Puerh Rating: Orchid Vibe

Posted on by Yang-chu
19 Dec

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on Orchid Vibe.  Offered in 2011, it represents LME’s continued reliable ripe puerh production style.  One overriding observation is a sweetness to LME’s ripe house style.  The Orchid Vibe is no exception.

After three rounds the total was as follows:

  • Aroma          11
  • Clarity          10
  • Sweetness   13
  • Viscosity       15
  • Astringency  14
  • Huigan         13
  • Qi                  8

Reflections on Orchid Vibe

Marshmallow and milk chocolate.  There’s a very interesting squinch of sour at the back end that makes it cheeky.  In later infusions the vanilla marshmallow fades into dark wood terrain that has a faint evocation of rubber bands.   There’s also a pervasive blanket of talcum throughout.

Conclusions

Orchid Vibe is a solid everyday drinker for those who like their ripes with a darker edge.  It shares attributes with the “55” in terms of sweetness and woodiness, but Orchid Vibe starts out with much more vanilla and marshmallow before expressing wood.  “55” is woody throughout with more camphor and tannins.  The sour element in this ripe makes it unsuitable for pushing, as previously noted.  It nonetheless strikes the Puerh Junky as being exceedingly well executed.  The qi on this is a super creeper, 15m later the effects were going stronger than during the session, headiness and started feeling hungry.  Puerh Rating:  Orchid Vibe

83/105, B

 

 

2020 Top Tastes

Posted on by Yang-chu
17 Dec

Herein, the Puerh Junky lays bare his 2020 Top Taste preferences.  This is going to be short.

  1. Root Beer
    Imperial Roots— from peppermint candy with faint dank to boss root beer.
    Thick Zen— from thick Zen dry straw to sweet root beer.  Que bueno!
    Tiger, MK— Daxueshan florality with effervescent root beer.  Sold out this year.
    Tiger tuo, LC— From pineapple and green apple to root beer.
    White Tips tuo, TL— dynamic to the hilt.  The second batch is now in cooking stage so can be picked up at a fair price.  It’s simply not the same as the original as it is so much drier.  This imparts an incense and floral vibe instead of forest and mint candy.
    Vanilla Palace— Burly Bulang with florality to zesty root beer.
  2. Zen
    Grenouille— tobacco to Zen
    Hideout
  3. Mineral Camphor
    Cherry Blossom
    Leifeng Ripe– a few free samples avail but not for sale
    7261 Ripe– Coming soon.
    Bada Peacock
  4. Floral
    Lily of the Valley
    Yiwu Princess
    LME Spring Puerh
  5. Perfume
    Red Star
    White Tips Tuo second batch– wretchedly perfumey, what will
    Buddha’s Impression– Coming in 2021

Some have probably ascertained that the Puerh Junky has simply plied artifice in an effort to sell his wares.  Guilty.  In actuality, his is a fairly dualistic view toward the entire affair of puerh tastes: root beer or not.  It’s become a bit of a way to gauge life itself: is it root beer puerh or not?  Higher order life questions include whether an offering portends the promise of root beer.  Of course, there are other manifestations that can be quite exquisite; it’s just they’re not root beer.

 

2020 Puerh Reflections

Posted on by Yang-chu
14 Dec

As is customary during the long dark days, opportunity for reflection on the year past presents itself.  I thought it might be nice to contrive a list of what I found to be the best five performers for the year 2020.  Since we’ve had plenty of drama this year, I’ll display my impressions as concocted sans the drama.

First Tier Puerhs of 2020

There shouldn’t be any doubt that “Poison” is the best performer of 2020.  It has completely destroyed my conceptions about 6FTM. I’ll go into why this is such a slam dunk (yeah I remember sports) in part two.

The Yang Pin Hao Lily of the Valley is the perfect counterpoint to Poison.  “Counterpoint” seems the trap into which Bach has been placed, but this does both him and counterpoint a disservice.  In any event, some puerhs definitely express counterpoint within the class they exist, but here counterpoint is taken as the balance across class, floral vis mineral, tobacco vis Zen for example.

