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2005 Yongde Wild Arbor Brick

Relaxingly average

It’s interesting how seasonal your consumption patterns can be. A few days after the last attack of winter on which I’ve reported here, the spring is in full swing here in Poland, with temperatures reaching +18C in the afternoon. Immediately, I feel less thirsty for tea in general, and my choices tend to be more and more green. On the other hand, I can’t quite imagine brewing those high-roast Wuyi oolongs or ripe puer.

Between sessions of Longjing and sencha, I decided to have a look at a tea I haven’t reviewed here yet, and in fact haven’t tasted in quite a while. The 2005 Yongde Wild Arbor Brick is the sort of upper lower middle range tea I never feel urged to drink but that is always a safe choice for a ‘normal’, weekday cup of tea.

This puer is compressed into a brick instead of the more usual cake. Somehow, I don’t really like bricks. I can’t explain it, since bricks have many qualities: easy to store, I get the impression they are also a bit tidier than cakes when you have consumed more than 70% of the tea. Yet there’s something about the shape that doesn’t attract me. Bricks are quite thick and I have encountered a ‘dressing-up’ strategy more often than with cakes: there is a pretty layer of large leaves on the outside but underneath, the brick is made of lesser material.
2005 Yongde Tea Factory Wild Arbor Brick
Merchant: Yunnan Sourcing
Price: $13 / 250g brick
Brewed in: gaiwan
Dosage: 5g / 120ml
Leaf: Large leaves on front of brick but speaking of dressing up, there is indeed a bit. Leaf colour is rather dark and untippy. Pleasant, aged aroma: dried leaves and tobacco.

Infusion #1 (25 seconds).

Tasting notes:
25s: Pale colour. Not much aroma, echoing the nose with tobacco and dried leaves; uncomplex and calm. Not a lot of body on the palate. Finishing definitely a little bitter (vegetal juice of chewed branches coming to mind); a little unbalanced or perhaps just austere.
45s: A darker (if not terribly attractive) beige-brown. To its credit, the tea hasn’t turned bitter with this longish infusion. A moderate intensity of low-acid tobacco, beans, and barnyard; perhaps some huigan.
40s, 45s, 1m: Consistent and fairly stable, building a more bitterness-driven balance than initially. Some content here, and could improve with time.
Brewing #6 is already a little light, with decreasing interest. The profile is not very young but not really aged either. Dry-stored (this was purchased in 2008 from Yunnan Sourcing, who are still offering this brick)

In essence, it is not a great tea, but surely good for the price. It has some content and personality, though not exceedingly much. The disappointing factor is the grandeur of its description: I can hardly detect much old-tree material here, and for a high-mountain spring tea, it tastes a little light and bland. If you forget that, it is a relaxing pleasant puer that’s just fine for Monday like today.

2007 Twelve Gentlemen Wei Zhong Wei Menghai

An impressive cake

The 2007 Twelve Gentlemen Wei Zhong Wei Menghai is the last young puer I tried from NadaCha. It is priced similarly to its counterpart – the 2007 12 Gents Yiwu: £28 per cake.

Brewed competition style (3g/150ml for 5m) and then in dahongpao pot (5g/120ml with 25s, 20s, 30s, 40s etc.).
Leaf: A large proportion of large (if seemingly thin) leaf, altogether looking green and healthy. The smell of wet leaves is less exciting than the 2007 Yiwu, somewhat muddy and undistinctive.

This brews a slightly denser apricot colour than the 2007 Yiwu, and clearly packs quite a bit more ku bitterish tannic character (therefore a bit more length on the palate). Comparing to other Nada puer teas I’ve reviewed in the last few days, this one is really structured and needs to be brewed carefully: even something like 30 seconds in a clay pot can result in a hefty dryness. Aroma-wise, it is a bit reticent and undistinctive: very minor tobacco and bean; better on the palate with a pleasant lemony & herbs touch to the finish.
This tea has a particularly active qi: the effect of a session is similar to downing half a bottle of Cabernet. And impressive staying power, the firm ku is not diminishing at all with subsequent brewings, but it really is balanced and integrated into the whole: infusion #4 reveals an impressive sweet-tasting huigan. Length is excellent. This is by far the most expressive and sturdy of the four Nada samples reviewed in this series, and a very competitive cake.

