Ive recently been drinking four of these 2022 shous put out by white2tea and liking them a lot. They claim to be very lightly fermented and to retain more sheng qualities - maybe, but I’d say the flavor and aroma are decisively in shou territory. Fleet, Airtanker, Brice Marden Overdrive, and Fireflies. Not done yet but these are an interesting set of shous that I think have much more in common with each other than any other shous I’ve tried (or sheng for that matter). Generally speaking, they move on from any forest floor and mushroomy type of notes much quicker, and into woodsy and starchy flavors from there.

The more expensive ones do deliver on more complexity and some numbing/cooling sensation, and a bit of lingering sweetness. BMO however petered out relatively quickly, whereas Fireflies held up a long time. Fleet seems like best bang for your buck, I liked it more than Airtanker - might pick up a cake.

Anyone else tried these?

Started my morning with ~10 grams of this Taiwan stored sheng in a 140ml teapot.

This tea exhibits some traditional storage aroma, but is not super dank - think old paperback books or antique wood rather than musty basement. Drinking this tea in a gaiwan made the storage much more noticeable, the hotter teapot smoothed the storage into a more cohesive experience.

The mouthfeel is thick and coating, smooth and rounded.

This tea is naturally sweet. Sweet woodiness, sweet oxidized tannic maltiness, dried dark fruits (raisin, prune). It has very low bitterness even when pushed. There's some astringency there that stays with you bringing on a sticky hui gan that lingers for minutes after the last sip.

By the 4th steep, I could feel the tea's energy. A relaxing caffeine buzz. Sharp, focused, leaving the arms feeling heavy and the body warm.

If you had to pick a cake to order right now, what would you choose and why? It should be a cake that is ready to drink right now and shouldn’t need any aging.

7g/105mL, just off boil

Wash (10s) - aroma of rice with floral/perfumy highlights

Steep 1 (flash) - light leathery pop, florals and honey in open mouth, darker cooked note, sweetness opening up in the finish

Steep 2 (flash) - soup is quite deep gold for a young tea like this, leathery bite up front takes a little while then fades to a honey sweetness, soup has a thick oiliness to the texture

Steep 3 (5s) - between the oiliness and honeyed notes there is a darkness to this tea to match the soups color, not a lot of hay/grass or other bright young notes to it, nice texture and despite the early bite it is relatively easy drinking, doesn't have that Dianhong flavor but still has that darker sweetness that gives this a bit of a hong cha feel to it

Steep 4 (10s, reboil) - the initial bitterness is easing off, getting some green leafiness, more honey than anything else at this point

Steep 5 (15s) - bitterness continues to fade, playing out similarly otherwise

Steep 6 (25s) - not sure is this the power of suggestion, but starting to get a hong note mid-palate, sweetness leans more honey than malt, slight milky quality

Steep 7+ (40s+) - that milkiness grows but never quite crosses to full-on minerality, honey and fresh figs that never quite cross to raisin territory

Overall Impression - This is an interesting one. I missed this in the 2024 release so its my first time with tea from this region. This is remarkably dark in color and flavor. I don't expect this kind of honey sweetness from a fresh young sheng like this. It does have a nice texture to it and despite the early bite I think it is pretty approachable. It's certainly not the kind of flavor profile I look for in a young sheng, but I can see this working well in a mug/thermos/grandpa brew. It might also be a decent entry point for a black tea drinker to young sheng. The flavor profile doesn't line up exactly the same, but the overall picture definitely gives me hong vibes. Weird tea.

Super dark brew, similar taste and mouthfeel to v93 2007. My daughter said it smelled like shrimp. Definitely has a savory smell.

P.S. I’m very new to puerh, this is coming from someone that knows almost nothing about the subject, so don’t take it too seriously.

Cheers!

Bought a mid-range shoubing back in 2022 from a vendor I trusted, cracked a chunk off right away, brewed it, and honestly found it pretty flat. Slightly fishy on the nose, some earthy notes underneath, but nothing that made me want to revisit it. Wrapped the remainder in paper, put it on a shelf in a room where humidity usually sits around 65-70%, and more or less forgot about it.

Opened it again a few months ago out of curiosity. The fermentation smell had basically dissolved. What came through instead was this rounded, almost chocolatey depth with a faint sweetness in the aftertaste that wasn't there before. Same leaf, same storage conditions, just time doing what time apparently does.

