Lao Cong Mi Lan Xiang (Dan Cong) compared to a 1988 version

Tea Mania Dan Cong, Lao Cong left, 1988 version right

Editing note:  I had missed the correct Tea Mania listing for one of these; I'll change this around, to include reference to both what I thought it was and what it is.

I'm reviewing a couple of interesting looking Dan Cong; different, since I've been off that page for awhile.  They are samples provided for review from Tea Mania; many thanks for that.

I originally only saw this version of Mi Lan Xiang, thinking it was the first younger version, but it's not:

Xue Mi Lan Xiang

...This tea is grown by the family Cha Xiang Si Hai from Fenghuang and thanks to a centuries-old knowledge processed to a superior oolong. The whole family is involved in the harvest and also in the entire tea production. The tea is still traditionally processed like in times of Lu Yu: The leaves are withered and dried in bamboo trays and then roasted over charcoal fire.

Through the high oxidation and the strong roasting is this Dan Cong good storable and particularly interesting for connoisseurs who like to mature vintage teas.

Harvest: Winter 2013
Taste: Honey-sweety with a hint of Orchid.
Oxidation: appx. 30%
Origin: Fenghuang, Chaozhou, China.


I had concluded "If that is what this is that pricing looks too low ($15 per 50 grams); this is a way above average quality version, even as good versions go, based on already reviewing it."  It was really something else, this:


...Tea made of leaves from old tea bushes have a very complex and intense aroma with mineralic notes. The tea is still traditionally processed like in times of Lu Yu: The leaves are withered and dried in bamboo trays and then roasted over charcoal fire.

Through the high oxidation and the strong roasting is this Lao Cong Dan Cong suitable for long storage and particularly interesting for connoisseurs who like to mature vintage teas.

Harvest: Spring 2016 
Taste: Honey-sweet with a hint of orchids.
Oxidation: appx. 55%
Origin: Family operated farm in Tian Lao Po in Wudong, Fenghuang, Chaozhou, China.


It lists for about $50 for 50 grams; unfortunately that is a more standard price for much better Dan Cong.  If it's any consolation it drinks much better than $1/gram standard gushu sheng, although aging potential complicates things; taking that into account who knows. 

The slightly higher level of oxidation (listed at appx. 55% instead of 30) matches this review description, but I didn't frame interpretation in relation to that in comments about aspects.  When I mention that often Dan Cong versions have a touch more astringency, and come across as more intense across the higher notes, that relates to this cause.  Aging also softens a tea, and gives it more complexity and depth but rounds off higher notes slightly, even over the course of "only" 4 years (this was a 2016 version).


There is no current listing for the 1988 version, but I did look up a price using the Internet Archive Wayback machine; it had sold for $35 per 50 grams as of January 2019.  There's no easy way to put any standard retail value on tea that rare but that sounds more than fair.  It's a little rough edged related to aging effect but that's not an experience that everyone is ever going to go through to place.

Review

Lao Cong left (in all photos); I forgot to take this photo before drinking that one

Lao Cong Mi Lan Xiang [a 2016 version, it finally turned out]:  I let this brew a little long, not focused in right away (maybe 20 seconds or just over versus half that being more typical).  It's fine anyway, the astringency just stands out a little more than it would have brewed faster.  There's a general early-round trade-off to be had in brewing tea types in general, since the first round will often be quite light, and stretching that by extending time (as I've just did, just not completely intentionally), won't give the same results as accepting a first light round and brewing a better one the second time.  Onto how it is in more detail.

Floral and fruit tones stand out; this is as it should be.  Sometimes Mi Lan Xiang versions will be relatively straight ripe peach, and sometimes more floral (as the name suggests, honey orchid), and this is floral, clean with good intensity.  I'll fill in more next round, which I'll brew fast.


1988 version:  it's interesting tasting age on a Dan Cong.  This is musty, but I get the sense that will clear up over the next round, and won't be around as much in the third.  It's not exactly right saying it's a clean version of musty but that's sort of what I mean.  It's odd how this is that slate / blackboard mineral aged aspect that stands out a lot in Liu Bao, which I wouldn't interpret as only from aging input in those, instead as part of that tea character.  Maybe I was always wrong about that?