Infusion #1 (20 seconds in clay pot).

Finally, an honourable mention for the Youle Bamboo Wrapped Puer 2008 which NadaCha is selling for a ridiculous £1.50 per 80g bundle (see image below). At this price I have liberally used to season and compare teapots, but it is really giving much more expensive puer cakes a run for their money. High grade leaves with some tips. Compression is rather loose, and separation easy. The aroma is not very complex but noble, dominated by tobacco. Flavour shows a minor kick of ku but there is also quite a bit of sweet fruit (apricot) and definitely some huigan suavity on the finish. Given the balance this could well age, but gives a lot of satisfaction today. If made into a bing this would cost the equivalent of £7.50 – surely with a fancy wrapper it could easily command three times that, based on the quality and consistency of the brew. Bravo!

See also an interesting discussion of this tea here.

2007 Twelve Gentlemen Wei Zhong Wei Yiwu

In the third installment of my review of puer teas from NadaCha, I look at the 2007 Twelve Gentlemen Wei Zhong Wei Yiwu. This tea is a twin to the 2007 12 Gents Menghai which I’ll review tomorow; the following tasting notes are based on a side-by-side comparison in competition brewing (3g leaf, 150ml boiling water, 5 minutes of infusion in porcelain). This cake is moderately priced at £27.

Leaf: A big difference between the two origins, this is far more fragmented, and has apparently opened less in the infusion (hence less power) but don’t ask me why as the dry leaf chunks were looking very similar. Wet leaf smells of energetic mountain-grown sheng.
Tasting notes: A beige, somewhat lifeless colour. There is little obvious aroma, showing withdrawn and low-key similarly to the 2006 vintage reviewed yesterday. Attack is typical of ‘green’ puer (tobacco, minor mushroom) but later there is a bean-like chewiness I find unattractive. Clean and transparent. Medium length and average power. This is really tasting a bit bland compared to the Menghai: the difference in impact is quite vast. Another session in gaiwan (4g / 120ml) confirms this impression, and needs pretty long infusion times at the beginning for the leaves to soften and unfold. Even further brewing (#3 through 6, ranging from 30s to 1m) yield a darkish beige colour but still very little grip. Clean, very dry-stored, with good promise through its leaf quality, but if you like kick in your sheng, this is not for you.

Sharing thoughts.

2006 Twelve Gentlemen Yiwu

The Quiet After the Storm

Oddly for this season here in Poland, today we have had the first thunderstorm of 2009. I like winter, and this has been a colourful, almost symphonic one, but am happy to see springtime arriving with its new vegetables, new teas, and Rieslings of the new vintage on the lunch table.

After 10 minutes of heavy rain and wind this afternoon, a tranquil moment of overcast coolness, mixing memory and anticipation in a way that seemed the perfect setting for the 2006 Twelve Gentlemen Yiwu puer tea from NadaCha. At £43, it is quite a bit more expensive than yesterday’s 2004 Jingmai, and definitely into the ‘expensive’ category.

Brewed in: dahongpao clay pot
Dosage: >6g/120ml
Leaf: A mixture of different colours, with medium-large leaves; loose compression and little damage to leaves apparently; some evolution to the colour. Warmed dry leaves smell sweet, with a little tobacco.

Tasting notes:
25s: Pale apricot colour. Little aroma, but there is surely little tobacco or other herbiness. Disappointing as I was expecting quite a bit more intensity, especially at this dosage. Mouthfeel is harmonious but not particularly long. No bitterness. Some underlying structure perhaps. Clean, post-green aftertaste. Let’s wait and see the subsequent infusions.
30s: This is now a little more assertive but still far from overwhelming. Flavours are fruity (peach and apricot) but not very sweet; tobacco is very minor. Power is balanced and restrained. Still lacking in character I thought, but better. Good length now, some minerality.
60s: Deeper colour now. The aroma is really underwhelming, little happening beside a notional sugary fruit; I even took an aroma cup to double check. Bitterness now seems a bit lower than brewing #2. Good density and length, the substance here is not bad but definitely lacks in incisiveness and expression. Clearly little more can be coaxed out of this batch.
3m: Low flavour, medium length, balanced bitterness. But overall flavour is really quite enjoyable and this is one of top-scoring brewings.
5m: Similarly good impression. The balanced ku is especially noteworthy: it is present but has not dominated in any brewing. Little on the nose, a bit better on the palate, with notes of apple and apricot. Length is good, though perhaps less exceptional than brewing #1.
Another session in gaiwan (4g / 120ml): Remarkable purity and transparency (of both colour and taste) to the initial brewings.

