2007 CNNP Peacock: Can’t Beat This Unique $40.00 Cake!

Stephane of Teamasters has kindly been sending me samples once every few years since he opened his webstore way back then.  Before the webstore he was one of the first English/ French tea bloggers and he’s still going strong- Thanks Stephane.  I thought I would include this “pre-COVID 19” note he sent with the samples.  It’s interesting how even a note this simple is so obviously before the virus really swept the world.  Nowadays even the simplest communications will look and feel much different than this innocent letter.  I got lots of emails from people thanking me about the recommendation of the classic Meaghai, more aged, and dirt tasting 2003 Zhongcha that Stephane used to sell for $60.00.  Its one of the puerh I have drank the most of in the past 3 years.  I think Stephane was most excited about what I thought about his new budget puerh find, this 2007 CNNP Peacock which he sells for $40.00 for a full 357g cake (or $0.11/g)…

Dry leaves both exceed expectations of look and smell.  They smell rich and velvet with a very creamy sweet aroma.  There is a suggestion of hay and wood and chocolate but mainly woody sweetness.  The leaves smell of moderate humid storage.

First infusion has a nice creamy woody and very nutty camphor wood taste.  There is a bitter suggestion and a soapy taste.  The camphor aftertaste combines with subtle bitter in a full and rich feeling and mouthcoating.

The second infusion start off like sweet peanuts, a nutty sweetness with a creamy sweet and rich taste presentation that turns into a camphor taste and a sweet thrills gum kind of soapiness.  There is a pretty distinct nutty flavor as well as a touch licorice.  This blend seems to have a fair amount of Lincang material in it I would guess.  The mouthfeeling is full and slippery feeling.  The throat has an upper opening feeling where camphor lingers.  The feeling of this puerh is more aged than its 2007 pedigree suggests due to its moderately humid likely Taiwanese storage.

The third infusion starts with a sunny orangey woody tangy resin wood like sweetness very similar to the 2003 Hong Kong Henry 7542 Consciousness Prescription in taste here.  Then comes a very peanut nutty sweetness.  Then a creamy woody tangy finish.  The sweet taste is like Mandarin oranges.  There is a subtle soapy sweet Thrills gum like retuning sweetness.  Overall the taste is very rich and robust tasting with clear flavours.  The Qi of this tea is a touch warming and mild- a comforting tea on this rainy spring day.

The fourth infusion has a more basic woody onset with orange peel nuances coming later.  There is less nutty sweetness here but a low camphor taste that comes out.  There is a floral woody finish almost soapy perfume aftertaste that is quite enjoyable.

The fifth has a resin woody taste with a creamy citrus peel nuance.  The taste is less rich and full now but the camphor still comes in low and pushes out perfume soap and essential oil of citrus finish on breath.  This puerh is now less slippery and full in the mouth but is still a slippery mouthfeeling.  A smooth taste overall.

The 6^th has a woody soapy resin perfume with less thickness in the mouth and less cooling camphor now.  The perfume taste suggests that it should be semi-aged but the smooth soothing base taste feels like it’s closer to early 2000s aged.  The feel in the body is also very mellow and aged feeling.

7^th has a watery woody almost pond and fallen leaf but more rich watery aged taste.  There is a resin taste to it, and nice smooth flavor with a citrus peel taste and slight camphor going towards coco in the aftertaste with perfume nuances.  Smooth taste and feel and qi.

8^th has a 30 second steeping and it pulls out a thicker creamier and a slight nutty taste there is a bit of sour zest and woodiness.  The perfume and citrus peel tastes which make this puerh so interesting are very faint now.

I push this into a very long mug steeping and mainly dirt and woody tastes remain.

Overall, this is a really interesting, a bit unique, and pretty enjoyable semi-aged sheng.  The big downfall is the stamina which is maybe a bit less than even the most factory puerh but the first few infusions are interestingly delicious.  This puerh is interesting to be because of its super fragrant distinct strong perfume, Thrills Gum-like aftertaste which is something you would expect in a semiaged puerh or something even younger than its 2007 pedigree suggest.  However, this fragrant essential oil like aftertaste is juxtaposed with a deep aged taste and smooth feeling that you would get from something more aged due to its moderately humid Taiwanese storage.  There are some larger leaf in the plantation blend which seem to add to the depth of this puerh.  I would guess this is a blend of Northern puerh- Lincang and Simao.  The orange peel/ citrus taste with a strong woody resin initially reminds me a lot of 2003 Hong Kong Henry 7542 “ConscientiousPrescription”.  Although this 2007 CNNP Peacock is not as strong, deep, or as oily.  I’m not sure I have ever had that distinct resin with orange taste before the 2003.

