1999 Vietnamese Cooked Loose Puerh

On a challenge from my benefactor, QuiltGuppy, I steeped a cup of this today.
The dry aroma is dusty, like the dirty actors in a Sergio Leone Western. While steeping, visons of gardening danced in my head. Freshly plowed soil with hints of fertilizer mixed in. The first sip was a perfect blend of the dusty odor, heavy earth notes and a touch of peat bogginess. A 1999 vintage, it is not as old as dirt. It does however, taste like it.
Thank you QG, for helping me reach a conclusion today. With so many fine Oolongs, Blacks, and Greens out there, I am giving up on Puerh. If I get the urge for some, I will simply move some furniture, collect a little dust, add a dash from a vaccum cleaner bag, and use a potting soil base. I think I could come pretty close.
No offense to you Puerh lovers, but to reuse an old and tiresome expression, this is not my cup of tea.

My puerh experiences are getting better and better. First I’ve found green puerhs, which I think I’ll need to explore more, and now this one.

This puerh takes that dirt or fishtank flavor that you find in other puerhs and transforms it into something mellow, smooth, and really tasty. If I had this puerh without every trying other puerhs, that description wouldn’t make sence. I might come up with rich and slightly earthy, but not dirt

I like this a lot. I might even be able to get the hubby (who has not liked a puerh, ever) to like this.

If Canton ever has another free shipping sale, I think I might buy this. (Note, if you’re reading this O! People from Canton Tea Co, please wait a while! I need to clear some cupboard space. :)

Not as rich as I would like to be, but decent so far. Will try more.

Smells like dirt.
Tastes like mud.

Jack: “It’s older than you, Ricky! It smells like Chocolate.”
Jason: “It’s not tea , it’s butt. It doesn’t taste as bad as it smells.”

^{Brewed in our Medium Dark Yixing Pot}

I seriously CAN’T believe this is a puerh! This is incredibly smooth and sweet! Much more so than ANY Puerh I have ever had! It’s a tad on the mellow side for actual kick or strength but I am overly impressed with this! WOW! Now this is a puerh for me!

This took me by surprise; it’s so unlike any other pu-erh I’ve had.

This tea is very loosely packed and the leaves are long and twisted. I’m glad it was handled gently so they weren’t crumbled. The fragrance is of a freshly mowed lawn. This isn’t unusual for say a green tea, but pu-erhs are usually more earthy. This was fresh and clean.

When brewed, you have a rust to almost cranberry colored tea. The fragrance is slightly mossy, but young. Here I picture a vibrant patch of newly sprouted green moss after a rain as opposed to something older.

This is a really sweet pu-erh. It’s an odd flavor profile, but what comes to mind first is cucumber with a touch of white grape juice. This was totally unexpected for a pu-erh and was an enjoyable discovery.

Before Brewing:
The leafs are nice! I purchased some pu erh before, but the quality of these leafs are just a tad better (bigger, more unbroken & more even in color) The smell is different. It reminds me of… What’s the word… It’s opposite of spring… FALL!

After steeping:
The color of the liquid is very dark orange (typical pu erh orange). It’s smells very woody – very pleasant. And it taste woody too with a smoky feeling. It’s so different from my usual pu erh that I want to make another pu erh to compare it with. The aroma changes in the mouth. It’s woody at first, smoky after swallowing and sweet when the smokey flavor recedes.

All in all – I like it!
It is the best unflavored pu erh I ever had and I didn’t have to force myself to refill my cup. It’s not a “YUM!” moment, but I am so happy to find a pu erh without flavor in it that’s drinkable!

So here is a: “YUHUU!!!” instead :)

P.S The english language is so funny!
Do you realise you got 72 meanings for “fall”. That’s like crazy.

Thanks to Ian for this generous sample. I took a pain pill for my tooth extraction so that I can truly enjoy myself!!! OK. First the story and then the review. Some of you know I moved from Silicon Valley to Colorado. Well growing up in Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley) it used to be the Prune Capitol of the World. Yes, total agriculture…apricots, vineyards, etc. UNTIL…well you know what…HP, Apple and everything else. I ended up living in the last remaining agricultural pocket which grows Mushrooms. Here is where the Puerh comes in. That pocket is the town of Morgan Hill and gets a bit stinky (the Coastal fog mixes with the smell and creates stink fog…) from Mushrooms but the Mushrooms are really really good. This 1999 Puerh reminds me of the earthy raw Crimini Mushrooms before you dust them off (actually the dirt is sterile so you never have to worry). If you smell them and take a bite as is…well this is what the Puerh flavor is like. Mulch dirt and Crimini Mushrooms raw. The taste is not fishy but quite nice. Rich like a light broth. My preference is to make a latte with Puerhs which is what I ended up doing. To my delight, the earthiness was not buried. I think this is a good Puerh. (This sounds stupid but true the next town over from Morgan Hill is Gilroy…home of the Gilroy Garlic Festival…so if you can imagine garlic fog…yes…garlic FOG! tasty!).

This is a good puerh. It has a strong earthy quality to it and the taste is stronger than the aroma. But just underneath the earthy flavor is a delightful sweetness that is caramel-y and delicious and keeping me sipping. The liquor is quite thick and imparts a mouthfeel that is similar to that of a green Oolong. No bitterness, no astringency.

The dry leaves are dark, and uncharacteristically long and full based on my previous experience with pu-erh teas. They give off a strong, sweet odor of fresh earth. After two minutes of hot water I had a very dark, coffee colored liquor with an enticing aroma. I got the earth scent for sure, but also something slightly spicy. The flavor had some of the typical hallmarks of pu-erh, but with some extras thrown in for good measure as well. There is a definite natural sweetness to the flavor, and a tiny bit of tartness in the aftertaste without being fishy or rotten tasting. I also get just a little bit of spiciness which is really nice – a general mix of cinnamon, clove, and ginger which is in both the aroma and the taste.

The second steep, at 3 minutes, didn’t seem to bring any additional surprises. In summary a nice pu-erh, which I think I’ll try with a little milk and sugar next time to see how it goes. Sacrilege, I know!

Pleasant if a little shallow. Better than some cooked puerh I’ve had that border on fish market pungency. A great introductory shu puerh; earthy, cooling, smooth though not as complex as I want it to be.

Shu+

This is my first taste of a pu erh tea, so I have nothing to compare this tea to. To me, this tea tastes old and musty. I know that pu erh is supposed to be aged, but this actually tastes and smells dusty, like it has been sitting on a shelf open, exposed to dust collecting. I have tried two infusions, but I can’t really like this tea. Are all pu erh teas like this? I am still open to trying other pu erh teas.

Guess I should have read the instructions on this one first, because I think I over-steeped it. The leaves smell very mossy, with a ‘fishtank’ smell that others have mentioned. The tea itself brews up a deep, dark brown color, with a wood/moss/earth aroma. The flavor is actually pretty mellow, with moss and earth dominating the first steep. Will need to re-steep and see what happens…

Mellow and smooth, with a hint of camphor. Beautiful, rich, red liquor.

Interesting and not like any Puerh I’ve ever had. Not something I’d seek out, but none the less interesting to try.