Overall I rate this highly: an obviously noble sheng with balance, potential and some impressive leaf material, but slightly lacks in intensity and personality today to really justify its price tag.

Infusion #1 (25 seconds).

2004 He Shihua Jingmai

Over the next few days I’ll be reviewing some puer teas I ordered from online merchant NadaCha. Tea aficionados will know Nada from his blog A Felicific Life, and the truly interesting range of teas on NadaCha. (One of the best features of which is the possibility of ordering puer teas on a ‘per gram’ basis; a vital one if you want to try that £355 cake before you buy).

The 2004 He Shihua Jingmai belongs to the least expensive teas on offer at NadaCha (£28 per cake). I have very little background knowledge about this producer so cannot say how much credit is to be given to the ‘Millenial Old Tree’ claim on the wrapper.

Brewed in: dahongpao clay pot
Dosage: ~6g/120ml
Leaf: A semi-compact cake with a an amount of tips, and a somewhat aged colour overall (not surprising perhaps for a tea almost 5 years old). Wet leaf includes a lot of chopped fannings, with the occasional wholish leaf; overall colour is rather green (greener than expected from the dry leaf perhaps).

Tasting notes:
45s: This is firmly into orange-beige territory – not yellow – but not very dark. A very clean profile, dominated by a dry tobacco note on the nose and a sweet candy character on palate (ranging from white sugar to banana). No astringency in this brew. Good thickness, even a hint of oiliness. Very good, though not very complex or terribly intense.
45s: Much as before, with minor ku appearing on end. Less oily.
30s, 1m: Two consistent brewings. Astringency now a bit more pronounced but unobtrusive, I find this pretty delicate for a young sheng. Good aroma, good flavour, this is very clean – impeccable storage as always with Nada’s teas IME.
5m: Even when pushed this long there is very little upfront bitterness: this tea has already started to settle. Again very clean and crisp profile, there is not the merest hint of wet storage. Tobacco is now almost absent, profile dominated by white sugar. Medium length. This tea has a lot of qualities but perhaps not such a boatload of expression. Judging by the leaf quality I trust this could improve further, though.

2002 Nanjian Teji

Earth in the cup

Tea Masters is selling this tea for a pittance (6€ per 100g tuo, which at ~20€ per bing would still work out rather cheap for a tea of this age).

Brewed in: gaiwan
Dosage: 2g / 50ml
Dry leaf: For a small tuo like this, leaf seems a good medium size. Semi-aged brownish colour. I detect quite a bit of white frost on the inside. Tasting notes:
20s: Medium brown colour, showing some evolution. Lid aroma is somewhat aggressive and metallic, with a fair bit of wet storage. This tea tastes quite advanced and has definitely had some wet storage (almost tasting like a shupu on attack). Finish is mildly biting, with remnants of past ku. Good personality, but not exactly a mellow or soothing tea.
20s: I kept the brewing time short following Stéphane’s advice (see link above), and the result is pleasant. A lighter colour than before, a mineral-grippy profile on the palate, good length. Flavours are definitely shicang-evolved, but kept lighter than in a shupu.
30s, 40s: This is really biting, grippy tea dominated by wet storage. Lots of expression but also a degree of damp-cellary austerity.
Further brewing are patient (at least 10 are possible with such brewing times) and always a little aggressive; I failed to reach that sweet & smooth stage of truly mature puer.

