Today’s review is Crimson Lotus Tea‘s Simple Puer line, which is designed as a good first puer and easy to brew.
Both the 2017 Simple Sheng and 2016 Simple Shou are 50 gram cakes and pressed into easy to break 6 pieces, so in theory, each piece should break into 8 gram servings. No puer tools needed and 8 grams is a decent size for most gaiwan sizes.
Crimson Lotus Tea Simple Sheng
The dry leaf smells sweet, with the hot leaf leaning more floral.
Strangely, my Simple Sheng broke off uneven at the base and I got a 6 gram piece. 6 grams works for my usual ratio of around 1 gram to 15ml as I roll with smaller gaiwans. I steeped this tea in boiling water, letting it rest a few minutes after a rinse to steam open.
First and Second Infusion: Simple Sheng’s early infusions are lemon curd, fresh spinach, and tulips. The broth is heavy and silky feeling. There is astringency off the bat, adding a dry feeling to the roof of my mouth and abrasiveness to the texture.
Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Infusion: The flavor shifted a bit more to be sweet and stronger floral. It is still lemon curd, adding a slight tartness to the tea. The floral here is quite nice, leaning again with tulips, baby’s breath, and jasmine. The jasmine note especially hits heavy in the aftertaste.
Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Infusion: Simple Sheng shifted to taste like lemon pepper before the flavor died off. It was lemony, stewed pepper, and very dry in the final infusion, so I figured I cooked the tea’s goose.
Comments: Out of the two Crimson Lotus Tea Simple teas, I felt Simple Sheng was the more worth it for the price. The tea was quite good for a basic sheng with some excellent sweet and floral notes, balanced with some dryness. It put up with my abusive steeping style to taste the flaws. This tea is great for a new puer drinker as it has an approachable flavor and decently flexible to steep. For someone who loves a floral sheng, Simple Sheng is pretty tasty.
Crimson Lotus Tea Simple Shou
My Simple Shou piece broke as a 7.8 gram wedge, so close to the expected 8 gram size.
I am steeping this on the stronger side as I like shou that kicks owls. I steeped in boiling water and did 2 rinses. After 2 rinses, I went in with my talons and split the wedge in half. It was very tightly compressed and still bone dry inside.
First, Second, and Third Infusion: I was surprised how cloudy and murky these infusions are. I’ve been told clarity is a good thing since there is less dust and such, but my experience with young shou, but even more so in balls or tiny cakes, that steeping an entire shape captures all the dust and age adds clarity.
Simple Shou is an earthly leaning flavor profile. It is earthy sweet dirt and chocolate with a hint of woodsy. I found this tea nicely strong and thick textured, feeling pretty slick to drink. With strength comes some bitterness and tartness, but they are pretty mild as I only taste it in some sips.
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Infusion: The fourth infusion had the ultimate shou puer colour – dark, ruddy brown that you can’t see through. I only steeped it 30 seconds too.
Simple Shou is sharp earth, leaning bittersweet dark chocolate. There is a little tartness, but nothing bad. These infusions remind me almost of black coffee due to the rich flavor intensity. The texture is a little gritty feeling, but still thick.
Eighth and Ninth Infusion: Simply Shou is now clear looking. It is now at a light and sweet state, tasting clean, wet stones and a little earthy. The sweetness is nice. No dryness or tart here.
Tenth and Eleventh Infusion: The final infusions are simply wet stones sweet. I did pretty long infusions here, enough for the tea to be just above room temperature to drink. There’s a little green in the leaf, so this shou does have some wiggle room to settle down more.
Comments: Simple Shou is a good starter puer, coffee converter, and daily drinker travel tea. It is sweet and earthy but can be pushed strong, rich, and bittersweet. The final infusions are sweet and lovely. It isn’t the most complex shou but hits the spot for earthy profiles without any fish or much fermentation funk.
Additional Comments / Owl being a frugal PITA
The shape of Simple Sheng and Shou is convenient and no tools are needed to drink this tea. You can start drinking puer with little barrier or messing around but still own a “cake”. For more seasoned folk, you can stash this small cake in your office or travel bags, without needing to pre-break your tea or worry too much about ratios. I experienced very little dust when I broke the cakes, so there was minimal waste.
However, these uncommon puer shapes generally cost a bit more to produce, so you are paying extra for the convenience of a small cake that is easy to break. I felt both teas were great but purchased as a single cake you can get a better Crimson Lotus Tea puer per gram. If you are starting out with puer, gifting, or looking for a good travel/work tea, the Simple Sheng and Shou are convenient and easy to use. If you often like sizes around 8 grams, Simple Sheng and Shou is perfect. Otherwise, I would pass as I would recommend Moon Princess or Jingmai Love for sheng and 2013 Lucky Cloud or Iron Forge for shou. Those teas are similar or cheaper per gram, and you can break off any size you want.
For optimal purchasing smarts, one should buy Simple Sheng or Simple Shou at volume. Crimson Lotus Tea offers an excellent volume discount if you wanted 2 or more of each mini cake, as well as a combo pack if you love the Simple Sheng or Shou.
(tea provided for review)
