1998 Shu Pu'er Tuocha From The Tea Gallery

First off, Olé España!!! Finally!!!

This tea sample came from The Tea Gallery in New York City, a brick-and-mortar tea store which only recently inaugurated its online store. Congratulations! We in the tea blogosphere have known about this establishment for quite some time as the quasi-headquarter of New York City's teaheads, such as Toki.

I must generously give my thanks to Dae, of The Tea Gallery, who was most courteous and patient with this first-time customer’s incessant questioning about the shu pu’er at hand (we had a lengthy, multiple exchanges of emails due to our confusion with another shu tuocha).

On to the tea.

Dry: decent-sized leaves with lots of stalks in the mix. Earthy-red-and-black in color, with a clean appearance and absent of mold or any hint of it. It gave off a fresh, clean, woody smell. One could see (and smell) that the tea went through the pre-requisite wo dui process to have been classified as a shu, but perhaps not all the way through. Also, it was apparent that this 10-year old tea had been well-stored.

Brewing parameter: 1/3 full of dry leaves in a 125ml Yixing pot. Mineral water, boiling-hot temperature, 5 sec. wash, 30 sec. rest. 10s, 15s, 30s, 45s, 1m, 2m…then brewed with warm water for 4 hours.

Liquor: clean-tasting, thick body, pleasantly woody, and smooth. The first 2 infusions had some silky-smooth astringency (from the stalks?), but this characteristic dissipated thereafter to give a pristine mouthfeel. There was hardly any fault with this shu pu’er, though in itself was quite ordinarily pleasant. Its taste profile hardly changed from one infusion to another. Lasted for about 6 - 7 infusions.

Overall: a thoroughly pleasant and faultless shu tuocha pu’er, if rather charmingly ordinary and straightforward. I have no complain about this tea. I enjoyed drinking it.

3.5 stars (good / very good)

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On another note...today I visited the various gardens at The Huntington Library in San Marino. Below is a snapshot of the tearoom in the Japanese Garden.

Fishy Mud, Anyone? 2006 Menghai Dayi V93 Shupu

I remember thinking what a nice shu pu'er the 2005 Menghai Dayi V93 was. That was about a year ago. As of this morning, I only had about 10gr of it left, and now it's all gone. The precursor that lead to the finishing of that last bit was the arrival of several tuo's of its younger sibling, the 2006 Dayi V93 (batch # 602).

It was a harsh lesson learned once more. Never assume just because last year's version was excellent, the same should be expected of the next attempt.

Drinking the 2006 V93 was like downing mud in which dead fish had been preserved before. It's probably subtler than my description, but definitely in the same ballpark. For discovery's sake, I endured 6 torturous infusions before giving up. That's when I started to doubt my opinion of the 2005. Maybe fishy mud was something that I liked last year?

(Pictured: 2006 Menghai Dayi V93 Shu Pu'er)

So I brewed that last 10gr of the 2005 V93 after I had had enough of the disgusting sludge. The difference was nectar compared to, well, mud! The 2005 was woody, fresh, clean, creamy and had a slightly sweet aftertaste (huigan). I kept brewing it until all that was left was thinly colored water. I enjoyed every infusion that I could get out of it. The smell of the wet leaves reminded me of root-beer, as it did last year. My stomach felt soothed and cooled, and my mouth was rid of any bad taste.

So what is wrong with the 2006 V93? Is it only with batch # 602? Will time transform it into a swan? I have a sinking feeling that it's crap and forevermore will be so.

I wonder where I can get more of the 2005 vintage from.

TN: 2005/06 Menghai Yunnan - Tibet Caravan Shou Pu'er

While inventorying my stash, I found this shou pu'er tucked among the other shou I own (not much but growing). It is the same one that Scott Wilson of Yunnan Sourcing mentioned in the 1st volume of The Art of Tea. In the article, his response to the question which Puerhs of 2006 will prove to be the best investment was:

".... The 2006 Menghai Yunnan to Tibet Horse Ripe Puerh cake, on the other hand, only had one unique batch and will not be produced again after this year. [This] tea's wholesale price had already doubled within 6 months of its release...."

Oh well, so what, I thought. I only have 2 beengs and they are going nowhere but down my throat. I purchased each beeng for $19 from Scott back in May of last year. I would have profited a whopping $40 or more by now. Big deal. I would have thought differently if I had a jian or two, however.

Tasting Note
The dry leaves emanated a clean and salty sweet aromas. Once wet, it smelled like smoked meat / fish / shrimp that was strangely quite inviting. When the leaves had cooled down it reminded me of root beer (sarsaparilla), just as the V93 Menghai shou tuocha did. The root beer characterization was brought to my attention by Davelcorp, who I thought made an accurate association.

The thick, black, opaque liquor tasted smooth, clean and creamy. Fortunately, it gave no pond-y taste. The tea finished creamy with shades of sweet and metallic notes. From the 3rd infusion onwards, a hint of all around sweetness was present. Brewed well for 8 infusions with enough juice for a few more. In many respects, this is a rather different shou pu'er than most that I have tasted so far.

I enjoyed it very much. 4 stars (vg)