YangQingHao

So this past year has been busy for me.
A new addition to the family as we welcomed or second child to this world, a girl. And she sure is a handful.
On the side of teas, I was finally able to get a good connection for direct high quality puerh. I speak of YangQingHao.

I started off by trying various samples and found a few which are very good and still priced right, and much lower than what new teas being produced of similar quality are going for nowadays.

Then offered to some friends and on teachat, to see if  anyone else was interested in a group order. I got a good response.
As I just placed the second order a few days ago for quite a bit of tea.

The teas are really well stored, and have been aging quietly in Taiwan.
I have already finished half a 500 gram Cake of a 2005 tsang liu, which is a six mountain blend of gushu leaf.
YQH has become my go to tea company for a good fix.
I will continue to try more of there teas and will continue to do the group orders, as long as people are interested and prices stay steady, I will be stocking up as much as I can as these teas will not be available forever.
I will not be left with wanting a tea that is no longer available.
Enjoy your teas and stay healthy.

Golden

Should I write about these teas anymore? as Hobbes has already spoken of them here it would seem my words would have no more effect.  I will go ahead, although I will never reach the far corners of the webworld as he. Nor will my words ever be as poetic.
Poems everybody, the laddie reckons himself a poet!...
Sorry Hobbes I had to say it (as I bow in respect... with a grin)

Lets get to it, Golden Tips a tea vendor out of India serving up "Real Indian Teas" 

I was also contacted about a month ago and offered to try a few samples of there teas, and write up a review. Free single estate Indian tea? hell yes I will take some.

Fancy Cloth covered packaging

I received the package this past Saturday and told myself I would let the teas rest a week or so to acclimate after the long trip, but who was I kidding. After admiring the intricate packaging work for a few minutes I get the pocketknife out and slice up the cloth to discover an array of mystically named teas ready to jump into my cup. So I fire up the kettle.

Before I get to the teas I will have to say that I am not big on black tea. Not because I dont like it, but because I really haven't had any that would really get my attention for longer than a few cups.

But I do like a good green in the spring, I used to get some really good Longjing from a small shop in Chicago chinatown at Mr, Chen's tea/vegetable shop, where many a gungfu session have been held. But he no longer carries the same quality and prices have gone up. I still go in for a few cups of tea when Im in the neighborhood but only get the dry rose buds for my wifes tea.

Mr. Chen's tea corner

100ml gaiwan

With that said I cleaned the gaiwan and started with the green sample, Avaata supreme Nilgiri is some good tea, The flavors are somewhere between a good longjing and a good gyokuro with no astringency even when left to steep for long. I really liked this tea and with good quality chinese green tea prices rising steadily I would be better off getting this.

Then I hit the Darjeelings,

After the first sip of  Giddapaher Musketel I had to take a step back and asked myself, why have I not had good Darjeeling before? This stuff is damn good.

This tea reminded me of Taiwans oriental beauty and that is a tea I have always favored. 

If your into Indian teas or have not explored them yet like me, I would really recommend these Darjeelings, each one has its own aroma and flavor as they are single estate high quality, Mostly full leaf also and not that chopped mess you get from cheap black tea.

The Assams are a bit heavier and stronger flavored and will pick you up in the morning fast but not to my personal liking,

The silver needle white tea was decent, but I would much prefer a good spring pick white peony.

I have been drinking these Darjeelings everyday this week and am surprised by the different flavors I am getting. Even tried grandpa style and they do very well. Left the Thurbo Moonlight brewing overnight in the glass tumbler and was very pleased with the results.
The only one I am holding off on trying is the Original Masala Chai.

Now back to my beloved Sheng puerh.

From the Ground 4H

The big elm. 

A couple months ago in the early fall.

Testing out some yixing teacups and the Purion pot.

And with the Yixing Duanni.

My favorite everyday teacup.

Got One!

Going back to this post 99 Fuhai, I was really bummed out that I was too late on buying this cake that I really enjoyed. But fortunately earlier this year EOT posted a few more for sale that they had on quarantine because of bug bites on the wrappers. When I saw they had some for sale I sprung for one right away. 

I got the last full piece they had.

It has seen its fair amount of humid storage, but is now on its way to smooth aged goodness.

Glad I got my hands on one. I think the bug bites give the wrapper some character. 

Winter Fuel

So winter is in full force with much snow and its been very cold, so I have been trying to keep warm with some of the more aged sheng that I have...

I did a lot of sampling this past year and did make a few buys.

The first I will post about is the 2003 Xiaguan 8653 discus from finepuerh.com.

Nice bright orange liquor

Testing out the Duanni Xishi 125ml

I found it to be very pleasing just starting to get some aged feeling and flavor to it,

and at a low enough price to be affordable. Smooth honey, wood, leather flavors with little bitterness and a good mellow chi feeling. A nice dry stored tea that is very drinkable. They are now sold out as it looks like someone bought whatever they had left. I am lucky that I got my hands on 2 of these as I really enjoyed it.

Seems that in just two years the prices of any decent tea is steadily rising. 

Especially anything with a famous brand name even if the tea is not even that good. 

I had a lot of samples that were just not good and the prices were still ridiculous. 

I did try a few that I liked and when I wanted to order the price was double than when I ordered the sample!

Then others I liked were sold out when I tried to order a cake.

These good samples that are no longer available I will just save for a special session.

Enjoy and drink some older or darker teas to keep the chi warm till we see signs of spring.

Ready for sparring!

On the Kung fu side of things my wife and son have been training with me now for about half a year at our school and they are doing very well. Both competed in a tournament and did very well. 

My wife placed first in form and my son placed first in sparring and second in form, he is 6 years old.

I am super proud and happy that they are training with me now.

Train hard and drink good tea!

Year End Offerings

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.

