Mengku Palace Ripened Golden Buds Loose Pu-erh Tea 2007

Thanks to Teavivre for this sample and I’m sorry I’m getting around to trying it just now.

I am steeping this in my infuser mug since I’m trapped at work on this beautiful day – we finally got some sun.

Steep #1 – approx. 1.5 minutes yielded me a dark, sweet and mellow pu-erh. Mmm, this is nice. I’ve gotten a few hints of bittersweet chocolate in the flavor here along with a slight fruitiness. I like it!

Steep #2 – also very nice and earthy. This has a definite clean taste with no fishiness or off odors like you can experience in other pu-erhs. The flavor here is reminding me a bit of pumpernickel bread. Definitely a nice after lunch tea.

Steep #3 – I accidentally let this steep for a really long time – 4 minutes? 5 minutes? Who knows. The longer steep has brought out a creamy element in this tea that I’m really enjoying. I think I could steep this a few more times but that needs to be end of caffeine for me today.

And onto other news… I have noticed today that my equanimity is back and I’m enjoying life — what could be more important than this? Huzzah!

This sample came to me by way of LibeTEAS, thank you so very much for it and the generous amount as well.

I will start by saying use caution if you intend to abbreviate pu’erh as pu .Twice today I stated that “I could do pu everyday”. I need not explain the ramifications of such a statement.

So here I am loving some pu (easy) and I wanna tell ya all about it. The dry leaf smells too sweet for hay but not enough to be called floral. Another sweet plant… After doing a 30 sec rinse I steeped for 1 min to start. Wet the leaves take on a strong aquatic/earthy smell (as wife says “it’s fish,Dave”). I must note that it’s not unpleasant for those not yet exposed to pu’s.

The flavor of this pu is so rich and wonderful and silky smooth. There’s predominantly a leathery sweetness accompanied by mint. I must pause and say here that I’m either gonna have to find a new word or rethink what I’m tasting because this is the third pu I wanna say taste kinda like toothpaste! After cooling more vegeative notes are apparent.

Second steep 2 minutes with a little less water as well. Even after opting for a stronger cup this time to explore the parameters of the drink I can honestly say it’s still smooth and sweet with almost no astringency. I feel a nice buttery richness that maybe I’ve overlooked in past taste notes of teas due to my young palate. What a drink! This may make it on the ‘gotta have it’ list.

I ended up with 4 steepings before I decided to quit drinking tea for the night.

tunes-Bill Withers=Use Me Up,Geuss Who-She’s Come Undone,Harry Nilson-Everbody’s Talking At Me

This tea has a strong earthy scent which I noticed particularly after brewing. Reminiscent of peat and leather and wood. I like that even though it has the earthy scent, it doesn’t taste as earthy as it smells. It is really quite sweet and smooth. A very rich taste, almost buttery, but not in a green tea or oolong “buttery” kind of way, but more like melted butter with freshly baked bread. Very mellow and nice. I like this one.

Thanks to Teavivre for this sample!

I’m still a pu-erh novice, although I’m fascinated by them and am trying to branch out. This is the first one I’ve tasted that has a date attached to it. I’m locking myself in my room with the A/C (not strong enough to actually make the room cool, but at least I’m not sweating… I hate summer.)

The scent of the dry leaves is definitely dark and earthy. There’s a hint of the “fishiness” associated with pu-erh, but it’s no more than a passing whiff. Beyond that, it just smells old. Like smoke and leather and oak trees. There’s a lighter sweetness to the scent of the wet leaf.

First steep – 10 s

It’s a very dark brown color. It reminds me of the barn I used to ride at, down the street from my house. It was built into a hill and was very long and narrow, dusty and dirty and dim. When I look at the liquor it reminds me of the color of a well-used saddle, dark and leathery and deep.

I’d definitely describe this tea as “woodsy.” It’s not heavy, but it’s dark, and there’s a surprising coolness of mint here.

Second steep – 20s

Still dark, flavor a bit stronger than the first steep. Unremarkable.

Third steep – 30s.

Oh, God, yes. I let this cool to drinkable temperature before I attempted a sip. Oh my goodness. The first thing that hits my tongue is caramel. Sweet, light, a hint of chocolate with just the tiniest bit of astringency at the finish. Lighter, golden caramel colored liquor.