Anyways, this cake is quite interesting for a $40.00 sheng 357g cake.  Its uniqueness reminds me of another CNNP production of the same year which also has an interesting profile- this 8891 Red Label.  Haven’t tried that one but it’s been popular as a unique drinker puerh and used to sell for closer to the Peacock’s pricing before it doubled.  I enjoyed it a lot and I think you will too.  Cheers to Stephane of Teamasters for sourcing this affordable one for us!

Peace

2003 CNNP “Small Green Mark Iron Cake” and Steeping Puerh by “Keeping the Root”

Dear Scott Wilson,

I just wanted to thank you for being the powerhouse you are in the Western puerh scene.  I think it would be hard to think of another person who has had greater influence.   Since I started drinking puerh you and Yunnan Sourcing were there and you are still there stronger than ever.  Even though I was away from purchasing puerh for a long time, upon my return I have felt that Yunnan Sourcing still had the same basic philosophy and feel to it despite the obvious rapid pace of change.  This says a lot.  You have stuck to your principles while still managing to evolve to the always changing puerh tastes and fads.  Nowadays, you can virtually find any type of puerh, any type of storage, from any area at Yunnan Sourcing.  Thanks also for your efforts at empowering buyers with as much information as you can pass on about the tea you sell.   I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Matt

I purchased this one from Yunnan Sourcing ($85.00 for 357gcake $0.24/g ) a month or so ago along with the 2005 CNNP “Big Yellow Mark”.  Like the Big Yellow mark, this one has no date stamped on it.  It also has no neifi either.

Dry leaves smell of clean dry wood with a very mild sweet pungent odour.

First infusion is full interesting cherry blossom florals and plumby, mainly sweet, subtly sour cherry.  There are even salt tastes as well as a dry bark wood taste as well.  This tea is a tasty one.  There is slight astringency in the mouth and the tongue.  This first infusion is fragrant and lasting.

The second infusion has more of an oxidized wood taste up front the sweet notes are secondary and linger in the aftertaste and build into a very sweet burst of returning flavor.  The lips and mouthfeel are slightly chalky.  This tea has that cotton candy cottony mouthfeel and lingering sweet aftertaste.  There is not too much depth to ground it.

The third infusion is much the same tastes really.  The plumy, cotton candy returning sweetness is very nice.  The mouthfeel has that light chalky, talc taste and feel which I value in puerh.  Both the sweetness and woodiness are more pronounced in this third infusion as the iron compression slowly comes apart in the pot.

The fourth is much the same with the dry wood bark taste becoming dominant across the profile of this tea.  This flavor is simple but just enough to give it something to anchor the resounding high notes that are much less in this infusion.

The fifth starts off woody, dry bark, slight astringent, kind of sour, almost dry before it traverses to chalky, dry, astringent sweet cotton candy plum.  The dry wood taste and feel is throughout even in the aftertaste now.  The breath is a sweet cherry plum taste.

The sixth infusion has a thinner sharper quality to it with a division of tastes between dry woody in the initial and base, and sweet plumy aftertaste.

The seventh infusion still has a nice progression of taste.  It starts dry wood then slides into that sweeter, barely talc, faint cotton candy-plumy sweetness.  It is less obvious but the progression is still here in the seventh infusion.

The eighth infusion is of almost dry earth and dry wood base tastes there is only a little left in the aftertaste resembling the sweetness and fruitiness in the first infusions.  There is a slightly bitter wood taste throughout.  The mouthfeel isn’t really dry, just sandy slight dry astringency.

The ninth becomes watery and light in its initial taste.  Then it slowly develops a dry woodiness which turns into a sweet barely plum aftertaste.  The tenth infusion is much the same.  It’s still there but faded.

The tenth doesn’t leave that much left to enjoy faint watery tastes, barely there.

