TGFOP Tea Reviews (c) Silverneedles est.2005

Yunnan Bo Nay Tea .FooJoy

found at Hong Kong market, Elmhurst NY ~ 6$/box.  they also had box a bonay(pu), still teabags, that said its “pieces of cake” tho priced +2$ moar.

Method: various- 1 tbag to 2 tbags that were individually wrapped (pshhh) + 4-16 oz 190-300F water x 1-3min.

Flavor: first the aroma/fumes emanating from the liquor = hot dust! oh my. Tastes like mostly OLD dusty books… mild woody puerhish. mostly dust flavor 😛 uhmmmmmm Played with this so many ways, the dustiness wont go a-way. When cooled down the liquor has a mild sweet finish. dust. mmkay (alright i lie, when cold there is less dustness perceived.)

Overall: me nicht dig dust in meinen teee.  ZWEI DREI NEIN DUST NEIN !!!

2006 Banzhang Arbor King Pu-erh Tea .Puerhshop.com

Puerhshop.com(review) .

got this as a sample with another order. can’t find any info on it.

Method: 200F filtered water, cupwan, 30s,40,40,50

correcting artificial light white balance sucks. colors are probably off.

Taste:
30s,  in 3oz,  (just ate some fat&sugar, may affect taste)
smell/aroma: nutty
flavor is nice, strong, does not taste green, so i guess its a shu. “soft wood” flavor (based on some memories),
some throat dryness,  no astringent/tannin in rest of mouth=i like.

30s, 4oz,  darker liquor
more intensy woody + aroma (nose)
like. no astringent/tannin

40s, mild tannin.
50s, flavor changed a little, some tiny concentrated bitterness spike. somewhat watery now.

Wet leaf: looks like parts of leaf, some intact leaves here and there. gritty-sandy feeling, brittle hard leaves.

Overall: i like this.

2006 Changtai Banna Tuocha (昌泰版纳沱茶) .Puerhshop.com

Puerhshop.com(review) (product link). was 4.99 now its $5.99/80g/2.8oz = 2.14/oz = ~35$/lb.

Cleaning out my magical drawer …

Leaf: tuo weighs ~80g of leaf without anything else. Seems “airy” – not very dense. Lovingly stabbed it… repeatedly… with mouthwatering pleasure. Tried to follow what would seem the direction of the leaves – hoping to preserve as much intact leaf as possible. Tuo broke in tiny pieces very easily, crumbled is a better word. Wet leaf looks like little bits and chops, i didnt manage to get anything large…

liquor pics are darker, only represent 15s,25s,25s infusions.

Method: 6g tortured in many ways, various water 1-6oz, various water temps ~68F(20C) and 200F various temps. was tasted hot and cold.

Taste:
4oz 200F water:15s,25s,25s: not sure whats wrong with my tongue these days or if something with the water: flavor seemed watery = mild flavor that goes quick. flavor profile: shu-ish “wood-bark“, some “tannin-astringency” leftover in the back of palate & tongue but low = ok and not overpowering. A little different from yesterday’s 1999 Loose Leaf Pu, less flavor. Not much smell to the wet leaf/infusion but there is a minor “strange” smell that i cant describe.

1.5?oz room temp water ~3min: hmmm, interesting… medium strength green-like tannin-astringency, wood-bark but with a different twist to the flavor that may be what i sensed in the smell and still cant describe. …could stretch it towards medicinal/camphor but not really… fried green onions? (i just fried some yesterday… pretty sure i have different clothes on today. oh oh… brain is over-processing the fried onion association, im starting to feel it on my tongue more now… settle down brain, we’ll make you some wonton soup soon.)

6oz 200F water ~7min, tasted hot, but mostly when it was cooled: interesting… similar to above but wood bark flavor is less. fleeting “sweet” sensations in the back of throat that appear 1-2 min after drinking.

I need to “recalibrate” my tongue somehow…

Overall: not bad, interresting at times (especially in the 1.5oz cold water), but flavor is mild for me.

