This episode, I bring on the well-balanced, semi-aged, dark Yiwu, the Yangqing Hao Lingya. This is a cake that I own quite a few cakes of and enjoy drinking regularly.
7.5 Rating.
Author: James
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2000s Sunyishun Liuan via Varat [Episode 269]
This episode starts a two episode series featuring Liuan (Heicha) tea from Varat. The tea is still pretty young and has a complex profile that resembles both pu’erh and some oolong.
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Rare Tea: Dry-Stored 1980s/1990s Zhongcha 7542
It wouldn’t be without the generosity of experienced tea hands that I’d be able to do posts like these. A sample was provided by Peter from a cake from Su’s collcetion. Thank you to both of you!
About the Tea
This tea is not famous when put in comparison with previous teas like the 1988 QB or the 1999 Big Green Tree Black. The tea is labeled as a 7542 and is a big factory production, but is importantly not an official Menghai TF production. This makes the 7542 mean less than it would had it been a bona fida production, such as the 1988 QB. To this uneducated eye the leaves do look the part, with leaves that are neither big nor small. You may ask why I’m featuring a tea that isn’t famous.. It is a well-sourced, dry-stored, old tea. Those just don’t come around everyday and I wanted to do my best to document this tea and session. (more…)
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Healthy Leaf Yunnan Red (Black) Tea [Episode 268]
This episode we drink a good, aromatic, smooth red (black) tea from Healthy Leaf.
https://healthy-leaf.com/product/yunnan-gu-shu-hong-cha/
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2015 Dayi Xiangshan (Elephant Mountain) Ripe Pu’erh via YS [Inbetweenisode 169]
In this solo inbetweenisode. James brings on another inexpensive Dayi ripe pu’erh. This one is an extremely soft, smooth, and very comfortable tea from Menghai Tea Factory.
5.8 Rating.
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2017 Gaojiashan Hui Gui Fuzhuan via YS [Episode 267]
This episode, Denny and I drink a very interesting Heicha from Hunan. The tea is made by Gaojiashan factory and is a golden flower brick, Fuzhuan. The processing is done in a way that creates yellow fungi (Golden Flowers). It’s the sort of tea that sounds a lot more off-putting than it actually is. Worth trying for anyone that has yet to try a Fuzhuan. A very tasty and quite inexpensive tea.
2017 Gao Jia Shan "Hui Gui" Fu Brick Tea from Hunan
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Datapost: The Dearth of Aged Pu’erh Available From Western Facing Vendors
It’s no secret that aged pu’erh is scarce out west. The western vendor scene is dominated by vendors traveling to Yunnan bringing back predominantly young tea to sell. For this exercise, I added all of the older teas from western vendors I could think of. Unlike some of my other data compilations, this one didn’t take long at all.. The cutoff for aged pu’erh (both raw and ripe) was set at 18 years (2000 and older). Setting it at 18 years puts it firmly above semi-aged, but also not high enough (25 years) where we would have no teas making the cut. It’s a number that’s probably going to annoy some people off because its too low and others because it isn’t high enough (ask Su what aged tea is!). (more…)
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2016 Vesper Chan’s Red Sunset Ripe Pu’erh via Bana Tea [Inbetweenisode 168]
This episode, James brings on a boutique ripe pu’erh, under Vesper Chan’s (Best Tea House) label. This is a thick, elegant, very tasty ripe pu’erh.
7.2 Rating.
Shoutout to Oolong Owl for turning me onto this tea.
https://www.banateacompany.com/pages/puerh_teas-Red_Sunset.html
http://oolongowl.com/ -
Tea-Side 2016 Thailand Hongcha Dianhong [Episode 266]
This episode, Denny and I drink some hongcha from Thailand produced similar to Yunnan black tea (Dianhong). This one is an interesting tea in that it is similar but different to actual Chinese tea leaves. We could also tell that the material seemed to be quite good.
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Why Not (Age) Oolong? [Inbetweenisode 167]
In this episode, regular guest Garrett comes back to discuss why more people aren’t aging oolong. The episode focuses on difference in pu’erh when it comes to aging, storage, and ease in the west.