Wow, this is the oldest raw Pu Erh I’ve drank so far (second oldest was like 2001-2003 vintage), but on the other hand I find mellow ripe Pu Erhs more appealing. Dry leaf looks fascinating – long, twisted with rust-coppery texture and minimal leaf brake. You could tell by its appearance that it wasn’t handled much. With a short hot breath blowing onto leaves I definitely noticed dusty dryness with earthy and mewllow backtone and a floral hint (which was quite surprising).
I’m inexperienced with raw variants and not familiar with water temperature appropriate for brewing it but I read that lower temperature is used for younger raw Pu Erhs and close to boiling for older ones. Since I got a 6-7 gram sample of 1997 vintage I really couldn’t experiment much so I decided that I’ll use 3 grams with 100ml water on 95 Celsius. It would be nice if ESGREEN could provide brewing instrucions.
Infusions: 10, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20, 25, 30, 40, 60, 120, 180
Fifteen years is a lot for loose-leaf Pu Erh when you think about it, there’s got to be a lot dust in it so I rinsed it three times. First infusion was somewhat light half-murky caramel tone with faint aroma and heavy (but nut overpowering) acidic taste and light tobbaco finish. Second infusion seemed to awaken the leaf (maybe I should go for four rinses instead?) and brought out a deeper caramel tone wile giving away of not-so-desired wet and stale notes.
However, I did enjoy it more than first infusion since acidic profile settled a bit and made a way for some new, but faint notes to appear. Liquor is silky on tongue and the same tobbaco finish with addition of tinglinkg sensation on tongue. Third infusion is more of what I anticipated – deeper tone with hint of acid (or should I call it sour?), nice boost on tobbacco followed by just a hint of bitterness and dry finish. After few sips I also noticed that some faint notes of… clay? It reminds me of eating a stew from unglazed clay pots.
On fourth steep is where the party started, clay notes blended with those of tobbacco and it reminded me of some better Pu Erhs I’ve tasted. Fifth infusion brought out the mellowness and previous notes that seemed to be of same magnitude. At this point I noticed that the tea is starting to get hard on my stomach/liver. Suprisingly, sixth infusion brought out some floral notes while vanquishing any remnants of dust, but with less prominent tobacco note.
This is where I called it a day and let the leaves rest on cool place untill the next day. I was later advised by ESGREEN that I shouldn’t have done it. So on day two I rinsed the leaves to awaken them and steep it for 25 seconds, and this being seventh infusion it showed some floral notes binding with hints of mineral and more prominent clay profile. Next infusion brought out more balanced appearance with somewhat nutty aftertaste (this stuff has pocketful of surprises, doesn’t it?). The following four infusion (for total of twelve) were less surprising but enjoyable. This is where I felt that I’m pretty much done
with it.
A leaf with magician’s surprise arsenal.
Preparation
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What did ESGREEN say you did wrong? Did they give an explanation?
" Hi Alen, you did right for the steeping. Long time stored raw pu-erhs has no steeping differences with ripe pu-erh. But we do not recommend soak the tea leaves in cold water or let’s say: please don’t keep the infused tea leaves. The infused tea leaves are more like cooked foods. There will be subtle changes inside. It may be not good for health. The the flavor and taste will completely change too."
I have heard others say they cold brewed the leaf overnight with success. I usually drain the leaf and spread it out so it can air dry and reuse the next day. Usually it works well, On rare occasion the leaf doesn’t take well to drying and reuse. I have never had mold issues from overnight storage which is where I thought they were going with their advice. What ever works for you and doesn’t give you botulism. lol.
It worked fine for me as well, but I keep my leaves in cool place overnight to inhibit bacteria/fungus growth that might be present.
I’ve kept the same leaves in my infuser for two days and used them. Not that you should, but I’ve yet to see them go bad overnight. One time the beau did leave some green tea in an infuser for several weeks though – that was yucky!
I wouldn’t do this if the leaf looked even a little funky, but it has always looked fine. Not advising anyone else to do it.
There is a famous TV show in China recommended a diet recipe with over night pu-erh. But I really could not agree with that. No medical proof for health affection. But the flavor could change obviously. In China we called it “Shu Wei” which means “over cooked flavor”. It’s something like fresh vegetables compared with cooked vegetables.
What did ESGREEN say you did wrong? Did they give an explanation?
" Hi Alen, you did right for the steeping. Long time stored raw pu-erhs has no steeping differences with ripe pu-erh. But we do not recommend soak the tea leaves in cold water or let’s say: please don’t keep the infused tea leaves. The infused tea leaves are more like cooked foods. There will be subtle changes inside. It may be not good for health. The the flavor and taste will completely change too."
I have heard others say they cold brewed the leaf overnight with success. I usually drain the leaf and spread it out so it can air dry and reuse the next day. Usually it works well, On rare occasion the leaf doesn’t take well to drying and reuse. I have never had mold issues from overnight storage which is where I thought they were going with their advice. What ever works for you and doesn’t give you botulism. lol.
It worked fine for me as well, but I keep my leaves in cool place overnight to inhibit bacteria/fungus growth that might be present.
I’ve kept the same leaves in my infuser for two days and used them. Not that you should, but I’ve yet to see them go bad overnight. One time the beau did leave some green tea in an infuser for several weeks though – that was yucky!
I wouldn’t do this if the leaf looked even a little funky, but it has always looked fine. Not advising anyone else to do it.
There is a famous TV show in China recommended a diet recipe with over night pu-erh. But I really could not agree with that. No medical proof for health affection. But the flavor could change obviously. In China we called it “Shu Wei” which means “over cooked flavor”. It’s something like fresh vegetables compared with cooked vegetables.