This was my wildcard tea of the order. A supposedly lost for 300 year
Chinese tea that has recently resurfaced and is being made again. I
hadn't paid much attention to the description beyond a quick glance
and I was mainly intrigued by the similarity to Puer but without the
earthyness. I went into it without re-reading the description and what
was kind of neat was that my tasting notes matched almost exactly with
the description once I went back and fully read it all... I went back
because my notes were so odd. My exact notes: Puer. Tobacco. Sour.
That last one was the oddball, but I had no other word to describe
what I was smelling. To my surprise when I went to the website "sour"
was referenced! Crazy. The actual flavor is like a slightly over-ripe
fruit that has taken on a kind of "punky" beginning stages of spoiling
flavor. I know this probably doesn't sound appetizing at all, but it
is actually a pretty unique and interesting flavor. One I have never
encountered in a tea before. It grows on you, it also softens in
subsequent brewings which is nice. Certainly complex and a little
strange, I'm glad I tried this one.

It actually comes in packets which have about 2-3g in them of loose
tea which is also something I haven't seen before. This is a foreign
experience from beginning to end. I haven't written a full post on it
yet but I had to share because it was just so different.

- Dominic

On Aug 18, 1:29*pm, "Dominic T." > wrote:
> This was my wildcard tea of the order. A supposedly lost for 300 year
> Chinese tea that has recently resurfaced and is being made again. I
> hadn't paid much attention to the description beyond a quick glance
> and I was mainly intrigued by the similarity to Puer but without the
> earthyness. I went into it without re-reading the description and what
> was kind of neat was that my tasting notes matched almost exactly with
> the description once I went back and fully read it all... I went back
> because my notes were so odd. My exact notes: Puer. Tobacco. Sour.
> That last one was the oddball, but I had no other word to describe
> what I was smelling. To my surprise when I went to the website "sour"
> was referenced! Crazy. The actual flavor is like a slightly over-ripe
> fruit that has taken on a kind of "punky" beginning stages of spoiling
> flavor. I know this probably doesn't sound appetizing at all, but it
> is actually a pretty unique and interesting flavor. One I have never
> encountered in a tea before. It grows on you, it also softens in
> subsequent brewings which is nice. Certainly complex and a little
> strange, I'm glad I tried this one.
>
> It actually comes in packets which have about 2-3g in them of loose
> tea which is also something I haven't seen before. This is a foreign
> experience from beginning to end. I haven't written a full post on it
> yet but I had to share because it was just so different.
>
> - Dominic

I've come across the overly-ripe-fruit sourness in one or two higher-
end, less-roasted Wuyi yan cha. I assume it's a desirable trait, but
regardless it's a nifty change of pace. I'm undecided if I prefer the
more traditional nutty roastiness of a good Da Hong Pao though.

As for the mini vacuum-sealed packets of loose-leaf, I've been seeing
them more and more up here (Richmond B.C.) in the last few years.
First it was just packets of long ching and bilochun, but now you see
them for jade ti kuan yins and aged bai mu dan. Heck, I was given one
as a take-home sample of a $600/lb CDN green oolong this past weekend.

Iggy > writes:

> [...]
> As for the mini vacuum-sealed packets of loose-leaf, I've been seeing
> them more and more up here (Richmond B.C.) in the last few years.
> First it was just packets of long ching and bilochun, but now you see
> them for jade ti kuan yins and aged bai mu dan. Heck, I was given one
> as a take-home sample of a $600/lb CDN green oolong this past weekend.

