2001 Naked Yiwu
I wanted to experiment with a new way of recording tastings. It’s a work in progress, the sound isn’t great, but hopefully it will improve once I get better equipment....
1990s Guangdong bing 廣東餅 (圓票)
When I read this remarkable post by Matt of Mattcha’s blog I did not expect to ever taste his incredible find of a stack of decades-old Cantonese puerh in a...
Puerh Storage Anxiety
It is one of the ironies of the modern consumption of puerh tea, prized for its relaxing and euphoric effects, that lovers of the tea seem to be quite an...
2020 blind tasting: Mattcha’s reveal
While I’m uncomfortable with his generous and over-the-top praise, I can finally stop biting my nails in anticipation: Matt has finally revealed the teas in his blind sample set! He...
Mattcha’s mystery teas B & F
This is the last pair of teas from the blind tasting that I exchanged with Matt. I am glad we did this exercise; I now have a better idea of...
Mattcha’s mystery teas D & E
After a few sessions alternating between D & E, I thought I could review these together. Tea D, shown above, has a very familiar factory pressing style, which could be...
Mattcha’s mystery tea G
Very pungent tomato-vine and vinegar aroma indicates a strong, young sheng, as you can see from the wet leaf shown above. I feel like I have tasted this one before,...
Mattcha’s mystery tea C
Blind sampling is very important for calibrating your own tasting ability, but it can be tricky. I enjoy it because it frees me of expectations concerning the tea, but I...
Mattcha’s mystery tea A
Thanks to one of my favourite Canadian crown corporations, Matt over at mattcha’s tea blog and I exchanged blind sample sets as explained here. After we’ve written about all seven...
2017 Dayi 7542, hot vs. cold storage
I stored two cakes of 7542 for almost three years: both in mylar, both without added humidity. The only diference is that one (labeled H and on the left) experienced...