I won't be able to tell much more about this beyond that given how much that is standing out.  It's interesting how going a bit long on infusion time may have made perfect sense.

Second infusion

the aged version is much, much darker

Lao Cong:  this is brewed quite fast; our cat opened the kitchen door, and it's not supposed to be in there, so I rushed process to shoo it.  She and the neighbor cat went in there to look around not long ago; she's not clear on the guest cat house policy.

It's good.  Floral tone is still most pronounced, a warm, rich, deep flavor range.  It trails into heavy mineral that could be interpreted as a start on roasted almonds.  Or maybe it's my associations that are mixing, but either way the complexity extends towards roasted almond flavor.  That does span a rich, heavy nutty flavor range and a deeper mineral tone, not completely unrelated to the slate / blackboard range in the other version, but completely different in effect.

There's a perfume-like character to this that comes out in better tea versions across a broad range.  It ties to the floral tone, in a sense, but it's really as much an aromatic range that matches up with an effect from some liqueurs, like cognac, just much more subtle.  Fruit tone probably picks up a little this round too; it's really complex, across flavor range and other.  Astringency is almost non-existent brewed at this infusion strength.

Dan Cong works well brewed lighter in general, it seems to me, because flavor and feel intensity don't give up much brewed very fast but the astringency component of feel largely drops out.  How much there is of that to start with varies with tea quality, and per some mixed hearsay perhaps with elevation range of plant growth, and due to other complex factors.  However that goes this works; there isn't much astringency edge, as can occur in medium quality versions.


1988 version:  this does seem to be right in the middle of that mustiness dropping out, just not there yet.  It has shifted in effect a lot, now spanning half the experience range versus taking it over.  This is definitely old tea; that part isn't wrong.  It probably won't "go clear" even next round, given how even the balance is between a mustiness that has now transitioned to something else.  Instead of chalkboard / basement flavor range now it's closer to very old barn smell, dry wood that's been around forever.  That's not completely unpleasant, I just don't think it represents what this tea really has to offer for experience yet.

I suppose this is a good place to add that I've not tried that much aged oolong.  I compared two quite old rolled versions in one post (21 and 30 years old at that point), and reviewed a relatively old Oriental Beauty  ("only" 11 years old) not that long ago, so exceptions come up, but not that many.  People tend to extrapolate from what they've tried regardless of sample size, but when you are around a half dozen for count that doesn't work very well.  If you can somehow know that a single version is completely type-typical and of good quality a single experience can go a long way, but it also doesn't really work to take someone else's word on that background applying.

To reduce my own prior experience to a short version rolled oolongs tend to just get plummy (tasting like plum), losing brighter intensity and picking up depth, and depending on storage conditions out around the 20 year mark they might be quite musty, I guess possibly even completely ruined.  Even if the first 3 or 4 infusions is too musty to pick up much beyond that it is possible that other flavor range could hang in there, and it might work to brew past that.  That post comparing two older rolled oolong versions works as a good related account of how that might go; one of those was probably a little rougher than this one.

Third infusion

Lao Cong:  richness picked up a good bit in this, and it already had a thick feel and lots of complexity going on before.  This is a really good quality example of this tea.  It's not impossible to find versions with a lot of great flavor, and flavor complexity, and even positive feel aspects beyond that, but not typically on this level.  The balance is exceptional, the way the aspects I've listed out over the last two rounds work together.  It's a little heavier on underlying mineral than some are, and the rich flavor leaning towards roasted almond (tied to that) isn't completely typical, but it works really well, all signs of this tea being better than most versions by a good bit.