As far as the Lily of the Valley goes it is clearly a Mozart concerto.  It isn’t trite, but it is clever with a sophistication that surprises.  Poison, despite prior references to Bel Biv Devoe, is Rachmaninoff— yeah it’s that serious.

Bridge

This year, the local classical station had a Top 250 List as determined by voters. (ahem)  I listened to a great deal of it with great zest only to be crushed that my boy JS tapped out in the 30s or 40s with the Phantom of the Opera.  Gimme a break!  The Mass in B-Minor was in the 70s while Star Wars was in the teens.  I know that my Bulgarian, French, and Lebanese readers are gripping their sides with guffaws of incredulity.  Show some sympathy for your humble Puerh Junky why don’t cha?

Second Tier Puerhs of 2020

Now by second-tier, the Puerh Junky doesn’t mean to imply that these productions are in the least second-tier.  In fact the ’10 Bingdao, YP could easily contend for THE very best production of the year.  It’s simply fantastic.  One of the most disappointing and expensive at the time of purchase six years ago, it turned out to be amazing after considerable neglect and abuse.  And were you to taste it, you’d guess it was maybe from ’14 at the latest.  I cannot say what a big deal this treasure is and haven’t because it’s not for sale and the Puerh Junky isn’t one for rubbing it in your face.  This is not a sales job but an honest record of the year’s puerh experiences, so it had to be mentioned.  No puerh experience exceeded the ’10 Bingdao, YP, which lasted five days.

The Thick Zen has produced the greatest gratification this year.  It blossomed to root beer and tastes so alive.  It maintains the Zen but brings the zing.  It’s so warm and stirring.  Yes Smetna.  It’s an Yiwu that didn’t just fall from the radar but is cloaked from detection altogether.  There are some things that one could nit pick about but comparatively speaking, productions thrice the price aren’t this sweet, smooth, and root beery.

Here’s why Thick Zen is so special.  Upon acquisition it was completely straw Zen, much like the “dirtier”, i.e., more humid productions from generally ’03-’99, without any hint of dirt.  These productions command a very handsome price, but to the Puerh Junky’s mind they’re a shade ho-hum, like many of Beethoven’s sonatas where he continuously plagiarises from himself.  Many of those older dirtier productions seem to have a ways to go or have gone and went.  Thick Zen is at a point where it is very alive in the mouth like. . . root beer, sweet and. . . I want to say David Sylvian.

Third Tier Puerh 2020

Grenouille blew my mind.  It doesn’t bear this name beyond Grenouille being a master at his skill.  It’s not about how he produces the most magical of perfumes.  Perfume can be interesting but the term should be defined.  “Perfume” usually stands an octave above floral.  When a perfume is an octave below floral it is incense.  Incense possesses wood notes, sometimes sap which ventures into petrol and various “camphorols” like mint, toothpaste, borneol, cinnamon, which a wood-grade camphor.

Grenouille expresses incense AND perfume along a substrate of Zen.  I’ve always considered it good but most recently discovered that it had evolved into something truly exceptional, literally transitioning from tobacco to Zen class.  At least one other person believes Grenouille still to be decidedly tobacco, but the difference might reflect the Puerh Junky’s fortunes to track Grenouille’s development over time.  Penitence perhaps?

I Haven’t Mentioned. . .

The Tiger, CMS.  I’ve only shared with two others.  Sublime and defies conception.  Absolutely the best tea I have EVER had of any sort.  I have mention the Simao Green Mark (7542) petrol qi destroyer, which as tamed a bit.  Simao is bad-azz when they choose to be.

In the next missive, I’ll take up the Puerh Junky’s Top Five Flavour preferences.  Upon reflection, three tiers emerge from this year; the first two tiers are counterpoint to one another, each at different ends of the tonal range.  Grenouille is probably more “trans” but now functions as a fulcrum balancing the two upper levels, an ineffable middle c . . . in the minor key.

