A Guide to Puerh Tea - 2009 Anning Haiwan (海湾) Tea Factory Co., Ltd. Laotongzhi 老同志 No. 1 Recipe (一号熟饼) 901

2009 Anning Haiwan (海湾) Tea Factory Co., Ltd.
Laotongzhi 老同志 No. 1 Recipe (一号熟饼) 901

A customer's review in July 2010:

"I have been brewing the sample quite a bit and found it yummy and interesting.

The wo dui is rather slight, its vivacity (not far from the acidity of a young fruit) and coarseness may turn into something more fruity --and there is a fruity tone, combined with a nutty (pecan?) one. Woody/aromatic and mushroom flavors too. Something creamy/buttery is very distinct.

Texture varies according to vessels and brewing times : grainy and thick in yixing, more fluid and nearly oily in gaiwan and taiwanese teapot.

Late brews are good, I brewed it up to 12, 15 times, they are woody but "alive" (I mean there is no dead wood sensation) with a hint of ginseng (i'm thinking korean red ginseng). I like very thick and dark liquors with shu cha, and am sensitive to texture ; but i also like to push number of brews to see if a light thin liquor will retain presence.

It supports long brews and variations in quantity of leaves, which I think is a good sign (I don't push the first one further than 45s though, but i tried a +1mn first brew and there was nothing "off" in it, although it was a bit coarse of course). I find it more enduring than the bulang peak ripe (which is more refined, particularly on the ginseng/peppery side, sometimes close to a mid-aged liu bao cha as for the nutty side, but also has a shorter brewlife ; yet it ends into something very mineral, which is interesting).

The leaves smell nice, whether they have just been rinsed or brewed a lot and their perfume evolves, which may be another good sign. All in all it is not a "complex" tea, but a good quality shu cha that provides real pleasure, as far as I can tell.

But as i have little frequentation of it, it is all the same a "review" of little value, only unorganized first impressions, as you know this tea better your approach would be more solid. "

.

Day after brew review:

"Out of curiosity I rebrewed the chunk I brewed yesterday night. I brewed it yesterday in a taiwanese teapot (9cl), about 4g leaves (I did not weight but from experience it should amount to that) ; it had been brewed more than 12 times yesterday. So the tea sat in the teapot for more than 12 hours, and (as it is lunchtime) I am now doing a few more late brewings (around 5 mn infusions). the liquor is fruit with mature-woody hints, very lively and yet sweet, very "here", no sensation of "transparency" or "watery". the fruity side is not far from that with you can observe in late brews of aged sheng cha (10 years or more). very interesting indeed ! can this be the sign that the leaves are qiao mu or wild ? I would not assert it because I am not proficient on the technical side (moreover, differences between categories of leaves are, I suspect, more nuanced and complicated than merely "bush" or "arbor"), and a skillful processing certainly plays a big part, but the thought occurred to me."