This was one the World Tea Expo 2015 finds and an impulse buy. When I bought this Jasmine Sheng I thought it was a shou and in that moment jasmine shou sounded cool. Then when I was checking up online I learned what I got was actually a sheng.
My 2011 Longrun Jasmine Puer is a 100 gram mini cake. It is Yunnan origin and that is all the information I can find on this tea.
By the way, Longrun pu’er is available on Amazon.com. So far the Longrun pu’er I’ve gotten has been decent, so if you want tea off Amazon I’d be sure to check them out.
Dry Leaf
This cake was hard to break pieces off, it was pressed tightly. The Jasmine Sheng Puer has a delightful sweet floral scent that I would expect from a green or oolong.
Steeping Instructions
I used 200F water, 1 gram to 15ml ratio. The leaf is pretty cut up, which lead to some much needed straining and the leaf slowing down the filter. That said, I think this tea is more optimal for a tea pot with a removable basket tea filter instead of a gaiwan or pouring right out of a tea pot.
Tasting of 2011 Longrun Jasmine Puer
First, Second and Third Infusion: Steeped up, the Jasmine Pu’er has a smokey peachy scent.
The flavor is lightly smokey at first, with a blooming strong jasmine note at the end of sip. There is some metallic bitterness, but moreso due to the moderately strong floral flavor. The aftertaste is floral peachy jasmine with a dry mouth feel. Longrun Jasmine Puer gets more floral with each steep. The jasmine is powerful, but not artificial or chemically.
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Infusion: The puer has gotten quite dry here, my cheeks are sinking in and my gums are in protest. The texture is light and a bit smokey but floral aftertaste is high. I could literally breathe out fire of floral, which would be a useless magical power unless you did weddings. The tea is not sweet or buttery like a jasmine oolong can be. Jasmine in sheng puer is a metallic bitter, pungent face punch, and steamed greens taste with a texture of squeaky boiled spinach. This is surely a floral fire breathing power of malice.
Seventh and Eighth Infusion: The Jasmine Puer is finally chilling out or I’ve settled into the bitterness. The flavor is watery light jasmine that charges up to cooked squeaky spinach notes. The dryness is high as I actively aware of all the spaces in between my front teeth.
Ninth Infusion: It’s dead, Owl. What I got was sweet water with a hint of jasmine. Rein of floral breath is over!
Comments
If you loooove jasmine teas and want something new, but also drink sheng pu’er, I’d give this 2011 Longrun Jasmine Puer a try. I think more fine tuning on the brewing might give you better results, say a lower temperature or trying it cold brewed. Compared to green and oolong jasmine teas, this jasmine puer gets you much more resteeps and strong jasmine taste. This puer SCREAMS gift potential too – besides the 100 gram mini cake, there is a 357 gram cake, and gift tin option.
A big con I ran into was storing this cake. First off, I really don’t know how well the jasmine scent will keep or age. Second, and the big problem was the tea is very scented, so I need to keep it away from my other shengs to avoid them all turning into jasmine shengs. I’ve been storing this pu’er in a plastic baggie, then later I gave it away as I found a tea buddy who loved it. See, this jasmine puer is a great gift!
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