1997 CNNP Big Red Mark Raw

So last weekend I was house sitting for my parents as they were out of town and I just threw some random samples into my backpack… I pick out this one that says 97 Chawangshop red mark and I’m thinking ‘eh this will be decent I suppose’ thinking that Chawangshop doesn’t have serious bangers… well, I was wrong and it’s good to be wrong!

Tea brewed out really dark. Taste much like a Bulang with that spunk to it. Nice texture, a little speckle on the tongue/throat; you know, like the viscosity of the liquid was taking its time trickle throw/on both. Taste was very aged and dry aged at that… dry aged is MUCH easier to taste tea progression and low notes unlike humid storage; just try a 10 year XG that was humid stored vs a 10 year dry XG stored cake. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some humid stored stuff, but what a treat it is to have a dry stored cake that you can kind of taste the years pass through your taste buds.

No idea who gave me a sample, no idea if more is to be had… awesome session. Very satisfied.

Earth. The Final Frontier.

There have been a few reviews on this tea, and invariably the taste mentioned is earh, or soil or such. This is definitely the tea those loamy shous are trying to imitate. You’re not going to get more ground taste in your tea without having to chew.

And I suspect, really, that’s all I’ll need to say for you to know whether this tea is for you. It harbored no surprises, it didn’t evolve during the steeps, nor did it out stay it’s welcome. Although, to be fair, this sort of tea gets brewed very long very early when in my pot by preference (and due to being “bombproof”), so perhaps a more measured approach would extend its number of steeps considerably.

Of particular note is the lack of funky or off flavors, despite a taste profile that usually features some. Not sure how it was stored precisrly, but I did only one rinse and couldn’t taste anything sloughing off as the session progressed. Well done.

Overall, an enjoyable cup, but certainly not one I’ll miss when it’s gone. Perhaps like the fabled Red Marks of old, it just needs another quarter century to come into its own. Don’t look to me to exhibit that degree of patience, however.

If you dare, take a journey through the leaves to the roots and taste the earth itself.
don’t get discouraged by its simplicity, and remember, the soil is more valuable for those who know what it can grow.
With its generosity it will give you as much as you want to enjoy and explore its secrets that went through time..
Now, if you took the lesson and let your roots go deeper, you can feel the good flowing from below helps you the get higher and higher!

1997 CNNP Big Red Mark – Chawangshop

26/25 :)

7g in gaiwan.

80/100

Summary: An aged tea with a soil/earth flavour. Nothing special flavour wise. Lacks depth of flavour and clarity. I think it is genuine 90’s tea judging by the long number of steeps, the bold flavour and the leaves.
Is it worth the £150 ($210.00) for a cake? No. The flavour is too basic. It hasn’t matured into something special.

Dry: Med brown. Smells earthy. Light/med compression.

https://www.instagram.com/p/-pJvt9oDr9mzdN5RNqH9HbVRDYNtzNmK5B-l80

Wet: Soil, earthy, clay, slight smoke, foisty. Wet pastry. Later: aged aroma: old building, some furniture polish.

https://www.instagram.com/p/-pKNycIDtNgQd47liLngusDJ8vyo7tIw1oM7s0
https://www.instagram.com/p/-pazavIDhRHgsrdGjKpCJXKaiOTLUaaGU3exE0

Rinse: Med brown. The earthy aroma was strong when pouring out the rinse.

https://www.instagram.com/p/-pKTRiIDtXHiUttpxv-Ph3v4KZ2iMQ1CdusPI0

10s – Med brown. Taste is earthy, not in a flat way, but in a pleasant way. Absolutely no bitterness or astringency. This tastes like soil so far.

15s – Med brown/red. The thickness expands in the mouth. This tea has some complexity and flavours which I’m struggling to describe: old furniture, a tingling and a long aged aroma in the finish. The body is good. It has some spicy notes and the aged aroma can be tasted when breathing.

20s – Med brown/ref. Bold aged flavour with good form.

25s – Med brown. Some polish flavours hitting the roof of my mouth.

45s – Becoming harsh, but has that aged flavour still.