Of course personal preference doesn't drop out, with some objective quality level assessment entirely superseding that; if someone liked a more conventional Mi Lan Xiang better they wouldn't be wrong.  They're often brighter in character, often fruity in peach range versus floral.  Sweetness can be slightly stronger, and it's typical for a characteristic astringency to stand out a little more.  This covers a lot of much deeper range, in terms of flavor, and the feel is richer and thicker.  Aftertaste is significant, that sweetness and mineral range trails over, but it stands out more for the feel than for that.


1988:  it's working better; old furniture flavor has replaced the old barn wood effect.  Aged oolongs can often taste more like this, even for versions that are only a few years old.  Hints of what lies beyond now show up more, a deeper fruit richness, centered on heavy dried fruit range.  Next round the shift might continue enough to pick up more about that part.  I'm stopping short of saying this tea has been too negatively impacted by aging effect but without other positive experience coming after this, in the following rounds, concluding that would work.

Fourth infusion

the pictures get redundant right about here

I went a bit over 10 seconds, versus just under, to see how these work out brewed slightly stronger.  At a really high proportion (or what would be more normal for how I brew a lot of teas, up around 8 or 9 grams per a 90-100 ml gaiwan versus 5 instead, as I'm preparing these) the only infusion time to use would be really fast, at or under 5 seconds.  Dropping the proportion just a little gives you some leeway.  That and it's all I had for a sample size.

I don't weigh teas, to be clear; maybe I'm off on proportions in general, or on what these samples weighed.  It's probably strange that I'm an engineer and much prefer loose process, but then for people clear on the difference between engineering and research science maybe that's exactly what they would expect.  Engineers often tend to get things to work and then shift back to replicating that, even though in theory that's not how things should go.


Lao Cong:  the perfume-like character is much stronger brewed slightly stronger.  This is still mainly in that sweet, rich, floral range.  I've not said much for "what flower;" for as rich as this is it leans a little towards lavender.  It's also still in a typical orchid range, and I can't break that down to different orchid versions.  The sweet range within the floral tone isn't so different than plumeria (that one flower associated with Hawaii, at least in my mind, but all over the place in Bangkok too).  It's just that the rest is richer, even still within the floral range.  It's hard to be clear on what I mean by warm mineral underlying that, and how I see the flavor richness as hinting towards a roasted almond, in relation to how those aspects balance, the relative input of all of it.  So it goes with describing flavors.


1988:  this tea is the best it has been every round; that continues.  The aged furniture effect finally is giving way to a perfume-like aspect, not completely different than in the other tea version, just a bit different in form, and how it works out in relation to the rest.  This still tastes like aged furniture, but picking up a floral oriented perfume / liqueur like additional range balances that, with both fairly even in proportion in this round.

To be clear when I say "aged furniture" I intend that as describing the effect from smelling very old hardwoods, along with aromatic oils typically used to preserve those, with both shifted in aspect range due to long aging.  I tend to go into storage rooms in local Bangkok Buddhist temples that house old religious artifacts and varying furniture; like that smells.  Some people's homes here tend to look like museums, rooms with wood paneled walls, filled with tropical wood furniture, old photos, and artifacts of all kinds, and those can acquire a similar smell.

I do like the tea at this stage.  It's a novel experience; it's almost more about that experience of novelty than a match to conventional likes in aspects.  It works across both but novelty stands out more.

Fifth infusion

It won't do the 1988 version justice but I'll probably let note-taking go after this round.  It just gets to be a bit much, spending two full hours writing a tea review, with the other messing around that comes up.  A second full page of text also seems like overkill, and it doesn't work well to just write about the changes, although that is possible.


Lao Cong:  perfume-like rich floral character keeps increasing.  Or maybe this pegged on maximum related to that and it just takes me by surprise every round.  It's more straight floral now, in proportion, with the underlying mineral and other rich flavor range giving way just a little, with intensity of that floral range seeming to pick up as a result.  This version of this type is so good that it's uncharacteristic, even though I interpret this as a likely perfectly type-typical example of a higher quality version.  Is that clear?  I mean that it's not like a normal Mi Lan Xiang, but instead of this not being how they're supposed to be it may well be the case that this is, and a standard example isn't.

