On Mar 15, 2:41*pm, "Melinda" wrote:
I'm reading all of these "dirty, earthy" notes and must butt in: some
shus and many shengs are smooth, mellow, and more OR less robust. I
would suggest reading the list at Livejournal
(community.livejournal.com/puerh_tea) or checking out some critiques
on Pu-erh.net.
My favourite pus are older, mellower, and very, very complex.
Considering pu characteristics as simplistic as a loamy adjective is
not giving might Pu its due - like saying "greens are fishy".
Buy samples of good pu from good vendors: Yunnan Sourcing, Dragon
House and, of course, HouDeAsian all sell very worthwhile samples at a
small price.
After tasting several you'll begin to discern the lengthy variety of
flavours that arise in a cup of pu-erh. Use a Yixing and make a small
bit; try multiple infusions and distinguish the changes from pour to
pour.
But, PLEASE, NEVER insult pu-erh with an uninspired categorical
description.
Shen
(sipping 2004 Chan-Tai Jin Zhu Shan Yeh Sheng Wild Beeng) - uncooked
pu-erh, yet round, smooth, barely astringent. More delicate and
hauntingly aromatic. Even in the 5th, 6th and 7th infusion, the liquor
remains amber and sweet. A pu that will age extremely well.

Oh dear Shen, I'm afraid I don't measure up to your standards for tasting
ability...in fact this is something I've noticed about myself and while I do
concentrate hard sometimes I can't seem to get the huge wide breadth of
adjectives about *taste to occur to me. *I thought using the word "loamy"
was an indication of growth in my tea tasting vocabularly, you have wounded
me deeply. *

Seriously though, I'm seeing huge differences in people's ability to discern
various taste nuances in tea (if I go by what they say on their tasting
logs). I really do think it's something physical, not just a person not
concentrating or being careless or whatever. After all, not everyone is a
great perfumer for example.

Melinda, who also thinks the term "camphor" is used perhaps too much in
describing sheng puerh.

Oh, Melinda,
I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone. I just thought folks should
give it a fair shot.
We are fortunate now that even the Chinese vendors on eBay are
offering samples of really good stuff at a fair price.
I would suggest writing to vendors like Sebastian at Jing's or
Stephane (www.teamasters.blogspot.com) and ask them what they'd
recommend for specific flavours that you are looking for in a pu-erh.
Or Guang, who, really, really knows his pu-erh stuff.
These guys are pretty willing to discuss what they've got and what to
expect from it.
Also try washing your mouth out between infusions and having a bite of
an unsalted cracker to "clean the palate".
Truthfully, I find, in general, many more complexities in some Oolong
and blacks (reds) than I do in pu-erh.
Cheers.
Shen