1970s Loose Pu
Posted on 13 May 2009
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This is the second of four samples kindly sent by Tea Masters (see here for the first). As usually the Tea Masters website has a comprehensive review and background for this tea.
As the leaves were just enough for a single serving (2.8g) I decided against a competition-style single brewing and opted against for a full-length gongfu session in dahongpao clay pot. As the best Polish mineral water is slowly brought to a boil in my earthenware kettle, I sit down to this session with a sense of humility and alertness.
Early 1970s Loose Puer
Leaf: A relatively light to medium brown colour to these reasonably large leaves. Almost no aroma to the cool leaf (due to sample size?). When put in warmed pot, this smells very aged and earthy with a decomposed vegetal / forest floor character, however no shicang (wet storage) pungency.
and 7 (11 minutes total).
15s: A medium brown colour no more. Aroma is very calm with distant echoes of generic aged ‘tea’ and no wet storage in sight (always a positive aspect for me, as I find shicang robs many teas of clarity and depth). Beany, boiled-vegetabley, earthy, perhaps woody. The tea enters the mouth with some peppery spice, and that earthy textural grain is present throughout. Not very high in flavour, made of one block; sedate, calm, aged. Rather clean, although due to that above-mentioned texture, it lacks the crystalline character of teas such as the 1984 shu coin from Tea Masters. This tea is in harmony with itself, more so than the analyst perhaps.
20s: Extraction is now boosted: a considerably darker brown colour (if without the pruney purple hues of some other aged puer). Similar register to the first brewing but more of everything. Earthy, mealy, cerealy, all fused into a single aromatic note. On the palate this now even shows a bit of tannic grip: it must have been a monster in its youth. (Many 2006 puers already have less bite than this at 35 years of age). By now this tea is fully active on the palate, making one salivate and feed on the dense mealy character.
20s: Very similar to brewing #2, with two changes: less mealiness and intensity, and the appearance of a firm, stoney (‘mineral’) character. For its age this is really impressive through its power and intensity. Showing why aged puer enjoys the status it does: no other tea can approach this dimension.
20s: Darker than expected. But with a less extracted flavour, the mineral-cellary notes are more subdued now (though not absent), and there is a bit of sweet-textured huigan for the first time. Very active, almost digestive qi.
5m: Pushing to see how much power can be extracted. Colour however stays a medium dark brown similar to brewing #2 perhaps. A masculine if rather simple aroma of earth and wood. Really similar to the previous brewing. Very good length, balance of sweet and earthy elements, still some power but clearly little more has been (can be?) extracted from these leaves. Though far from pale, of course.
90s: Colour and register are considerably paler with the flavour now simplified, but there is an attractive oiliness of texture at mid-palate.
3m: This is now really light in colour and I think going down. One aromatic note: recognisable, enjoyable, cellar floor-dirty agedness.
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This is a special tea, and I surely have no competence to assess it fully. I obviously killed it with that overenthusiastic fifth brewing, and would probably have reached ten comfortable infusions with shorter steeping times (though I honestly expected more patience here). But there’s no denying its excellent vigour and cleanliness. It gives the impression of having the potential to improve further with age. Hats off to Stéphane for (literally) unearthing this brilliantly cellared tea.
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