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Sipdown Boo :( While I’m definitely happy to get a sipdown in, this one will be missed. I really do want to buy a full cake because it’s just a complete delight. But 357g seems like so much tea. I can’t help but wonder if I’m still going to love it 6 months from now, as taste seems to change quite rapidly. I’ll have to try the other two moonlight whites puerhshop has available and see if this is worth the purchase. Maybe I can make do with samples here and there.
I had to take a picture of the gorgeous leaves that drew me toward it in the first place http://instagram.com/p/wzblQzRWE7/

Huh, well this is an interesting tea. I’ve never had a bitter shou before, but there is definitely a good deal of bitterness here. Not astringency but more like a coffee-esque bitterness. Not quite as pleasant though. I tasted and then tossed the first two steeps (after 2 rinses) and by the third it was much more palatable. But not particularly special. Overall pretty weak bodied for a pu-erh and quite bland.
Happy to try it, but I’m glad it was a free sample.

Ugh. How many times is it going to take to save this note?

Sipdown, yay! As much as I love this one I probably won’t be replacing it anytime soon. While it’s a bit smoother and sweeter than the Harney version I generally have in my cupboard, it’s hard to beat Harney’s price (and constant sales). And, in all honesty, it isn’t that much better. If you’re a hojicha/hoji kukicha fan it’s certainly worth a try, and if I place a future order with Den’s this will certainly be in it. But I won’t go out of my way to re-stock.

Oh man this is goooood! In all honestly I was sure I wasn’t going to like it as I’m not fond of whites or greener oolongs which the description said it could be considered either. I only picked up a sample because the leaves looked so pretty. But Lord, am I happy I did. It tastes like liquid honey.
I wasn’t sure how to go about brewing this one so I did two rinses and brewed at a low temp (175º) for 20 seconds. Beautiful. Just pure honey. Crisp light colored liquor and mild scent.
Second infusion – same temp. Accidentally forgot about it and brewed for 45 seconds. Liquor looks like light amber maple syrup. A bit greener tasting with lots of honey. Omg.
Third infusion – Tried it at a higher temp probably around 185º or so for 45 seconds again. Beautiful. Going to have to pick up a full cake of this for sure.
Fourth Infusion – Almost boiling 45 seconds again. Much deeper color. Honey is still there but I can taste more tea at this temp/this infusion. A little fruity and green. Kind of like a Gui Fei. Still zero bitterness even with the high temp.

This is a nice mild shou. No fishiness or storage flavors, it would probably be a nice choice for someone who is newer to shou. It’s a little boring though. There’s some honeyed sweetness throughout the sip but other than that there’s not much to be found. It’s getting deeper as the steeps go on, but it’s not interesting enough to really push any further. I’ll have to try more leaf next time.
25s, 35s, 45s, 1m, 1.5m

Sipdown! This was a really nice Jin Jun Mei, especially for the price I paid. It was a good balance between roasty malty-ness and sweeter chocolate notes. I did detect an odd mineral note in this one though. Almost metallic. It wasn’t enough to keep me from enjoying the tea, but I picked up on it throughout the cup. Because of that I don’t think I would order this one again, but it’s still really lovely. I liked the other Jin Jun Mei from the same seller a bit better.