2023 年 1 月茶俱乐部

2nd time with this tea and still not a fan. It's incredibly earthy with a lot of dirt, wood, and moss notes. Smells of the mulch aisle at a hardware store. That said, I'm conflicted because later steeps get less earthy and unveil a slight sweetness that is really quite nice. So the rating goes right in the middle. The color of the liquor is a gorgeous shade of amber brown. Least favorite tea from the January 2023 collection. Working through additional sessions of January Club teas. Got February teas yesterday, so need to make room 😀

A week ago I was in a meeting where this tea was tested. I didn't have the tea with me at that time, but I remember Radoslawa mentioned that the tea was flat. I understand now what she meant. I think it's an interesting experience, to notice the effects of different types of storage during again Seng. But i must say this is not my favorite Seng. I prefer the ones that leave that aftertaste that last longer.

A very odd flavor. Still not sure if I like it or not, but at least it’s interesting. It gets better with each infusion. What an… interesting… tea to say the least. My first time trying a wet storage tea so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The dry leaves smelled musty, like a wet basement, and at first, it tasted woody and like wet earth. I began to like it more with each infusion, so maybe I just need to do two rinses.

Eyes - Dry Leaf: deep brown leaves and hairy buds Nose - Dry Leaf: moss/mushrooms, old wood, and a hint of early developing camphor Nose - Wet Leaf: root vegetables (rutabaga?), deep moss Eyes - Liquor: thick, cloudy, medium-orange-to-rust-colored liquor Mouth - Texture: thick and round Mouth - Taste: an assortment of earthy notes (rutabaga, moss, wet wood), with a distinct caramelized sweetness and a soft, almost mentholated taste of camphor in development Mouth - Finish: sweet, pleasant, and slightly bright with the menthol/camphor note; later infusions reveal a juicy and sticky dried apricot note, which lasts in the mouth and on the lips Nose - Empty Cup: moss/mushrooms and old wood Eyes - Wet Leaf: deep olive to brown leaves and buds Body - Sensation: potently relaxed and light, with a distinct tea drunk qi Wonderful developing tea, with the hallmarks of a good wet aged tea without the wet basement stink (indicative of quality Guangdong aging). I’ve traditionally thought Gaungdong produces a wonderfully balanced aging character and this (relatively young) aged tea just goes to show that. An awesome showing from another of this month’s teas! I love Guangdong storage and this is no exception. Lots of depth and earthiness that persists through the infusions, opening up to a bit of fruitiness later! Truly excellent!

Trying out a lower temp than what is recommended and only using 3gm since I’m starting this session in the early afternoon. Went for the full 212°F for the second half of the steepings New to pu’erhs so I can’t say much about comparing this to others. I did enjoy this quite a bit and can see how pu’erhs are considered good digestive teas. Wish I had started this session earlier in the day. I will also try more leaf next time.

Very nice clean tasting tea. Nice subtle notes, but hard to pinpoint any real flavor tasting notes. That's why I'm giving this 3 stars and not 3.5 because no flavor wanted to be the "hero." Slightly dry aftertaste. Want to give this a higher rating, but I wish this would have a more defined flavor. Very smooth, enjoyable tea, but will be ultimately forgettable since no flavors wanted to stand out and be prominent.

Very interesting transition from bitter and tart (moving to sweet) with lots of stomach activity in the first infusions, moving to vanilla/honeyed sweetness later on. Was soapy in my first tasting, but it’s become softer now as a pleasant element of minerality. Second tasting of this tea, much better than the first.

Awkward stage perhaps? Drying, mineral, green, slight citrus, strong stomach effect, slight camphor or cooling This is a hard tea but spending time with friends in #myteapalclub

From yesterday. More bite several rounds in than the other 2 I've tried from this month's tea, but still very enjoyable. Tried out my cute teapot, too. It seemed to soften the tea a bit. And I boiled the leaves after this. Curious how others liked it.

A friend gifted me a bottle of mineral water, and I tried brewing this aged sheng from our Jan. 2023 tea club. Its taste was muted due to the high TDS value: 482. Although the water brand is famous and expensive, it wasn’t suitable for this tea. I switched back to my regular mineral water, Nongfu Shanquan, and this tea’s full flavor was finally released. It's amazing to experience again the incredible difference that water brings to tea.

A wonderful Sheng. Spent a nice time at the casual gathering today finishing up my Yiwu Dashu. A wonderful tea. Woody and mineral notes.

Delightful, very lovely with the teapot. Starts off extremely woody but switches to a chalky minerality. Delicious. Switching it up for this Casual Gathering. I’ve been drinking mostly fresh greens and yancha for the last two months, so I thought I’d break out some Aged Sheng today. It was very woody at the beginning, but turned toward a mineral taste toward the middle.

Hint of smokiness throughout each session. Sweetness builds in the mouth with flavors of a prune with a little tartness. Woody, dry aroma & a touch of grassiness that make the mouth juicy. Cool minty sensation with breath. A delcious sip to get me going this morning.

Overall a very nice tea. Not one I would buy very often as the dry mouth feel is a bit intense (even unpleasant) in the mid session (and why this won't get 4 stars). Love the strong apricot flavor, especially the last couple steeps when the mouth dryness wasn't as bad. Reminded me of eating dry apricots and how they can make your mouth dry. The smoky notes were nice and not overpowering tastewise, and were sweet and nice in smell like pipe tobacco. Quite a noticeable change depending on the pour - more smoky for side pours and more fruity for direct pours.