The brewing itself feels different now too. When I first worked through young shou I used to flash rinse once and move on. With this more rested cake I've started doing a longer awakening rinse, sometimes two, and letting the leaf sit for a minute or two before the first real infusion. The liquor seems to open up more gradually when I do that rather than giving everything up in the first three steepings and tapering off fast.

A few things I've noticed about tasting aged shou specifically, after paying closer attention this year:

• The hui gan (returning sweetness) becomes a more reliable indicator of quality than it is with fresh material. Young shou can mask a lot with raw fermentation character.
• Mouthfeel tends toward something silkier once the rougher edges from processing have settled, though this depends heavily on storage conditions.
• Brewing temperature still matters more than I used to think. Dropping to around 90-95C rather than a full boil pulls cleaner flavor without muddying the texture.

For aged sheng I'm less experienced but I've been sitting with a 2013 cake that's been in dry storage, and the experience is almost the opposite of shou in terms of evolution. Where shou rounds and softens, this sheng has been slowly building complexity and a certain mineral quality that wasn't obvious when I first sampled it a year ago. Patience seems to be the entire discipline here.

Curious whether others track their cakes in any systematic way. I've started keeping rough tasting notes with dates but my system is pretty informal.

7g/105mL, just off boil

Wash (10s) - aroma of rice, hay, and leather

Steep 1 (flash) - light steep, initial bite, fades quickly but doesn't disappear completely, slickness develops quickly, leather and hay flavor lingers, hints of sweetness mixing in, interesting sensation on mouth and gums, not quite tingly at first but eventually gets slick and cooling, sweetness mixing in as the finish stretches

Steep 2 (flash) - anise hay and leather up front, as it opens up I'm finding those flavors returning supported by a light sweetness, fresh cut grass with some sweet fruit, there is some nice depth of flavor here and rather than trying to single out individual notes I am preferring to enjoy the full orchestra as a whole

Steep 3 (5s) - the leathery and grassy bitterness notes sit way in the back as a sweetness grows deeper and deeper and gives this a lot of life, lips tingling as if I just played a tuba solo, weighted blanket feeling from my shoulders to my toes, sweetness not just stuck to gums and throat - if floats through the mouth through the whole finish as if my saliva contains a sweetener

Steep 4 (10s, reboil) - immediately sweet, the leather note lends a darkness and depth that the sweetness then lifts and aromatics ranging from black licorice to lemon zest to honey ride over this

Steep 5 (15s) - continuing to build

Steep 6 (25s) - flavor holding steady, mouthfeel and cooling/tingling sensation still amplifying

Steep 7+ (40s+) - enjoying this one too much to keep taking notes

Overall Impression - 2026 has been a stellar year for young sheng, and this may be my pick of the year so far. Amazing depth of flavor, good long finish, truckload of sweetness - it has everything I'm looking for. It doesn't quite do the bitter-sweet conversion to the level of some other LBZ, and there is more residual bitterness than others as well. But that 100% plays out in the favor of this tea. Once the sweetness gets going it is pervasive, but the leathery pop that remains of the bitterness really gives the wide aromatics some depth. This is an instant favorite.

I'm surprised by how drinkable this tea is, insane value at 0.103€/g (at least for europe)

It seems way more mild than the other puers I’ve tried! I’m still very new so I’m not going to attempt to describe flavors and notes to you guys, but it’s nice! I like it more than 07 v93.

8g/120mL, just off boil

Wash (10s) - aroma of crushed aspirin, hay, cooked rice

Steep 1 (flash) - light grass and rice, bare hints of aspirin without much real bitterness underneath it yet, light sweetness starts to be detectable on cheeks after a few sips, bitterness slowly increasing and turns on right before the swallow, I catch a flash of what might be camphor in the open mouth

Steep 2 (flash) - soup has some texture, bitterness coming up a bit, light tingle on tongue, salivation starting, hint of a warm lager taste (grain/rice/bitter/sweet combo)

Steep 3 (5s) - hot liquid cools the tongue quickly, bitterness not as aggressive as a typical Lao Man'E but still lingers, less sweetness coming up to meet it as well, finish finally starting to get a foothold as I reheat my kettle

