This wrapper is for a sheng his friend pressed from tea leaves sourced through his in-laws who own a mountain with hundred year old tea trees. He gave me a sample of this very 2008 sheng to taste which I have in my queue. (My husband says I have DSB- deadly sheng backup - an acute syndrome caused by having too many untasted unopened shengs to sample. If I tried to taste them all in one sitting, I would probably die. )
My co-worker could not tell me anything more about this sheng but said he would send any questions back to his friend. I will faithfully report back this weekend the tasting.
The wrapper definitely says :
qiaomu gǔshu (乔木; "tall tree", 古树; "old tree").
I wonder about all the unknown sheng productions that in the west we do not have access to, or dont know where to find. Probably some really good stuff out there.
ReplyDeleteSheng overdose!!
That would would be a good way to go...
Emmett- I think it's more the aged good stuff that we don't get in the West. MarshalN says the real good stuff is in Hong Kong and rest of Asia because that's where the real market resides.
DeleteI think we do get pretty good sheng in the West even if we have to pay through the nose to get it.
Of course what you and I and every other pu-erh blogger out there want are great cakes selling at a reasonable price. I haven't hit jackpot in my summer buying spree but I've only managed to taste less than 15% thus far.
H
Looks more like a gift bing for a conference this friend attended. You sure it's pressed by someone he knows?
ReplyDeleteDear MarshalN,
DeleteYou never cease to amaze me with your hyper skepticism. My co-worker said that this childhood friend used to do just a sideline with the leaves pressed from his wife's family mountain. But now his friend spends most of his time traveling sourcing mao cha from other farmers as he can't keep up with demand.
But I'll more thoroughly interrogate the poor generous soul next week. I think I can get him in a room with a bare hanging lightbulb and just a wooden table and wooden chairs. (Actually I was going to take him out to a Sichuan restaurant for lunch and ask him more...)
h
True knowledge only comes with continually asking questions. :)
DeleteI just asked because it's weird how a personal pressed bing will have some conference name on it. Leftover wrappers being used for other purposes is not unknown, but it's an odd choice, that's all.