1758 Tasting Notes
Definite notes of grass in this one. This is one I added sugar too. Improves it a lot. Makes it quite a bit more enjoyable.
Brewed this one time in a Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 185 degree water for 3 min.
Preparation
This tea is in my opinion quite good. It ought to be for what it cost. It started out with what I would describe as notes of hay and tobacco. This lasted maybe two steeps and another taste emerged. It became quite smooth and in its own way quite sweet. Not mind you the apricot sweetness of a young sheng but something I am not sure I have tasted before, a sweetness with an aged flavor. It did not develop any of what I call unpleasant aged flavor that I have tasted in many ten year old sheng. There was no taste of wet storage. This tea must have been stored quite cleanly for it did not seem to develop any storage taste. As to qi, I am really feeling it. I am energized after fifteen steeps in my small 60ml gaiwan. I will most likely save the leaves and continue tomorrow because the leaves are not done and this was expensive. This tea rates a 100% for it’s qi and a 90% for its taste. I have enjoyed this immensely.
I steeped this tea 15 times in a 60ml gaiwan with 4.4g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, 2 min, 2.5 min, 3 min, and 3.5 min. I would guess that there are five or six steeps at least left in this tea but maybe even ten steeps. This is also the first tea I have drank where I know the claims of gushu can be truly backed up. While some of the other teas I have drank that claim to be gushu certainly were, some of them certainly weren’t. This I don’t doubt was gushu.
Flavors: Bitter, Hay, Sweet, Tobacco
Preparation
This tea has a malty note and unfortunately a sour note. It’s not so sour as to be undrinkable but it’s not that great.
I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 min.
Preparation
Today I drank an unknown type of tea. All I know about it is that it was mislabeled puer and was from Hunnan. It was some type of hei cha or dark tea. It had a most interesting flavor. I am on the fence as to whether I really liked it or not. Bought it from a local store called The Pleasures of Tea. It is hard to describe the taste and I don’t know how to describe the prominent note it had. This note was both sweet and a little bit sour in truth. It was some form of dark tea. It was dark like a shou but without any real fermentation flavor to it so I don’t think it was a fermented dark tea. I have no real idea as to the age of the tea. The best way I can describe it’s taste is as a cross between a sheng, a shou, and a black tea. It had little bitterness to it and in it’s own way was quite smooth. I didn’t seem to have any qi. I don’t think that the store, The Pleasures of Tea, lists this on their website. I don’t think I would buy it again. I don’t really hate it but I don’t really love it either. To me this tea still says “I don’t know” even after eight steeps.
I brewed this eight times in a 120ml gaiwan with 9.1g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec.
Preparation
This is pretty good, but not as good as the chocolate puers I have had from some other vendors. The chocolate does a fair job of covering up the earthy taste of the puer. The chocolate taste is not as strong as I’d like. Overall it is good.
Brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 30 seconds after giving it a 10 second rinse.
Preparation
This tea is not as good as the other breakfast blends I got from The Pleasures of Tea. It is malty and it is a little sour. Not so sour as to be undrinkable but it is not that great. Can’t give this one a high rating.
I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min. I think this one would be better with lower temperature water.
Flavors: Malt, Sour
Preparation
Pu-erhtea.com sells this very cheaply. So cheaply I was not sure it would turn out to be real. When I got it the first thing I did was scan the outer seal with the black light. It glowed green like a Dayi should. When I opened it I scanned the inner ticket. It glowed green like a Dayi should. The question remained did it taste like a Dayi should. We’ll I think it tastes real too. It was dark and rich in the early infusions. There was a lot of fermentation flavor to it. Prominent through the first five or so steeps. I did not notice any fishy taste but I am not too sensitive to that. I did notice some notes of chocolate in there. One could even argue it developed a fruity taste in later steeps but I’m not positive on that note. I do know that I enjoyed this tea. It tasted similar in profile to other Dayis I have drank in the past from other sources. The kicker to all of this is it was just around $13. Every indication is that this was real. They don’t usually fake the Dayi security features and they certainly don’t fake the Dayi flavor. It tasted completely real to me. I didn’t notice any qi per se but then again I usually don’t in ripe teas.