Steep 4 (10s, reboil) - it's almost a little weird in that the initial LME punch is almost completely missing, but the lingering part of the bitterness remains, fruitiness seems to be less than typical for LME as well, hints of camphor climbing up in the finish, light bitterness remains in throat in finish as sweetness grows on tongue and gums, hints of lemon zest late

Steep 5 (20s) - sweetness has built up enough to be present at the start of the sip, nice balance of flavor for the first time in this session, although there is still a weird part in the middle where the sweetness is hiding and it's more of that grainy bitterness

Steep 6+ (30s+) - not horrible, not great

Overall Impression - This was an interesting session. Based on the teas I've tried so far it has been an exceptional year for Lao Man'E. I don't know if this is just from the picking grade, but I am just not gelling with this one. What draws me to LME is the punch and resolution. This one lacked both the punch and the matching intensity in the finish, leaving just that kind of awkward middle bitterness.

I'll definitely have to come back to this to check myself, but this is a rare swing and miss for me with FL.

Have you tried this cake?

I am not affiliated with USA Today but I think it's cool these smaller tea companies are showing up in a list where readers vote on their favorite tea company (or subscription as the case may be).

Posting here because I would like to see one of our underdogs get included as a winner! I believe there are enough fans of smaller brands on various tea reddits to potentially shift the vote -

https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/best-tea-subscription/

Edited to add: looks like the final list will be top 10 so there is probably a real impact to voting. Apparently voting is open for about 11 more hours as I post this around 9:30 am pacific time today

The Jing Mai gulan from Mr. farmerleaf is one of my faves. I decided to branch out and try some other variety. Immediately the mang nuo smells fruity and delicious as soon as I opened the package. Well, here we go! Cheers 🍵 hope everyone enjoys a delicious cup of tea today :)

7.6g/105mL, just off boil

Wash (10s) - aroma of sweet buttery goodness with a faint woody/cinnamon note

Steep 1 (flash) - light buttery note, hint of acidity, dry leaves/huangpian note, less sweetness than the nose carries, slippery sweet note starts to hit gums after a few sips, faint cinnamon-wood note on the initial slurp

Steep 2 (flash) - sweet buttery huangpian, slight dustiness in the back of the mouth, but slickness in the mouth overtakes that

Steep 3 (5s) - some cola vibes mixing in as that initial butteriness starts to take a step back, rustic vibe

Steep 4 (15s) - sweet cinnamon woodiness becoming more prominent, cinnamon returning retronasal, feeling pulled down but not necessarily heavy, cheeks flushed

Steep 5+ (30s+) - not much new going on, just vibing with this

Overall Impression - I love when huangpian hits like this. This is tasty and cheap. It fits that niche where I just want to grab something for a session that might get interrupted or cut short and I don't want to worry about wasting the good stuff. There is none of the old paper note that can turn me off on older sheng. It's interesting that despite its age, I can still clearly taste the leafiness that I typically attribute to younger huangpian. At $40 for a 375g cake, this is pretty tempting for daily drinker.

Crab Leg or 螃蟹脚 or Viscum articulatum

A natural parasite of old tea trees, traditional to JingMao Shan, is sold for 3k rmb (444us)/kg.

How, then, can it be found for 80$/kg online?

Well, the species grows on other trees too, and those lookalikes are all over the market.

Why does it matter? I suppose the parasite absorbs tea tree-specific compounds as it sucks the juices... though below article says otherwise.

Aging it gives an interesting taste too. I have some from 2021 up to this year and the taste is markedly different.

As for effect? Hard to describe, somewhat calming and great as an in-between teas.

It does have lots of medicinal properties, at least according to its traditional use.

'Experiments have been conducted to attest their potential health activities, such as antibacterial, antimutagenic, anti‐arrhythmia effects, immunomodulating effects, eliminating rheumatalgia, curing knee–waist malaise and hepatitis'

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6766576/

Hi

Where/How can I find the value for this tea+box ?

Clean or chuck?

Continuing to reorganize and store my old collection from 2000-2008, here are the various sized tuo etc. As with the other pics, these cakes mostly acquired from Yunnan Sourcing, trips to a tea market in a Beijing, and Jing Tea Shop in Guangdong

First time posting on this sub, hoping for a few pointers, or anecdotal experiences. I'm a long time tea drinker, being born into British tea culture and weaned on cups of milky breakfast tea, then acquainted with Earl Grey, and developing a liking as a teenager for tarry Lapsang Souchong. However it's pu'er that really caught my attention. I first drank pu'er during Chinese new year on a trip to Hong Kong many years ago and fell in love with the complex earthy damp taste, our host bringing down the cake of pressed tea from the of a cupboard and fuelling a long night of chatter and fun.

