04 Tong Chang Huang Ji Yiwu

I had planned to hunker down tonight with silver tips sent to me by Wilson when my husband casually mentioned that he had dipped into my samples box earlier today.  He said the tea he had "was some strong stuff".  You can only imagine  the expression on my face.. "What tea! What tea!" I demanded to know.

My husband can't figure out why I'm constantly forcing him to drink tea against his will but will get mad when he does so out of his own free will.  There's certain boxes which are strictly hands-off but the sheer proliferation of boxes recently has introduced some household confusion.  Puerh spouses and partners suffer much from our ways but tea addiction I remind those concerned is leaps better than being a meth addict.

 I've been saving this 04 Yiwu Chun Jian(同昌黄记) from Ira for a big Yiwu tasting party but now am forced to enjoy leftover brews tonight.  My husband wagered that he could probably brew this tea all tomorrow; to his credit, he will drink a sheng for days until the water runs clear.  Since I'm enjoying the nth end of the day brew- the taste is rather quiet- the leaves brew up quite dark.

Ira procured this Tong Chang Huang Ji from Yunnan Sourcing after reading MarshalN's Confessions of a white paper cake hunter.  It's rare he ever recommends something you can order so easily on-line, so I can imagine how swiftly Ira took action.  This tea is long sold out so I'm happy to have an in with this tea.  Wilson sent two lovely hand painted tea cups which I was planning to save for drinking his teas alone but they looked empty and lonely tonight. 

This tea is probably one of the few shengs I prefer to sip cold- I can only taste the Yiwu as it cools- strangely enough the soup also has a thicker mouthfeel when cold.   When hot, the tea still has the faintest barest hint of wet/humid storage from a life in JingHong at the southern tip of Yunnan.   

After a long long day of conference going, it's positively a joy to sit and fiddle with leaves. The leaves are plump and respectable- you can see some of the leaves are blistering and have aged quite a bit for a nine year old.  Early wet storage in childhood then a dry adulthood I've found to be a good combo for aging sheng. (I barely have one eye propped open as I tap this post out tonight.)