Never mind if that intention isn't clear; the whole point is a bit philosophical.  I expected this tea to be good, because Peter's teas often are, but not like this, redefining potential range a little.  I wonder what he says about it, but then this post will have included that in the first section, if conventional form holds [editing note:  I'll get back to that in conclusions].


1988:  again the best it's been.  I often say that aged oolongs tend to lose flavor intensity across some range, get "plummy" (at least rolled versions, not so much for twisted styles), and pick up depth, but it's hard to describe what that depth relates to in this.  It has it.

I can't say that mustiness has completely cleared but in the conventional sense that category would apply it has, completely.  There's a base slate-mineral layer, and a faint aged wood layer, and more prominent aged furniture scope, and beyond that light but notable floral tone, in perfume-like range, between liqueur and the solvents used to carry perfume scents.  That's a lot going on, with some "deeper layers" grounding all the rest.  Oddly it doesn't come across as complex or intense in flavor at all; it lands on a simple, clean character, which completely contradicts what is implied in that complex description.


So there you have it.  I'm bored with this review process, at least related to taking notes, but I'll drink another 4 or 5 rounds of these.

Two rounds later, now extending infusion times to a bit over 15 seconds to compensate, results are what you would expect.  The Lao Cong version is thinning but still really good.  The other won't "clean up" or change in profile beyond this, but it's pleasant, interesting, layered, and complex as it stands now.  I probably wouldn't want to pay a market value to have this kind of experience but it's really novel [it's out of stock, off the market, but pricing level hadn't been as high as I expected].

Conclusions

All the old conclusions no longer apply related to the Lao Cong version, since I was trying to make sense of why it's that good.  Now the review description matches the listing, related to quality level, what one would expect out of a version a few years old (4, this spring), and the pleasant rich feel, complex flavors, and pronounced underlying mineral.

Some people say that once you try much better tea versions then it's hard to go back to more standard teas.  I don't share that experience; I can drink much better teas once in awhile, recognize and appreciate what they are, and then go right back to drinking more conventional range versions, or lots of interesting teas that still aren't at that level.  I stop short of still enjoying Lipton tea bag tea or CTC Assam but not that much short of that, and if push comes to shove it's novel to drink those with milk and sugar once in a long while.

I drank Lipton in April 2019, doing a caffeine detox on a trip; this was a maintenance dose

The 1988 version was good, in the sense of it being really interesting trying aged teas.  It took four rounds for the storage effect to clear up, so it didn't retain as much of it's potential as it could have, but the rest was certainly novel and complex.

Shipped tea virus risk; coronavirus status

This issue keeps coming up in online groups lately, if someone can get the corona virus from tea shipped from China.  The short answer:  of course not.  I'll add a longer answer and move on to more relevant concerns. 

As of February 11 this post adds a later study on different forms of coronavirus survival time-frames from the most recent studies on the subject, included at the end.

Here's an example discussion link from International Tea Talk, the group I moderate.  The short version of the best informed feedback is that viruses can only survive on hard surfaces like glass and steel for 24 to 48 hours, and on paper and cloth for 12 or less, and probably can't be transmitted for all of that time, likely losing that potential towards the end of those time-frames.  A package shipped for two or more days poses no risk.  The only exception is in the case of mucus serving as a support medium; if a vendor included a used tissue that might pose more risk.

Don't take my word for it; read this well-referenced Quora answer post by an immunologist, or this summary article.

Status of coronavirus, about opposing interpretations

Isn't it funny how all references online only claim this is probably the worst epidemic to occur since the Spanish flu just over 100 years ago (which killed something like 20-50 million people), or else that there is nothing to worry about.  Which is it?  Why couldn't a more balanced answer be in the middle, pointing towards a range of different outcomes, assessing probabilities?  This discussion comment sums that up (from this related post by a vendor):

In a war on attention, things are either relevant or not relevant, a threat or not a threat. Otherwise, it requires management and status upkeep. A complete difference in how your brain processes it and curates it to your personal social feed. This is the "why" it is communicated that way. But that doesn't get signal-boosted.