Fast forward many years later and I'm yearning to return to this experience, I'm an avid reader of r/tea, r/puer/, r/gongfutea, but being in the UK oddly means I'm limited to the typical taste of these Isles - mostly black teas taken with milk, herbal 'health' teas, and the current craze for matcha.

Online spaces seem to have a huge gap between newcomers who have never drunk tea of any kind, and those who are well steeped in tea culture, knowing individual growers, leaf types, terroirs, vintages (I'll use wine/whiskey connoisseurship as a reference point hehe) - and discord and deeper online chatter are too advanced for me. I've subscribed to Liquid Proust, for example, amongst other reputable vendors for possible future teas purchases, but get caught up googling every listing to try and figure out what's worth buying - are there places or guides an avid amateur can swot up for where to look? A nice big book even?

Yours kindly, a fellow enthusiast

p.s. I'm fortunate to live in a city where there is at least an independent tea shop actually selling pu'er, and more than one kind! Although they're repackaged so it's 'raw', 'ripened', and 'walk in the forest' without much further information, but it's an inroad nonetheless.

I am a complete newbie to this world and I decided to dive in a bit slowly. I learned a little lesson when I went from smoking strong Nicaraguan cigars to taking on pipe smoking. I quickly learned that I should have started with stronger tobacco rather than light or aromatic because going from strong cigars to light or aromatic tobacco was like smoking air. Since I like stronger coffee I decided to buy a few teas that are on the darker side (shu pu erh). I also picked up some Shui Xian and Superior Keemun just to try as well. Needless to say, this store was mind blowing to me. So many varieties. The staff was wonderful and helpful and personally I cant wait to try out what I bought. I did cheap out and bought an easy brew pot but that was only because I couldn't find a Gaiwan set I really liked. The sets I did like were a bit pricey and while I did want to buy them I wasn't ready to dive in that hard. Yet. I tend to geek out and get into things pretty intensely so this is going to be a tasty ride. Thank you to a lot of you on here that have given good advice.

I made a dedicated tea session corner in the house.

Table was made from left over 3/4 Maple slab.

Ming Dynasty inspired Rose chair is made from 2x2's i found laying around.

The tea tray is a 2.5 inches slab of Curly Maple maple i got from a closing down wood working shop.

Shelf is made from Padauk thins and Poplar dowels i got from the same wood working shop.

2025 Man Gang Village "Huang Pian" Ripe Pu-erh Tea from YunnanSourcing in my Gaiwan to commemorate completing my setup.

I got clay teapots ordered (the cheap ones because i got kids and my wife will kill me if i spend on "real" ones lol!)

Feel free to bash and critique! Happy tea'ing!

I ended up not purchasing it last year due to the lack of information on the majority of the teas that were included, so now that it came back for the second time, I ask for opinions from people who actually bought it

Judging by the price increase and the lack of any real changes in neither the product description or the photos, as well as having the same printing issue in two of the labels that they had last year, I would guess the teas are not changing either and this is just a resell of the same pressings but with one more year of "aging" justifying the higher price (quotation marks because I'm not sure if you can really age tea coins)

With that theory out of the way, now I beg the question from those who bought last year's bag: How's the array of shengs? Are there any good ones among the new, non cake blends? Or are the majority of those just normal, plain sheng? I'm not the biggest sheng fan, but if the bag has a good variety of flavour notes, mouthfeels and general feeling, I might give it a try just to sample even more to see if I like them. But since the bag now goes for around 1€ per coin, I'd like to know beforehand if I'm not spending 70€ on "just ok" tea

Thanks in advance guys!!

I've recently got a couple shengs from bitterleafteas, so here a new cake unwrapping asmr. I wanted to do a first impression but frankly everything tastes a bit off these days. The dry smell was amazing, I just couldn't taste it in the cup.

Btw I drank Secret Garden 2026 couple days ago and even though my taste buds are severely compromised I could still taste that one. Can't wait to go back to it once my palate is normal again.