Looking at the wet leaf, it is for the most part intact and whole or wholish, and good quality. I just wonder about the size. Teji is supposed to be the highest grade of maocha raw material for puer, and I have had some fermented teas (shupu) made of very small new leaves like those used for many Chinese green teas. Yet looking at this 2002 Teji leaves are medium-sized (with some larger ones) and not so different from what is the puer standard. Anyone have comments on this?

Another session in dahongpao clay pot resulted in an even more biting, less friendly tea: I actually preferred the more balanced effect in porcelain. The aggressive dirty earth & damp-cellary character reminded me a bit of the 1990s Loose Yiwu also from Tea Masters, which I reviewed here. Overall this is expressive tea with a very good quality for the price, and useful for people to taste a middle-aged wet-stored puer. I would buy it again.

Dancing in the snow

1999 Menghai #7532

21cm of snow this morning but business as usual (in Poland). © S.

Today brought some hilarious news. the mighty British Empire has been brought to its knees by 20 cm of snow. Transport halted, and even banks have remained closed (perhaps they should spend a few pennies from the billions of public help they’ve recently received on a couple of workers to de-snow).

Thank God the subpolar Polish civilisation has learned to cope. By British standards we would need to shut the entire country down from December till March.

Anyway, here’s a tea for my esteemed UK readers to warm up on while waiting for the bus service to resume. This 1999 Menghai Tea Factory #7352 raw puer was purchased from Jing Tea (a full bing costs a hefty $155, but thankfully 25g samples are available for the benefit of the savvy). First brewed in my miniature 50ml gaiwan (2.5g), then with 3.6g in 120ml Dahongpao pot, the following notes are a synthesis of the two.

Dry leaf: It is rare to see such impeccably separated leaves in a tea of this age: Jing Tea assure me the cake was not steamed, so I incur the pressing is loose. Leaves are small and partly fragmented, ranging from light to deep brown. They emit a very clean and apparently dry-stored scent of old wood.

Tasting notes:
20s: A medium brown colour. Nose echoes the dry leaves: a discretly woody scent with minor tobacco and wet earth. Calm but very clean and quite deep, this is a model of old tea elegance. A touch of dryness on the end, not very dynamic but surely not mature or frail.
30s: Deeper brown. Good clean elegant aroma of wood and earth. This is now more powerful, with a bit of bitterish ku appearing on end, adding some zest and length. Power and content.
40s: Same as before but a bit darker and more consistent in colour.
60s: Still going strong. Flavours of old wood and mushrooms, really very clean with (almost) not a hint of wet shicang storage. Integrated but present bitterness, long gan finish.
60s: Less exciting now (perhaps brewed too short): a decent woody nose but palate a bit hollow and with minor sourness now coming up.
2m: Back to good shape, there is a minor post-bitterness on the finish, quite some elegance (this tea’s hallmark) and intensity, a very good balance to the semi-aged character.
As often with older teas, it is the coda – brewings #6 to #10 perhaps – that proves the most pleasant, with a light body and an echo of past glory.

In short, this is an outstanding tea. It shows very good complexity but still has quite a bit of grip to continue improving for another few years. Its aged character – old wood, mushrooms, wet earth, smoke – is balanced by good freshness and considerable finesse; it never becomes heavy or dirty. How sad to see it out of my purchasing range.

First brewing (20 seconds in clay pot).

2007 Xizihao ‘8582’

A remembrance of the good old times when Xizihao tea cost only $30 (now more usually $100) per cake. A solid performer, ready to drink now.

Two older teas from Yunnan Sourcing

Both were ordered as 25g samples (not whole cakes) from Yunnan Sourcing.