I steeped this tea twelve times in a 120ml gaiwan with 10.3g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min,1.5 min, and 2 min. I could have gotten a couple more steeps out of the leaves but I was at my caffeine limit for the day.
Flavors: Chocolate, Earth, Sweet
Preparation
I just took a look at that site for the first time and whoa! They have some low prices! Have you purchased many other teas from this site? Do they seem genuine? I’m tempted to place an order but usually when something seems too good to be true, it is. Are their teas legit?
I have recently reviewed four of their raw teas which I thought to be generally good and definitely well stored. No wet storage taste on the ones old enough to have it. I bought three of their Dayi teas in a recent order. The two recent enough to have security markings glowed green under the black light. All looked wrapped right to me. Mr Mopar also told me the one he looked at looked real to him. In my opinion this one was real. Tasted like a Dayi. Glowed like a Dayi. If it was faked, they faked the security features and made a tea just as good as a Dayi. I have never heard of a fake being just as good as a Dayi. I bought a bunch more ripe from them but haven’t yet tried them. Look at my reviews of their raw if you want to get an idea of what I thought. I will be reviewing more of their ripe teas in the next few weeks but probably slowly.
The only things on their site likely to be faked are the Dayis and this one was in my opinion real. I think you are safe as far as that goes. As to their teas age, their claims are not too wild so I would be surprised if they were lying about age. I don’t think they list any really old teas. They have a couple of their own brand from 2001 I think. If they were selling Dayi raw from 1999 or something I would be wary. The ripe is not faked anywhere as much as the raw. I don’t think they even sell Dayi raw.
I bought a 2006 Dayi from him in my order but I have yet to drink it. It is wrapped right to be real. I expect it will taste real too. It is too old to have security features so I didn’t scan it. Don’t think those started until 2008 or 2009.
I have samples from them on the way as well.
Thank you for the feedback! I’ve been trying to not buy any tea this year, but I’m running out of teas to drink now. Every time I finish something in my daily box I go into my storage and it’s like… this one needs a couple years, this one needs some more age ect and I can’t bring myself to drink anything yet! lol I think I’ll place an order and give them a shot since it seems like nothing but good comments. Thank you!
Excellent review and for introducing this vendor.
tea123, this was actually my second series of orders from them. I ordered from them two or two and a half years ago, ordering mostly ripe then too. I remember particularly liking some of the Awazon label ripe. At the time I didn’t know much of anything about puerh. So far I like what I have got in this order. His stuff may not be phenomenal, but it seems good quality to me. His shipping is fast.
Thanks for the review AllanK, I have wondered whether to put an order in with Awazon a couple of times but haven’t got round to it yet…
This tea is pretty good. The first thing I noticed was a sweet note that I identified with white grapes but not as sweet. A little bitterness crept in around the third steep. There was a little bit of astringency too. Overall I really liked this tea. I believe it is a blend but I’m not entirely sure. It is a nice young sheng full of sweet notes. There was a mild qi to this tea. Not massive but there. I think this might age into something nice.
I steeped this eight times in a 120mml gaiwan with 8.2g leaf and 190 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. The leaves were not done at eight steeps. I’m sure I could have gotten four or five more steeps out of them but I want to go on to something else.
Flavors: Bitter, Sweet, White Grapes
Preparation
This tea is smooth and not malty as you expect a breakfast blend to be. It’s got a bit of a subdued fruity note in the background. That’s not real strong either. This is a blend of Assam and Yunnan teas and it’s pretty decent. It reminds me a little of something like Lipton in a way because it doesn’t seem to have any strong flavors. This is not to say it is without flavor, they are all just subdued. I do find I like this tea.
I brewed this once in a 12oz tea mug with 2 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.
Preparation
This tea is good. It is malty. It is a little fruity in flavor, not sure what fruit. It is a little bitter, it is a little astringent. It is a nice breakfast tea. Only bought a one ounce sample of this.
Brewed this one time in a 12oz infuser mug with 2 tsp leaf and boiling water for approx 4 minutes.
