Another puer tasting yesterday. We have the regulars who bring
something from their stash. I brought a 02 Menghai and 05 Changtai.
Someone brought a 09 Mengku. The owner brought a Guangxi Liubao which
is fermented. I was very pleased with the taste. Next time Ill bring
a basket of Liuan. Someone in the store had peeled back a bamboo tube
of green puer. I found out these tubes arent being used anymore
because of environmental destruction. I got home and peeled back one
of mine. The biggest surprise was a shu(forgot the name) which was
simmered in a yixing burner for an hour. I hadnt heard of this before
but was told it was common in China. It was the prettiest red color
Ive seen in tea. That particular shu was sold out at the store so I
cant compare to normal infusion. Ive never seen a shu that comes
close to the taste. I was also told some shu is better than others
for this brewing. I imagine this is something like a tea concentrate
from a samovar. Without messing up my yixing or samovar Ill play with
simmering on a stove. I need some more information because Im not
sure how hot is an alcohol burner.

Jim

PS When we were all tea drunk I brought up the issue does any of the
healtcare plans discuss end of life issues what to do with your tea.

Space Cowboy > writes:

> Another puer tasting yesterday. We have the regulars who bring
> something from their stash. I brought a 02 Menghai and 05 Changtai.
> Someone brought a 09 Mengku. The owner brought a Guangxi Liubao which
> is fermented. I was very pleased with the taste. Next time Ill bring
> a basket of Liuan. Someone in the store had peeled back a bamboo tube
> of green puer. I found out these tubes arent being used anymore
> because of environmental destruction.

I'm not sure what you mean here. Is bamboo getting scarce in Yunnan
or what?

> I got home and peeled back one of mine. The biggest surprise was a
> shu(forgot the name) which was simmered in a yixing burner for an
> hour. I hadnt heard of this before but was told it was common in
> China. It was the prettiest red color Ive seen in tea. That
> particular shu was sold out at the store so I cant compare to normal
> infusion. Ive never seen a shu that comes close to the taste. I
> was also told some shu is better than others for this brewing. I
> imagine this is something like a tea concentrate from a samovar.
> Without messing up my yixing or samovar Ill play with simmering on a
> stove.

Entirely aside from shu Pu'er, if you've steeped some good tea leaves a
number of times, and the liquor is getting weak, cooking the leaves
for a long time for one last steep might give you nice results. I
often do something related to this. Say I've spent much of a weekend
morning doing gongfu steeps of an oolong or a sheng Pu'er. The
astringency and most of the bitterness have been brewed out. Also,
it's time to leave the house and go do things. So I take the leaves
out of the gaiwan and toss them into a double-walled, screw-top glass
brewing jar[1] with more hot water. An hour or so later, there's
something definitely worth drinking, and it's still hot.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html
[1]Last time I looked, both Yunnan Sourcing and camellia-sinensis.com
had these.

Now recalling maybe it was mentioned it was a particular bamboo tube.
I thought bamboo was bamboo. I hadnt seen that mentioned before
anywhere on the Internet. Current inventory could hide the fact. I
often top off spent tea leaves and let sit for one last cup hours
later. In this process the leaves are simmered from scratch. Its the
only tea Ive enjoyed drinking as gongfu shots. It completely changes
the taste or so I am led to believe. Ill get some more details and
try some of my shu. Ill let know if I make headway or not.

Jim

PS Im looking for a Yixing crock pot.

On Aug 17, 10:43 am, Lewis Perin > wrote:
> Space Cowboy > writes:
> > Another puer tasting yesterday. We have the regulars who bring
> > something from their stash. I brought a 02 Menghai and 05 Changtai.
> > Someone brought a 09 Mengku. The owner brought a Guangxi Liubao which
> > is fermented. I was very pleased with the taste. Next time Ill bring
> > a basket of Liuan. Someone in the store had peeled back a bamboo tube
> > of green puer. I found out these tubes arent being used anymore
> > because of environmental destruction.
>
> I'm not sure what you mean here. Is bamboo getting scarce in Yunnan
> or what?
>
> > I got home and peeled back one of mine. The biggest surprise was a
> > shu(forgot the name) which was simmered in a yixing burner for an
> > hour. I hadnt heard of this before but was told it was common in
> > China. It was the prettiest red color Ive seen in tea. That
> > particular shu was sold out at the store so I cant compare to normal
> > infusion. Ive never seen a shu that comes close to the taste. I
> > was also told some shu is better than others for this brewing. I
> > imagine this is something like a tea concentrate from a samovar.
> > Without messing up my yixing or samovar Ill play with simmering on a
> > stove.
>
> Entirely aside from shu Pu'er, if you've steeped some good tea leaves a
> number of times, and the liquor is getting weak, cooking the leaves
> for a long time for one last steep might give you nice results. I
> often do something related to this. Say I've spent much of a weekend
> morning doing gongfu steeps of an oolong or a sheng Pu'er. The
> astringency and most of the bitterness have been brewed out. Also,
> it's time to leave the house and go do things. So I take the leaves
> out of the gaiwan and toss them into a double-walled, screw-top glass
> brewing jar[1] with more hot water. An hour or so later, there's
> something definitely worth drinking, and it's still hot.
>
> /Lew
> ---
> Lew Perin /
> [1]Last time I looked, both Yunnan Sourcing and camellia-sinensis.com
> had these.