Tonight I had a different post about the investment growth of my collection but again my husband sabotaged the topic by casually mentioning, "I've been brewing this sheng since Friday and it's good as sh**." Then seeing my speechless expression he showed me the box and said quite sincerely, "I thought it was just some random cheap little beeng
nobody cared about." Nobody?
When you live with one other person, the terms nobody, somebody, everybody refers singularly to you. I'm just sad I've been so distracted that I don't even know what's brewing right under my nose so I missed on out the early brews. No matter how many times I've shown my husband the special box with the LBZ's and Yiwu's, he'll never remember.
This one is not considered special in my collection but was stuck in my prized box because there was a tiny spot to cram it in. I want him to avail himself to my sheng, I just want advance notice so I can interrogate him on the tasting. To be fair, it really is a cheap little beeng I got for $6 from Yunnan Sourcing. Since my husband drank it for four days running, you can say this tea is definitely enduring and potent even though it's not the best blue label grade of zhengpin. I brew up new leaves in my thumb pot to get a better impression. It's still slightly smoky and astringent for an 8 year old but you get a nice Yiwu huigan fairly quickly. Not the greatest Yiwu I've had but I'm still stoked I got it for $6 back in the day, wish I bought few more for gifting. That big chunk taken out was recently mailed away.
My husband also assured me, "Don't worry. I only took the already broken off leaves." His brewed leaves definitely don't look like fannings to me. I'm glad he really enjoyed it and I dutifully update the "Husband Rating" on my inventory program.
Just for kicks, I've put my original recipt so you can see what $100 could buy you back in May 4th 2006. The Yiwu mini was labeled "Chang Tai Pure Ancient Tree" but it probably isn't gushu or it doesn't exactly feel like other ancient trees I've had. Despite the terrible Berkeley aging conditions, I actually don't regret buying any of it except the DeHong Wild Arbor - I cannot think of a better way I could have spent a Benjamin back in 2006.
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| Item Title | Quantity | Price | Subtotal |
| Premium Big Red Robe * Da Hong Pao * Red Oolong Tea 4oz | 1 | $9.99 USD | $9.99 USD |
| 2001 Feng Qing Factory * Ripe Aged Pu-erh Tea Cake | 1 | $24.95 USD | $24.95 USD |
| Premium Jingmai Golden Pu-erh Tea * Loose Leaf * 100g | 1 | $8.50 USD | $8.50 USD |
| 2006 Menghai Factory * Pu-erh Caravan Yunnan to Tibet | 1 | $14.89 USD | $14.89 USD |
| 2005 Chang Tai * Pure Ancient Tree Yi Wu Mountain cake | 1 | $6.00 USD | $6.00 USD |
| 2005 Mengku Banzhang Ancient Tree Pu-erh Tea Brick 100g | 1 | $6.50 USD | $6.50 USD |
| 2006 Menghai Factory * Pu-erh Caravan Yunnan to Tibet | 1 | $14.99 USD | $14.99 USD |
| Wild Arbor Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake from Dehong * 250 grams | 2 | $8.40 USD | $16.80 USD |
|
| Subtotal: | $102.62 USD |
| Shipping & Handling via Standard Delivery (includes any seller handling fees) | $22.00 USD |
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| Total: | $124.62 USD |
How are those Mengku minibricks doing?
ReplyDeleteNever tried because:
Delete1. the bricks are so tight and tiny, it's impossible to pry off anything off
2. I have the YS White label 05 Mengku LBZ beeng that are made from the same leaves (probably the bricks are made from the cast off left over machoa from the been processing.)
3. LBZ no good for me.
Have you tried the Mengku LBZ in your samples box? Kind of curious to see if it's really LBZ.
"When you live with one other person, the terms nobody, somebody, everybody refers singularly to you" - too funny :)
ReplyDeletei do believe your husband is quite a puerh drinker.
"Somebody left all this tea stuff on the table and now we can't have dinner!"
DeleteThank god someone is drinking my teas in quantity because it's not me. But he's strangely not picky and picky at the same time. He will drink anything. That flat stale 2003 Dadugang Elabora Mansa I can't bother to drink- he says it provides him a low key steady energy all day long. But then he's fairly tight lipped with his praise.
H
The item there that's really surprising to me is the Da Hong Pao for $10/4 oz. That seems astonishing--my immediate thought is that it must be an incredibly low grade--I don't recall ever tasting a decent yancha for under $7/oz. Thoughts?
ReplyDelete"Premium" quality as advertised! Actually it was so burningly astringent, I wasn't able to drink it back in 2006. I tried it this summer and it's still not drinkable. I'm going to wait a few more decades. I have not tasted a lot of yancha- budget or high end- so I can't say how it really compares.
DeleteBack in 2006 Yunnan Sourcing had seriously low grade loose leaf teas, some of them, anyway. I'd imagine things have improved a bit. At the same time, prices have risen for all types of teas.
DeleteScott's dianhong were pretty good back then as was his yunnan silver needles- much better than anything I got locally. Actually I almost think the dianhong was better back then.
DeleteTrue, I should restrict my comments to his oolongs.
DeleteWow those Mengku mini bricks from LBZ are really cheap, btw are those authentic ancient tree bricks??? Am keen to know anyone who had tried it?
ReplyDeleteCheers
I did not like them that much. I think that all the Mengku LBZ (2005,6,9,10 cakes, as well as this brick) are rather ordinary teas. The newer are at least priced rather reasonably, but the 2005,6 started picking up prices of real LBZ, which I'm not quite sure they are.
DeleteJakub