First real aged sample, so take this with a grain of salt or two. Liquor was quite dark, slightly clearer and lighter than a typical shu. Deep, earthy, mineral flavors with a wonderful spiciness and a slight coating effect on the mouth. Another reviewer mentioned beetroot, which was definitely present too. A few pleasant little pinpricks on the tongue, probably from the slight bitterness this is still holding onto. Qi was less intense than from some younger teas I’ve had, but very deep and warm-feeling and not debilitating in the slightest. I was a little disappointed with the endurance — only got around 2 mugs out of it. Usual parameters, though I found myself extending steep times in the second mug. While it could be more complex and dynamic and lacks some endurance, I am very happy with this tea. One more sample from my order left to try, but I think I’ll put it off until the weekend (it’s the yexiangwang naka).
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Sounds like a good experience with more mature pu’erh! I think this is a very decent one.
I’m surprised at the lack of longevity, as I usually get this to at least 12-15 steeps. You might want to try giving this tea an hour or two break and revisiting it.
I have a cake of this. I agree with your opinion that it could be more complex, but for what it is, it is good tea!
I too am surprised at the lack of longevity. What are your brewing parameters?
5g leaf, 100ml gaiwan, 10s steep, boiling water.
That’s slightly less leaf than I use, but I don’t think it’d make too much of a difference.
Wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a bit of variance in the leaves. I’ve been mainly poking around the edges of my cake.
I’ll have to try as you suggested with 7g leaf next time. I have more tea than I want per session usually, so stretching it out would probably be a good idea anyway.
I tend to use closer to 8-9g/100ml when I brew aged raw puerh, although that is just because I really like a strong, thick cup of tea.
To each their own, but you should definitely be getting more than 2 steeps :)
Oh, I suppose “mug” was a little ambiguous. When I say “mug” I mean 10+ oz coffee mug. I have to steep somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 times to fill it. I don’t have a full gongfu setup as I don’t really have the money or see anything to be gained flavorwise from gongfu implements that aren’t brewing tools anyway.
I’ll just list steep # in the future for easier comparison.
Oh that’s interesting, so you mix successive steeps together? I never thought about trying that; that would give a very interesting flavor profile I would think.
Anyhow, 14 steeps is pretty darn good I would think!
I guess that is a downside… Maybe I’ll grab some proper gongfu cups and a gongbei eventually.
Sounds like a good experience with more mature pu’erh! I think this is a very decent one.
I’m surprised at the lack of longevity, as I usually get this to at least 12-15 steeps. You might want to try giving this tea an hour or two break and revisiting it.
I have a cake of this. I agree with your opinion that it could be more complex, but for what it is, it is good tea!
I too am surprised at the lack of longevity. What are your brewing parameters?
5g leaf, 100ml gaiwan, 10s steep, boiling water.
That’s slightly less leaf than I use, but I don’t think it’d make too much of a difference.
Wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a bit of variance in the leaves. I’ve been mainly poking around the edges of my cake.
I’ll have to try as you suggested with 7g leaf next time. I have more tea than I want per session usually, so stretching it out would probably be a good idea anyway.
I tend to use closer to 8-9g/100ml when I brew aged raw puerh, although that is just because I really like a strong, thick cup of tea.
To each their own, but you should definitely be getting more than 2 steeps :)
Oh, I suppose “mug” was a little ambiguous. When I say “mug” I mean 10+ oz coffee mug. I have to steep somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 times to fill it. I don’t have a full gongfu setup as I don’t really have the money or see anything to be gained flavorwise from gongfu implements that aren’t brewing tools anyway.
I’ll just list steep # in the future for easier comparison.
Oh that’s interesting, so you mix successive steeps together? I never thought about trying that; that would give a very interesting flavor profile I would think.
Anyhow, 14 steeps is pretty darn good I would think!
I guess that is a downside… Maybe I’ll grab some proper gongfu cups and a gongbei eventually.