I’ll post this now, since I don’t want it getting longer than it already is (oops), but Teavivre, you’re killing me. You’re killing me! I can’t wait till school starts so I have money to go tea shopping.

I tried to not open my latest round of samples from Teavivre until I had finished a few of my open teas. I tried. I really did. I plan on a longer review for my blog later. Let me say here that the dry leaf looks as gorgeous as the picture. It smells like horse barn. Others had a nicer way of saying this. I like the smell. Call me crazy.

The sip is smooth horse tack along with the sensation of mint with out the taste of mint. I didn’t catch a mint scent as Bonnie reported, though I did this 12oz at a time in my French press. It has a natural sweetness of its own. I added sweetener halfway through the cup anyway. It really didn’t improve the flavor. That’s interesting. Usually I find it amplifies notes I was missing. Not this time.

I did 4 mugs on one scoop of leaf (guessing 2.5g). It started turning lighter and a bit mushroom toward the end – still tasted good. Teavivre’s touchas are simple, easy to use, and have a similar flavor but this is so much smoother with no sharp edges. Just a good leathery shu.

Thank you Angel and Teavivre for this lovely Pu-erh Sample!

I wrote a complete review and then…Steepster crashed…and it was lost…so here I go again!

Last night I was up until the wee hours..1:45am just not ready to go to bed! Fortunately for me I could sleep in and like a lazy feline take my time in choosing a morning tea from the new box of samples that arrived from Teavivre. Such a delight!

The shipment contained one large sample of Pu-erh my favorite tea! Not wanting to fuss this morning with Gaiwan’s and such, I decided to brew a whole 24oz pot Western Style so that I could lounge back on the couch, down pillows around me, tea tray set in front and gaze out the window at a pending cloudburst. Could a day be more perfect for Pu-erh?!

A quick rinse of the loose leaves and then the 2 minute steeping began.

Don’t you love smelling the leaves? I first noticed how dark the liquor was after such a short steep time all chocolate brown. The leaves small, deep and smelling more than lightly of leather, but intensly sweet! There was something else.I could hardly believe it! I smelled mint! No way, I told myself, there could not be mint in these wet leaves. I got up and walked away, smelled around the room, smelled my hands, and no mint! When I went back to the leaves. Leathery, sweet mint again. Curious!

My first big sip was fresh with a good amount of earthy Pu-erh flavor and juice. There was no astringency, no malt or yam or pepper or cinnamon or any or the other adjectives used so frequently by me in discribing Pu-erhs. I had to think awhile about this one. I added milk and didn’t like it. I added sweetening which was ok but didn’t have any affect. It was pleasing sweet.

By the third mug of tea, I began to settle on the flavors that came closest to what I could describe for this tea.
The Pu-erh was refreshing and elegant, smooth with the flavor of rye bread when you can taste the seeds in the bite. The feeling was full enough in the mouth but deceptively simple at the same time in an almost palate cleansing way.

Evening Note
Dinner…
I had used more of the morning tea leaves for making iced Pu-erh in the afternoon but the clock had been creeping up on me and now it was time to cook dinner!
Tonight I made a stir fry of Organic Chicken, Vietnamese Sweet Lemon Curry, Shallots, Garlic, Tamari Soy Sauce and Meyer Lemon Vinegar (on high heat in grape seed oil) Then I turned the heat down lower and at the end I added some (1/4 cup) of the Pu-erh which I had steeped for 4 minutes. The Pu-erh magically thickened the broth. I took the pan off the heat, tossed in a few handfuls of organic spinach and…it was soooo delicious! The Pu-erh added a richness that was like adding Shiitake Mushrooms! Life is grand!

Last night there were too many margaritas, too much mexican food, and too much ice cream, and now they are all having a war in my stomach. I have heard numerous times that puerh is supposed to be good for upset stomachs, so I decided to give this a go, finally. I’ve had this sample for quite a while now, and must apologize to Teavivre for only now getting around to sampling it. The truth is, I’m still a little afraid of shu puerh. But onward!

I remembered why as soon as the water hit the leaves and I got a kind of slightly seaweedy smell. Just now I am realizing I should have rinsed them once, but I didn’t. Ah well. Fortunately any fishiness has gone away after a full steep, and the liquor is opaque and dark as night. It smells like sawdust, pretty much spot on.