The first time I saw one of those packages was maybe six years ago at
dim sum at a wonderful, but sadly now gone, restaurant called East
Lake in Flushing, which is New York's most prosperous Chinatown. You
got a packet of very good green Tieguanyin with a full gongfu setup
including a glass kettle over an alcohol burner.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

On Aug 21, 5:08*pm, Lewis Perin > wrote:
> Iggy > writes:
> > [...]
> > As for the mini vacuum-sealed packets of loose-leaf, I've been seeing
> > them more and more up here (Richmond B.C.) in the last few years.
> > First it was just packets of long ching and bilochun, but now you see
> > them for jade ti kuan yins and aged bai mu dan. *Heck, I was given one
> > as *a take-home sample of a $600/lb CDN green oolong this past weekend.
>
> The first time I saw one of those packages was maybe six years ago at
> dim sum at a wonderful, but sadly now gone, restaurant called East
> Lake in Flushing, which is New York's most prosperous Chinatown. *You
> got a packet of very good green Tieguanyin with a full gongfu setup
> including a glass kettle over an alcohol burner.
>
> /Lew
> ---
> Lew Perin /

Yeah, it is a novel thing for freshness... the only downside is that
the leaf is mostly broken due to the relatively small/flat packet so
you lose that pretty full leaf look.

@Iggy

I'm glad at least someone knows and has experienced that flavor. It is
unique but the only way to describe it. It's a fun diversion but I
don't think it would be a daily drinker or even a special occasion,
more of a novelty for me.

- Dominic

"Dominic T." > writes:

> On Aug 21, 5:08Â*pm, Lewis Perin > wrote:
> > Iggy > writes:
> > > [...]
> > > As for the mini vacuum-sealed packets of loose-leaf, I've been seeing
> > > them more and more up here (Richmond B.C.) in the last few years.
> > > First it was just packets of long ching and bilochun, but now you see
> > > them for jade ti kuan yins and aged bai mu dan. Â*Heck, I was given one
> > > as Â*a take-home sample of a $600/lb CDN green oolong this past weekend.
> >
> > The first time I saw one of those packages was maybe six years ago at
> > dim sum at a wonderful, but sadly now gone, restaurant called East
> > Lake in Flushing, which is New York's most prosperous Chinatown. Â*You
> > got a packet of very good green Tieguanyin with a full gongfu setup
> > including a glass kettle over an alcohol burner.
>
> Yeah, it is a novel thing for freshness... the only downside is that
> the leaf is mostly broken due to the relatively small/flat packet so
> you lose that pretty full leaf look.

That isn't really a problem for fisted teas like Tieguanyin, though.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

On Aug 22, 11:46*am, Lewis Perin > wrote:
> "Dominic T." > writes:
> > On Aug 21, 5:08*pm, Lewis Perin > wrote:
> > > Iggy > writes:
> > > > [...]
> > > > As for the mini vacuum-sealed packets of loose-leaf, I've been seeing
> > > > them more and more up here (Richmond B.C.) in the last few years.
> > > > First it was just packets of long ching and bilochun, but now you see
> > > > them for jade ti kuan yins and aged bai mu dan. *Heck, I was given one
> > > > as *a take-home sample of a $600/lb CDN green oolong this past weekend.
>
> > > The first time I saw one of those packages was maybe six years ago at
> > > dim sum at a wonderful, but sadly now gone, restaurant called East
> > > Lake in Flushing, which is New York's most prosperous Chinatown. *You
> > > got a packet of very good green Tieguanyin with a full gongfu setup
> > > including a glass kettle over an alcohol burner.
>
> > Yeah, it is a novel thing for freshness... the only downside is that
> > the leaf is mostly broken due to the relatively small/flat packet so
> > you lose that pretty full leaf look.
>
> That isn't really a problem for fisted teas like Tieguanyin, though.
>
> /Lew
> ---
> Lew Perin /

No, true, I meant for this tea in particular. I could see a lot of
teas where it would work fine, even thin flat greens like dragonwell
or sencha or like you mentioned a fisted or rolled tea. This tea
however could be a beautiful tea in full leaf form. I actually had
more today brewed in my tea competition set and it brewed up amazingly
well and even a bit less of the pronounced over-ripe fruit/punkiness
to the point it was a different tea. I loved it this way. I'd imagine
this would do really well in Yixing too, but since it isn't common
I'll try it in my one all-purpose teapot to see. It's neat as a
historical tea and a unique flavor.

- Dominic