2006 Artisan Revival Stone-Pressed Sheng

Thank you LiberTEAS for this sample and introducing me to this great tea!

Wow! That should say enough. Yes, its light and very smooth. Yes, there are faint vegetal and slightly roasted notes in this tea. The leaves are beautifully long and slender, but unbroken. The liquid is pale yellow and and has no detectable bitterness. But, there is much more. There is a story that is spoken through this tea. One, that would require much more time and space to fully record.

There is such a time stopping element to this tea. Its difficult to not be carried to a memory of a late summer stroll in a local pasture of my early upbringing in the South. You can almost hear the crunching of the parched grass underneath your feet. All you can do is close your eyes and sip away.

The final verdict: This is a very nice Sheng Pu’erh! I’m almost convince it would be my top pick, if you could only have one, and only one Pu’erh. Its that good!

I honestly can’t believe this is a Pu-erh! Lovely! I’m only on my first infusion and I will say right away I am a fan…

1st infusion is light and sweet! Cooling…mouthwatering…creamy, even! Nice hint of floral in the aftertaste.

Multiple infusion notes coming soon!

Wow! Now, this being my first pu-erh, I was a little nervous, because so many times people say that it’s an acquired taste. What are they smoking? This is awesome! I liked it right away. It has a brisk, oolong-like, taste. It has very appealing color, too. It’s sort of blush, like apple cider. In earlier steepings, I noticed a faint earthy, sort of mushroom-like, background. It wasn’t musty, though. It was still sweet, and floral. I can sort of taste the sweet tobacco flavor, too, but it doesn’t have that sharp bite. It’s very smoothe. In mid-later steepings, just when I thought it was done, judging by the lighter color, it was not giving up! In fact, it took on a honey, raisin-like flavor that is soooo good. It’s now taking on an even more floral, plum, tangy, somewhat citrus, flavor. It just keeps getting better! I can probably push it even further, still. I guess, we shall see. ::sip sip:: mmmm

::Edit::
So, I got to around 20 or so steepings (lost count), and the flavor is still there. I have to steep so long the water cools, now. That’s my fault, however, because I’m not very skilled at gongfu cha, yet. Some of my steepings were too long, and tasted slightly bitter. I was over-focused on the color. Now, that I know that it’s OK for it to lighten, and it’ll still pack a flavorful punch, I think I probably could’ve managed 30+ steepings out of this. I’ll have to chalk that up to live and learn, I spoze. Definitely worth the experimentation! Plus, there’s still plenty left. This is a very delicious, and flavorful tea. I totally enjoy it better than oolong.

The only thing missing in the experience, is that intense cleansing, centering feeling I get from drinking sencha. It’s more fun, though. Due to the fact that it requires so many steepings, and some skill, I can’t call it the perfect tea. The perfect sheng pu-erh, however? Definitely maybe. Even though, I haven’t experienced anything else to compare it to, I can’t imagine it being any better.

Wow I feel so grateful to be sipping this cup of tea – thank you aisling of tea for including a whole bunch of Verdant in our swap that I haven’t the pleasure of trying yet! eeee!

This one is amazing! First three steeps remind me of mesquite bbq chips – savoury with a hint of sweetness and a real smoky treat. I’ll be back for more, I just couldn’t contain my excitement any longer!

So excited to try this!! My first sheng puerh!

Parchment-like aroma. Tree bark and limestone. Slight cereally background.
MIneral-rich taste. Flavor reminiscent of a rainforest—all lush greenery rooted in rich soil. Paradoxically, though, it also tastes delicate and dry. I’m reminded of beautiful, papery moth wings.

Very interesting. I like it. I admire it’s complexity.

But, the aforementioned “creaminess” eludes me, right now.

It seems that my lazy, quick, western-style brewing has done this tea a disservice! :)

My first taste of a Sheng. I steeped 1/2 tablespoon leaves in 4 oz water, and each steep was 205F and for 3 min.

I took Spoonvonstup’s recommendation to start trying some teas in smaller steeping volumes with this one.

These almost whole, brown-black leaves with some iridescent, green-black leaves, twigs, and a few yellow buds are loosely pressed and come apart easily. The dry leaves smell of dried hay, strongly sweet, and a faint bit like leather. I also smell dried apricots.

1st steeping. The leaves unfurled and became greener with re-hydration. The liquor is a an orange-tan and transparent. Aroma is earthy, smoky, cedar. The first taste is delicate and smoky, smooth and some faint powdery bitterness, but very faint. As the cup cooled and I got to the bottom, I got some stronger bitterness and sweetness, giving over to bitter and leathery/barnyard at the end of each sip. Lingering sweet aftertaste.

2nd steep. This has a decidedly smokier aroma than last cup, then hay aroma; the color is the same. Smokey and sweet flavors at the start of the sip, with bitter strongest. There are aromatic floral flavors here. A sharper bitter comes in only at the end of the sip, and astringency is now here at the end of the sip, too, that was totally absent in the last cup. The powdery feeling is gone. The sweet aftertaste has a twinge of dried fruit — current? — then goes floral.