The flavor is amazingly smooth. Not a hint of bitterness or astringency, and a thick, luscious texture. It is, also, lightly sweet. The main part of the flavor is earthy, saw-dusty (though without the feeling of ‘dust’), woody. As far as I can tell, its a very nice example of this type of puerh. Not fishy or off-tasting, just smooth and relatively pleasant. I just am not super into drinking earthy sawdust, heh. It may be settling my stomach (hard to tell), but hopefully so!

I saved this sample from Teavivre so I could share it with a friend who loves puerh.

Oh my goodness. I think this may be my favorite puerh to date. I didn’t know anything could unseat their Ripened Aged Mini TuoCha, but I think it just happened.

The first sip of tea transported me to a cathedral built of stout wooden beams that have been polished lovingly with Murphy’s Oil Soap. There is the scent of clean wood mixed with a sense of antiquity here. And after the sip my mouth is cool and tingling! The warmth of the dark puerh flavor transforms into sunshine in the mouth!

Because we were conversing, I didn’t get to give this all the attention I could have, but I have enough to drink again, and again, so I can try to be even more detailed. This is indeed a puerh fit for an emperor in my book. Definitely ordering this one.

Thank you, Teavivre and Angel!

Shou pu-erh. It just always triggers something in my memory. It’s the taste of a dim sum restaurant. In my mind, pu-erh is a noisy crowded place filled with the scent of greasy foods and pungent sauces. It’s sitting at a table with my family and a small cup of some dark harsh liquid. Needless to say, the tea was pretty subpar. They servers simply fill a pot with leaves and boiling water. Then they set it at the table. The first few cups are always too light. the last few cups are always too dark. Then the pots are refilled with water and it’s a slightly better brew. But with the leaves they tend to use, it doesn’t get that much better. Until a certain age, my grandparents would just get me a can of soda. Then I learned I could just ask for jasmine or chrysanthemum tea and it was better. So the pu-erh of my youth was not really a good example of this illustrious tea. Yet every time I have a shou pu-erh, even a quality one like this offering from Teavivre, I always remember those dim sum places with my family. and that sub-par tea. The flavor is so familiar to me I don’t even notice what tasting unless I really think about it. All I get is memories.

If pressed, I’d say this tastes like autumn leaves. There’s a leather-y flavor and a smooth sweet finish. And that’s all I’ve got. :) I think shou pu-erh isn’t really my thing, but I think this is a good one. From the few sheng pu-erhs I’ve tried though, those might be worth exploring for me.

Thank you, Teavivre, for this generous sample!

I wasn’t overly fond of the intense earthy/mossy aroma but the flavor is pretty good! Special thanks to Liberteas for this one! It’s malty and mellower but has nice sweet-woodsy notes to it with a hint of cocoa powder!

This is a very pleasant puer!!! It seems I have been drinking almost exclusively puer lately. This is probably due to the fact that my dear wife’s stomach is acting up and Puer is the only tea she can drink. The Chinese attribute a lot of health benefits to Puer, and in a culture where, “food is medicine”, puer does seem like a very healthy drink. If even half of its attributed benefits are true, I should live be ~178.
Anyway, I’m rambling…onto the tea
Usually one can describe puer specifically, and tea generally in associative terms, i.e. leathery, nutty etc. This puer, however, is a little different. Both the aroma and the taste don’t necessarily have noteworthy associations. Rather, this tea is pure, clean, whole, complete. I’m really enjoying this! It is soooo smooth and crisp, not like tea at all.

I normally steep puer short, from 5-15 sec. After several short steeps (all enjoyable cups), I decided to let it steep for 90 secs to see what would happen. I was yet again rewarded with a smooth, subtle and wholesome cup.

I enthusiastically recommend this tea. Not because of its complex flavors, but because of its complex nature.

I let this one steep for perhaps 5 minutes and the result was a gorgeous dark brown-reddish liquid. Very strong yet none of the offensive flavors or odors we sometimes encounter with Shou. I have come to love and appreciate a fine Shou and this is on par with some of the better ones that I have had.
The second steep is lighter yet still full of flavor.
I enjoyed this last week as well and after the third steeping I used the rest for iced tea. I left it sit for maybe a week in the fridge and actually forgot what it was until I tasted it. It was nothing short of wonderful.

I finally recieved my beautiful gaiwan tea set from Teavivre yesterday. This morning when I woke up I knew exactly what I was feeling ready for, a pu-erh. Now I haven’t really tried much pu-erh yet so keep that in mind.

