Fengqing Golden Buds Ripened Pu-erh Cake Tea 2005

First let me just say that this is the first Pu-erh I’ve had the opportunity to taste, so I don’t have much to compare it to, but I’ll explain my first impressions.

Dry tea smell: I didn’t know what to expect but when I first opened the packaged I was surprised by the extremely strong smell. It had a distinct fishy/oceany smell to it. Under the initial smell was a very moist scent. It reminded me of a moist forest floor and old decomposing leaves. It wasn’t a bad smell, it was just a very different smell from the teas I’m used too.

Wet smell: The tea leaves smell very much the same wet as they do dry. They have the same fishy smell with the underlying moist leaf. It was a little bit lighter smelling.

Taste: Luckily none of the fishy smell translated to flavor. It had absolutely no bitter or tart flavors. The taste was really damp. It reminded me of a misty forest. It’s a very interesting, refreshing, heavy flavor. I did enjoy it, but it will probably be one of those teas I only drink once in a while. It has pushed me to order a few more Pu-erhs to see if they’re my thing or not

Tea of the late morning……

If I had to choose one pu’erh to have in my cupboard, this would be it. When deciding how to approach the pu’erh samples sent to me by Teavivre, I decided to save the most expensive for last. Price in tea is usually a pretty good indicator of desirablilty, and in this case for me, it was very true. The price difference is enough that I would want there to be a significant taste improvement over the one with the lower cost, and this tea definitely delivers.

The smell of the dried leaf is less earthy than all of the pu’erhs I have tried (we are only talking about 7 or 8 total…), but only slightly different than the Teavivre 2007 ripened cake. I can see the golden buds in this one. The liquor is only slightly reddish, golden reddish like the 2007 cake. The taste is like you would expect from a pu’erh. Mellow, rich, slightly earthy, and this one is sweet. I am sure that is the first time I have used the word sweet in a review for a pu’erh. Kind of a note of honey which is surprising to me. I do love the mellowness and….I am going to call it the clean-ness of the 2005 Fengqing Golden Buds Ripened Pu-erh Cake as well as the same from the 2007 Fengqing Ripened Tribute Pu-Erh Cake. Very little debris from these two even on the first rinse. Nice high quality full leaves. The liquor still has a clear quality to it rather than a murkiness I have experienced with others. And it is the sweetness of this one that has won me over.

Thank you to Teavivre for the generous samples of their pu’erh cakes. I may become a real pu’erh drinker, yet! It is good to know there are pu’erhs out there that I would enjoy. One just has to know where to shop and who to ask. Thank you for your guidance in choosing these for me to try!

Gaiwan, boiling water, roughly 1 tsp cake, 30 second rinse, 1 minute for steep #1, 1 minute for steep #2…and I am sure it will go much longer!

I bought the sample of this tea with my last order. It came in two 7 g packs and there is a generous chunk of the tea cake in each packet.

I made this in my gong fu set following the Teavivre instructions for a gaiwan. The result was a very mild, sweet puerh. I did a 20 second rinse, followed by a fifteen second steep. That was almost too mild for me since I like a good, earthy, horsey puerh! But it was quite good. The second steep was about 30 seconds, and on each successive steep I really didn’t add much time. This is very tasty.

Some puerhs are fishy. This one has not the slightest hint of fishiness. Some puerhs are horsey, with a lot of saddle leather aroma. This one is sweet forest floor, leaves breaking down into rich soil that will soon be laden with mushrooms. Have you smelled pecan tree leaves as you rake them in fall and they break underfoot and release their sweet scent? That is what I am reminded of, the best scents of a clean forest path.

And boy, does this ever resteep! I think we are on number seven now, and it doesn’t look like it is thinking of quitting on me! This is so mellow and even though we had a meal of eye of round roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, and steamed asparagus with butter and lemon pepper, my mouth feels light and fresh. Don’t worry, I am about to go brush! But the tea is so CLEAN! Definitely one the puerh lover should consider, and one that may win over the reluctant puerh drinker.

Thank you Teavivre for this wonderful Pu-erh sample!