So it really has noting to do with the actual risk level, or likely outcome, it's about what people pay attention to.  If that comment is accurate, which seems the case to me.  As to current status, this is the best reference as to where the virus is and current mortality rate:

summary information as of February 4, 2020

How to place that?  The graph of spread of the virus might be more helpful:

That helps a little, but it's still hard to place.  The mortality rate seems to be the issue:  that current 2% mortality rate (426/20574) is much higher than for the typical flu, which is said to run around .1% in online discussions.  It's hard to get a clear reference number confirming that, but this Wikipedia table offers some input on pandemics:

The seasonal flu is already killing 300-650,000 people per year, at that .1% mortality rate (roughly).  The 2009 H1N1 pandemic alone killed 105-395,000 at around a .03% fatality rate (so all that much lower).

So there's the risk:  if the upper-side estimate for H1N1 exposure occurs in this case, 200 million, then 4 million people might be killed.  Of course treatment options would turn up long before the stats reached that level, just as "Tamiflu" came on the scene back in the 2009 case, and even completely ineffective containment efforts would offset some degree of exposure.

It's something to think through, but not necessarily the Biblical plague level concern the one reporting extreme makes it out to be.  If it evolves to spread more effectively and become more deadly that could still change.

Other concerns

This now-dated January 28 CNN article on the corona virus included this photo that changed my perspective on this subject:

Someone might think, that's crazy to wear a bottle and a mask, but look and think again.  Those are people dealing with fear, panic, and real risk.  There are people I care a great deal about living in China right now.  Even without that personal link they're still people, experiencing real health risk.  What if my daughter came to fear a disease that might kill her?

How to even put that in perspective though?  According to this recent CNBC article the flu has killed 10,000 people in the US alone this season, out of 19 million affected.  As that article points out the accuracy of the numbers of infected in China becomes critical; if 100,000 people have had that virus instead of the 20,000 confirmed that actual mortality rate drops by a factor of 5.

Eventually there is no response but to wait and see how this plays out, to make preparations but not overstate concerns.  Thai doctors are experimenting on the few test cases available, testing out drug coctails on them to see what's effective.  Ordinarily that would seem like sloppy methodology, in contrast with more extensive and careful research, but within these circumstances to me it seems commendable.

All that also seems to set aside what the Chinese people are experiencing now, which never has properly been considered in any media article I've yet to see.  The Australian bushfires made for a better story; very graphic, and relatable, happening to a people that seem a lot more familiar to Americans, English-speaking cousins, of a sort.  That 2019-20 bushfire season has killed at least 34 people so far; essentially as many as a bus accident, or four times the impact of Kobe Bryant's helicopter crash, in terms of body count.  Maybe people were instead concerned about the environmental impact, and the nearly countless animals that were killed?  It seems more likely it's just a story that played better; hell-scape images were more relatable than photos of frightened Chinese kids.

Maybe US citizens can better relate to the risk to themselves.  If 2% of the 19 million already affected with the flu had died at that 2% mortality rate that would be 380,000 deaths.  It would be them instead of Chinese people isolated in fear, wondering if the people around them might infect them.


Compassion and empathy really should become a bit more universal.  It's going to be hard to assess what should trigger that, given so many different horrors are causing so much impact day to day.  Here in Thailand we turn a blind eye to our own local traffic mortality statistics, because that's the real risk looming over daily life.  It helps where I live, in Bangkok, that gridlock prevents driving at speeds that would be fatal to a car passenger.  The air we breath also poses long term risk; inputs like that are hard to fully evaluate.

from my office yesterday, when air quality index readings were around 150; unhealthy

perspective is everything; with just a bit of zooming in air haze turns much milkier

This should end on a bright note, shouldn't it, given the dreary and fatalistic tone so far?  The worst case isn't that the world is coming to an end, and actual final impact should be limited, from this cause.