I spent lots of time last night pouring with my gaiwan and getting a feel for brewing this style. I feel so important and involved with this process.

I’m not really sure how to review pu-erh tea. I’m not really familiar with the termonology I see other people using to describe pu-erh but I’m going to wing it here. I’m using the suggested gaiwan brewing times from Teavivre.

The first steep is curious. Not as overwhelmingly strange tasting as I was expecting it to be. It’s an interesting flavor, something I’ve never really experienced before. Maybe a tiny bit fishy? But it’s actually not offputting….very weird…

Wow. The second steep looks like a completely different tea. It’s so much darker than the first! The wet leaves smell a little smokey. This steep tastes like the first one, but with a little more oomph.

After a third steep the wet leaves are starting to smell leathery. Now I understand what people mean when they use “leathery” as a description. This steep is surprsingly sweet in a way. Much different than the previous steeps.

By the fourth steep I’m starting to get stuck on the fish smell for some reason. It doesn’t really taste fishy, but it smells just fishy enough to be getting a little weird. I’m having trouble focusing on anything else. One thing I am noticing though is that my tummy is feeling much better than it did when I woke up this morning. It could just be in my head but either way it’s a plus.

I think I’m going to have to stop here. I know I could continue steeping but I think I’ll have to dive into a few more pu-erhs before I take this one all the way. I’m going to hold off on a rating for now.

And I almost forgot to thank LiberTEAS for sending me some of this! What an interesting start to the day =) Oh, I forgot to add I haven’t burnt my fingers once yet! Woohoo!

I received this as a sample from Teavivre – thanks! Figured I would try it out as it’s one of the samples I had yet to get to, but the reviews have been good… so why not!

As soon as the water hit the leaves, I smelled a distinct fishy smell. Not super strong, but enough to make me a little wary. I’m still not a fan of pu’erhs with any fishiness, although I’ve found that sometimes, an initial fishy smell doesn’t translate into the flavour. So, hoping for that!

The initial flavour reminded me a ridiculous amount of Verdant’s Cornfields Shu Pu’erh that I tried recently. Except a bit fisher, and a bit stronger. Difficult to describe. A bit of sweetness, a musty flavour, fairly smooth… definitely a pu’erh, but beyond that, I can’t describe much else. It’s actually a bit too strong for me, and making me cringe a bit, for whatever reason. Too much mustiness per mouthful.

I’m not sure that I’m a fan of this one, but will definitely try a shorter infusion time and less lea next time, as I think it’s best drank a bit weak, for me! I’ll reserve a rating until then, but I don’t think this will ever really be a favourite.

I apparently lost this tea in the midst of my many small packages. For someone who has 95 teas, a lot of them sure are in small amounts. I should work at finishing some!

Anyways, I’ve only had a couple puerhs before. Golden Phoenix from Silk Road, which is… nothing like this, and Naked Pu-erh from Tealux, which I like in small doses and with a little sugar to counteract the puerh-ness of it. Yeah, IDK.

I didn’t know what this one would be like at all, but I’m trying to try more teas that I wouldn’t normally go for, which is why I asked Heather for this one at the swap/meetup. Thanks, Heather! This tea seems weird, but I’m glad I’m getting to try it. Now if only I could psych myself up to take the first sip! The smell is intimidating.

Ooh. That is good! It’s more like Silk Road’s Golden Phoenix without the cinnamon and citrus. There’s dirt, there’s tea, there’s a lot of deep complex flavours. This one doesn’t need sugar added for me to drink it. I’ll have to note I need to do a comparison of the Naked Pu-erh and this one, to see if I can pinpoint the differences.

I’m gonna pour this in my travel mug and bring it to work with me. This isn’t going to be an every day tea, but now I want to try more puerhs. Success!

(1.5 tsp in almost 16 oz water. IDK that I’d want to use as much tea as they suggest. This is plenty strong for me.)

_{Tea sample provided by Teavivre for review}

When I received my new samples in the mail today, this tea caught my attention. It’s been raining the past few days, and there is just something about drinking either Lapsang Souchong or ripe puerh that feels “right” when it rains.

Drinking from the first steep after the rinse; it tastes really mellow, earthy, and slightly smoky. Then it made me think of moss and mushrooms.

Second steep became bolder in flavour, but not to the point that it became offensive to my taste buds.