1998 CNNP Green Wrapper Brick

The 1998 CNNP Green Wrapper brick is a tricky tea to brew. Leaves are small and compression is very tight. With 45s, 45s, 1m, 5m in gaiwan, I got a lightish yellow colour and disappointingly little intensity (aroma cup showed a generic caramel note, and nothing else, in a tea that admittedly is a decade old). Flavour is dominated by bitterness with little fruit. Another couple of sessions in various clay pots (with 20s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 60s, 90s and then at will) resulted in a semi-coloured tea (mostly moving from dark orange to medium amber), with a pleasant first infusion showing a middle-aged brown tobacco note, and an increasingly bitter ku drive through infusion #2–5 (I think due to the mashed leaf of which this is exclusively composed). Later (provided infusions are kept moderate at 60–90s) this reaches a good balance, with some minerality at mid-palate and less bitterness.
Overall I think this has some content, but is unbalanced. On the positive side, there is good patience: look at the darkish colour of the 6th infusion here:

With patience comes tannic power, of which this tea has exceedingly much. It takes a finer brewing technique than mine to balance it with properly intense fruit. Looking at the wet leaf, it is pretty much a mashed mess. There is hardly an intact leaf, and with this level of fragmentation (which BTW is typical of the late 1990s, I think) it is hardly surprising to find so much bitter tannins in the brew.

1998 CNNP Green Wrapper Brick, after 11 minutes total infusion

The second tea is the 2000 Yiwu from Long Yuan Hao factory. As tightly compressed as the above, the dry leaf is showing a little brown and evolved but leaf grade seems quite a bit higher than in the above, with some tips.

Brewed with 5g in 150ml Da Hong Pao pot. 10s: Light beige-apricot colour. A pleasant nose of wood and brown tobacco, with a degree of depth and complexity. Quite unbitter, with a typically middle-aged woodsy character on palate, and good length. Classy and quite clean (no shicang in sight) if not enormously expressive. 15s: Almost identical to above. 40s (pushing to see how much bitterness appears): Colour is still a little short of brown. Indeed a little bitterish on end, with good tobacco-scented length, crowning what is a good medium-bodied, well-construed tea with some mountain leaf content. Satisfying no doubt, with a cleaner, airier profile than many similarly aged cakes from major companies. Length, in fact, is superior. 1m, 2m: This has a lot of power, staying coloured, concentrated, flavourful and really quite bitter throughout these infusions.
The wet leaf confirms the comparison with the 1998s above: while still rather fragmented, this 2000 shows more high-grade intact leaf.

2000 Long Yuan Hao Yiwu, after 10 minutes total infusion

Interestingly, both teas seem rather young for their age, and very dry-stored. And for their age, they are rather fairly priced: $32 and $58 per bing, respectively.

1990s Loose Old Bush Yiwu

A truly wild tea

This tea was kindly included as a free sample in my last order from Tea Masters. Interestingly, it is not reviewed on their website, and so I have no information whatsoever as to its provenance – perhaps Stéphane can step in and enlighten us.

Brewed in: gaiwan

Dosage: 4g / 120ml

Dry leaf: Long twisted yancha-like leaves. Nothing very special to their appearance but a really unique smell: dirt, dirt, dirt, a bit of dust and dirty stones. I personally find this quite repulsive.

Tasting notes: 20s: Judging by the colour – a medium deep reddish-brown – and aroma this is rather from the end of the 1990s, surely showing younger (and probably drier-stored) than the 1989 Jiang Cheng or 1990 brick from Tea Masters. Aroma is calm and less repulsive than that of the dry leaf, earthy, a little beany. Palate is unaggressive, echoing the nose with a bit of wet earth and some bean-like chewiness. No ku apparent on the finish. Finish is quiet, energy rather calm, not particularly warming (and this was tasted during a wave of –20C temperatures here in Poland). Less dirt-driven in taste than my first attempt (un-TNed) in a clay pot.
30s: Minor shift in aroma, now stonier and dirtier, less earthy, a little more intense. This is really very elemental tea. Flavour is also a little more pungent. No sweetness, no vegetal or spicy notes, this tea is dominated by earth.

Later brewings of 1m, 1m, 2m are very enjoyable (if still aromatically rather challenging), with a calmer and lighter expression.

5m: This is now quite weak, and I finish the session.

Overall this is – for me – a striking tea. It is about the dirtiest- and earthiest-smelling sample I have ever had, but not in the meaning of wet storage (in fact it shows almost none). There is something quite wild and elemental about this, yet it also manages to show smooth and harmoniously aged. I would be curious to learn more about this one. At 68 € per 100g it is surely not cheap, but then there is the benefit of tasting an aged tea without having to order a whole 357 or 400g cake.