Overnight infusions are vibrant and fruit still so I do a few of these and really enjoy them.  The qi of this tea is very light a mild relaxing feeling that’s about it.  You feel the mind relax and the head float just ever so slightly.  In the body you can ever so slightly feel it in the belly.

Bravo for Scott at finding a solid iron bing to offer us.  On the site it states that this was Shanghai stored and is somewhere between wet and dry stored.  I would say it’s much closer to dry stored but that’s just my evaluation.  This puerh is interesting for a few reasons.

First, it offers puerh drinkers in the West a chance to taste fragrant aged dry storage.  I think there are few cakes for sale in the west that offer this.  The reason is because this taste profile is highly valued in China these days and is a sign of both good storage, age and dryness.  As a result, often cakes that display this profile are usually quite expensive and out of the price range of the average buyer in the West.  I think only because this is a generic CNNP without verified date or region can it be offered so cheaply.

Secondly, it offers a nice example of how the higher notes can really age so nicely in the tighter compression of an iron bing.  Although, this iron bing is not really pressed super tight it still offers the best of an iron bing as far as the high notes go.  It isn't a CNNP "Blue Mark" but this CNNP "Small Green Mark" has something to it.

So, I must have stocked up on this cake then right?  While, I am sitting with just one of these and feel OK with that.  It’s quite a simple tasting tea in some ways, really, but it still has enough going on.  It has a certain dry purity that I enjoy but it is not overly complex beyond its incredible fragrant fruity high notes.  I almost feel like the price is almost worth it for these notes themselves and the age.  Yet, even these notes start to fade after the first few infusions.

I sometimes steep teas that fade quickly by “keeping the root”.  It’s a phrase used by teamasters to describe a type of brewing where you always leave a bit of the last infusion in the fair cup.  It can also describe the technique of always leaving a bit of tea in the drinking cup or even in the actual teapot.  I use this technique with puerh that fades or drops off fast to maintain these fleeting notes.  I just leave ½ the tea in the fair cup before steeping the next infusion.  It works amazing for some teas.  This one really benefits from "keeping the root”.

When reviewing puerh on this blog I never do this sort of thing because I want to be more clear on how a tea is actually preforming from infusion to infusion.  However, after this first tasting I’ve been steeping it with the root and enjoying it.

Peace

 

CNNP = Scary For Me! The 2005 CNNP Big Yellow Mark

Another thing that I really noticed when getting back into buying puerh was that a lot more people seem to be buying China National Native Products (CNNP) puerh.  This surprised me at first.  To me CNNP was associated with a risk of being lower quality puerh.  Basically, you never knew, for certain what the cake would be like and had no brand recognition behind it.  At the random tea tables in China, and to a lesser extent Korea, there was a decent chance that these teas would be almost undrinkable.  To order a cake of this stuff blindly was almost unimaginable 10 years ago.

Nowadays, the mentality toward the CNNP labeled teas has changed thanks to western pureh vendors.  Puerh vendors have picked up on some Western puerh drinker’s preference for value over brand and have started stocking these.  As buyers we no longer have to be concerned about them being undrinkable because the vendors basically do the leg work here to ensure something of a particular quality that won’t compromise their own brand.  I feel sorry for them, but grateful!

As a result, we are now ensured a certain level of quality with these CNNP cakes.  Without brand recognition behind these cakes- great value can be had.  This pretty much removes the puerh collector from driving up the market value of these teas.  These are the true puerh drinker’s puerh!

Recently, my feeling of the CNNP cakes changed because of good reviews and a general positive outlook overall and a run of good ones that I sampled from Stephane of Teamasters .  After reading some of these reviews I really wanted to try some out in my next order.  It took me longer than I thought to order again (probably a good problem to have), but I am happy to say that some of these CNNPs are on their way.  I am really hoping that these cakes help me overcome my fear of CNNP.

The first to arrive was….

2005 CNNP “Big Yellow Mark”

Dry leaves smell of a faint smoke almost creamy sweetness and slight aged, almost roasted meat odour.

“Big Yellow” gets the big yixing and big Korean ceramic cups treatment today.  “Go bold or go home” I chuckle to myself.