I am getting rid of a few teapots that don't get much use and some tea, so I want to offer them here.

I just need to clean up my collection as I have too much tea and pots. 

If anyone is interested send an email, check my profile.

Shipping should be around $5 to $10 for most items. 

I will calculate when you want to purchase.

 Any questions just ask.

 Most of the puerh cakes have a chunk out of them around 10 to 20 grams missing.

I am selling most items well under the original prices as I just want to get them cleared out.

I will also combine shipping and make a deal if you want a few items. 

Paypal only.

Trade offers also accepted.

Price reduced on these teas not sold yet.
Get these all for $50 plus shipping
2004 unknown. $20
 ? Yunnian brand,$10
 2002 Yiwu fake but decent tea. $10
 2002 Jingmai, pretty sure fake but its decent tea. $15
 2008 Cnnp $5
 2011 MGH Mansa $15.

 Above are all raw

From top left:

2004 unknown. $20

1998 Cnnp ? A bit wet storage but pretty good after a few infusions. $30-Sold

? Yunnian brand,$10

2002 Wild Tree $35-Sold

2002 Yiwu fake but decent tea. $10

Bottom right sold

From top left

2002 Jingmai, pretty sure fake but its decent tea. $15

Fake Purple Dayi sold

2008 Cnnp $5

2006 7542 $20-Sold

early 2000's brick $10-Sold

2011 MGH Mansa $15

Remember all these cakes are not complete most are missing 10 to 20 grams.

Small Duanni teapot with writing all around.

About 100ml  unused but well cleaned.

$20-Price reduced to $15=Sold

 Very good quality Zhuni Shipiao.

Approx. 110ml.

Used only with Dancong oolong.

$100-Sold

Update

5 year aged roasted Dong Ding 1.5oz $5-Sold

3 year aged roasted Dong Ding 2oz $5-Sold

3 year aged roasted Taikuanyin 1.5oz $5-Sold

3 year aged Oriental Beauty 1oz $5

2001 High Mountain Wild

 2001 High Mountain Wild Tree Purple Lincang $70
From Yunnan Sourcing.
Has a chunk out of it aprox. 325 grams now.

Regular quality small dragon teapot 165ml $20--Price reduced to $15

Large Dragon teapot with overlay design. 200ml $25--Sold

Fish teapot 250ml $20---Price reduced to--$15

Ornamental cheap teapot I would not use, only for dispay. $5

With all items I will include various samples of teas.

I will be adding more items the next few days.

Snow Flakes

Today we got our first snow of the season and I had to get a few pics of the bonsai.

Enjoying the cold day with a few infusions of 2003 Xiaguan 8653 from finepuer.com.

I really enjoy this tea, it is much smoother and aged tasting than other xiaguan from the same year.

Which pot shall I use?

Well I have been drinking lots of tea and retesting my pots to see what tea works best with what pot.
I think as I find the way of tea my taste preferences change or become better tuned.
So i notice differences in flavor from one pot to another really are very distinguishable.

My #1 sheng pot still has to be the xi shi that I have mostly been using. I think it is a combination of the clay, shape, and now the many infusions it has made. The only one thing that I could say negative about it is it is a little slower pour than some of my other pots, but thats really not a problem. 

Another good sheng pot that I have started to use when I want a bit more volume is a pot I got from Peter at pu-erh.sk. It is about 140ml and since I have been drinking more young sheng the couple months it has began to give a good flavor. The shape and size of the lid are what I most like about it. Also the detailed engraving around the lid are really nice. Very fast pour also. I think it will look really good with a few seasons of use.

This next pot is a favorite for its look and color. It also has a beautiful dragon swirling inside the pot. 

It is the pot I have had the longest, of the ones I use. I originally used this pot for shu, but now I also use it for wetter stored sheng also as it really smooths the flavors out. So that is what it usually gets now as I dont drink shu too often.

The purion pot I have been testing with different teas. It is said to be good for aged pu and roasted oolongs. I found it to not do very well with the puerh, as the yixing is much better. But for the oolongs it does really bring out the flavors. So it is now designated to mostly roasted wuyi and taiwan oolongs.

I have been sampling a few around  6-10 year aged sheng and have been trying  to really narrow it down as to what my next purchases will be. Waiting for some more samples to try and then will be stocking up on few really good teas.

I have a few tea notes to post but just haven't had the time to get them on the blog.
I will be posting more soon.
I also am going to be getting rid of a few pots and teas for sale or trade at low price as I will be moving soon, if anyone is interested let me know and I can send you a list.
I will make a post of what I am going to offer, as soon as I get everything in order.

IS IT SUMMER YET?

It has been a very weird spring and summer this year hear in the midwest. With cold weather hanging on, and all kinds of storms and tornados nearby these past few weeks.

 It looks like its finally starting to warm up and stabilize a bit.

I wanted to post a few pics of a bonsai that I have recently worked on. 

This one is a common garden juniper that was originally from a nursery.

It was actually given to me about six years ago by the bonsai curator at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. 

It was one of the ugly trees that were not going to be good.

After a few years of trying to style it I think I finally got it to start to look like something nice.

It still need to be wired and the foliage refined. Should be another two or three years to be show quality.

The last picture is from 2010 after a styling session.

It is in the literati or bunjin style.

2010

 The next pics are of a norway maple which I had posted without leaves last year and someone asked about how it would look in the summer.

And a few accent plants.

I also would like to share,

 One of the Masters that I trained with some years back, passed away a few weeks ago.

 Master Kenny Tsai. 

He was the eldest son of Grandmaster John Tsai.

His great kung fu skill will forever inspire all those whom he trained with.

Iron Palm was his specialty.

I remember after class at his school we would drink oolong tea and eat wasabi coated peanuts.