Not too long ago I received a package of new samples from Wymm Tea. Oooh yeah I cannot say no to pu’er samples especially from my home town of Vancouver, Canada!
Like the last sample pack I received, Wymm Tea has beautiful packaging. I love the simplicity and the design. If you haven’t seen their website, it is also beautiful to just browse around and soak up the tea as well as pretty informative on pu’er.
The paper (which you can also purchase extra on their site) is hand made!
I had a hard time choosing a tea to drink. I decided to go with the 2010 Sheng Spring Kunlu Pu’er. This ancient tree, big leaf pu’er promises a sweet flavor.
Dry Leaf
My sample was big chunky looking with long flat chunks of leaf.
Steeping Instructions
I decided to go with 200f water temperature, steeping with a gaiwan. I did 1 rinse and started with pretty quick 10 second infusions.
Tasting of 2010 Sheng Kunlu Mountain Ancient Tree Pu’er
Steeped up, the pu’er is strong scented of earth leaf with a creamy tint of lemon.
First and Second Infusion: Whoa thick thick mouth feel! Drinking this pu’er is like drinking literal fluff. The texture is so heavy that I’m thinking I’m drinking a black tea. The flavor is lightly sweet with notes of steamed vegetables, straw and a hint of tart stone fruit. Flavor is really light but we have just begun! There is a bit of dryness at the end 2/10 on the Astringent Meter.
My tea owls love to accessorize and love when they get wearables! I like stickers myself I cover my tea tins in them.
Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Infusion: I’m feeling a tingle on my tongue with each sip. My tongue has a layer of dryness and mixing with the tart and thick texture, which is giving me tingly sensation.
The flavor is getting stronger. There is sweet lemon drop flavor with a bit of streamed vegetal and a lingering after taste. The texture is still thick and fluffy, though getting more dry (4/10). The dryness has spread to my cheeks, making me feel as if I’m playing Chubby Bunny with this tea, you know, that marshmallow game where you stuff your mouth with as many marshmallows as you can.
Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Infusion: The sheng pu’er is starting to lighten here. The texture is still very fluffy but the steamed veg flavor is softening. There is now a buttery note and a peach aftertaste. I’m doing longer steeps of adding an additional minute to keep it going. The extended infusions is also ramping up on dryness leaving my mouth feeling dryer than before – full on dry teeth, cheeks and tingle numb tongue (6/10 dryness).
The leaf is bursting from the gaiwan!
Eleventh and Twelfth Infusion: I did a 10 and 20 min steep for the final infusions. The flavor of 2010 kunlu sheng is light and sweet but still quite dry.
Mega leaf found!
Comments
I preferred the early infusions of 2010 Sheng Spring Kunlu Pu’er as it got more vegetal and dry as it went on. Overall the texture was very nice and thick, great for texture tea chasers like myself. The flavor was interesting for it’s citrus, stone fruit and vegetal elements.
Check out Canadian Pu’er seller Wymm Tea – they offer sample sizes, sampler packs and whole pu’er cakes!
(tea provided for review)