3rd steep. I smell hay and leather aromas over the cup. The steeps are getting more orange in color. This is smooth, without a hint of bitterness and without much astringency. It is still sweet. What are the flavors here? I get more feelings than flavors. Some part of what made up the leathery flavors is still here, and there is some sweet, lip-smacking velvety feel. There is a cooling feeling in my mouth. Oops, I ran out of this steep trying to get the flavors down. The aftertaste is strongly sweet and floral.

4th steep. This is light red-orange in color. The leathery aroma is almost gone. This has some vegetal, bean pod flavor. The cooling sensation is stronger. The sweet aftertaste is strong. The floral notes, smoke, and cedar all seem to be gone, but the strong, sweet aftertaste remains.

I enjoyed this quite a bit. I’m not sure sheng is my thing if this one is a particularly smooth and tasty one, but I did have a lot of fun and enjoy tasting it.

I’m on my fourth infusion of this Pu-erh now. The first couple infusions were rather delicate, much more so than I would have expected from a Pu-erh, but then again, this is no ordinary Pu-erh. This has to be the best one I’ve tried. It seems like I say that every time I try a new Pu-erh… perhaps my palate has really developed a taste for them now.

The third and fourth infusions, I noticed more of a grassy tone come through. The flower notes of the first two infusions are still there, but, they are obscured somewhat by the grassy tones. But that’s quite alright, I still have a sweet honey-like taste that comes through and I’m really enjoying that.

More infusions to follow… looking forward to the flavors they will bring.

If you think you don’t like Pu-erh… I highly recommend this one. This one could just change your mind! This is excellent.

Definitely agreeing with Nate, above. This is such a perfect, well-balanced sheng. Not only that, but it’s incredibly interesting, too! So many decent, acceptable, lovely shengs are simply pleasant and entirely unoffensive. This one goes leaps and bounds beyond to be the kind of tea you want to bring out for special occasions and drink for at least two hours. Definitely a tea to drink with a good friend who loves discussing flavors and memories. It would definitely be great in a pot or a mug, but it would be such a shame to limit yourself to just one of the taste on its long and complex flavor arc.

Terribly delicious and satisfying.

And so young! The only way I could imagine this better is if it were older. But how am I supposed to hold off drinking it until then?! It’s so good now! This is definitely something I want to save up for so that I can have at least three tongs (stacks of seven) hidden away. For now, I’ll make due with the ounce or so I have.

Thank goodness Verdant Tea let’s me buy by the ounce. It brings exquisite pu’ers within reach of those of us who aren’t millionaires.

Rainy day in Miami. Hot and steamy outside, cool and comfortable inside. Time to brew up my sample of 2006 Artisan Revival Stone-Pressed Shang…

Beautiful leaves with a lovely aroma. First leaves I pull out are a bud and two leaves—open and full; a good sign. Gaiwan gets loaded up, leaves rinsed, then a three minute steep at about 200 degrees.

Clear golden amber liquor. Smooth, sweet, woodsy and a lingering earthiness. Hmm, and an extra aroma of what… flowers in a forest? This tea is good… seriously good. In fact, I turned off the TV to really focus on my second steep.

There is that aroma again. Alluring and sensual. Taste? Even better! Same smooth woodsy earthiness, with just a hint of dryness, like fresh hay. It looks as if I am going to write one of those over the top reviews… for a tea I just met. I would write more, but I think it is time to go back for a third steep. :)

I’m not a Pu’erh expert, but I am a big fan. I like the heritage in the process of this tea. It reminded me of slightly weak Darjeeling though instead of a hearty Pu’erh. I probably won’t have this again.

This is my first straight pu-erh, my only other experiences being DavidsTea’s blends.

This is beautiful. I definitely get the pipe tobacco and cloves, it’s a lovely little tea that I am thoroughly enjoying. I love the earthiness of it! I added sugar because I always add sugar. It’s not fair for me to rate a tea without it. But it is delicious. I am very pleased and very impressed by my first straight pu-erh! I’m suddenly very glad we just ordered another sampler pack from Verdant, I want to try everything they have!

My first Sheng, I don’t really feel like I know enough about them to rate this one. I drank a lot of shu pu-erh when I first gave up drinking coffee and I enjoy them quite a lot.

I brewed small amounts of my tea in a glass infuser mug. I kept the steeping times short, to around 60 seconds or so.

First impression: this reminds me of the Heritage Rougui I picked up at Red Blossom Tea Company. According to David’s notes this one has anxi oolong as a base. I am getting cedarwood, and spice with a slightly earthy and smoky flavor. A hint of smoke. My first two infusions were slightly bitter but I think my water was also too hot. I learned (also at Red Blossom) that if the water is too hot for you to drink it is also too hot for the tea.