Very pleasant tea, I enjoyed it even more with company. Complex and characteristic of its region. Great tea, just as good the second time around.

This was a hard tea for me at first because the strong drying and camphor notes almost left a stinging sensation and I couldn’t discern any sweetness. The wet leaves are sweet, leather, blackberry, black current, and some kind of greenery. I changed the teapot from duanni to zhuni and the tea got soft and much more fruit with a kind of licorice bark cooling. Strong stomach and third eye effects at the beginning but About 7th steep the Qi is quite calming and elivating. Almost feeling a little stoned. This was quite the tea journey today with tea pal friends! Tea in a Duanni, was super aggressive and almost uncomfortable for the first 4 steeps, but at the suggestion of switching the pot to a Zhuni, it became a lovely delight! The difference was immediate! At about steep 7-8 I noticed the Qi was very calming and almost elevating. Lots of third eye tingles.

This is my first Aged Sheng, so I have no basis for comparison, but I quite like the fruity flavor of this tea. Its sweet and fruity. The finish is great. My first time trying Aged Sheng. This tea was very interesting. The dry leaves smelled delightful, like wood chips and mint, but it tasted sweet, developing a fruity note over the first few infusions reminiscent of dried plums or apricots.

Eyes - Dry Leaf: dark-brown, compressed, somewhat large leaves and some buds Nose - Dry Leaf: sweet tobacco and wood Nose - Wet Leaf: burning tobacco and incense Eyes - Liquor: orange, slighty cloudy liquor Mouth - Texture: medium and slightly oily Mouth - Taste: sweet tobacco and sandalwood incense moving to a cherry/orange peel and floral sweetness. Lots of minerality. Mouth - Finish: very sweet, with honey, fruit, and florals. Very mineral character and a bit of a dry to juicy transition. Nose - Empty Cup: honeyed sweetness Eyes - Wet Leaf: plump but tender leaves in varying shades of olive to brown Body - Sensation: strongly relaxing qi Very nice sheng, with the balanced character I love from a mid-aged Yiwu.

Definitely some good quality leaves but this is not my cup of tea. I have to keep brewing to understand if it's the terroir i don't like or the aging taste. I'm particularly surprised that this tea is still slightly bitter after 13 year of aging, i expect something smoother. For fungus sweetness and mellowness ll rather have a good fu. Change my mind First experience with aged sheng failed ( like my friendship with Natealia )

Minty, menthol after taste. Floral and vegetable. Slick mouth feel with a building layer in mouth. Soft tingle. This is a different taste to me (from other aged sheng I’ve tasted). Drying on tongue but not uncomfortable bitters shows but mellow fast. A lovely afternoon tasting a sheng club tea for the first time. I am thrilled there is more for additional tastings.

Wonderful sheng. Very interesting flavors, like tasting it with the clay pot. First Sheng in my new pot on this Saturday afternoon. Didn’t quite like the pot with oolongs as I felt it muted too many of the flavors. May try it with one or two black teas but I think this will be mostly a Sheng pot. The tea itself was just as good as I remembered it being, although I used slightly less than I would in a gaiwan. It worked fine once I got to the second infusion. Thinking next time either I will use more tea or do two rinses. Since finishing the tea I am feeling absolutely wired. Perhaps I should have eaten lunch before cleaning up…

A very good aged sheng. Sweet and bitter, with floral and woody notes. A very interesting tea. Lots of different notes and it smells amazing.

First infusion of 20 secs I got a taste of how incense smells. It wasn't unpleasant. Wondering whether it was aged in a room where I consent has been burned frequently? Second infusion of 30 secs, the fruitiness came which I like. Great brightness to the liquor throughout the infusions. And very clear.

The main taste is still only okay for me -- sweet leather -- but the aftertaste is nice enough that this is the first pu-erh tea I'm rating above three! It's fruity and very sweet. The color is also a lovely golden.

I nice approachable Sheng with enjoyable minerality, viscosity, creamy (almost butter at first) , a bit of vegetal, subtle sweetness in later steepings. I changed from gaiwan to Duanni and really appreciated the Duanni’s rounding out the initial minerality punch Another great tea session with #myteapalclub. Really enjoyable Sheng with apricot, creamy, mineral. And after two years of being confused with this duanni, I finally found what tea it likes!! Yippee 🥳

Eyes - Dry Leaf: large hairy buds and leaves, with signs of developing oxidation Nose - Dry Leaf: sandalwood, (some) tobacco, vanilla, and dried apricot Nose - Wet Leaf: sweet tobacco, sandalwood, apricot, forest honey Eyes - Liquor: classic sheng pale viscous yellow Mouth - Texture: smooth and mellow Mouth - Taste: very smooth honeyed taste, with a bit of tobacco and a teasing minerality Mouth - Finish: floral/fruity aromatic sweetness and a dry, tingling minerality which moves to juiciness Nose - Empty Cup: fennel seed, tobacco, and apricot Eyes - Wet Leaf: large, plump olive buds and green to green-brown leaves Body - Sensation: very potently relaxed and chilled out, more caffeinated in later infusions Tried the 2013 Mangfei Dashu from the January club. Younger tasting than I expected for a loose tea of this age, but very pleasant!