1271 Tasting Notes
From the Steepster Puer TTB round 3
A really nice mellow sheng. Notes of apricot fruity, herby with a hint of spice and floral with a slick texture. The pu’er is also sweet and with a light dryness that tingles a bit making it a pleasure to drink for texture. Later steeps are more herby sweet and very nice. Great young sheng and totally ready to drink now. Lots of qi in this one too, I was flailing around at around steep 5 or 6.
That price though, it’s pretty high, but this pu’er is pretty good. This is my first try at Essence of Tea btw.
Preparation
Coolest shou pu! The ginseng is to be understood as cooling, not the licorice ginseng tea taste.
This ripe pu’er starts rich, earthy, nutty and sweet. No funk, bitter or dryness so it is really easy to drink. With each steeping the cooling sensation takes over. It’s not camphor in flavor, so it’s not minty per say, but the sensation of the aftertaste leaves your mouth feeling cold.
Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2005-denong-ginseng-scent-shou-puer-from-bana-tea-company-tea-review/
Preparation
Derp, I put my note in the spring 2015, moving it over to Autumn 2015
Alright. This review took awhile. Lots of hype on this tea (so many fellow bloggers love it) and some weird “how’d this come out so soon?” drama, but I finally drank this tea. Twice. (only twice, I only had enough for 2 sessions).
Using a standard ratio I use, and temp I like for young sheng, 1g to 15ml 200F, this is super light. Lightest sheng I’ve had so far in my tea drinking days. The texture is very nice and thick, with nice floral cherry notes, wood, vegetal, avocado and butter – but super delicate light notes. I only got 10 steepings. I was unhappy.
So I came back to this tea and went insane. 1g to 10ml, so 9 grams to a 90ml teapot. Boiling water. I dumped all the leaf I had left and steeped it like IDGAF. Much better – the intensity is ballzy, an excellent sweet bitterness, nice avocado notes, and it melted my brain in 7 cups. I got 16 infusions, probably could of gotten 18 or so, but I got hungry for burritos. It’s nice, but expensive.
Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2015-autumn-misty-peak-sheng-puer-tea-review/
Preparation
So, in your scientific opinion, is it the greatest pu’er the world has ever seen? Does it beat out the tens of thousands of other varieties out there on the market? Will it change my life?
And it’s a bit expensive, but how is it that the world’s greatest tea doesn’t cost a billion dollars?
Or is it the 2014 they’re touting that way…? I’m confused. Think I’ll stick with YS while getting to know pu’er.
Everyone has lots of personal taste in pu’er. There’s stuff I like that people hate and vice versa. People chase certain tastes or some just want to get messed up on qi. Also people cut themselves up at a certain price range. I think you’d need to try a bunch first to figure out what to like, what’s good and what’s crap at various price points. I’m lucky (or unlucky as I spent a lot) in trying a bunch so I got a decent range of things. People also make their tea differently, I know some that claim one I said is not bitter to be hella bitter – they made it differently or haven’t gotten the taste for bitter, if that makes sense.
However, I’d say the best pu’er I had this year was 2015 Last Thoughts for sheng. Almost ruined it for me, haha! Maybe need to blindfold me as price obviously will screw with our brains, but I thought it was noticably different in quality than others i’ve tried.
I would personally put w2t 2late/poundcake over the 2015 fall MP – and those both are cheaper teas. I like a stronger, fruity, qi fuckery and with the price being cheaper I’d rather throw money that way.
I’ve also got bitched at already from MP darlings saying this was a pretty damn perfect tea. I dunno, that’s totally personal. If it was my own tea I would think it’s pretty good. But yeah, just keep getting lots of samples, maybe sign up for a couple tea clubs (YS/Jalam/W2T) get all the samplers (CLT/W2T) and try everything. Pu’er is pretty insanely huge.
Of course, lots of samples is very good advice. Also, I hope it was clear I was being sarcastic, mainly out of annoyance at this company’s marketing tactics. I’d have a hard time reviewing them objectively in light of their grand claims.
