes across most, which changes with intensity.  If "catcher's mitt" makes that hard to place damp stored books is close enough, it's just not exactly it.  This tastes a little like the one library in the University of Hawaii smells, Sinclair.

Warm mineral depth picked up a lot; now that's a main component.  The feel of this tea is really interesting, the way that it's rich, just slightly dry, but also sappy, with an effect that crosses the middle rear of your tongue, and connects with an aftertaste sensation coming from all around your mouth.  It feels like you can taste this with the sides and the roof of your mouth, like it's activating a new range of sensation.  That one rich, heavy, warm fruit tone got stronger too; this tastes more like eating a dried jujube than actually eating one, in a sense.  Aftertaste wouldn't carry over when eating the dried date like this.

Even though the main rounds are coming up, when it will open, clean up, and show off its real potential, I'm already thinking crazy thoughts about this tea.  I should buy another cake, and not post this review.  As a middle-ground solution I might post it but skip mentioning any links to it online, keep it a bit quieter.  All that is getting ahead though; it might not develop to be more positive over further rounds.

Third infusion:  cleaned up a little.  I really like this tea.  All the same description that I've already mentioned still works, but it doesn't do it justice, or really describe why, what is so catchy about this aspect set.  It's in a pretty good place for aging transition; that helps.  It's pretty far through, but the form of that works, the odd edge wasn't coupled with the normal degree of mustiness.  Fermentation transition isn't relatively complete, it doesn't seem, and it's far from optimum; I don't mean that.  It's not just a bit before you can really appreciate it, at the edge of moving on to a better transformation form.  It's already there, where a new range is starting to make some sense, it just doesn't balance like it's going to later.  

If this does clean up further with a couple of months of rest this will be as good as any aged tea version I own a cake of, in relation to match to my preference.  Maybe that's a bit sad, since I think this is still ordinary quality range and aspect form tea, but I tend not to think of it that way.  I own or try whatever I happen to, and that's fine, and doesn't include any $200 and up cakes, and perhaps never will.

Fourth infusion:  not changing, not improving.  It's down to whether some of what I interpreted as a storage related edge really isn't the effect of this not being fully aged transitioned.  At this point it seems likely that in a few more years a more complete change-over might be more positive, maybe even a half dozen.  Why is it always that time-frame?  Probably that's error related to guessing.  In this case this has some of that warmer, deeper aged character, it also just includes a bit of green wood flavor range, which along with that odd edge and feel effect seems to imply it will deepen, smooth out, and gain more of the resinous range, just perhaps not on that shorter time period.

I just re-tried a 7542 version from this shop, a 2004, that shifted pretty fast over a comparable time period, maybe 3 years.  The rough edges I described in the last review were gone.  Flavor intensity dropped along with that, but deeper range is more positive, and smoother richness, versus the slight harshness of mineral and vegetal range.  If this changes that much over the next 3 years it should be an interesting and positive experience. 16 years sounds like a long time, how old this is, especially related to hot and humid local conditions, but I guess initial style and compression also factor in.

Fifth infusion:  a spice tone might be picking up, something hard to pin down.  I might've lost track of an infusion along the way; this really could be six.  My wife and kids are adding considerable background noise and minor drama to this tasting experience, which I've conducted outside to avoid, not really so successfully.  

Sixth infusion:  heavier flavor range includes something that's not as positive, a sort of heavy grease mineral range.  That's more pronounced at this stage for longer infusion times drawing out heavier range better, which makes the form seem different.  Part of it is character transition across rounds, probably, and part just effect from some range standing out more.

I think I was a little overexcited at this experience being novel for me, but it's still in a normal range for being positive (versus negative or neutral), it's just new to me.  Part of the character really is catchy, it just didn't evolve to be the main experience range over further rounds as I hoped.  In a couple of months a longer settling process will have occurred, and I can try it again, and it may be better.  

Later infusions:  it kept going, with a bit of earthiness similar to wild mushroom or some other fungus increasing.  That seemed odd to me, since more often that range is stronger earlier then it fades towards what was more positive in this earlier, the sweeter dried fruit range.  It seemed to be the result of stretching infusion time, which more often brings out heavier mineral flavor range, or changes astringency effect, but in this case related to that.

Expert input

I asked someone with more experience than me--across both sheng exposure and aging scope--about his general impression of this tea, and aging concerns, "Mr. Mopar," who we talked to in two online meetups this year.  He said that he likes the 2005 version better (both are selling through King Tea Mall now, with this version--one seemingly identical--selling for $50, and the 2005 for $58).  That's in the range of what I paid for this, which I took to be a good price, and still do.

I asked Mr. Mopar when he thought this tea would be relatively fully age-transitioned, and he said that might take 25 years or so, at least under normal Taiwan conditions, which could shorten by 3 or 4 years in Malaysian storage, if everything was ideal.  Of course moving off the ideal theme could also relate to ruining the tea potential, not something we discussed.  Bangkok climate range is similar to Malaysia, just as hot and humid most of the time, just with more variation in climate / weather here, so that it's a bit cooler some of the time, just not so much drier.  

Going off that this tea might be relatively completely changed over after 21 years, so in 5 more.  That's not to say that it couldn't be quite positive after 18 or 19, in 2 or 3 more years, but I get it about why seeking out an optimum makes sense when you have a few dozen sheng versions around, or more.

I'll never own tongs of these teas, unless I change approach, and take up selling some.  My tea spending will be capped like in that example of buying a second aged 7542 when one runs down, placing one significant online order per year, and picking up other tea here and there.  I don't really mind not being in the mix for trying a few dozen better versions over a year, just getting to what I get to, and not owning an extra 100 cakes that map out potential consumption over some years.  I own or try what I happen to get to, and not pushing that on to match some expected form or norm works out well, and matches up with my budget limitations.  