It is a gloriously beautiful day on the Frontrange! After yesterday’s rain, everything sparkles today in the sunshine at this mile high altitude. The green trees seem greener and the birds are hunting for worms in the still damp grass.

I remembered that I had one last Pu-erh sample from Teavivre to try out. A special older one. Good choice for my early morning lazy bones enjoyment.

I prepared my Yixing pot and a 1.5 tsp of the dry pu-erh. My rinse time was 10 seconds and I did 2 rinses. In all I was able to do 5 steepings before I was full, but I continued later in the day and will this evening. I made iced, bottled pu-erh for on the road (delicious) from these same leaves. I have to note that this was some of the darkest, dry pu-erh I’d ever seen, and tightly compacted! There’s not much scent to the dry leaf.

Steep time on the package said 2 min. (I like pu-erh strong but, you could shorten a bit).

1. The color of the liquor was chestnut brown and there was no musty, earthy scent. When I smelled the wet leaves they smelled like sweet grass and bread. The first sip was sweet, salty hazelnut-pecan without any tannin. The flavor was full and rich.

2. I messed up and let this round steep 5 minutes…eek…it looked like espresso. Not to worry! The DARK chestnut liquor still tasted good. I drank it (are you kidding me?!)
I made a Cappucino because, eh….in Rome you can add some milk in the morning ONLY! I had saved my cuppa!

3. I noticed that the leaves had still NOT opened all the way inside my Yixing. This was really tightly packed pu-erh! The leaves were smelling a little more like leather in a good way. The pour was chestnut brown so I had not killed the strength (whew!). The flavor had changed. It was lighter and juicy. There was cinnamon that filled my whole mouth mid sip and was sweet but not biting. All the flavors together had body. This was a good pour.

4. Now the leaves had become as black as midnight and smelled of sweet leather. The flavor on the pour had become juicy with some tannin and less cinnamon or nuttiness. The color was still good but the tea seemed to be going flat on flavor.

5. Here is where I added a little sugar…the spice returned and the tannin toned down, but now an apricot floral flavor swept in at the finish. I mean, which would you prefer? Flat and tannin, rich and apricot floral? I pick #2. On and on this tea delivers and does not quit. It does not give up. Amazing!

Here is my take. This is a bargain! You can steep this tea forever! I have just scratched the surface on the steeping possibilities of just a little bit of this pu-erh and the delicious flavor is worth purchasing! This is a quality pu-erh!

And note about what to do with used leaves. I have a garden pot where I mix mulch with good used organic tea leaves (especially pu-erh). I also have a jar for pu-erh rinse water that I let cool and pour on my herb garden plants. They thank me by growing strong and healthy.

Based on pre-infused aroma I wasn’t sure if I would ‘dig’ this one much but it tastes different than I anticipated.

The taste was of a sweet wood – maybe with a hint of something citrus. There was a dark-type of mocha likeness to it, too, which I wasn’t expecting.

THINK – walk in the woods after a light rain…in the fall…while sipping on a Dark Mocha.

Backlog:

Very earthy aroma which kind of made me hesitant to try it, but, I’m glad I got over it. This is a nice, ripened pu-erh. It doesn’t taste nearly as earthy as it smells. It certainly does have earthy notes, sort of mushroom-y, sweet notes that are a cross between molasses and caramel.

Here is my full-length review of this one: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/02/21/fengqing-golden-buds-ripened-pu-erh-cake-tea-2005-from-teavivre/

I have just finished work and a bit of house cleaning and could do with a few minutes to relax and my thirst for a pu erh has been growing hence why I chose this tea.

As taken from the Teavivre website:
Gaiwan 3oz Tea:10g
9 steeps: rinse twice,20s,30s,40s,50s,1m10s,1m30s,2m,2m30s,3m30s

Following this rule here is my review:

First steep – This has dark amber coloured liquid that smells mildly of dry leaves. The flavour is slightly sweet and earthy and refreshing all at the same time. The tea at the bottom of my tea bowls is stronger and is much earthier with a touch of astringency.