 

 

Puerh Physio-Psycho-Somatics

Posted on by Yang-chu
22 Oct

It’s not rare that an individual will confide to the Puerh Junky that they experience certain phenomena that can only be reckoned as being a case of Puerh Physio-Psycho-Somatics.  It’s a topic that the Puerh Junky tends to avoid.  The fact is that the dynamics of a production have everything to do with the vessel in which it is served.  This doesn’t just deal with the pot, ahem.

This is basic chemistry and biophysiology but the reductionistas somehow don’t get this.

Puerh Suggestion

“Is what I’m feeling from drinking this due to suggestion?  Have I been hypnotized by the machinations of the Puerh Junky’s or Global Tea Hut’s wizardry?” you may ask yourself.  I’d ask you, how much you relied upon my performance?  Was it about me or the tea?  Of course, we want to create space for the tea but when it’s real, it will interrupt everything.

Each treasure speaks for itself in it own measure– when it’s ready.  Some are always ready to show you what’s up.  That doesn’t mean that the material has caught up to it’s expression.  This results in the quality of expression.  A gut-buster isn’t necessarily a bad tea.  The effects it produces upon the drinker is it’s “qi.”  Not so esoteric, huh?

It’s not likely that someone is going to suggest “gut-buster”, but people often remark about laxative effects.  These occurrences positive or negative not only reflect something about the personality of the tea but the condition of the drinker.  Not everything, just possibly some things.  Each individual is of a unique makeup, so general truths are difficult to derive.

Impediments to “Qi-gan”

So far, the Puerh Junky has avoided use of “chee,” what us smarities write as “qi.”  Because of the mystique around qi, it is greatly misunderstood.  When most people say “caffeine”, they actually mean qi.  People attribute far more to caffeine than what puerh conveys, however.  If you think I’m mistaken, go take whatever pills of caffeine and report back that your effect was similar any good tea.

There is a certain disconnect about the simplicity of qi.  In fact, wine have their own qi.  Qi is simply an effect or quality.  Qi does have resonance with essence, but it can refer to overall effect.  Usually, qi is about how it makes you feel, what is called “qi-gan.” “Chazui”, tea-drunk in an effect that differs from invigoration or relaxation.

Qi Is A Fiction?

Those who can’t or refuse to feel qi may be suffering from a number of problems listed below

  • Can’t Dance
  • Eat Greasy, Potatoey Type, Microwave, Boxed Food
  • Poor Breathing, Sleep Apnea, Nasal/Sinus
  • No Exercise or Mind Exercise

It’s important to note that qi isn’t one thing– if that hasn’t been made abundantly clear.  However, those whose qi flow is better or know how to manipulate it will possibly experience more nuanced or greater qi  force than those relatively inert eaters congestive food.  Otherwise, all things being equal, different teas have differing qualities of qi. Those will not just be focused on drunk feeling but also effects like laxative, gut-buster, palpitations, malaise, and sleepiness.

Conclusion

The gist of dabbling into the Physio-Psycho-Somatics of puerh requires reshaping one’s understanding of the word “qi” in the context of the puerh drinking experience.  Secondarily, if you’re qi challenged, stop drinking or start moving.

 

Endangered Species Puerh

Posted on by Yang-chu
18 Oct

Endangered Species Puerh isn’t what you think.  This is a nostalgia piece regarding a tuo, a lunar tuo to be precise, that has long vanished.  It took about four years from my acquisition for it to express root beer notes.  At the outset, in ’14, it tasted like pineapple and Granny Smith.

I ran across this post from ’12 and thought I’d share.  It’s in Chinese and for your convenience, I through it through “translator.”  I didn’t tidy the rendering.  It’s good for the pics at the very least.

Tiger is the king of the forest, tea is also the king of the forest
The raw materials are selected for the large-leaf ancient trees and the old sun-dried green tea in the Lancang River Basin, carefully blended by the tea craftsman, and picked by hand. The new and old match, high temperature autoclaved. The soup is yellow and bright. After tasting, the mouth will stay fragrant. Strong taste. pure. With a long aftertaste, it is an excellent product worth collecting and drinking.
I kept it at home for half a year, and I started the soup today. I feel that the raw materials do have the ingredients of ancient trees. I don’t know how much, but the price is still very close to the people and very attractive. In terms of taste and color, after nearly 3 years of transformation, the color of the soup turns yellowish and brighter and slightly red, and there is no longer the green and astringent feeling of new tea. The taste is strong, the bitterness comes and the bitterness is very fast, the sweetness is strong, pure, and the aftertaste is long-lasting, and it is very comfortable in the mouth for a long time. In 3-5 years, Lin Zhongwang must be a good tea.