Human nature is the part that most disappoints me, and there are plenty of examples of bright, hopeful, effective souls out there making small changes for the better.  The malaise stemming from apathy and general stupidity often seems a much more significant factor, but the hopeless optimist in me accepts that darkness might only be a sign of impending dawn, or maybe even a positive cause that will bring it about.  Maybe the world might need drawn-out catastrophes like Donald Trump to improve.

We only need to think bigger, look deeper, clear a bit of mental clutter and wrong focus, to make the differences we can make.  And to raise up a next generation of heroes to do better where we failed.

Edit and update:

In discussing this online a contact mentioned another article estimating the maximum life-span for the coronavirus to live on hard surfaces:

Scientists Predict Coronavirus May Live For Up To Nine Days On Surfaces


A new analysis looking at data from different types of coronavirus has shown that many strains can live on surfaces such as glass, plastic or metal, for up to nine days.

The work published yesterday in The Journal of Hospital Infection looked at 22 historical studies on different types of coronavirus, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses...

...The review found that on average, coronaviruses can live on surfaces for between four and five days, but some could survive for up to nine days outside of the body at room temperature.

“Low temperature and high air humidity further increase their lifespan,” said Kampf.

It is important to note that the review article only took into account data from other types of coronaviruses like SARS and MERS to make their conclusions as no data of this type currently exists on nCoV2019, the strain in the current outbreak... 


That's not as bad as it sounds related to extending that estimated time viruses can survive on limited surfaces for 48 hours, since it still does relate to hard surfaces, on glass or metal, for example.  In the other references cited earlier there was a differentiation between the maximum time a virus might be tested as alive versus the more limited time a virus was likely to be viable enough to be transferred. 

And even if viruses could live on other surface types (eg. on paper), which isn't being claimed, it's unlikely that shipping conditions would provide the optimum low temperature and high humidity environment to enable them to survive longer.  Air freight shipping could involve quite low temperature but would probably also relate to very low humidity levels.

To me this changes nothing related to the prior conclusion here that packaged goods shipped out of China are completely safe.  It is interesting considering additional virus-specific information though.

While I'm at it I'll update virus impact status, as of February 11, from this main source:

It's still not time to panic yet but a week after this initial post it's still too early to predict how this situation will continue to evolve.

2005 Bailong TF ShengTai Jinggu gushu sheng

I'm finally reviewing a sample I'd lost track of from a Chawang Shop order early last year. 

Trying older versions of sheng--relatively speaking; for some this 15 year old timetable isn't even close to that--is an interesting subject.  I can't pull apart trueness to type for source region, storage as an input, quality level, individual version style, etc., so I'll mostly just describe how it comes across.  I'm working on learning to make those distinctions but in spite of being a few years into focusing mostly on sheng I'm still closer to the beginning than to a relative end point.

This version doesn't seem to be listed on their website.  Maybe this 2007 version is closest.  That price looks wrong; $18 for a cake instead of a sample (but then it doesn't mention "gushu" in its description).  Inexpensive, reasonable quality but lower demand versions of teas would turn up but that seems to be pushing it.  At a glance this 2003 version from Yunnan Sourcing seems related (but who knows; I'm not claiming it is), listed for $90 instead.  It's cited as from the White Dragon tea company, with a logo image that seems to match the Chawang Shop 2007 version listing.  Although I'm skipping the Chinese character recognition steps that does appear in English (Latin script) lettering on the CS cake:

Anyone looking at the Chawang Shop online photos and description for that other (seemingly related) tea version should keep in mind that vendors don't tend to update listings year to year, or even over long time periods, so it would be from back whenever it was first listed.  That cake's color isn't how the tea would look now, and description (not aspect by aspect anyway) is also for how it was.  About what it is, it's hard enough sorting out if a tea is exactly like how it's described, but the description in that listing isn't very detailed, and this version I'm reviewing may not be so closely related anyway.

I will add an online reference citation about the "sheng tai" part, since that keeps coming up (although it seems likely that term would be used in different ways):


There are four predominant methods of tea cultivation; Plantation style (taidi cha), Ancient Tea Gardens (gushu cha), Sustainable Tea Farms (shengtai cha), and Wild Tea Trees (yeh sheng cha)...