In looking up vendor references about this tea type and source options I turned up input from another blogger that does explore a little further, in Mattcha's blog, which I cite in the following section.

Other sources, other input about this tea

In looking up what this is supposed to be a few different themes emerged, that it's one of those benchmark version teas, mapping out a distinct style, that 80s and 90s versions were well regarded, and that teas in this general time-frame range are available and not so expensive.  Then some versions just a little older, specifically the 2001 version, seemed to cost quite a bit more.  Why would that be?  Some years are better regarded, which could factor in, or a version that aged to a relatively ideal place now and not widely available might cost quite a bit more than one 5 years newer that's the opposite of both, not quite ready with more out there on the market.  Let's some examples and what vendors say about them.

King Tea Mall, 2006 version:  this might be relatively identical.  Of course storage changes a lot, and the only information listed with this tea is that of "Guangzhou natural storage," along with the $50 price.  Not much to add, given that's all they say.  Their 2005 version sells for $58, and a 2004 is $140.  Maybe it doesn't matter which supply and demand factors shift that, if years really are so different, but it would be interesting to hear more about that, why the pricing varies in that form.

Teas We Like 8653 mixed set:  they had listed a 2001 version, now sold out, so that pricing isn't available for comparison (although another reference I mention here says what it had been), but they do currently list a Taiwan stored set of related teas, selling for $225:

1 Quarter Cake of 2001-T8653

1 Quarter Cake of 2003-T8653

1 Quarter Cake of 2005-T8653

1 Quarter Cake of 1999 Xiaguan Commission

The last is a tea made in the same style, but not a Xiaguan cake, or so that says.  Their post of the sold out 2001 version places it in relation to the others, and says a little about the general style:

The iron-pressed version of this cake, with its flat edges and characteristic indentations, is particularly sought after nowadays for its favourable aging behavior.

This was our favourite batch of the recent tastings of early 2000s 8653 cakes, and we included it in our Xiaguan Iron Cake QC set. Wrappers are not in perfect condition, as expected for this kind of cake. The taste profile is very slightly smoky, dense, sweet and resinous.

Yunnan Sourcing 2001 8653 version:  listing for $540

Xiaguan's classic 8653 recipe was first developed in 1986 and produced for many years since then. Our offering is the 8653 blend pressed in 2001. The pressing was done with an iron press and the cake is tightly compressed and has a coin-like flat edge.

The 2001 version of this cake is a classic, and the cake which we are offering here has been aged in Kunming since 2001. 15 years of Kunming storage has given this cake an aged feeling but not compromising it's character or powerful taste and cha qi.

Sounds good, but the $540 pricing seems a bit much for most people.  King Tea Mall lists a 2001 version too, but theirs costs $700 (ouch!).  I guess for some people one number is the same as another.  I don't keep track, at all, but it can happen that specific versions get flagged and accepted as classics, as YS mentioned, then demand plays out however it does.

Mattcha's blog tends to look into popular tea versions, and not necessarily hold back from trying out more in-demand, higher cost versions, so I checked if he had mentioned these, and he did earlier in the year, in February:  2001 Teas We Like Iron Zhongcha: An Oil Slick of an Aged Puerh!

That says more about a tea that is like the 8653 but different, and then also compares it to the Teas We Like 2001 8653 version.  He said this about the pricing and availability:

Vs 2001 Xiaguan 8653 Iron Cake from Teas We Like.  I got a few of these cakes when offered for $275.00 for 350g cake. They stopped offering them after only a few months likly due to increased prices to restock? These are very different in almost every way except that they are iron pressed cakes.  The contrast is an interesting comparison.  I don’t think I would have guessed the 2001 Iron Zhongcha to be the 8653 iron cake… it lacks some kind of Xiaguan quality… mainly the smoky bitterness and crotchety crankiness… it just really doesn’t feel like it at all.  

The 2001 Xiaguan 8653 has a much more rich, condensed, flavourful, complex, and powerful taste.  The 2001 Xiaguan 8653 that Teas We Like sold is still not fully aged out so a bit harsh however achieving a nice balance between maintaining its power, concentration and essence while still moving the aging along.  Still ends very bitter.  This 2001 Iron Zhongcha is dry Malaysian stored, the dry storage is really quite nice on this one and is pretty aged out already with still that initial power in the first few infusions with which could still be built upon...

Too much to unpack, but interesting that he comments that 21 years of Taiwan storage left the 8653 "still not fully aged out so a bit harsh."  It's an iron cake, so pressed that much tighter, which would slow the transition a little.  This cake I just tried included next to no bitterness, so it at least seems possible that this version, which is 5 years younger, may have age transitioned that much faster.  

The heat and humidity level in Bangkok is no joke; it's a cool day now, during the rainy season, but it's 91 F according to a notice on my laptop, 33 C per my phone app, with the humidity at 64%, which means something else at that temperature than when it's in the 70s (mid 20s C).  Fungus absolutely thrives here, to the extent that buildings grow black streaks of it, and books mold in normal indoor conditions.  If your cat scratches you that might result in a fungal infection, although I'm 1 for about 100 in happening; I get marked up all the time, and have only had one. 

20 years just isn't there yet for teas benefitting most from a long aging cycle, at least not related to the change process leveling off.  So the decade-ish old drier stored teas I own might not only be partly ruined by transitioning in the wrong form, they may be 20 more years from a good, relatively final aged form.

None of this maps directly to what I experienced, or offers a clear good guess as to what this tea will be like in another half dozen years.  Too many variables enter in, like difference between production years, and storage input.  It's still interesting considering related ideas, product offerings, and accounts of  experiences.