One of the advantages to tuo is that they’ll get up to speed much faster than a cake.  This particular tuo which was stored conservatively but raced to root beer faster than any amidst the treasure.  This was when I realized that the aggressive taste of Lancang TF was worth enduring.  Still I have an ’09 Ox from them that I’m still waiting on.

Maybe ’10 was one of those “good years.”  I say this because when I got the Mengku Tiger in about 16, I couldn’t believe how positively mature it tasted. . . an looked.

Unbelievably from 2010.

The conditions were magnificent.  It didn’t taste as if it had been pushed too hard in storage.  The root beer was there along with typically floral and burly notes characteristic Mengku/Daxue Shan.

Alas.  They come and they go.

 

Puerh Readiness

Posted on by Yang-chu
16 Oct

The Puerh Junky in me got to pondering the determinants of Puerh Readiness.  Surely, this is not a construct.  There must be objective standards upon which to base puerh readiness.  Puerh Readiness is sought after by middle-aged and old puerh drinkers.

So, the Puerh Junky sits to have a second PJRS of Fu.  It is infusion four after two hours.  The infusion is two or one in clarity.  He sits to write notes.  His mouth is full of flowers but pronounces the cake: “NOT READY.”  The taste is good.  It will please the ruffians, but the Puerh Junky is not rough.  There was a time it was quite ready.

Gold Ribbon

Zhongcha ’07 “9611” Peacock Gold Ribbon Cake

After two hours it is evident that Fu is exquisitely good but dreadfully young.  Lack of clarity in a standard Zhongcha production is highly irregular.  Any ugliness in the broth points to the youth of tea.  Clarity is one parameter that the Puerh Junky uses in evaluating the readiness of ripes.  The same can be applied to raws and in cases of Zhongcha the benefit of doubt should be extended because unlike Xiaguan, they specialize in tea clarity.

“9611” Clarity and Beauty

As mentioned, the young tea drinker may be entirely adrift regarding puerh readiness.  The fact is many young puerhs are “ready.”  If they’re oolong processed and sold as “gushu“, then maybe a little too ready.

Puerh Transformation

Puerh readiness is expressed in the fundamental transformation of the raw material under particular storage conditions.  It is a trans-annual phenomenon.  Productions can be initially quite drinkable only to descend to the depths of unreadiness, as the Fu case demonstrates.

Part of readiness is also usually conveyed in the colour.  Light coloured liquor is indicative of young tea or relatively dry storage older stuff.  They won’t taste anywhere the same.  The latter may bear attributes of readiness but reflect a different curing style.

Some productions may be able to progress from one stage to the next without hiccoughs but the hiccoughs are quite common and it often has to do with the tea’s own personality.  For some drinkers these quirks however ephemeral prove charming.  Just because a production dips into a period of unreadiness doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong, particularly if you’re not finding the same problem among the rest of your stash.

A whole treatise could be written on Puerh Readiness.  The Puerh Junky experienced a moment of panic regarding the ’19 Crouching Tiger, but it simply wasn’t ready.  It needed a year, which is hardly atypical.  There is something about mouthfeel that is an indicator.  It is most certainly not astringency.  In fact, too much astringency is dead give away of poor brewing or just not being ready.  The ready mouthfeel is fizzy or like a magic blanket tiny sparkles.  It’s the benchmark of the root beer class.

Puerh Rating: Wild Jingmai

Posted on by Yang-chu
13 Oct

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on Wild Jingmai.  Jingmai puerh is characterized by an orchid aroma.  Young, they are very bright, optimistic, and magical, while still expressing razor thinness, alertness, and astringent and bitter zing.  This cake, from ’14, is from an on-going series that GPE runs. Some of the earlier productions are associated with a famous tea master.

