Wild Purple Buds Puerh

Wooo Hooo 200 Tasting Notes! Well, if you don’t pat yoursef on the back, who will?!

What to do, what to do? My 200th review should be something different. I love me some Puerh…yes I do. Today’s tea should be something different. Stacy (owner of Butiki Teas) had graciously provided me with an ounce of Wild Purple Buds Puerh (Sheng) and this seemed the right choice for this 200th occasion. Thank you to Stacy!

The dry leaf looks amazing. The leaves don’t look like tea leaves, or not what I’ve ever seen before. The leaf is large, full of spiky buds that look like wheat…green, brown, gold and lavender tipped.
The instructions are 3-5 second steep, 195F for 20+ steepings! Begin the day with this tea!!! I started today at 7:30 a.m. and I’m not going to write about 20+ infusions.

I used my PIAO glass infuser pot to watch the leaves and control time.
The liquor color was consistantly pale champagne yellow through all infusions.

Wet Leaves:
1. Floral, vegital, smoky tobacco, and brine scented. Brown, golden and purple tipped.
2.-4. Strongly vegital scented.
5.-6. Leaves were greener and not as multicolored. They opened up, especially the buds and the scent was still strongly vegital.

Flavor:
1. The first impression was on my lips, the coating of cream that I could feel like butter then spreading throughout my mouth like the flavor of creamy white sweet corn. The taste was a little salty and completely smooth and without any tannin or bitterness at all.
2. A little tannin was present on this round right up front, then sweet and creamy like new Spring green beans. There was no bitter or acidic finish.
3. This was the best pour. The buttery feel was coating my lips and the vegital flavor had become cooked greens or butter lettuce…and the tannin had jumped to the finish…leaving a slightly peppery feel on the tongue. This is a Puerh? I am not able to comprehend that this is a Puerh. No earthiness…it tastes like a green tea. But not.
4. What now? My brain was confused. When I took another sip, the flavor was mineral, sweet and juicy, smooth and buttery with a tingling…then a honey wheat bread and greens taste. Sure, how did that make sense? Was I almost discribing a salad with croutons?
5.-6. These steepings brought out more buttery, smoothness and a little saltiness. A new floral quality that I found to be vaguely like paperwhite was now present. Tannin was dry like linen on the finish making the tea very juicy.

Here I added a little sugar. The saltiness of the Puerh and the vegital quality with the tannin with a bit of sugar created a beautiful balance of sweet/salty tea that brightened the cup tremendously. Here is where I would play with this effect. It made this tea dance and sparkle with flavor.

I have been pleased with the tea’s from Butiki…the new ones that are not commonly available elsewhere like the Wild Purple Bud Puerh and the Blue Nettle and some of the African Tea’s. Most of all the wonderful customer service has been so appreciated!

http://youtu.be/PSH0eRKq1lE Bagpipes…Well! (Bonnie Cameron-Johnstone)

This is a highly interesting cup.
There is a nice floral note, and a honey juice flavor if juice were made from honey I imagine it would taste like this. Its not sappy sweet though, clearly, but it has such a nice honey nectar flavor that is light and bursts in the mouth with juiciness.
There is a deep woods like note in this cup, sometimes I think I get a little cinnamon but as soon as I taste it its gone so Im not sure lol.
This is young and has so much more it can unfold for us.
If I had better storage I would grab some and put it away for much later.
I don’t trust my knowledge level or ability to sustain the quality of this tea for that long however.
This is a really easy pu’erh to drink and I feel equally good for both beginners and those who appreciate a fine pu’erh.

Sipdown! Thanks for sending me a sample of this tea to satisfy my curiousity, Boxermama!

I wasn’t sure how I should go about brewing this (I always entertain notions of properly gong-fu brewing pu’erhs and other fancy teas)… but rationality won out, and I went with Western-style gong-fu, which is more what I usually do (if not strict Western-style). Hence, a full tbsp of leaf in about 8oz. water (instead of 4 oz.), and a 20 second infusion. And no, I didn’t rinse.

First impression? Wow – this sure coloured/flavoured up nicely with such a short infusion! And the taste? Light, a bit spicy and earthy. And now for a momentous occasion… while sipping, I thought to myself “gee, this sure tastes like a sheng. I wonder what type of pu’erh it is?” And sure enough… it’s a sheng! Woaaaah I can differentiate the two major types of pu’erh! What an accomplishment. (Yes, there’s a bit of self-directed sarcasm there.)