Second steep – Same dark amber liquid with a more predominant fragrance of flowers. The flavour is also now somewhat floral but still gentle and refreshing. Its also a little woody now also.

Third steep – The liquid is now very dark and reminds me of soy sauce but with a red glow. It’s also much earthier and woodier now but still with that gentle floral touch. Smell wise it reminds me of damp earth or fish but not strong. (I buy cat treats that smell similar).

Fourth steep – The compacted cake pieces have now broken up to resemble dark brown loose leaves. Still getting stronger and stronger with both fragrance and flavour with the most notable being the earthiness. Very nice and full bodied pu erh so far and it keeps improving.

Fifth steep – The red glow has darkened now so the soy sauce appeal is even stronger. Rather astringent and strong, a little smoky but still very earthy. The smell is still reminding me of cat treats.

Sixth steep – Again stronger than the previous steep and earthy…it resembles cocoa, not chocolate but more nib. It’s dark and smoky and earthy and slightly sweet and astringent. Beautifully pu erh.

I will leave my logging there but shall update as I increase the steeps exponentially. :) So far it’s a nice aged pu erh but nothing completely unique. It does quench my pu erh thirst though.

Thank you Bonnie for this Sample

This tea was very smooth, without too much earthiness ;) First couple of infusions had a sort of fishy aroma from the wet leaves..thank god the smell was not detected in the Tea infusion! This would be an easy tea for people who are daunted by Pu-erh’s! I actually liked the Ripened aged Pu-er better..it had a deeper earthy flavor which I quite enjoyed ;-D

I am using my last sample of this excellent pu-erh from Tea Vivre. I got it as part of the Pu-erh sample assortment. My initial tasting notes from last summer indicated at least 9 steeps which I enjoyed hot, at room temp, and cold. Nice and earthy, and especially good with a little stevia. Today, I had 7 gms which I rinsed twice to open up the leaves, then steeped in 6 oz boiling water at 30, 60, 120, etc. I haven’t had pu-erh in awhile, but wanted to share this with my son while he is home from school. It really hits the spot, and I highly recommend it, especially if you haven’t had pu-erh before. There is no fishiness, and I think it is a great example of what a good ripened pu-ehr is like. The Teavivre site shows low quantities of this. If you haven’t dealt with Teavivre before, I can recommend them as a company that provides excellent service and they offer free samples with your order.

This is another sample that I received from Teavivre.

The cake smelt earthy when dry. My wife thought it was earthier than I did but that just goes to show how different our noses are. I placed 8g of leaf in a 200ml Yixing pot, washed it and then steeped it beginning with a 20 second steep and building up from there. The liquor was thick and slightly reddish. The taste was slightly sweet, earthy and smooth. Very nice. It is a tea that I could enjoy all day long. Actually, I did. I lost count of how often I resteeped it, but I began drinking this one in the morning and finished in the early evening when the tea was reduced to sweet, dark water. The whole experience was thoroughly enjoyable and I shall be adding this tea to my wish list for when I put in an order.

I’m not sure what I think of this pu-erh. It’s flavor is so light it’s almost not there. I guess, I can say there’s none of that common fishiness to it.

I’ve had two sweepings so far and am not getting much actual flavor out of it. Will see what happens on the next couple.

(This sample was generously provided to me by Teavivre. Thank you Angel and the whole Teavivre Team.)
Dry Leaf: Has a earthy almost tobacco leaf aroma.
Wet Leaf: The aroma was a warm earthy smell again there was that almost tobacco leaf aroma.
Liquor: Had a dark reddish color
Taste: This tea had a smooth mellow earthy almost tobacco leaf taste the life of the tea.
My Score/Over All Opinion: 89, This tea was very smooth and mellow but I only got the earthy/ tobacco leaf taste all thru the tea no floral flavor as I was waiting for. Which is why I scored like I did.

A nice, lighter golden alternative to my usual pu-erh. Teavivre was nice enough to send me a sample of this along with an order, and it’s very much appreciated! Warm, mouth-feel, stomach settling and relaxing. “Golden buds” describes it well. Nice to enjoy on a cold day when you need a hearty tea to warm up with!