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 hot leaf smells like a hot forest floor on a dry day.Steeped up, I got a slightly brassy colour of tea.
First and Second Infusion: Hidden Gem is syrupy and saucy. This tea is thick to drink with a bright prune syrup sweetness. It is strongly mineral note and lightly humid storage tasting, but clean. Humid storage is hard to describe to be appealing unless the thought of dank basement sounds delicious. This has a clean basement taste, somewhat like my efforts on my abandoned tea closet in the clean phase – but over time it gets dank and weird from the humidity. The texture is dense and thick to drink, giving off a thick slick feel in the mouth. The aftertaste is a sweet, but it doesn’t linger too long.
Third and Fourth Infusion: This round has stronger flavor with some light wet pine notes, mineral, wet stones, slightly fruity sweetness, over a thick texture. Bit of a tickle in the throat starting in the back, so I am expecting some astringency to come.
Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Infusion: The colour has shifted to a dark amber and ruby.
I can taste more of the humid notes now. It is a little sharp and swampy basement and wet wood, but also mineral sweet with a dry finish. Some aftertaste pauses I get peachy notes, others are still the similar fleeting sweetness. It tastes like a humid storage tea way late in the infusions and steeped out of all storage taste, but stronger in flavor.
Whatever is up with this tea, I got the tummy rumbles after six infusions. I’ve been trying to take note if a tea gives me gut rot, and the heaviness of this tea just churns the digestion faster or something. It feels to me something I should drink after a greasy meal, in contrast to all the young sheng I’ve been drinking that demands a greasy meal after.
Ninth and Tenth Infusion: The final infusions are sweet, warm woodsy, but also on the drier side. It gives a coughing back of the throat dryness with a chance of cheek biting.
Comments
Bitterleaf Teas’ 2007 Hidden Gem Mahei Huang Pian sheng puer is an exercise in the storage of puer. It had some wet forest floor elements, but also concentrated sweetness and clean aspects. No funky basement but also not dried out library books of drier storage. It has an enjoyable sweetness that many tea drinkers would like.
I got tea friends who love the ultra dank teas and others not sold on it. Hidden Gem is a nice happy medium to hopefully make everyone happy, with sweetness to keep new drinkers happy, and complexities of figuring what is going on with this tea to make seasoned drinkers intrigued. It is also a great tea to have after a big meal.
Generally, huang pian are priced cheaper as the leaf is seen as less desirable looking but still tastes great. I also find older huang pian not common of a find. 2007 Hidden Gem is currently priced at $0.42 per gram.
(Gifted via a Secret “Santea” exchange with tea friends)