...Sustainable farming tea (shengtai cha):

This type of cultivation method is aimed at a return to traditional organic farming practices. Tea trees are planted from seeds and are not pruned. They are also properly spaced with fruit trees planted in between to impart fruity flavors and to provide shade for the tea trees. Fertilizers and pesticides are rarely used. These tea trees are generally under 100 years old.

Review

First infusion:  I'd be surprised this tastes as moderately aged (fermented) as it does if I'd not been through that related to relatively drier storage input.  It'll open a little over the next two rounds; this early impression isn't what it will be then.  Flavor intensity is moderate, but that's probably a main cause.  Feel is fine, this early on, for not having developed.  It's in between cured wood and warmer, richer flavors for more fermented teas, still spanning both ranges.  Bitterness has dropped out, of course, and astringency has rounded off to a clean, reasonably thick feel.

Even this early it seems like the story of this tea will be evaluating it from two points of view, related to how it is right now and how longer storage seems likely to change it further.  It's odd that the second part is as open as it will probably still seem given this is a 15 year old tea version.

Second infusion:  flavors are warming a little; interesting.  It has moved a little towards a familiar light tobacco range.  I've heard people say that this isn't a positive flavor aspect, that they see it as a sign of moderate or lower quality tea, but really I'm not sure.  Some versions end up tasting like that, and that flavor range can work better if it's within the context of other range, if that's not all a tea tastes like.  Other aspect range also fills in the total experience; that goes without saying.

Probably this will shift one more round before leveling off to closer to where it will be across the rest of the infusion cycle.  It's pleasant to me; clean in effect, with enough depth across other aspect range to let it work.   Feel thickness could be more pronounced, and different in form, and trailing aftertaste is quite limited, with sweetness very moderate, but it still kind of works.

Third infusion:  better; nice to see it coming on like that.  Early cured wood vegetal range gave way to tobacco in the second round, and now a warmer and more complex range this time.  Those earlier flavors are still there but warmer wood tones, deeper mineral, and a light degree of aged furniture and aromatic spice picks up.  It would sound like I'm claiming this is intense in flavor range, for mentioning a few categories, but it's not; instead it's that what is present is subdued but complex.  I'll place feel and the rest more next round.

Fourth infusion:  this is still subtle in flavor intensity, but what is present is nice.  Even a year ago I would have interpreted that profile more as a flaw than I'm seeing it now.  It's one way that sheng can age, which people might fairly see as limited, or it could be a more neutral character aspect, that it lacks intensity in a particular range.  Feel is reasonable; it's not that thin, just not quite up to average either.  Reasonably aged sheng does soften, but varying types of thickness can remain, most of which this doesn't cover.  "Pushing" the tea would ramp up some of all of those effects, but it would still be subtle aspects (flavor, feel, and aftertaste) dialed up; it would only go so far.  Aftertaste is a gap; it doesn't really carry over much after you drink it.

All the same I like it.  It's clean in character, and what is expressed is positive.  I just retried another aged sheng version from Chawang Shop a few days ago that might help place that, this one, a 2008 Yong Pin Hao Yiwu Zhen Shan sheng brick.  I was having trouble moving past a lack of flavor intensity in the first review, saying "this doesn't taste like much."  The sales page description includes:  "Brewed tea have deep yellow color and sweetly floral aroma. Mellow, sweet and pleasant round in mouth." 

Now I get the appeal more, of this general range.  That Yiwu version feels fuller than this tea; it has a good bit more thickness, or roundness, put another way.  But in both cases you have to be able to appreciate subtle flavor as defining the character.  Maybe slightly more aftertaste carried over for that, in spite of flavor being so subtle.

This is probably a good time to mention that I was surely missing some of the same range in what I could appreciate back when trying Yiwu Mountain Pu'er teas, a vendor that sells sets with teas of different ages for comparison.  It may be a generality that sweet, mild, floral range Yiwu teas often fade to losing intensity across flavor over time, versus teas that start out on the harsh side never quite reaching a low level of flavor intensity, but becoming more pleasant.

