Sheng time! He Kai Unfermented Puerh is an August 2013 harvest from He Kai, the northern foothill area of Bulang Mountain, Menghai County, China.
Jalam Teas is a monthly tea club in which they send you a puerh cake every month. Each month has a detailed write up of the tea online of where the tea was grown and of the people who make it. It is an interesting read while you enjoy your tea! For He Kai Unfermented, I was excited to hear the tea was grown in a region that had a lot of wild orchids which is known to influence the tea flavor.
Dry Leaf
He Kai Unfermented Puerh is a beautiful cake with silver green threads snaked throughout . Sweet warm scent coming from the cake.
Ha, I’m getting better at folding the puerh wrapper nicely. Soon no one will know I messed with the tea!
Steeping Instructions
I had 2 runs with this tea and felt I could of experimented much more. For this review I went with boiling water temperature, 15 second rinse and quick 5 to 10 second infusions. I didn’t add more that a 10 second infusion time increase throughout the entire session.
He Kai Unfermented Puerh steeps up a pretty golden cup with a fruity baked goods smell.
Tasting of Jalam Teas’ He Kai Unfermented Puerh
First, Second and Third Infusion: He Kai Unfermented Puerh sips in sweet and very strong. As the sip progresses I’m getting lovely apricot notes with whispers of floral. The finish of this tea is very stronger with a grassy vegetal and bitter. Not often I get a bitter tea, but the flavor is so strong it enters into light bitter town – 3/10 on the Bitter Meter. (In my first attempt at steeping this tea with longer infusions it was quite bitter!)
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Infusion: The flavor of He Kai Unfermented Puerh has been building strength with each infusion The floral is packing more punch and is clearly orchid – a 4/10 on the floral meter. The tea is backed with an apricot flavor and still has a very intense grassy vegetal finish. I was wondering that maybe this tea maybe it is not that bitter – its just that intense of a flavor. He Kai Unfermented Puerh is like drinking an orchid with the finish ending at the leafy stems of the plant. Dryness arrived to these infusions of He Kai Unfermented Puerh, a moderate 5/10 astringency that dries out the teeth and gums.
The beauty, and my favorite part of He Kai Unfermented Puerh is the aftertaste – there is a long lingering orchid flavor, the floral flavor stronger than the floral notes in the tea! I bet my breath smelled really nice!
Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Infusion: He Kai Unfermented Puerh is finally mellowing out. The flavor is really light – mineral and vegetal, but in reality there was quite a bit of flavor as the orchid aftertaste was still going strong. 20 minutes later I can still taste orchids due to the flavor sticking dryness.
Comments
Jalam Teas’ He Kai Unfermented Puerh is for someone who loves a very strong cup of tea. This raw/sheng puerh would be perfect for someone wanting a floral puerh as well! Even five second steepings packed a punch in the flavor department. Actually, of all the Jalam Teas’ raw/sheng puerhs I’ve tried, they all have potent flavor.
Admittedly, this tea was too strong for me and required extra attention to ensure I didn’t not oversteep it. I will tinker with temperatures and times more, but I was quite happy with the orchid flavor and aftertaste I was getting. My tea session was quick as all the infusions were quite short (and potent)!
(tea provided for review)