The first infusion delivers a slightly smoke, slight sour initial taste.  There is a mild sweetness that lingers on the breath.  The base taste is slightly smokey, meaty, and savory here.  There is a soft subtle sweetness that tries to push through in the mild returning sweetness.  There is a soapy, almost cinnamon and rose pedal quality in there as well.  There is lots going on with this tea.  The mouthfeel has a bit of chalkiness to it in this first infusion.  I got some mild allergic symptoms off this one right after the first infusion.  Next time I will probably give it 2 or 3 rinses instead of just one.

The second infusion starts with a meaty, savory BBQ like taste then adds a slightly almost chalky rose edge.  The aftertaste is mildly cooling and evolves in the mouth.  The throat has a deeper chalkier mid throat feel which works well for this tea.  The aftertaste minutes later is a nice mild smokey menthol barely rose sweetness.  The aftertaste is long and interesting trying to push more subtle sweet flavours through.  The qi of this tea is strong enough to have a profound effect on the mind.

The third infusion starts with a smokey, BBQ like taste.  Then there is a splash of almost sweetness then back to smokey BBQ, then slowly and long evolving into a cooling returning aftertaste.  Minutes later there is a barely creamy rose aftertaste.  The taste profile of this tea is long and unfolds slowly.  The mouth and throat feel develop a nice astringency to it.  The aftertaste has a creamy almost sweet finish reminiscent of Nannou.  The way I am reacting to this tea, it contains more than a bit of evil qi in there.

The fourth infusion begins with this roasted meat and smokey BBQ taste.  The mouthfeel becomes more astringent but not overly so.  The aftertaste is more measured in this fourth infusion with less subtlety or sweetness pushing through.

The fifth still carries this burley, masculine feel of smokey, strong almost harshness followed by hints of Nannou creamy sweetness in the aftertaste that slides into a rose-like taste. There is much to see in this tea if you can see through its smokey strength.

The sixth infusion starts to coalesce nicely.  Its initial taste is almost a creamy sweet woody taste.  Its less smokey here and more rich and creamy.  It has a nice floral rose like finish that is more noticeable now.  The mouthfeeling is chalky and deeper and aftertaste is slight cooling evolving.  The qi is really nice and strong you can feel it in the chest as the heart beats stronger and in the head that feel cloudy, energy sure is felt, a boost for sure.

The seventh infusion is similar to the sixth but more smokey and woody.  Nice big qi in here for sure.

I think about throwing in the towel with this tea but it just tastes too damn good, despite some of the allergic like reactions I’m having to it.  It seems like it’s even getting better in these last infusions so I steep it a few more times.  The body of these infusions are decently rich and thick in the mouth with a more cohesive flavor profile of smokey wood and almost creaminess.  This tea feels like it could go a lot further with even more infusions.

This tea reminds me of 85% Xiguan, 10% Nannou single estate, 5% Yang Qing Hao.  It is robust and strong, almost harsh but has some elegance, some softeness as well.  To me the Nannou profile is the most obvious but the strength indicates other Menghai material mixed in there.

This tea tastes great and has some very nice qi but my body is reacting negatively to something in that cake.  Who knows what it is.  I really want to like this cake, but my body and the itch is telling me it’s probably not worth it.  Due to past recommendations of this tea by others there must be many people out there who have sampled it.  Is there anyone else out there that has experienced allergic type symptoms?  Maybe I'm just allergic to good puerh?  Hahaha...

Darn CNNP…

Peace

Cwyn’s (Death By Tea) Tasting Notes

James’ (TeaDB) Tasting Notes

Peace

Excellent Everyday Drinker Puerh: 2003 Teamasters “Private Label Spring Puerh From Private Factory”

This tea came in a free unsolicited package of samples from Stephane of Teamasters’ Blog.  I did something I rarely do and, on a whim, in my office I sampled this tea blindly without even looking at the label or knowing anything about it except that it was puerh and it came from Stephane.  It was the first of a handful of samples that he kindly sent.  What I discovered pleasantly surprised me…

Dry leaves smell of significant humid storage without being full out traditional wet storage.  This tea has a robust woody pine like odour which is somewhat resinous.  The storage, to me, is right on, not off at all- very humid clean dry stored puerh.

The first infusion a nice aged puerh depth is immediately apparent with a slight peach initial taste with nice dry wood like taste dominating the profile.  There is a mild returning coolness in a deeper aged woody broth.  The mouthfeel has a subtle dryness to it as does the top throat.