Understandable. I feel right now everyone’s hypervigilant on the transparency thing. I had my eyes opened in 2015 when a tea vendor asked me if I truely knew where my pu’er was from. He had his expensive pu’er material being pressed, left the factory to make a phone call and they switched it for cheap shit.
you either gotta “well if it tastes good that’s all that matters” and suspend disbelief (and some ethics depending). Or fangirl some reliable dealors. Maybe a balance of the two.
Lots of food for thought here.. Here’s where I’m at..
I find it interesting that Verdant got hammered so hard much moreso than Misty Peaks.
By now, it’s clear from the multitude of reviews that Misty Peaks has tea that’s plenty good enough for most people. I’ve had a couple of their teas and found them alright at best.. Like Oolong Owl, I think there’s better options in the market but it’s not as if the tea is obviously crap.. That being said, I cannot bring myself to recommend or support Misty Peaks. I find their marketing (&marketing copy) to be highly troubling and their claims about tea to be just as bad as Verdant. They’ve never even responded to the criticisms laid out, which more or less puts them in the same boat as Verdant as far as I’m concerned.
@jschergen: YES, me too. As I mentioned on the thread I started, I think this is arguably worse than Verdant because it’s pretty much their entire marketing strategy. At minimum, I’d say they’re in the same boat.
+1 @jschergen
I’m not a big fan of this sheng as more of a personal taste thing, but it is still a nice sheng.
The notes are of tobacco, incense, tangy cedar and echos of smoke and camphor. Tasted like this pu’er might of been pretty smokey at one point. Later steepings I get some camphor and hint of fruityness. It’s quite complex and interesting, but I’m not a fan of the tobacco and cedar combo (I’m more of a sweeter sheng fan, at least as of this time)
Preparation
A very nice Korean green tea – this one has a really nice balance of fresh vegetal notes, nutty and a wonderfully thick texture that makes you lick your lips. This green also resteeps well, giving you a more sweet and savory contrast with a more cooked vegetal taste. This Korean green isn’t too grassy, marine, or corny like other Korean greens, so it’s a nice balance and starting point.
Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/imperial-blend-hadong-green-tea-from-wooree-tea-tea-review/
Preparation
This is the ginger lovers tea – it’s very gingery, the most spice out of all the 52 Teas’ holiday teas. The pairing of roasty houjicha and gingerbread is great – both of those flavors I enjoy. Add a bit of sweetener and you get gingerbread sweets flavor!
Full review, along with the other 52 Teas Holiday teas on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/52-teas-2015-holiday-teas-tea-review/
OMG, this needs to be perma collection! I’d be sad to see this tea not for sale until next Christmas, it is really good!
This tea is dessert tea heaven, minty and chocolate and marshmallowy over a nice smooth tea base. The chocolate is milky and pairs awesomely with everything!
My only beef with this tea is it’s a little tricky to steep just right. If you over leaf or over steep it is too pepperminty and you lose all the chocolate flavor. You also want to shake the bag well as if you get too much goodies you’ll get a watery cup. That said, I liked the parameters I list, and it took a couple tries to get it right.
Full review, along with the other 52 Teas Holiday teas on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/52-teas-2015-holiday-teas-tea-review/
Preparation
This tea is like eggnog spiced to the max, makes sense as it’s also a chai! A quick summary – it tastes like eggnog spiced chai, hahaha! The base is a malty assam and I think this one, out this year’s 52 Teas holiday teas, would make the best latte.
hmmm, make this with eggnog and it’ll be crazy spicy good!
Full review, along with the other 52 Teas Holiday teas on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/52-teas-2015-holiday-teas-tea-review/
This one seemed too heavy on the Lapsang Souchong (or very well could since I do not like smokey Lapsang Souchong this didn’t work for me), with lots of charred nut notes and spice. The base is brisk and smokey. You’ll probably like this one if you love a smokey tea, but for me this was the weakest of the holiday teas this year from 52 Teas. Sad, as I really like chestnut teas!
Full review, along with the other 52 Teas Holiday teas on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/52-teas-2015-holiday-teas-tea-review/