Anyhow, as per usual, I really have no other taste descriptors for the flavour. It’s enjoyable, and it reminds me of other shengs, obviously, otherwise I wouldn’t have guessed correctly (or likely thought to guess, for that matter). Providing descriptions for things has always been a weak spot for me; while I do think I am capable of tasting nuances in fancy, expensive, delicious teas, I am incapable of describing them. [I’m the sort of person who picks up on off-flavours in various items quite readily.] It’s kind of annoying, but certainly nowhere close to the top of my current list of annoyances, so perhaps sometime in the distant future when my life no longer belongs to my thesis, SAS, my advisor, the university… I will attempt to remedy this. Until then, you get “tastes like sheng” and “tastes like yabao”. Le sigh.

On that note – my memory for flavours is also rather crappy sometimes, and I can’t remember the last time I had a sheng… and so really couldn’t tell you how this ranks up against others. I do enjoy it though!

ETA: Second infusion 30s, stronger sheng flavour, still with a bit of sweetness. I suppose smoky or leathery might be some good descriptors here.

I’ve had six infusions of this tea thus far, and all have been incredible. The sixth was my favorite, because the tea has become remarkably smooth by this point, the flavors are seamless. Sweet, savory and delectable. Juicy, smoky, earthy, and slightly vegetative. The first couple of infusions had a very honey-esque note to them, but with the second infusion, I noticed that the honey was becoming a softer flavor and a sweet floral note seemed to be emerging. The third – fifth infusions were very similar to the second, with each subsequent infusion becoming smoother, until this sixth when I notice an incredibly smooth, rich cup.

This tea is by no means done. However, I do think I’ll put the leaves aside for now, and try a different tea for a bit… and come back to these later. It’s going to be a late night for me tonight, as hubby has to work very late, but, fortunately he is off work tomorrow so we can sleep in!

I’ll be back to this one in a bit.

I’m in an adventurous mood, so I’m going to try a tea I bought on a whim and am most likely not going to like. Yep, it’s my second experience with the dreaded puer!! Dun dun DUN!

Just from reading the label, it’s already a new experience for me. You’re supposed to steep 4 grams in 4 oz. of boiling water for 3-5 seconds. And you get 20+ infusions??! Wow. Okay, here goes nothing.

First, the aroma. Leather. It smells exactly like leather. I like wearing leather and smelling leather but drinking leather? Hmm. First sip is…surprising. I do taste leather but there’s a lot more going on too. It’s very complex. Naturally sweet and a tad spicy. Aromatic and interesting. Wow!! Maybe I can enjoy puer?

I’d never be able to go 20+ infusions if I drank the whole cup each time, so I’m going to take a few sips, pour it out, and then move on to the next steep. Please forgive this blasphemous behavior. I can tell from that first cup alone that this is a high quality tea that any puer enthusiast would drool over. Lucky for this tea, I just set up a swap with someone who does like puer. So, the rest of this ½ ounce sample will go to the loving home of Shmiracles!! :)

Anyway, back to the mission at hand. Here are my thoughts from my inexperienced tongue:

1st steep: As described above, but also with a bit of something akin to dry autumn grassiness. The aftertaste is reminiscent of a high quality green; something like Organic Dragon Tip.

2nd steep: Wow! Burned my mouth. That’s HOT! Anyway, the leather is a little more enjoyable now and not so horse saddle-like. The grassiness/vegetal flavor is more pronounced now as well and reminds me of buttery vegetables. I had to read the description for more ideas of how to describe this unique flavor. I definitely get the association with oak. It is oak-y.

3rd steep: Leather is continuing to fade and is being replaced by a floral oak-y-ness and buttery vegetables. This is the first steep that I detected floral notes. This infusion also has a great umami!! Buttery and silky smooth. My favorite mouthfeel and flavor so far.

4th steep: At this point, the buds are open. Leather is almost completely gone now. Floral oak is the most prominent flavor now. It still has that buttery vegetable aftertaste too. This is becoming more and more drinkable for me! I can say that I’m actually enjoying it!

5th steep: Floral oak. Buttery vegetable. And some unidentifiable puer-ness that distinguishes itself as definitely not a green tea, despite the similarities I’m finding. After this cup, my teapot ran out of hot water. So, I had to wait while I boiled more.

6th steep: Same as 5 above but maybe a tad lighter on flavor. Very enjoyable.

7th steep: Went with a little longer steep this time. About 15 seconds. A tad more spiciness is apparent, matching what I tasted in that first cup.

I’m getting a little bored now though, so I think I’ll call it quits here. Although I’m rating it a 79, I’d probably rate it a 100 if I actually liked puer. A 79 from me is extremely high considering that my only other puer experience gathered a whopping 25 and was thrown out after a couple sips. No re-steeps there. So, don’t mistake me; I’m giving this one high praise!!