Around the 3-4th infusion this is really hitting its’ stride for me, I used a lower water temperature and was now picking up more of the oolong base with some smoother chestnut notes.

The fifth infusion yielded some vegetal and honey flavors but I decided not to steep it again after #5.

This was a pretty fun tea drinking experience! Next time I will try it with less hot water from the very start.

This sheng came in a few weeks ago and I already have named it my “Perfect Pu’er”. It is everything a Sheng pu’er should be; sweet, cooling, complex, not drying. If someone that knew Sheng came over and asked me to prepare one tea for them to show them the best of my collection, I would pull out this tea without reservation.

The compression of the brick is unlike anything I have ever seen. Since it is hand pressed in the old fashion it is a perfectly loose and ready for an ideal aging process. As far as flavor, this immediately has an aroma and initial flavor of sweet tobacco, and clove. The tea is completely salivating, with hints of sweet fruits while still possessing floral notes of lilac. Incredibly complex. Steep 25+ times, any less would do this tea an injustice.

I kind of feel bad that I brewed up my small sample without checking Steepster first to see what the best brewing method would be. Instead I just used my small teapot/strainer and punted: 185 degrees, four minutes. What I got is still delightful: a sort of mineral cleanness, light sweetness, like I imagine sucking on a cloud would be. At the end of a mouthful I get a small amount of bitterness—nothing I can’t deal with, and probably only because of the long steep time. (I’m sorry…I’m SORRY…) This is earthier than the whites and greens I’m used to—yes, even discounting that the cup smells like clay. The earthiness sort of grabs onto my taste buds and won’t let go. Very tasty!

I can’t see the color of the tea because I’m using one of the small egg-shaped inside-glazed clay teacups I got in Turkey (the pottery shop served us apple tea in them, and I fell in love on the spot), but reddish-brown is the general impression I get.

When I am done drinking the hot (now warm) tea I’ll put the rest of the teapot’s contents in the fridge and see how it tastes cold in the morning. Probably it’ll be only okay, but I hate to waste the rest of the pot due to my own carelessness.

You know what this means, right? Right? I’m going to have to order some of this stuff and do it RIGHT next time. (I believe this is exactly what samples are supposed to do. Good marketing strategy, David!)

All of the flavors are in perfect balance—earthy, smokey, fruity—an exciting and complex Pu-erh that will be awesome when aged. The dry leaf is unlike any I’ve seen in a green Pu-erh. You can tell that care was taken to preserve the flavors in the large beautiful leaves. Sweeter and more floral than I expected but balanced by a hint of fine leather and cinnamon.

This pu’er is superb! To start, I am not even one to drink pu’er tea. However, I enjoyed this tea as it gave me a overwhelming sense of full rich flavor with out being at all musty. I first smelled the tea and picked up notes of fresh pressed newspaper with a lingering sweet floral sent as well. The initial taste was extremely smooth and especially floral. As the steeping went on the flavor became much more complex-transforming the flowery taste into the taste of rich sweet grass. The tea surprising never became bitter but instead more and more layered with each steeping. A perfect balance between smooth, sweet, and complex. Sipping this tea brought me back to the moist summery nights of playing after dark. Verdant tea, you have done it again!

I just got my Sheng sampler in the mail! My first tasting is the 2006 Artisan Revival. I brewed it western style in a basket. The directions stated 1 tsp for 2.5 minutes. I had to let it go longer because I just felt it was not ready. It’s very smooth and comforting. I am getting orange and clove aromas. It is definitely not like other Pu-Erhs that I have had that somewhat musty. This is my first tasting of a truly fine Pu-Erh. When I brew it again it will be in the Yixing with more leaves. Even though I feel I should have used more leaf, I can still see it’s a fantastick tea. It’s very comforting to the mind and body….

This is really a great sheng.
All the infusions I have done are fantastic.

In particular I remember the first: this one remember me of winter time; in fact it smells like the smoke of the fireplace.
The second infusion is totally different: this one remember me of summer time; in fact it taste like melon.

Thank you Pureleaf for this sample.Wow what a drink.Forgive me if I repeat myself but this tea is difficult for my novice palate to grasp.I was first impressioned by a bold smokiness that reminds me of a bonfire put out by water.Dry with a strong walnutty afterflavor. With the second steeping the smokiness started converting into another flavor I will have to try to determine the next go around. By the fourth steeping much of the dryness had dissipated and a creaminess had appeared.Very interesting to see a beverage change from very dry to quenching in a short period of time. I must come back to this tea and do it’s description more justice at another time. Tune:Buddy Guy,Baby Please Don’t Leave.Incidentily from the album-Sweet Tea

I like the description of this smelling like books, because it really does. A sort of musty scent and flavour. I’m not sure how I felt about it. It was . . . wildly different from any other tea I’ve tasted. Then again, it’s one of the only straight aged pu’erhs I’ve ever sampled. I think I’ll have to try it again. I am definitely intrigued. Not going to rate this one quite yet.