Fengqing Ripened Tribute Pu-erh Cake Tea 2007

Thank you Teavivre again for this Pu-erh sample!

I requested a some Pu-erh samples in my last batch from Angel and was so pleased at the generous amount of Pu-erh bark packaged so beautifully. I adore a rich brew in the morning…especially Pu-erh!

The packaging was brown paper with a farm scene printed on it depicting pots filled with picked tea leaves, a storage crock and a pressed Pu-erh cake. Inside the bark was like a dark chocolate bar changed into chunky bark form.

The directions on the package said to steep 2-10 minutes. Wow, that was a big time range! Since I enjoy rich Pu-erh, I chose a longer 8 minute brew in my glass Western Style pot with big stainless basket so I can peek and watch.
The wet leaves were auburn brown with long beautiful shreds but not very fragrant.
The pour was dark and at first taste tingly in my tongue, juicy and mild. I was surprised that this tea was not herbaceous or earthy considering such a long steeping. There was mineral, almost no salt and a light natural sweetness. I wondered if this was a tea leaf picked from trees on a rocky hill, or volcanic soil instead of lush forest because of the mildness. There is tannin and dryness.

I tried some sugar and cream but the tea is not strong and rich enough to support these additions. You need more earthiness and salt for latte goodness. This Pu-erh is one of those that is definately better straight up!

I brought up the online notes for brewing and discovered the difference between the package directions (2-10 minutes) and the online directions (1-2 minutes) EEKS!

To be fair I went back and did a shorter steep time to see if the flavor was completely different.

Second steep at 2 minutes. Nice redish golden liquor, very little nose to the liquor at all.
The flavor was juicy still, super mild and sweet enough to drink as is. There is that tannin but not overly obnoxious and there is a little saltiness. I can’t imagine anyone having issues with this Pu-erh. All the Pu-erh haters should put down their protest signs and enjoy this tea because it is so gentle.
I added a little sugar with this lighter version and actually liked it. It brought out a bakery flavor like a cream cookie which was unexpected.

Here you have two ways to have a Pu-erh depending on how you like your brew.
1. Long steep and drink it straight up.
2. Short steep and add a little sweetening for a bakery cookie flavor
Either way, this is so mild that you can share with Pu-erh sceptics and have no fear. There is no fishiness or heavy earthiness here. A good introduction to raw Pu-erh.

Tea of the evening…..

First of all, thank you to Teavivre for this sample. I have really appreciated the way their tasting activity has made me expand my comfort zone for tea.

Now that I have a gaiwan, it is much easier to test this kind of tea. I am definitely still new to pu’erh, but I have to say this has been my favorite so far. It could be that I am finally getting better at preparing it, too. Leaf smell is very earthy, but more like the garden smells when you are planting, rather than a barn! I used what roughly looked like a tsp of leaves. I rinsed them. First steep was 1 minute, second was about a minute and a half. The liquor is more golden brown that I would have expected. The other few pu’erhs I have tried definitely had more of a dark reddishness to the tea. First steep smells of hay, but tastes earthy and very mellow. Really, the taste is somewhere between strong black tea and a porter beer. My very first pu’erh tasted of dirt, but this is not anywhere near the same. Earthy and warm. It has a heavy mouthfeel, and there are no small bits of debris like I have had from lower quality tuo chas from other companies (maybe I did not rinse them very well in the beginning…like I said, my preparation has improved, too). I am drinking this after a not so healthy dinner, so it is definitely helping calm my stomach. Second steep is a little stronger due tot he longer steep, but just tastes a little more intense than the first cup.

I do find it interesting that this one seems so much more mellow than the 2010 pu’erh that I recently had from another company. I did ask Teavivre for a beginner’s pu’erh, and I do think this is a good place to start.

I like this one, its very clean tasting with no fishiness at all it is lightly earthy and very smooth, I think a person who thinks they wouldnt like puerh would like this one. It is excellent after a heavy meal. 2 to 5 minutes steep on this one was perfect for me. This one made me think of one of my first puerh it was very similar to this and it made me fall in love with puerh.

This is a fairly large sample from Teavivre (enough for three or maybe four brews) made in my new yixing pot :)

This is a very nice, mellow pu’erh! The flavor isn’t as heavy as the other’s I’ve had, and it seems like it would be a good “introduction” pu’erh with less shock factor than some.

Dry Leaves: The dry leaves have a pleasant and sweet roasted chestnut smell without any compost-yness. Its just nice and roasty, and smells the way I imagine a fully oxidized ti guan yin would. The wet leaves are fairly large.

Brewing: The tea is a nice bright red color, very deep, but not quite is brown/burgundy as the other pu’erhs I’ve tried.

Tasting: The tea is very mild and sweet with flavors of milk chocolate, walnut, buckwheat honey, barley, and roasted mushroom.

Afraid to drink this. Either it’s totally different from normal Shu or very spoiled. Smell/taste hint at the second strongly.

(This free sample was generously provide to me by Teavivre Big thanks to Angel and the whole Teavivre Team)
Dry Leaf: The tea has a earthy smell, I even get like a tobacco leaf type of aroma.
Wet Leaf: Has a mellow earthy smell with a touch of sweetness that lingers in the background.
Liquor: Has a dark color broth that has a nice clarity to it was not murky in anyway.
Taste: This tea is smooth with a sweet wood flavor which gives this tea a very mellow earthiness in the background.
My Score / Over All Opinion: 89, This tea reminded me of Souvia’s Tuo Cha (see review) But this one was smoother and had a bit more quality to it. I would have gave it a 90 if I would have got the floral aspect of the tea but I did notice in the description production was March 2006 and mine was March 2007 may have been the reason why the floral note was missed. All in all, a nice tea I enjoyed after some fatty Burger King food.

I am just about at the end of this sample – It made I have no idea how many pots of tea, maybe 10? It seemed like a ton! I’ve lost count over the last few days. My last steep wasn’t particularly long, but for the first time I can tell it is getting to the end. I’ll probably do one more longer steep, but I can definitely say this lasted a longgg time.

When I opened it, the earthy smell seemed less pronounced than others that I’ve tried (that is a very small list anyway). Dry, it reminded me of charcoal leftover after a bonfire – the layers were so interesting. After rinsing, I was surprised at how many small bits of tea went through the strainer (I have a large strainer that fits in the teapot and so far this is the first time I’ve ever had anything go through it; it is very fine) but they remained settled at the bottom and didn’t have any affect whatsoever on the drinking experience.

My first steep was quite dark, but I should have left it a little longer (I’m still a bit afraid of turning it into fish soup…I don’t even know if that would happen but I’ve been doing short steeps to minimize the chance that I’ll need to pour it down the drain). It didn’t taste nearly as strong as I expected, but it had a strong smell that was clean, crisp, and earthy. Subsequent steeps were a bit longer (I’ve been judging based on colour mostly, once it gets nice and dark I take the leaves out) and each steep has been flavourful.

I’ll admit that the crumblyness and bits on the bottom had me worried at first, but this is definitely a very well rounded tea. Mellow is a great way to describe it and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it, particularly to someone who is either new to puerh or who – like me – has had bad experiences in the past!

Has a mild, smooth earthy/woody flavour.