I was brewing this for between 10 and 15 seconds, probably close to the second, a bit long for how I brew some sheng versions, but still moderate.  I'll stretch that a little out past 20 seconds and see how that changes things.

a little green for 15 year old sheng, but relatively drier storage works out like that

Fifth infusion:  stretching out intensity added a little dryness to the feel.  It adds some structure, but pulls the effect in that direction.  Again flavor intensity is still moderate, but the range it spans is pleasant.  Darker mineral tone increased in proportion, which can happen related to transition across infusions or from shifting infusion strength (or both, which goes without saying).  It's a bit like struck-match, without the sulfur range.  This would be that much better if it ramped up just a little dried fruit (Chinese date) or extended a little more into aromatic spice range.  As it is the flavor range is simple, it just covers a bit of scope.

I'll try a faster infusion, back to 15 seconds, to separate transition versus differing intensity input, and then close out taking notes.


Sixth infusion:  the overall balance is as positive as it's been, or maybe slightly better, a good sign.  It's a shame I missed trying this before I re-ordered Chawang Shop teas at the end of last year; even if this wasn't down in that crazy low pricing range for an aged tea for moderate cost this is pretty good.  At a guess intensity would probably keep leveling off as it ages further, to some extent, but character is pleasant and positive. 

The tea stayed pleasant for a good number of additional rounds. 

Conclusions

This is probably better than everyday teas people at different levels of appreciation and exposure are drinking (per my preference), just not enthusiasts who have "graduated" to spending $1-2 / gram on aged sheng as an everyday experience; for them it might seem undrinkable.  The other option is for people to have started exploring sheng a decade ago or longer, with plenty of cakes set aside at earlier moderate new-release pricing.

It seems conceivable that this could sweeten and shift to a warmer flavor range over the next half dozen years.  Or also possible that it would only fade.  Either way it wouldn't break new ground for being the most exceptional aged sheng even people with moderate exposure have tried (like myself), but it might still come across as quite pleasant and enjoyable.  Just a bit subtle.

It seems possible this is coming out of a quiet phase often described as teen years, related to aging transitions.  Ordinarily that might occur a bit earlier on, and be at a different place by this time, but that can relate to storage conditions.

On the "dry storage" subject, it does cause sheng to ferment slower, retaining some of the younger character across a long time-frame.  All the same that doesn't necessarily mean "wetter is better," or that traditional Hong Kong or Taiwan stored teas are the only range worth experiencing.  That last part is subjective, tied to personal preference, but online convention and hearsay seems to tip a bit too far in one direction, to frame it as an absolute.

I've had limited exposure to a broad range of older, varied storage condition, higher quality sheng examples, so it'll be awhile before I can place all the factors in relation to each other.  But I can say that problems can come up related to storage conditions within different climate ranges, and teas that haven't fermented as fast or as much as they might in wetter conditions can still seem positive and interesting.  For many value is also a main concern, and throwing money at the problem isn't an option, seeking out best regarded versions stored under relatively optimum conditions.

It might seem like I'm struggling to make an argument for people to drink cheap tea, or poorly stored tea, but the intention goes beyond just communicating that.  Exploring a range seems to make sense to me, versus going with what one hears they are supposed to like, or trying a dozen teas and fixing preferences in a limited direction.  Sheng versions I'm holding onto do seem to be aging a good bit faster where I live, in Bangkok, where it's definitely not dry, with results a little different than for Kunming storage, maybe even "better."  I've also tried teas stored here that pick up a distinct musty edge, that takes a few months to settle out; local climate seems to only be one relevant factor among many.  To me it's interesting trying teas from different source areas, across a range of quality levels and character types, that have been stored differently.

at a school fun-day outing at Kalani's old school

playing with her brother, who was representing Penn State

like those balls hamsters run around in

up to the top on the third try