Tag: pu-erh tea

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Thoughts on Huang Pian and 2016 Alter Ego from BitterLeaf Teas

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Today I am drinking Bitterleaf Teas‘ 2016 Alter Ego. Alter Ego is made of Huang Pian material from the Mansa, which is in North Yiwu, bordering Laos. This 2016 tea is long sold out, but there the 2017 Alter Ego available… and 2018 brought out a bunch of other Huang Pian bricks from Bitterleaf. Huang Pian material is a tea I am seeing more and more lately, and we’ll see it more in the future as it is a cost-effective tea using the “ugly” leaves. However, this is to not be confused with ugly mowed up tea barf we see in cheap… Continue reading, hoot!

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2017 Flap Jacks Puer from White2Tea

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Today’s review is the 2017 Flap Jacks by White2Tea. I have both the Sheng and Shou set. This tea is sold in a mini tong of 7, with 8 grams mini puer discs. I bought both sets of Flap Jacks with my White2Tea order around Black Friday. I actually hesitated to buy Flap Jacks as I rather buy full cakes than gimmicky prepackaged shapes, with also a slight fear of lesser quality material was used. But the Flap Jacks are around $5 each and freaking cute, so like the tea addict I am, I got them anyway. I was having… Continue reading, hoot!

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2017 Jinggu Bang Sheng Puer from Crimson Lotus Tea

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Despite 2018 Spring teas almost ready, I still have 2017 Spring teas untouched. I’ve been plowing through my queue and it is great when I find some wins. Todays’ review is Crimson Lotus Tea’s 2017 Jinggu Bang Sheng Puer. This is a spring tea and described as a “fantastic representative of Jinggu area material.” Crimson Lotus Tea has the best sample wrapping. I love that I can just stuff these in my pumidor. Dry Leaf and Steeping Method Jinggu Bang has a big, twisted vibrant green leaf. The tea smells of baby powder, sticky medicinal, and sweet grass. I went… Continue reading, hoot!

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Simple Sheng and Shou from Crimson Lotus Tea

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Today’s review is Crimson Lotus Tea‘s Simple Puer line, which is designed as a good first puer and easy to brew. Both the 2017 Simple Sheng and 2016 Simple Shou are 50 gram cakes and pressed into easy to break 6 pieces, so in theory, each piece should break into 8 gram servings. No puer tools needed and 8 grams is a decent size for most gaiwan sizes. Crimson Lotus Tea Simple Sheng The dry leaf smells sweet, with the hot leaf leaning more floral. Strangely, my Simple Sheng broke off uneven at the base and I got a 6 gram piece.… Continue reading, hoot!

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2016 Sweet Clarity Sheng Puer from Denong Tea

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While I was at Denong Tea in Pasadena, I was tea drunk enough to upsell things by myself. I asked how their cake of Sweet Clarity sheng puer was and Denong simply said it tastes like Sweet Clarity (roll credits). Either way, it was enough for me to blind purchase a 100 gram cake. Denong Tea has some of the most beautiful of tea wrappers. Dry Leaf and Steeping Method The dry leaf is soft, sweet, and somewhat pungent in scent. The only information I could find on the material of Sweet Clarity is that it is from Xishuangbanna Prefecture. I… Continue reading, hoot!

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March 2018 White2Tea Club feat. 2009 Jingmai

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March 2018 White2Tea club time! This month is a whole 250 gram brick of 2009 Jingmai sheng puer and a sample of Autumn Auburn (ANBURN) black tea. I honestly was most excited by the Anburn black. The spring harvest was in the September 2017 White2tea club, and it was the bomb! I squirreled away the rest of my Anburn black, and I’ll be hiding this one as well until I secure more. That said, I’ll just be reviewing the 2009 Jingmai today. This tea is promised to have a clean, dry storage, with a floral smooth middle age taste. I had this… Continue reading, hoot!

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2016 NaKa Big Tree Sheng Puer from Healthy Leaf

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Healthy Leaf caught my eye for the big selection fo aged white tea, but they do sell other teas. I selected this 2016 Naka Big Tree as I like NaKa and wanted a taste of their sheng. I was smelling my blogger sample pile, I opened the bag, and smelled and WHOA must drink! I wasn’t in the mood to drink a younger sheng, but this tea changed my mind. Dry Leaf and Steeping Method This is a maocha puer, so it is loose instead of pressed into cakes. The leaves are honking big and wiry, taking up lots of… Continue reading, hoot!

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2018 February White2Tea Club feat. Sichuan Heicha

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February 2018 White2Tea club came with some incredibly interesting teas – four old Sichuan Heichas! These teas are mentioned as best/traditionally boiled with some yak butter and salt, maybe cream. You cannot find Yak butter in North America it seems, I am also horribly lactose intolerant these days so the cream is a hard pass. Vanilla soy creamer sounds quite a disgusting pairing too. I will still boil the tea though. I decided to work youngest to oldest, steeping 1 gram of leaf to 15 ml vessel size. After around 5 or 6 infusions, I took the leaf to the… Continue reading, hoot!

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2007 Hidden Gem Mahei Huangpian Sheng Puer from Bitterleaf Teas

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Bitterleaf Teas’ 2007 Hidden Gem Mahei Huang Pian sheng puer caught my eye due to storage. Bitterleaf Tea states this tea has a controlled humid storage. Likely many of us pumidor nuts located outside humid climates is gunning for this kind of storage. I guess I am in this category, but my main tea storage goal is to not get mold. Dry Leaf and Steeping Method The dry leaf is the characteristic huang pian look with big brittle leaves but also with a dark aged look. The scent is of forest floor or a basement heavy in house plants. The… Continue reading, hoot!

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Blind Tasting of 2017 Yunnan Sourcing Puer

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I was sent an assortment of puer from Yunnan Sourcing, organized by Mattcha, packaged as a blind tasting a la Half Dipper blog style. I had no idea what these teas are, but there will be an answer key at the end. There are a number of other bloggers who have already done this tasting with this set, and I’ve gone out of my way to ignore their work until I had this done. Sorry Cwyn and TeaDB. My notes are likely a little different as they got theirs done in January, and my slow owl ass drank the teas… Continue reading, hoot!