I survived the Puer tasting. Half didnt have a clue and the other half thought they did myself included. I bought my sexy 2004 BanZhang. Somebody else bought a 2008 Menghai. The shoppe owner included a 97 shu he bought from HouDe plus one from his own shelf stock. I didnt think a sheng could be as astringent as my grotty greens but the Menghai would one of the leaders of the pack. This beeng was as hard as any of my petrified puer logs. I dont believe in aging but I cant imagine this doing anything without being smashed up. Nobody could make a dent even with a puer knife. I didnt follow up but the owner had some type of swiss army knife designed especially for stubborn puer. I will say I could tell my baby was giving up after multiple infusions but the Menghai just kept on giving. After multiple gong fu tasting cups of shengs I was expecting the worse from the shus. Surprising we all liked the store shu (myself included) over the HouDe. The owner breaks up his shelf beengs for individual tastings before purchasing. I forgot the name of this one. Generally his selection is from the smaller factories. I would have bought this on the way out but Im done with buying puer. I made a note to myself to make shu via gongfu. It doesnt taste the way I make it. By this time we are all giddy and drunk from the tasting. One of the regulars bought a Xia Guan Golden Melon off the shelf he wanted to share. It was better than any spicy and smokey Dian Hong Ive tasted. Nobody recognized the Stork logo including the owner. I spelled out XiaGuan and somebody found it on the Internet with his blackberry. My moment of triump where you get kudos for knowing something nobody else does.
Jim
PS Message to Dominic. I sent you an email via Google Groups so I dont know if it is mangled or obsolete like the one I use with Groups which is why I wouldnt get any invalid email redirects. I got to the tasting a little early so I could check out the store stock. Low and behold they have several Yixing braziers with pots. Ill give you the particulars so email me at: t h e n e t s t u f f at m s n dot c o m One last point on the soiree. One of the tasters said he used a Yixing pot he got at the shoppe and after checking on the Internet found a ruler would lay flat on the handle, lid and spout on the good pots which Ive seen stated before. He demoed at the shoppe the lid wouldnt fall out with pot at vertical. Ive never seen a Yixing pot that could do this which includes any of mine. In all the gongfu Ive seen on the Internet the lid is always tied to the handle.