The second infusion starts with a nice almost buttery wood taste.  The middle taste is woody with slight aged dirt and decomposing leaf taste.  The aftertaste is mildly cooling wood.  There is a slight woody stickiness that is left in the mouth afterward.  This is classic woody sheng puerh is stored in a manner that is so familiar with me.

Third infusion is much the same but more round- still 90% woody aged dirt tastes maybe 10% buttery edge to the initial taste.   The mouthfeel is both slightly drying and finishes barely sticky.

The fourth again is much the same.  The fifth is developing a slight creaminess and has more of a cool edge as well.  The sixth again builds on more of a fresh woody taste edge to it.  There is a very slight fruit taste in the breath- dates.  The mouthfeel remains substantive but not overly drying.

In the seventh infusion the taste is nice and harmonious- woody depth, subtle freshness, barely coolness, drier fresher cut wood, dirt, composing leaves.  All of these are fairly standard aged puerh tastes.  The mouthfeel becomes more rounded as well and less dry.  The qi congests in the chest over the heart.  It has a mild path to the head and is mostly felt in the body.

In the eighth and ninth infusions the returning coolness is much stronger now giving the puerh a freshness to it.  There are some sweet edges in the coolness that weren’t as evident in the early infusions.  The taste doesn’t evolve too much and mainly presents with a dirt, woody, barely date taste.  There is a true warming qi with this tea as the body feels nice and comforted.

The tenth is starting to become more plum/date tasting with the woody taste just a bit more dominant in the initial taste as the sweet taste disappears.  A slightly drying wood in left in the throat.

The eleventh infusion starts to hollow out a touch and becomes more watery for the first time.  The twelfth feels full once again, it must have been the 60 second off boil water for the eleventh.  Suggestions of rose in this cup is a nice surprise.

Thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth give off a nice aged puerh taste. This puerh is steeped like this a handful more time.  These late infusions you are basically left to enjoy the very clean aged taste.  So nice.

At this point in time, I take a look at the label on the sample package.  I am surprised that it is a 2003- I would have guessed late 90s.  It’s very humid storage makes it feel like a late 1990s for me, even someone familiar with drinking this type of storage.  I go on to Teamasters’ online store and look up this tea.  I am again surprised that this tea is selling for $59.00 for 375g cake ($0.17/g).  In my head while drinking it, I figured a cake of this quality would be $150.00.  The only thing that really didn’t surprise me that it is from the Menghai region- it really tastes like this.  I see that there are only a few cakes left.  I put them all in my cart and check out- done.

This tea is simple and clean with a very aged taste for a 2003.  If someone out there is looking for a really aged puerh taste without having to shell out hundreds of dollars- this is the one.  The storage is excellent very humid but very clean storage.  Cakes like this are relatively rare for Western puerh buyers.

If you looked at this criteria for tasting puerh, this tea would be heavily weighted a great everyday drinker.  It feels clean and unsprayed.  It feels harmonious in the body and mind.  The qi sensation is warming and comfortable.  The taste is quite standard but substantially aged tasting.  The mouth and throatfeel are not the strong point of this tea but is not harsh.

The irony is this- the very first blog post I read on my return to blogging was no other than this post introducing this tea on Teamasters Blog.  All this time I was searching hi and low for an everyday drinker and there it was all along.

 It turns out that Stephane restocked this, there were 11 cakes a few days ago now it looks like there is only 8 left.  Those that are seeking an affordable but nicely stored everyday drinker puerh, you got it in this one.

I really could not agree more with the lone reviewer on the vendor page, Alex N, when they pointedly state, “With some age and clean humid storage. By far the best I've found at this age and price. Don't hesitate.”

Peace

Often Overlooked: 1995 Teamasters CNNP Yiwu Brick

Dear Stephane,

I remember your Teamasters Blog was one of three that I used to read in the mid-2000s.  Effectively you inspired me with your posts to start MattCha’s Blog.  Your enthusiasm, kindness, and passion for transmitting what you have learned is contagious.  Thanks for putting your passion into this as well as the sale of teas that represent the extent of your tea knowledge.

