Today’s review is a pair of puer cakes from Puerh Panda. I have a Raw/Sheng and a Ripe/Shou Puer to review. First off, how cool are these puer wrappers??? I love them both!
Puerh Panda’s 2018 Cactus Sheng Puer
Cactus is a 200gram 2018 sheng puer blend. It is promised to be a pretty forgiving steeper. Each purchase of a cake gets a donation to Friends of Saguaro National Park, for Saguaro cactus and conversation research.
Well if this tea is supposed to be bombproof, I’ll give it my all… well give it my usual since I tend to always boil my teas these days. I used 1 gram of leaf per 15ml of vessel size, steeped with boiling water gongfu style. The steeped hot leaf is sweet and smokey.
First, Second, and Third Infusion: The Cactus sheng starts off light and chewy. It has notes of vegetal crispness of aloe, parsley, with a low sweet finish and aftertaste. The sweetness leans a bit cooling along with a fruity apricot or peach skin note.
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Infusion: Cactus Puer is still on the light side, so I am guessing the softness is here to stay. I am admiring the freshness of this tea. With each steeping, the fresh and crisp parsley note becomes clearer, and the longer the fruity and cool aftertaste settle in. The broth is creamy feeling and easy to drink. I feel like I am trying to sense dry or bitterness but so far next to nothing. The last infusion shifted a touch with a sandalwood note at end of the sip.
Ninth and Tenth Infusion: This tea is leaning bombproof so far, which is interesting for a young sheng puer, so I intentionally murdered it here with more boiling water and extended 10 and 15 minute infusion. It is just a touch dry and bitter, the parsley stewed a little bit, but overall tastes fine. Cactus sheng puer still tastes light, vegetal, and a bit fruity in the aftertaste.
Comments
Puer Panda’s Cactus Sheng Puer is near bombproof of a young sheng. It is quite easy to drink and ultra friendly to steep. I did mine at boiling and could abuse it with fine results. It has a lighter flavour and leans vegetal. If you like green teas or are new to puer, you’ll find this puer to be lovely.
Puerh Panda’s 2018 Mushroom Shou Puer
Puerh Panda’s 2018 Mushroom Shou Puer is another blend of material. This tea also goes towards a cause, Give the Bees a Chance project. Admittedly, it took me a while to get around to this double review as the Mushroom shou arrived smelling pretty funky. I aired this out for almost 2 months. Despite the time, it still smells a little sour.
I went harder on the leaf for this tea, around 1 gram of leaf per 13.5ml of vessel size. After 2 rinses there was no funk, just hot earth.
First and Second Infusion: I am guessing this is a running theme here, as this has the start of another approachable light bombproof puer as the flavour is light and sweet. It is mushroomy, earthy and a bit of chocolate, all of which reminds me of Chaga mushroom tea. Or does Chaga tea remind me of shou?
Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Infusion: Mushroom Shou has settled down quite a bit. This steep got less mushroomy. The flavour got darker and stronger, settling into an earthy dirt, bit of wood, and soft sweetness to it. Some sips are sour, so there is still some youth left in this.
Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Infusion: The shou is lightening a lot here. Mushroom Shou has a mineral and wood note. The last infusions were simply minerals and sweet. There is a touch of astringency but very light. I likely could have gotten another infusion or two with something with better heat retention than this gaiwan.
Comments
Similar to the sheng, Puerh Panda’s 2018 Mushroom Shou Puer is easy to steep. It is decently approachable, though still a bit young. It’s a fine for those who prefer a mushroom leaning shou. Admittedly, I haven’t encountered many mushroom flavoured shous these days, most vendors go for the sweeter woody ones. I want to leave the shou for a few more months more to settle down, but if you aren’t as picky about shou as I am, it is drinkable now.
(tea provided for review)