2003 Songpin Imperial Pu-erh King Tea Cake .Puerhshop.com

Puerhshop.com (review) cake sampler (outlink) $3.49. Shu pu, 2003.

Memorial Day Weekend. Interrupt bbq with some pu. Reach into T storage area grab something…

 Dry leaf:
 Leaf looks dark,
 smells not green,
 its not sheng,
 it must be shu ! 😛
Picture is of the entire sampler.

…someone unplugged my Tiger… waiting for water to boil…on the stove !
Method: boiling hot filtered water + the smaller piece seen in picture.

Taste:

30s no wash but drank: bit watery+ sort of a sweet feel tip of tongue + tree bark (woody). Oh i’m going to like this.
40s same
35s more woody bark
30s same
30s same but not feeling the sweetness very clear, seems tastebuds are now blocking this flavor. a little of dark-chocolate “astringency”. Kinda not feeling flavor concentrate enough, doing longer steep next
1m more developed, “denser” profile, more clear “dark-chocolate astringency“, very nice.

couldn’t drink everything at the same time so combined them all + another 2-3 more infusions(possibly could go longer but i got tired). left to cool down. drank later: very enjoyable, flavor as noted before + some sweetness in the aftertaste (not strong, but present. maybe there’s another way to infuse this for more sweetness but i don’t know how).

Wet leaf: brittle. (well cooked or from storage?)

Overall: this is the kind of flavor profile i like. Similar to Royal Pu’er Cha (Yun Nan Cha) .Zhong Guo Cha but this here puerh cake seems more …mellow? that royal puer was stronger in flavor and stronger “dark choco astringency” and developed more rapidly (being looseleaf, not compressed cake piece) but this 2003 has definitely sweet sensations on the tongue. No harshness, no unpleasant flavors(pond,dirt,etc), no strong distracting astringency/tannin … = YUMMM !

Pu-erh Tuocha .In Pursuit of Tea

never been interested in the tuocha, so why not try it …
got this package from Whole Foods (while drinking a cup of the competition’s wuyi oolong)
12$ +tax

http://www.inpursuitoftea.com/Pu_erh_Tuocha_p/pc001.htm
says rich earthy flavor

open pkg, earthy/meds smell… hmmm…

the little tuocha wrapped in paper is kind of cute, so i throw it into a boiling pot of water (substitute pot with about 6oz, and boiling with ~200F)

4min: somewhat a dense, confusing flavor made of “earthy”-woody?-medicinal not strongly so but when i gave to wife, she goes: “are u trying to poison me?” …hmmm… is my taste changing? have i started to lose ability to detect medicinal tones of puerrrr? …anyway

subsequent 4min: more woody-medicinal now, flavor seems more defined. medicinal. ok there it is.

also get a very faint flavor that reminded of the lapsang souchong- sortof benzene-like.

astringency? not that i know of. but so there aint not much choco flavor neither.
aftertaste: not much.

liquor forms the haze on it. (what now looks to me like some sort of condensation… microclimate going on… like the smoke lingers above the liquor in a cloud-like fashion, if blow on it, disappears)

Compared it to Royal Pu’er Cha (Yun Nan Cha) .Zhong Guo Cha, and definitely i prefer the “royal pu” – there is no medicinal taste.

in conc: meh, is not good on me tongue, so am not planning on stock.

1990 Wild Tuo Cha Pu-erh Cake .Jing Tea

Jing Tea sample.

Info: from Yunnan, made form leaves picked from uncultivated wild trees.
description: “Outstanding autumn forest, sweet, syrupy mouth feel.”

1st infusion: a bit confusing, i think nutty, some woody? old books, mild sweetness.

3-4th infusion: mild sweetness, old books, tree bark yes thats it!, not so much woody as others i’ve tasted, no medicinal taste,
aftertaste: a mild sweetness i think tiny nutty as well that keeps me licking my palate.