After three rounds the results were as follows:

  • Aroma        13
  • Clarity         11
  • Sweetness  11
  • Viscosity     13
  • Astringency 11
  • Huigan        13
  • Qi                 8

Reflections

The Puer Junky regards this Jingmai as far better than average.  At this stage it still expresses bright and clean notes.  Given the lineage of this production, it is not suspect in the least.  The viscosity, aroma, and huigan place it in rarefied aire.  It’s lowest mark is in qi about which the Puerh Junky can be particularly rigid.

This Wild Jingmai is an offering that has fantastic storage potential.  GPE is a factory that goes back to ’99.  They are known for their ripe squares (fangcha) and this particular Wild Jingmai production.  Their raw material centers around the Simao terrior, with a house style that is big on taste.  This is the best Jingmai cake that the Puerh Junky has tasted since 2013.

Conclusions

There is no need to be overly long winded about the Wild Jingmai.  It is a young puerh that is drinkable now but with at least 20 yrs history behind its production.  It is in the floral class of puerhs, not exactly Zen and maybe a little bit macho without smoke or tobacco notes.  This isn’t the piercing florality of first flush productions.  The word that came up was “fresca”.   Puerh Rating: Wild Jingmai

80/105, B

Puerh Rating: Fu

Posted on by Yang-chu
09 Oct

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on Fu.  This is a ’12 Zhongcha/KMTF raw cake that has been storing in Los Angeles since ’15.  This cake harkens back to a simpler time in purchasing puerh.  Then Zhongcha offerings sold for easily one-third what they do now.  The “Fu” character on the wrapper is not the new year “fu” (福) but conveys a similar sense of fullness and richness through fragrance (香).

After three rounds the results were as follows:

  • Aroma        7
  • Clarity         9
  • Sweetness  8
  • Viscosity
  • Astringency 12
  • Huigan         10
  • Qi

Reflections

April 2016

Zhongcha‘s Fu rates highly in terms of viscosity and straight average in terms of sweetness and clarity.  The sweetness holds steady from one infusion to the next.  Clarity increases while viscosity wanes slightly.

Conversely, there isn’t much of a huigan.  This proves a poor trade-off because the astringency is fierce and greatly displeasing to the Puerh Junky.  It does have a noticeable qi that is steady and smooth.

The Kunming Tea Factory (KMTF) productions after ’11 seem to fall into the category of too young and undrinkable or young and soon-to-be undrinkable.  This is all in the evolution of raw puerh.  It is an unfolding mystery.  With Fu an interesting progression is noted in the lack of clarity of the broth at the third infusion.

Infusion #3

This lack of clarity is neither indicative of processing or material flaws, but rather of the tea itself being in the midst of cooking.  At an earlier stage, factors had yet coalesced to enter the cooking stage.  Now Fu is cooking and it tastes raw as raw can be.  It’s not exactly like a “recipe” formula but has many nods to the concept.

All attributes considered, this tastes its primarily comprised of Bulang material.

Conclusions

In 2020 Fu has entered it 8th year.  It is not the same joyous production that it was initially.  There is lots of fruit and sweetness in the liquor but a pronounced bitterness on top of astringency make this puerh cake enter the “too young” for drinking stage.  This is not a Zen category production but an anti-Zen.  I is not macho.  The tastes are too playful, the aroma floral and fruity.  There is no hint of smoke, petrol, or darker notes to suggest macho.  No.  Fu is that brat that needs to go to “time-out” (for five years).  Some people like bratty: bitter and astringent.  Those constantly drinking young tea might find appealing.  The Puerh Junky on this account must graciously defer and consider it nothing better than a gut buster.  At a minimum three years TTP.  Puerh Rating: Fu

56/105, C

Puerh Rating: Quincy

Posted on by Yang-chu
07 Oct

The Puerh Junky Rating System (PJRS) takes on Quincy.  This is another production from ’07 by the LME.  A fair amount has been said about this puerh factory.  The Puerh Junky carries a number of their productions.  They have a level of integrity, while being great everyday drinkers given the price.