Matt

When shopping for puerh Teamasters’ smaller curated selection is often overlooked in North America.  Certainly, I’m just as guilty as everybody else.  Luck for me, Stephane, was quick to send some unsolicited samples to this old blogger to try out.  I have been eagerly waiting for the cold winter to give them a try.  The warming qi of a nicely aged puerh cannot compare on these early Winter days.  I’ve tried Teamsters' puerh before and was quite impressed.  For me Teamasters’ puerh usually has nicer humid storage and usually has some quality aged offerings as well as a few more humid stored everyday drinkers.  This sample is one such example of the former.  At $750.00 per 500g brick or $20.00/12gsample, it offers us a glimpse of what puerh at this level, age, and storage should look like.  Let’s indulge, shall we…
 

Stephane describes the origins of this tea as follows: This special order from Hong Kong to CNNP was made in 1995 in one of the state factories since the market hadn't been liberalized, yet. There's no neifei or neipiao to tell us which factory it comes from, though.

The dry leaves smell of soft fruity and deep aged puerh forest and dirt depth.  The odour of the dry leaves immediately give away that this tea is should have lots of complexity to it.  It smells of clean medium humid dry storage with lots of fresh depth.

The first infusion has a very smooth buttery sweetness.  There are deep aged tastes with some suggestions of dried fruits in a very rich thick and viscus broth.  The mouthfeel is immediately thick like syrup.  It finishes lightly fruity with strong viscus depth.  There is a nice soft cooling in the mouth with indications of vanilla and rum.  You can feel the warm qi building in the chest and calming the mind.

The second infusion starts off more woody, and slowly transitions into more of a richness, a deep aged puerh taste.  There is a nice lightness that creates a beautiful dichotomy of thick rich depth and suggestions of syrupy fruit underneath.  The aftertaste is long the throat feel is lubricating and nice.

The third infusion has a pronounced wood note and a cooling aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is very nice and full with a nice finish of cooling throatiness.  There is less indication of fruitiness here and more deep thick aged puerh taste.  This infusion releases a nice euphoric head feeling.

The fourth infusion has a more of an earthy, dirt taste to it.  The aftertaste has a nice rich returning sweetness that has a very aged lighter fruit taste over a nice deep cooling.  There is a certain taste to this infusion that I have a hard time describing almost like a brandy taste to it.

The fifth infusion has a nice lively fruitiness to it balanced with deep aged puerh tastes.  The tastes are really nice here with the fruity tastes almost as distinct as the woody-camphor aged puerh tastes.  The throatiness of this tea is significant and hold the aftertaste nicely.  The qi here induces nice euphoria- I feel on top of the world.

 The sixth infusion has more of a woody camphor taste to it, the brandy alcholol note is in there now too.  The fruit tastes are gone now with just a ghost on the breathe with a slight bread taste as well.

The seveth is much the same as the sixth but now has a smoother compete taste there are hints of vanilla here.

The eighth has a high noted wood initial taste, I think this would be the way to describe it.  Then is smooths out over the profile and matains a deep wood taste.  The aftertaste is nicely cooling.  Straight camphor through and through in this infusion.

The ninth infusion again has some hints of fruit under the woody depth.  This tea really goes back and forth infusion to infusion showing off its complexity and depth.

Tenth once again presents light elements in dark.  The eleventh is quite smooth too.  Vanilla, camphor, woody, slight earthy dirt, a nice soft cool returning breathfeel.  Very smooth.

The twelveth has some buttery brown sugar notes in there as well.  There is a fresh robust taste to this infusion with touches of vanilla in the breath.  Mmmmmm… There is just as much compexitiy here than in the earlier infusions but the flavors are much more conhesive.  This tea has a nice rhythm to it.

The fourteenth infusion seems to offer basic woody tastes in a smooth mouth- throatfeel.  The fifteenth is more fruity and cincentracted all the while maintaing that aged wood taste.  Sixteenth has a deep depth of slightly different woody tastes here.

The seventh and eighteenth hold the line hear with light woody almost fruit tastes with a cooling aftertaste.

The nineteeth onward is pretty much just light camphory tastes with a cooling aftertaste and still somewhat full mouthfeeling.  What’s not to enjoy about this puerh?

I like how this tea pulls off the fruity lightness of Yiwu with the deeper aged tastes.  It really makes for a brilliant tea.  Overall there is much complexity to be found infusion to infusion.  The storage would be a medium-dry humid storage to me which I think has done this tea well in maintaining some high notes amongst manly just deep aged tastes.

Peace