My first Sheng

Today I have just had the great opportunity to taste the first sheng pu-erh of my life: a six year old green Menghai bingcha shipped from Holy Mountain Teas (P-GMB-99). It has been a very pleasant experience: the tea has a very appealing taste, making me even more eager to explore other shengs.

There is just one thing that I am somewhat surprised over: this tea has distinct smoky overtones, not very different from a Lapsang Souchong. Is it characteristic of all green pu-erhs, or is it just this particular one? I have tasted quite a few black pu-erhs before, but none of them have had this kind of smokiness, which does not really bother me, but anyway I am curious to know...

Thanks Gyorgy

Reply to
Gyorgy Sajo
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It's true of many of them, but by no means all. I think you'll be surprised by the wide range of tastes you'll find in this kind of tea.

/Lew

Reply to
Lewis Perin

This is not characteristic of all green puers, but indeed is of some. As Lew said, you will find a wide and varied road has been opened up to you, enjoy...

Mike

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 22:35:55 +0100, "Gyorgy Sajo" cast caution to the wind and posted:

Reply to
Mike Petro

It's funny that Gyorgy Sajo asked this question, because I have bee pondering about the same question. The only Green pu-erh I have eve tasted is Green Pu-erh loose leaf(P-GPE-1) from Silk Road Teas. Thi also had a smoky taste. Since I am not crazy about Smoky flavors an smells in tea, I just gave up on trying new Green Pu-erhs.

I would love to try some that are less smoky. Can anyone recommen some others that I could try from Silk Road or any other vendors fo that matter? I am also curious about how they become smoky.

teamani

-- teamania

Reply to
teamania

Hello Teamania,

for raw pu erh that are not smoky, I would recommend you raw from Hai wan factory or Meng Hai Tea Factory. ~ SEb

Reply to
SEb

The one with the smoky taste that I have tried was exactly a raw pu-erh from the Menghai factory. So do they have some which are not smoky? If yes, how can one find them? I have ordered the Menghai because I have read so many high opinions about their bingchas.

Gyorgy

Reply to
Gyorgy Sajo

Well, it is not really much help, but you can always ask the vendor before ordering. I have just asked Rae from Holy Mountain, and he answered that "if my memory serves me well" (sic!), the Aged Green Brick and the Pressed Green Cake pu-erh does not have a smoky quality to the tea.

Gyorgy

Reply to
Gyorgy Sajo

He must be the Kaga of Puer then....anybody for Battle Sheng?

"Everyone waits with bated breath as the ingredient decends from the ceiling in a cloud of mist. Is it a well-aged sheng? Is it a black? Is it loose-leaf? Has anyone done a puer accented sauce over Kobe beef? Tune in to find out.."

Melinda

I have just asked Rae from Holy Mountain, and he answered that "if

Reply to
Melinda

Gyorgy snipped-for-privacy@individual.net/28/05 16: snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

Gyorgy,

"Smokey" is a funny word, although appropriate, I'm sure. Do you mean smokey as in cigar smoke? Or smokey as in musty floral in a good way? Young Sheng Pu'erhs can offer a lot of complexity within each tea, and a lot of variation among the teas. You might try a newer one -- say 2003 or 2004 -- and an older one -- say 10 or 15 years or more, depending on your budget. Some people say that an adolescent Pu'erh is harsher than its younger and its older brothers. Just thoughts. (I haven't read the other responses, so if this is totally redundant, apologies to all.)

Michael

Reply to
Michael Plant

Gyorgy snipped-for-privacy@individual.net/29/05 14: snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

It has been my experience that a Sheng Pu'erh oversteeped will get harsh and often "smokey," while the same tea properly steeped will be far less smokey if at all, and more floral. Could that have something to do with it?

Michael.

Reply to
Michael Plant

I've never ran into a problem with my penny/gram cooked cake tasting smokey or my even cheaper green tuocha tasting astringent. I don't even bother using pots I just brew and drink out of a cup to the last few sips from the residue at the bottom. I know a little goes a long way and even if I use enough to make a stew it just taste stronger without adding something else to the taste. However I learned from some other recent threads that probably my taste buds have been cured over the decades or spend more money for the undesired taste in puerh.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:

14: snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com
Reply to
Space Cowboy

Gyorgy,

I, too, have been learning recently about raw Puer. As others have already said, the taste of raw Puer varies all over the place, much more so in my experience than the taste of cooked Puer. Some raw Puer is quite smoky, some is slightly smoky, some isn't smoky at all.

For a good, mild though unfortunately expensive example of the latter, you might want to try a Silver Needle Puer, which, though it sounds and looks like it might be a white tea, is really raw Puer made completely of high-quality buds. A number of dealers that carry good selections of Puer have an example of this tea. It would be nice if you could get a sample to try, but since this tea is apparently only made in bingchas, most dealers don't have samples - but it won't hurt to ask.

Doug

Reply to
Doug Hazen, Jr.

My local tea shoppe is going to stock this in mini tuocha form. I got a vendor sample. You can peel the buds off by hand. Any other green puerh you'll need hardware. I get the feeling it is compressed but not the result of puerh processing.

Jim

Doug Hazen, Jr. wrote:

latter, you

Reply to
Space Cowboy

Michael,

Smoky as burning charcoal, or as a heavily smoked bacon.

Thank you for your thoughts. I will definitely try more green puerhs, also some older ones. The impression I have got from this one is definitely on the positive side. Lots of sweet flavours and complex fragrances from this slightly aged - 6 years old - cake. The smokiness did not put me off, I was just wondering whether it was characteristic of all green puerhs.

Thanks again, Gyorgy

Reply to
Gyorgy Sajo

No, I have steeped it very short times, between ten to thirty seconds. I have prepared it - kind of - gongfu style: little water (slightly under boiling), lots of leaves, multiple short steepings.

I have experienced the problem that you describe above with some green teas (Chun Mee), where it really helped to brew it a shorter time and at somewhat lower temperature. However, the same procedure did not make any difference with this green puerh.

Thanks, Gyorgy

Reply to
Gyorgy Sajo

Doug,

Thank you for the idea. I will try to find one I can afford..

Gyorgy

Reply to
Gyorgy Sajo

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