I have the 2012 variety by the way. Also, the liquor was extremely light yellow the entire time for me. It never reached that light brown color as pictured. But I did use very short steeps. Another thing to note, it’s really hard not to burn your mouth in between steeps. How do you puer drinkers do it? I don’t have a gaiwan, so I just used my regular stainless steel infuser basket and 8 ounce owl mug (although I was careful to only fill it up halfway each time).

Liberteas thanks for this one!

This is almost a cross between an oolong and a pu-erh type flavor on my tongue. It’s a bit drier but still pleasant. I ended up doing three infusions and on the 3rd it was a woodsy type taste. Not bad at all :)

Big thank you to Bonnie for this sample.

I am really not in a tasting-note writing mood at the moment, so I apologise, especially to Bonnie, who sent me this lovely tea. I honestly don’t know where to start, I am just brain-dead today. I blame the zombies in town when I had to go in to do some shopping. Yes, the zombie apocalypse has hit Beverley but no one noticed. Hmm, anyway, enough whinging.

The leaves look great with all the colour. I only had a little leaf so I made it in my smallest gaiwan, which was fun. I really don’t use that one often enough. The tea was very pleasant. It felt light and mellow. The oaky flavour was there, as was a light floral note. I’m not sure about the honey though. The lack of honey notes is probably more a lack in my tasting ability. Overall, a very nice tea that I would love to have in my pot again.

Never before has a tea defeated me like this. I went a good seven or eight rounds with this pu-erh – the first five were gongfu-style, the last two were Western. Same leaves each time. It didn’t lapse in strength until steep seven, and even then it still had juice to jolt me. Odd spectrum of flavors, too – peat, oak, wilderness leaf, juniper, strawberries-’n-cream (yeah, you heard right) and earth. This was one tough sip. Totally worth it, though.

Full Review: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2011/11/17/pwned-by-purple-pu-erh/

Stacy very kindly sent me a sample of this with my Butiki order, and it’s delicious! This has some really wonderful flavor for a young raw puerh. I was a bit surprised by the appearance of the leaves – they almost look like the little stickers that get stuck in your socks when you go on a hike. I did a quick rinse with this and started with a 10 second steep in my new (beautiful!) gaiwan. The flavor is slightly smoky, reminiscent of other young shengs but also very sweet. It tastes like oak and apricots at the same time. The soup is a pale yellow color and smells a bit like a nice fire (I mean that in a good way). I wonder how this would age?

Yesterday was Rayn and I’s 2nd annual Aquarium Day (observed). We went to the California Academy of Science on our first date, and later on we decided to go there around the same time every year. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/85659393@N00/8461690309/sizes/l/in/photostream/

I got a 2011 and a 2012 and bewed them exactly the same with Lances help, These brew up very pale and have a wonderful young Raw puerh taste/flavor, anybody who drinks puerh knows what i’m talking about, Sweet slight astringency, very little bitter, some greenish toasty notes but Not grassy at all, the 2011 version may be slight stronger in all these notes and may have a better “Raw puerh” flavor. They both give a very nice feeling after drinking, a general feeling of well being :) I like these a lot.

What a fascinating tea! Thank you so much Stacy from Butiki Teas for the sample, I really enjoyed this experience. Wow!
My first steep, this was unlike any pu-erh I’ve ever tasted.
Super spicy, peppery even, with a smoky aroma, a soil/clay aftertaste and a drying sensation as the cup cools.
Somehow, it’s wine like, with that muscatel sensation.
Second steep, less wine, less spice although thicker on the tongue. My least fave of the bunch.
Third steep, more of the same.
Fourth, same again. A tad lighter, perhaps some hay, or maybe honey?
Fifth, getting much sweeter now. Definitely honeysuckle. Less clay and more like an egg tart cookie.
Sixth, more floral but still sweet. Yummm
Overall, the beginning was rough but towards the end I saw some awesome infusions.
I’m thinking this is not the pu-erh for me. Lighter pu’s have always been a tough sell for me so no surprise there.
That said, I’d never turn a cuppa away. It really was a fun afternoon!

I’m admittedly not very familiar with pu’erhs but I don’t think I’ve ever tried one quite like this. The scent of the steeping tea is lovely – slightly smokey, slightly leathery with a hint of something like wet moss. I didn’t think a 5 second steep could impart much flavour, but the first steep proved me wrong. While it was light it was also smooth and slightly sweet, the most prominent flavour being something reminiscent of cured leather. The second steep was less sweet but the flavour was fuller and took on a slight smokey note. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time for any further steeps but I’ve got enough left that one of these days I’ll spend an afternoon drinking it.

