argus

Nice looking cake with consistent leaf size on the smallish side, plenty of silvery tips in it. It is lightly compressed, and a breeze to break off a needed quantity.
The first thing that jumps out at me in the wet leaf is an intense savory, meaty aroma, almost like some luncheon meat or salami. There’s a whiff of leather in there. Visually the wet leaf looks respectable with a good mixture of leaf sizes.
The liquor is light orange with a greenish hue. On the mouth it is slightly thick, nothing near a satisfying, velvety liquid, but it is there.
Not big on aroma but also with very little bitterness. Quite minty on the throat with a fast and big hui gan and appropriately big and fast cha qi.
Later infusions get flower notes criss-crossed with wood and smoke leaving a puckery aftertaste for a long time.

All in all a very nice cake, slightly better than the economy grade tuos of Xiaguan or Haiwan but I’m not buying the Ancient Tree moniker. Looks like a plantation tea, perhaps blended with a minuscule amount of old tree leaves. Nevertheless it is an enjoyable plantation tea and a cheap one for an 2006 produced cake.

The tuo itself is very lightly compressed and individual leaves can be easily separated which is really rare amongst ripe pu-erh.

What an excellent ripe pu. Completely devoid of any fishy or damp smells. Its fragrant, clean tasting with an excellent thick mouthfeel. Liquor is deep amber with plenty of cedar and mahagony aromas interspersed with a tiny bit of mushroom and a hint of sweet maltiness, a combination that instantly makes you want to drink more. Later infusions got more darker and more earthy with a touch of welcome biterness on the finish to cut through the sweetness.
Hui gan is mild, yet satisfying but the cha qi hits early and hard, just the way I like it.

After a couple of days of aclimatizing I started another session with this tea and the change is astounding. Now its more flowery on the nose, more buttery in the mouth with a nice sweet huigan as a perfect finish. Now its a lot less vegetal and more balanced. Brewing conditions are similar to the last one but I used less leaf and perhaps slightly cooler water.

Although a lower grade tea with twigs and 2 leaves 1 bud this tea is my daily drinking tea that brews quite a lovely floral, vanilla cookie scented cup that has nice huigan and soothing but stimulating cha qi.

brew vessel: 120 ml gaiwan / water: Brita filtered / tea quantity: covering the bottom of gaiwan

Wet leaf gives off a cornmeal aroma intermingled with green beans. All single leaf, small to medium sized. no stems.
Liquor is somewhat thin, lovely yellow/pale green color. Tea is really veggie heavy (green bean, corn, spinach) in every brew with a tad of mintiness on the back palate. The thing is, it lacks something to make it a well rounded tea. After enjoying 6 infusions I have a feeling something is missing and that nags me throughout the session.

I had a sample of this from Red Lantern Tea ebay shop.
It is a lovely tea, very fruity, pears are prominent underlined with a slight citrus note. There’s a hint of smoke but way back in the background. There is no bitterness at all. Mouthfeel is pleasand and quite thick. Chaqi isn’t very powerful and the aftertaste doesn’t linger for long.
Its a very nice tea for casual drinking since longer brew times didn’t mess it up at all.

Wet leaves are showing heavy aromas of smoke and tobacco and that transfers to the tea itself. Still slightly bitter but really heavy on smoke and tobacco. I find it, ultimately, a onedimensional tea without much complexity. It has a stong ‘huigan’ but accompanied with dryness in your mouth.
After 8 infusions the flavour profile doesn’t change at all and starts to become slightly boring.
I cannot see myself drinking this tea regularly cause of its signature Xiaguan smoke and simpleness. I like my teas lively and complex even if they are more bitter. I tasted the ’09 version of this tea and liked it a bit more, go figure!

I was blown away by the initial strong aromas from the dryleaf and the wetleaf. Its the usual hay but enveloped in a twang of citrus. Liquor is pale green with a touch of orange. Tea itself is still too young so the ku bitterness lingers for a while in your mouth while providing a nice buttery mouthfeel and just a hint of tobacco.
This is a very subdued tea right now, maybe aging will let it develop further so I’ll revisit it occasionally

Very smooth and simple everyday drinking shu. Nothing special but excellent bang for your buck considering everything

No notes yet.

Very drinkable for a young sheng. Leaves have a pronounced barn smell which transforms into forest scents after brewing. Astringency is very high which is to be expected from a young tuo but it isn’t off putting. Liquor is colored green with a slight trace of orange.
I steeped this one with water slightly below boiling point as the young sheng would be destroyed with boiling water

Very long, individual leaves. After a short brew with almost boiling water it gives of an amber/green liquid with a very floral scent. The tea itself came out slightly bitter, but not at all unpleasant if you’re used to chinese teas where some bitterness is a desireable trait.
After varying brew times and temperatures it comes out consistently tasty. Bitterness can be controlled this way so you can reduce it if you’re not a fan.

After breaking up the tuo and letting it air out for a couple of weeks I tried it again. All the fishiness is gone and the tea is really pleasant to drink, thick & smooth with a great aroma. Considering the price:quality ratio this is a very good tea afterall

wow! my first raw (sheng) pu-erh and its simply amazing. amazng pear and tropical fruits on the nose, very smooth and thick in the mouth, no bitterness at all. 5 infusions and still going strong! i’m not an expert on sheng but this is really tasty for a 2006 vintage tea

Somewhat bland loose shu pu. Lasts only 5-6 infusions, not very high on cha qi or hui gan. Since its not that strong in flavour it serves as a decent daily drinking tea, best enjoyed with dim sum or similar snacks.

Quite tasty considering it came from a teabag

Great looking tea streaked with shiny silvery tips. Brewed it ‘grandpa’ style, 3 gms in a 200 ml tall glass. Very delicate flavour with a hint of very pleasant bitterness in the throat. It has a lovely tropical forest fragrance. It lasted for 4 infusions.

What a tough cake to break into, phew… Still has slight fishy smell thats almost gone after a couple rinses. The liquor is thick and creamy as advertised. Not that complex in taste but a strong hui gan

Has a strong fishy smell and taste. Also a strong muddy component. Has a long lasting hui gan and decent cha qi. Didn’t like it one bit cause of the overwhelming fishiness, Maybe it’ll improve with time!?