After three rounds the results were as follows:

  • Aroma        14
  • Clarity        12
  • Sweetness  7
  • Viscosity      7
  • Astringency 12
  • Huigan         10
  • Qi

Reflections

Sept 2020

For starters, Quincy takes a real hit in terms of qi.  For what is supposed to be old tree material, this production has never struck me as one for qi.  That can be a good thing if you’re just looking for a drink.  The sweetness and viscosity are also slightly below average.  Those preferring drier and lighter texture would find this appealing.

In terms of clarity, the final results don’t show that it starts out great then grows gradually cloudy.  This trend probably continues for another two infusions before getting pretty.  As far as astringency is concerned, it maintains an evenness a very mild astringency level throughout.  All of the ’07 LME offerings are decidedly smooth and not astringent.

The most outstanding feature of Quincy is its aroma, which still pops.  However, this is likely to be a somewhat unfamiliar aroma among drinkers of young tea.  This aroma only develops after the raw puerh has aged at least six year.  At least.  These are notes that are simply not present in young tea, malto meal, medicinal linaments your grand parents used.

Conclusions

There is no way around the unique flavour profile of Quincy.  The Puerh Junky has tasted a handful of such unique profiles.  To be honest, the closest association is with Raid lawn mosquito spray from a can, something I haven’t been exposed to since the mid 80s.  Associations like laundry soap or baby powder are far more common in puerh.  The petrol taste is a class in itself.  Here even though the taste has petrol elements, they are far more medicinal.  Puerh Rating: Quincy

62/105 C

 

Hawt Puerh: Monkey 6FTM

Posted on by Yang-chu
06 Oct

On Monday to mark Labor Day 2020, I decided on Hawt Puerh: Money 6FTM.  I didn’t subject it to the PJRS.  I just wanted to check in to see where it was, already having ascended to the top-self of Puerh Junkiedom by virtue of its collectability.

Monkey Closeup

The ’04 Monkey is the first in an extremely popular Lunar Series by 6FTM.  It’s made from early spring material.  The recipe has never changed.  It’s a punchy floral qi-heavy, mouth-blasting forbearance.  It expresses the quintessential Fengqing character.

This rascal has been aging in Los Angeles since ’14.  It probably is responsible for the wrapper fetish.  It has been stored between the controlled conditions of the fridge and hot/variable container.  Maybe two years ago, to baby the wrapper, I placed it in a cardboard box, one slightly different from the normal puerh boxes but one used for that very purpose nonetheless.

Untattered Wrapper

Reflections

First, that box has contaminated some of the taste.  I’ve placed the Monkey in plastic and back in the box and will check in on at end of year.  The taste isn’t particularly strong, but I don’t like it.  On writing this, I’m going to take it from the box and keep it in plastic and check at year’s end.

Second, it is simply not possible to drink this and not compare it to Poison.  Both are 6FTM Lunar productions.  Poison came into my possession in Jul 2020.  It is Kunming stored but by people who really know what they’re doing.  Poison is more aged and as active as Monkey.  Monkey has old-book (can you say cardboard) note with root beer, as the floral notes emerge with each infusion.  Poison is pure root beer and there isn’t any other layer.  It’s pure Poison.

Infusion 3

Third, the durability of the Monkey is a great disappointment.  I only goes five infusions before starting to fade and it actually bottoms out in the 7th or 8th.  Poison doesn’t bottom out, EVER.

Conclusion

The ’04 Monkey is a “hawt” puerh commodity.  It has a pleasing depth of flavor and dynamism in the mouthfeel.  Still, five infusions is a shade short for most productions, particularly of this age.  I don’t ever recall noticing such a short lifespan previously.  It was brewed in gaiwan and infusion times were the typical flash-10s.  In short, Poison casts such a shadow over Monkey that it is only possible to be mildly entertained by it, not floored.  If one is a committed wrapper junky or a collector it’s worth having, otherwise its price extreme for the judicious junky.