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1900 Song Pin Hao | ||
| Genre: Aged Green | ||
| Factory: Song Pin | ||
| Vendor: Sunsing Tea | ||
| Reviewed by tea junkie on 04/23/2007 | ||
| Background | This was a ten gram sample that a small group pooled funds to acquire from Sunsing. The price was exhorbitant, but if you are interested the kind folx at Sunsing will be more than willing to supply you with a sample, if you can show an interest and at least a little (I got a sample so you really do only need to know very little) knowledge of puerh. The factory was an old one when it went out of business after the Communist Revolution, but I am uncertain of when it was formed or when exactly it went out of business. I have seen cakes from as late as the 1940's mentioned somewhere or another in my web travels, but that only means the factory survived the Republican Revolution, and I believe a great many of them did survive that particular upheaval. This cake was probably made during the Qing Dynasty which ended in 1910 if I am not mistaken, the sample was dated at 1900 but I am unsure if precise dating is really possible this far removed from its creation. | |
| Dry Leaf Appearence: | The dry leaf was reddish brown, with some decomposed tissue that was held together by the leaf veins. The leaves were of a fairly fine grade, I would guess around the 5 or 6 size, but I am far from trained in the niceties of the Chinese leaf grading scale. | |
| Water to Leaf Ratio: | 10 gr of Leaf in 140 ml of water | |
| Brewing Method: | The tea was served ineptly gongfu style with a ceramic guywan and a standard white porcelain pitcher and cup set. I have always preferred using a guywan to a pot for alot of reasons, most prominent among them is the ease with which I can play with the leaves before, during, and after the infusion. I will have to admit that this particular session was one of the low points in my tea life due to my poor performance with serving the tea. Details are unnecessary, suffice it to say my Kung Fu is weak. | |
| Wet Leaf Appearence: | Dark black to brown and beautifully glossy. The leaf held a light sort of autumn forest floor bouquet even after some seventeen infusions. | |
| 1st Steep | The first steep was made after a five second rinse and a three minute rest. Water temperature through the first eight steeps or so was 195 degrees fahrenheit, though I took it up to 205 later on to pull more out of the leaves faster. The infusion was about ten seconds and revealed the most beautiful liquor I have ever seen. It had a deep reddish-orange hue I have'nt seen outside of 1930's leather, and was absolutely clear. I truly almost cried at the sight of the tea through the first four infusions, rarely have I ever seen anything that so shockingly touched my soul. The tea itself was sublimely reminiscent of every 'aged' puerh that I have ever tasted, yet it carried its own character that was indeed one of orchid and camphor. This tea is hyped as having an orchid aroma, but I found it only in the liquor though the autumn forest floor was at all times the dominant flavor. The qi was delicate and balanced between warm and electric, which is a bit unusual since I normally feel either one or the other. The hui gan (breath) was almost as delightful as the tea, with the camphor jumping out and almost making my teeth cold. Wow. | |
| 2nd Steep | This was my failure, I probably left the tea infusing for about 20 seconds. It revealed an even more gorgeous cup than the first, and the flavors were intense and soothing. This infusion allowed the camphor to come out in the initial sips as well as with the hui gan. The leaves truly deserved a tea master rather than a tea junkie, I will carry this shame to my grave. Despite the overinfusion the flavors were never 'thick' or harsh, just unnecessarily strong. | |
| 3rd Steep | More focus was payed to this infusion, about three breaths or ten seconds. The flavor was again one of autumn in the woods, with a lot of other things tossed in though I found the dominant treble note was camphor. I have searched for the elusive camphor in puerh as long as I have been drinking it, but have never truly found it until now. I at first attributed what I considered a spearmint note with the camphor, but that was indeed spearmint and this is indeed camphor, right down to the cooling effect on the gums. The base note was that Ur-mustiness that we know from aged puerh, and the middle notes were truly a confusion of orchid, copper, oak, and pine. If I tried to focus on something other than the must and camphor I lost it immediately and had to struggle to find something else to grasp. I suspect my palate was too small for the task that was set to it, and I suppose that will also be something I regret forever. I should have experienced more before I attempted this tea, but perhaps sometime in the future I will meet it again with better preparation. | |
| 4th Steep | This infusion evoked less whininess. I actually coaxed a sublime cup with the same three breath count. Everything really pulled together nicely with all the notes mentioned above coming into play, though the middle note stabilized for me with the oak. I also forgot to mention that the Qi was quite balanced throughout with warmth and tingle going together, though the tingle always came first followed by the wave of warmth and calm. | |
| Subsequent Steeps | We took this tea out to around seventeen infusions and found all of them wonderful. Each one had a different little story to tell, though again I am too illiterate to be able to understand all that was being conveyed. The final infusion lasted 12 minutes from a full fresh boil and it was a pale yellow broth that still held a luscious flavor and aroma that reminded me of a puerh perfume - it was almost a smell rather than a taste. | |
| Conclusion | I think I have whined enough for a dozen reviews so I will not go into that anymore. The greatest things that I brought away with this tea was first of all being able to truly have experienced CAMPHOR. This is something I have read about for years but never reliably found until it clubbed me over the head with this tea. I also found the balance of the Qi to be a very intriguing experience since I have always felt either the warm and centered or the electric tingle types seperately. The color of the tea was probably the thing that initially struck me the most deeply, I can honestly say that I have never seen anything more beautiful in my life. Not rainbows in the Grand Canyon, not the hummingbird-dragonfly dogfight in my backyard, not the soulfull blue of being 'in the tube' bodyboarding Pipeline, not that redhead signing to her friend in the bookstore in Union Station in D.C.; nothing was more beautiful, though I suppose all of them are equal. Another thing that was unique about this tea was the eternal hui gan - I actually had flashes of the breath well into the day after I drank the tea. It really made work kind of fun, waiting to see when the hui gan would pop up again for just a second and then fade out again. Odd that it could even get through the chocolate and Qimen that I nibble/sip while I plug away. Overall this was a mixed bag of deep soulful beauty and small imperfections. I guess I must mention (though I am trying to forget despite the smile on my face) that one of the partakers of the tea in a fit of puckish inanity actually dunked a carmelized biscuit into his little cup of 100 yr old tea. I dissapointed him by having a deep hearty laugh rather than a mouth agape gasp. Now and again a little dissapointment is kind of nice I guess. I would not trade this experience for anything, but I would like to have it improved upon... Perhaps in Pasadena? | |
| Sorry, no Photos | ||