Finally mold

On a brick shu I got in SF earlier this year. There was just a smidge under the neifei. I already mentioned a very fragrant CNNP sheng bought at the same time drying up in my arid climate. I guess the moisture does matter. My putrid piles of shu tongs I bought in 2004 are curing very nicely. All of the objectionable taste is nearly gone. I think in five more years they will be something special. Ive tasted some shu from the early nineties and thats my benchmark.

Jim

Reply to
Space Cowboy
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I wander why Pu'erh get so popular in so short time and enthusiast lik Jim can get so much knowledges and unique opinions, especially fo people is far away from the origin

1, Pu'erh bubble do help more people know about it 2, More research shows Pu'erh is healthy

that's all I know now

Reply to
hong.tea.dao

The reason I got started buying puer in 2000 was the price $10/kilo. That works out to the benchmark price of penny/gram. At that time I was championing Indian teas at the same price being a great bargain for the taste and price. I bailed out of puer in 2005 when I paid $50/ kilo. I didnt know about the bubble but I knew something was up.

I still maintain my contention that puer preserves the taste and doesnt change over time. I can attest that the smell of my puer diminishes. But I expect that of any tea exposed to the environment. Plenty of teas have little dry aroma but still alot of taste. What does change over time are our memories and perceptions. I do allow for the fact that if puer needs humidity to age then I will never see it. So the 90s stuff taste good because it is better leaf before scraping the barrel looking for leaf during the bubble.

Flash back to last weekend's puer tasting. We have somebody show up who reads all the puer blogs but never tasted. He said afterword he learned more in two hours than all the nomenclature used to describe puer. I told him I dont blog because you learn to trust your own taste in tea. But it doesnt hurt to do a reality check ever once in awhile. That person will be going back to Japan to continue advanced education. I told him to be sure to get a PHD in Japanese teas. That will serve him in good stead as much as any degree.

So what have I learned in the past six months of puer tastings. We've never had the same puer twice. I wished I had some of everything weve sampled. I am satisfied with what I have.

AFAIK we were the first to taste a decorative plaque of puer. I brought one from the last SF trip. I brought a chisel and hammer and whack off an edge. Lets say it is prettier on the mantle than in a pot. I was disappointed. Not to give up. I do have a set of 2003 plaques I remember having a good taste which Ill bring next time. If so, then that means recent plaques have reached bottom.

Jim

Reply to
Space Cowboy

Have you tasted well-stored raw (sheng) Pu'er that's at least 30 years old? To me it doesn't taste remotely like any young tea I've ever had.

/Lew

Reply to
Lewis Perin

I simply contend that thirty year old leaf taste different than new leaf because of the nature of the material. You are effectively tasting puer from thirty years ago. I draw from my experience of other teas I have that are easily that old. I know what others say about puer changing magically over time. I simply disagree. I have a

93 old tree sheng loose leaf that is very good. So good I would suspect adulteration but is comparable to other 90s that have showed up at the tastings.

Jim

PS If you believe the f> Space Cowboy writes:

Reply to
Space Cowboy

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