I’m drinking this will eating pizza and it tastes great! Thanks Stacy! (this was a sample)

Ok. While I am on a Sheng roll. I received this today in the mail. I had already brewed the Asha ’08 Jing Mai and loved it. I know patience is a virtue. I had to try it. I followed the instructions and I have to admit their a bit light for my tastes. So I decided to to let it steep much longer. The liquor is pure and clear. Dare I say that this tasted somewhat fruity? This Sheng is like no other that I have had. I definitely have to do another tasting and not after another Shu or any other tea for that matter. I will up the dosage and the steep time in the Yixing. I will rate this because I feel it has a world of potential. I loved it even though i could not immerse myself in the ritual and give it my undivided attention. Lu Yu said that purple tea is the best of all. I respect and honor his humble opinion.

Generous sample sent to me by Stacy along with my order – aim: to make me no longer fear the puerh, accomplished! Thank you, Stacy! I’m not going to be able to do a proper tasting note for this one, especially given the number of infusions I got before I had to leave it and do other, more boring things. (Like cleaning.) But briefly, some of the notes I got were tobacco (strongest in the first infusion), honey (ditto), oak, a peppery bite (didn’t taste like pepper, but had that kind of bite – strongest in 3rd and 4th infusions), and then back to a very smooth oaky smokey one, with that lasting through all subsequent infusions. I was trying to get the flavour of the ‘bite’, and it was driving me crazy, as I could not pin it down. And suddenly I got it – serendipity helped, because we’d just got some Amaretti biscuits, which I haven’t had in ages, and we’ve been eating at night with our rooibos. These are totally different tasting from the macaroons I’m more used to, although the package translates ‘Amaretti classici’ as ‘classic crunchy macaroons’. The ingredients are sugar, apricot kernels, almonds and egg white, in that order, and I don’t know if it’s the apricot kernels that give the bite, although other than very bitter almonds, it can’t be anything else? If it was just the baking longer to make them crunchy, they’d taste more of toasty almonds. Anyway, that’s the bite in the Puerh!

Very much enjoyed drinking this today, and still have enough for another session!

This is my first time drinking raw puerh and I can tell by the smell of the liquid and the wet tea that it is going to be a new experience.

The directions call for 3 seconds and I did just over that due to the fact that the amount of tea per water that I used was slightly less. This produced a flat bronze gold color of liquid with a smell unlike any I have ever smelled before. Now for the taste…my first thought was “what the…?” with my next being similar. This is not what I was expecting and I just continue to drink it up! My hands seem to find the cup and not the keyboard so if I do not write something soon it will be gone. Focusing finally, the taste is definitely juicy, with a background of slightly earthy sweetness.

For the next steep I allowed the time to run a little longer, trying to establish the flavor more without making it bitter. It was a success and resulted in the delicious flavor being slightly more prominent, which makes my loss for words even more embarrassing!

This is a tea that I plan on buying again, and maybe then I will discover what else to write about this tea. For now I must conclude with the description of a beautiful mix of earthy sweetness that I could drink all day. I have no doubt that this tea could resteep until I am thoroughly fulfilled but as much as I would like, I am unable to sit around at the computer all day. However, I am content in the fact that I can take this tea around with me all day :)

Ok, I don’t have a lot of experience with puerh teas. This was the second one that has passed my tonsils. From what I’ve read, puerh teas tend to be really robust, earthy, smokey, and hearty. This one is definitely robust, but refined; which is the big difference between this one and the first one I tried. I don’t think puerhs will ever be my favorite tea but this one has made me much more open to adding them to the cupboard. I plan to experiment with this one some more. Worth drinking.

Woot, my first pu-erh!

Interested in seeing how this tastes! The dry leaves smell woody and floral. I can smell the oak smell like Butiki describes as well. I’m going to steep this according to Butiki instructions. 4oz of water, 3-5 seconds, 200-205 degree water.

The wet leaves smell very smokey and earthy. Like wood and alfalfa and sweet flowers and honey. This tea tastes a lot like it smells. There is a strong smokiness and earthy flavor. The heavy flavor is opposite the light mouth feel. Every drink makes my mouth feel juicy and wet. Avery interesting tea.

I’m on my 5th infusion and the taste and smell is remaining pretty consistent. There is a sweetness coming out that wasn’t there before. Still incredibly smooth and delicious.

9th infusion and still going strong. Butiki says you can get 20+ steeping out of this and I plan on it.

Cheers.