Wrapping up this review on the third steep, the flavour is staying consistent. No bad flavours during the initial sipping or aftertaste. (I’ll probably resteep this a few more times throughout the day and edit the final steep count later.)

Overall it tastes like a decent ripe puerh. The product is sold as loose leaf, so it’s a bit easier to brew at home (no prying leaves off).

100ml gaiwan, 2 tsp, 6 steeps (rinse, 15s, 20, 30, 40, 50, 1m15s)

_{Note: I tend to always like ripe puerh. If you’re unsure about puerh or find it’s taste offensive, I’d buy a sample or avoid it all together. :)}

I’ve tasted this one twice now. This was the first loose leaf pu’er that I’ve prepared, and I definitely underestimated the amount of leaf that I should use the first time. More is definitely better with this shou. For me, about a third of my gaiwan works pretty well considering the leaves don’t expand much after water hits them.

The dry leaf aroma is spicy, dry, and woody. The leaves are short, stocky, and thin with faded black, and light brown colorations. They remind me of black tea leaves. After a wash of around ten seconds the leaves reveal a thick and earthy aroma like rich and fertile soil. There are also some notes of cocoa, grapes, and the second time I tried it, some faint funky smell like spoiled grapes. Kind of off-putting, but not awful.

The broth ends up being quite nice. The first steep is very thick and dark, but not so much so that I can’t see to the bottom of the cup. Later on, as steeps progress, it becomes darker and murky. Tea oils are also apparent on the surface.

Flavor-wise, it’s a bit of a weaker brew as I alluded to at the beginning. I first began with Teavivre’s recommended steep times, but found them to produce a more one-dimensional and shallow flavor. I do 10" for the first and 20" for the second steep, but usually jump to something above a minute for the third and something like five minutes for the fourth. I can maybe get one or two extra steeps after that, but they typically aren’t note-worthy.

This shou has a very woody flavor, which is always the top note for each steep. Later on, a really sweet and peaty flavor mingles with the woodsy notes while dry, spicy features rise throughout the session. At some points, I can taste some fruity dimensions, like a wine-y aspect that provides both sweetness and a tad bit of tartness. Later on during the session, usually during the fourth steep, it tastes really leathery, with an almost oily mouthfeel to match. Otherwise, I suppose I could describe this tea as “smooth” texturally, but the mouthfeel isn’t very interesting overall, although it becomes faintly sparkly during the very last steep. I can, however, get a decent aftertaste following most steeps, which happens to be very sweet.

Other than a faint metallic undertone in the first steep, a bit of an odd aroma to the wet leaves, and a little oiliness this shou is pretty clean. It provides most of the things I would look for in a shou, but doesn’t really bring anything new to the table.

Thank you to Angel @ TeaVivre for this sample!

It’s been a busy day, running around doing the things self-employed musicians have to do when they aren’t performing or practicing. I’ve drank a fair share of black teas, but didn’t really have time to comment on them, & I’m not in the mood for backtracking, so onward…

This is a really pleasant Shu! I steeped for 1 minute, 2nd steeping for 2 minutes, & will probably try for a few more before I release the leaves to my compost pile.

It’s very dark! I like that in a tea!
It’s ultra smooth, creamy even, & sweet with a raisin bread-like taste & a hint of vanilla.
I needed this…(sigh)…

I forgot to log my tea notes yesterday. I finally broke into the pu-erh that Teavivre sent to me. I forgot to check how much leaf to put into my french press, so I only put about 2 teaspoons worth.

The first steep was a very light color. So light that my dad noticed and asked if it was too weak. I just told him it was a different sort of tea and I only brewed it for two minutes, so I didn’t question the light color. The flavor was slightly earthy, but not as strong as some of the other pu-erhs I have tried. It was very pleasant and mellow. I think I would have to try a little bit more leaf to make up my mind about it though.

First of all, I’m honored to get to try this aged tea. When it was harvested, I was still at my first place away from home, working for Wolf Camera.

Now, onto the details. I gave it just over two minutes and it brewed up very dark. The scent reminds me of leather and the forest floor after a good rain. Now, I’m always a little afraid of puerh because I don’t like fishiness, but this puerh doesn’t taste like that at all. It tastes fresher and smoother than other puerhs I’ve tried, and completely not astringent. It makes me think of a really good yunnan, just… aged, for lack of a better word.