Last summer, Ira and I were supposed to try the YS and China Cha Dao samples but at that time my body really could not tolerate most teas and certainly not brash young sheng so we sadly did not come together. But today we happily reunite for a day of tea.
First we tried the 90s Tongchang Huangji aged sheng. For seventy bucks including shipping, it's a decent cup that we can down without trouble. If you don't have it, you're not missing out terribly. It's probably an early 2000 cake like the similarly billed nineties Ding Xing. If you're tired of shus like me and your sheng is nowhere near ready to drink, it's good to have alternatives from time to time. But beware, the stuff is pretty dry stored but I think it's better for me to get used to it since my cakes may very well end up like that.
It turns out Ira now drinks almost all shus these days as newborn shengs are off limits. So the tea party quickly became a shu party all around. I think there is nearly not enough warning against over-consuming new sheng as it can wreak havoc on your stomach lining for certain body types. I know of enough drinkers who have developed such problems and was surprised that even MarshalN spoke of stomach troubles back in 2008. I think if you start having even a little trouble- it's good to recognize you could be seriously damaging your stomach lining and immediately give your body a rest.
After restarting my blog in 2012, I masochistically went on drinking newborn sheng although not as recklessly as I did in 2006. This time around, my body started reacting violently towards any green tea even weak oolong and it took more than half a year of drinking herbal tisanes to work back up to just oolongs. These days I'm not even tempted to even lay my eyes on any sheng younger than 2006. (Although my eyes briefly ogled the 2011 HLH Chawang 2 just to reel from the mighty price of $640. $640!!! $640 for a 2011!!! I really should have taken Jakub's Birthday Beeng advice on the 2010 Chawang which also has a 100% uptick )
Ira and I actually did not brew up the pictured over-the-top 2011 AK-47 Guevera Shu that she brought. The wodui smell on it was still too much for me as I'm used to my completely aired out hoard of shus. I brewed the 06 De Hong for her and she definitely agreed it was more lively and interesting than your average shu. She thought we could experiment more mixing little bits of sheng with shu.
First we tried the 90s Tongchang Huangji aged sheng. For seventy bucks including shipping, it's a decent cup that we can down without trouble. If you don't have it, you're not missing out terribly. It's probably an early 2000 cake like the similarly billed nineties Ding Xing. If you're tired of shus like me and your sheng is nowhere near ready to drink, it's good to have alternatives from time to time. But beware, the stuff is pretty dry stored but I think it's better for me to get used to it since my cakes may very well end up like that.It turns out Ira now drinks almost all shus these days as newborn shengs are off limits. So the tea party quickly became a shu party all around. I think there is nearly not enough warning against over-consuming new sheng as it can wreak havoc on your stomach lining for certain body types. I know of enough drinkers who have developed such problems and was surprised that even MarshalN spoke of stomach troubles back in 2008. I think if you start having even a little trouble- it's good to recognize you could be seriously damaging your stomach lining and immediately give your body a rest.
After restarting my blog in 2012, I masochistically went on drinking newborn sheng although not as recklessly as I did in 2006. This time around, my body started reacting violently towards any green tea even weak oolong and it took more than half a year of drinking herbal tisanes to work back up to just oolongs. These days I'm not even tempted to even lay my eyes on any sheng younger than 2006. (Although my eyes briefly ogled the 2011 HLH Chawang 2 just to reel from the mighty price of $640. $640!!! $640 for a 2011!!! I really should have taken Jakub's Birthday Beeng advice on the 2010 Chawang which also has a 100% uptick )
Ira and I actually did not brew up the pictured over-the-top 2011 AK-47 Guevera Shu that she brought. The wodui smell on it was still too much for me as I'm used to my completely aired out hoard of shus. I brewed the 06 De Hong for her and she definitely agreed it was more lively and interesting than your average shu. She thought we could experiment more mixing little bits of sheng with shu.
Nice thing about shu is that you can lunch up with it. After multiple days of restaurant over- indulgence this week, I unfairly served Ira simpler lunch fare- porkloin sandwiches on quinoa millet sourdough with a totally totally Berkeley style salad- a dandelion peach fennel feta salad with home made elderberry flower vinegar. (I totally forgot to fry up the duck egg to put on top of the pork loin. Regret city. Sorry Ira, sorry. )When you are with a kindred tea spirit, it's fun and a special treat to chat exclusively and intensely about tea without the burden of burning out your conversation partner. My husband's limit on tea talk is about 15 minutes a day on days he is receptive to tea talk. I have been secretly trying to increase his tolerance daily but he's on to me so I'm exceedingly grateful for my time with Ira.
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