7452 601 vs 901 Red Ribbon Party

Yes the tea closet has become a shu closet.  Instead of the over-exposed oft-blogged about Dayi classic- the 7542,  we transpose the center digits to end up with the humble shu cousin 7452.  The wodui process was invented in 1973 so you can see this early recipe from '74 was good enough survive four decades.  Lightly fermented recipes like 7452 technically leave a little more hope for improvement in aging and if you have to hoard shu- they can be a better way to go.  In the eight years I've held the 601 cake, it's become a few notches more interesting but not so compelling that I seriously regret not hoarding a tong.

Two pointers for Menghai shu noobs:

1. Batch numbers indicate year and release, i.e. 601= 1st batch release of 2006 (although could also be for 1996,1986... with the decade inferred) and 901=2009 first release. Of course the first batch has higher collectible value but whether or not it potentially indicates slightly higher quality leaves is not always clear.  I've never had a side by side tasting of different batches for the same year so I cannot say but I've had first, second and third batches which seem to have that consistent Menghai quality.  The 601 was released in May of 2006 while the 901 was released relatively late in October.

2. 7542 is not a recipe made consistently every year.  The red ribbon here just denotes that it was re-released after a hiatus(sometimes as brief as a year) and that it is the first batch of that year.  Given the puerh boom and difficulty in getting decent maocha for even sheng, I'm not surprised Dayi did not release a 2008 version.  Does the red ribbon in your cake count for more than an extra special feeling?  As with anything in puerh, a red ribbon alone cannot be trusted as a absolute mark of quality.  I've had pretty good cakes that do not boast that special red ribbon and red ribbon cakes which are not that exciting. Sadly the 901 currently belongs that latter group.

Is there a logical color coded scheme to reflect fermentation levels on the Menghai shus?  Lighter recipes like the 7452 appear to be wrapped in a burnt umber cover. However supposedly moderately cooked recipes like 7572 came in a dark chestnut brown cover in 2006 but now have a raw umber print. What to make of the yellow wrapper for the 901?  Does this indicate a lighter fermentation than previous years?  On visual inspection, the 901 pictured left is noticeably lighter that the 601 but three years is not a significant amount of time to transform.  But the post mortem does not confirm my hypothesis.

901 is an initial disappointment-somewhat flat and quiet; I may need to condition it inside a ceramic canister for a month or even let it rest a few years.  The 601 back in the day was not terribly impressive either and that is why I didn't buy more.  I brew up the 601 today and immediately the more lively mouth feel makes me feel I might do well to have a few more 7452s on hand.  I'm on the fence now whether to buy more 901s but I need not worry as someone has already bought the last 20+ cakes from YS as Scott had maintained an unusually low price of $27. You snooze you loose in the world of puerh.  The 601s go for $65+ with high risk of fakes so I'm not tempted.

Despite the pending dangers of missing out, My husband gave me a stern stern talking to about not pre-buying more tea to fill up the new cabinets he is building over the winter. My desk is always unusable but it's become an eyesore with Kunming Post boxes piled high. The photo shows about 10 days of shipments. I can't get any more until I clear this backlog some how...  

Aged Pomelo Stuffed Oolong and Puerh

What am I doing with such an assortment of stuffed pomelos?  The first fat death star of a pomelo I got ten years ago from Samovar Tea for $65- a princely sum for tea back then.  But my husband had a persistent cough and I read on the internet with some hope that these were a natural cure.   Samovar Tea advertised the vintage as 1993 which could be up for debate. I also drunk a loose leaf puerh advertised on their menu as being "1950 Vintage Ancient and Amazing" at Samovar back in 2005- a story for another time. 

These pomelo skins were hollowed out, stuffed with steamed oolong and licorice and then charcoal fired to oblivion.  It's pretty cheap grade oolong judging by the broken leaves and stems. Why would anyone use top grade leaf for something you're going to flavor and bake to death. The brewed tea leaves are carbonized jet black.  I've read Hakka tea farmers in Taiwan commonly make this type tea for medicinal purposes but I'm suspecting the versions I have is bottom grade Wuyishan yancha.

The Samovar version was misadvertised as being stuffed with puerh and it's definitely oolong.  This tea did little to cure my husband's cough but it was tasty enough for me to search for more.  Lightly smoky, the comforting citrus notes of this tea is just the thing to warm you up on cold rainy days. The next speciment I found was dated 2001 from Seven Cups but the tea proved still too astringent to drink even in 2006 which made me wonder if the Seven Cups version was either potentially younger than advertised or such pomelos require at least eight years to reach drinkability.  The type of astringency is what I've often experienced with young roasted yancha.  I would estimate the Samovar 1993 version was at least five years old when I got it in 2004 making it at least as old as 1999.  

Two pomelos were not enough to satiate me and I bought three more from Holy Mountain Tea. They are the youngest at 2003 and I have yet to even crack them open.

Do you see the odd man out in the above photo? The gaudy hot pink wiggly ribbon should tell you there is something more exciting going on.  I went on one last pomelo rampage in February of 2006 and got two puerh stuffed you zi cha(2002) from YS. These appear not to be baked but sun dried and were advertised as being "Pomelo Sweated Puerh".  The citrus taste can definitely overpower the gong ting loose shu.  You can sometimes lighten and perk up other boring shu with tiny pieces of pomelo skin. I generally prefer my teas naked but a marriage of citrus and tea can be a fruitful one.

If you are wondering, age appears not to make the tea any more wonderful.  Being baked to death, there is no more transformation besides mellowing out. It may wrongly appear I drink a lot of this tea but in reality, I gave most of the missing chunks away. I hoard this tea mostly because of the lovely pomelo scent that relaxes me.  It's too expensive to put out as potpourri so I bring out the storage boxes to sniff them from time to time.  

This Week in Tea - Last October Roundup

Yes- a whole group of people drank tea and had opinions, but this week saw way more tea blogging excitement than usual.  I think I'll do a weekly round up for historic humor purposes.  Without further ado,  I present to you this week in tea:

• Jakub shares a confession that he is gay... for old tea that is.  Did you gasp? Or nod your head knowingly...
• Hobbes brutalizes not only shah8's literary sensibilities but the shah's metrosexual sensitivities  by over dramatizing the masculinity of a tea session with Apache in an epic 21 photo post.  Note to Hobbes- don't forget shah8 is also sensitive to babies and other diabetes inducing cuteness. 
• The professor pricks yet another reality needle into the balloon of those attempting DIY home aging. (Aww, I know my tea is totally dry and not aging...)  Now he's deep steeped in tea history of Oriental Beauty in a visit to Taiwan which reminds us that tea study is his day job too.
• Pulling Radishes after a summer absence returns with a detailed photo layout of her fully built pumidor.  How many of you are ogling her stash instead of her setup?
• Emmett innocently shows us another lovely bonsai only to have Jakub interpret the tree form as tree porn. Sometimes the action is all in the comments. 
• Wilson shows some XG love with 3 Gold Ribbon tuos.  Emmett and Wilson must meet on-line for an XG lovefest.
• Last but not least-Matt drank the juiciest 1000 day aged balhyocha on the planet. (It's the only time I've seen him use the word "juicy"  5 times in one entry. Who doesn't want to enjoy some quintuply juicy tea. )