Artisan Revival Stone-Pressed Banzhang '06 Sheng Pu'er

Thanks so much Azzrian for sending a bit of this along! I was in the mood for a pu-erh and this is the first tea I was able to try in my new Bodum YoYo infuser and mug! I have no idea why it is called “yoyo”. (It matches my vintage Bodum electric kettle!) The mug is clear so I have a nice view of the steep color. This one has the color of a draft of beer! So I’m not sure how much caffeine pu-erh has if the color is so light. (I’m assuming the darker the steep color, the more caffeine it has? I don’t know.) I like this mug though.. it’s either because the bottom of the mug is slanted or because the mug is clear, that when I’m sipping it, it looks like the mug has less tea in it than it actually does. I get a bit sad, but when I set it down, I can see that there IS a ton of tea left in the cup!

All of these steeps were for two minutes after two 10 second rinses (not sure if I’m doing that right!) Autumn is what the tea reminds me of. The leaves look like autumn leaves. The fragrance is smokey, like there is a burning pile of leaves in the yard. I wouldn’t guess that this is a pu-erh, because it doesn’t have that typical pu-erh flavor profile. It kind of seems like the flavor of tree bark, in the most appetizing way… so I guess you could still call it earthy! The flavor is smokey.. it most reminds me of a russian caravan. The flavor is smooth, silky, woodsy, light, and a tiny bit spicy… The second steep gets even smoother. It’s interesting that pu-erhs have such a wide range of flavor. I pity the fool who doesn’t steep their leaves multiple times. All three steeps were very consistent! I’m sure I could have steeped many more times. But I’M the fool who only used those dipper infusers until now (those I still will, especially for teas like rooibos that don’t need expanding). I knew for a while that the leaves were being strangled… so it was nice to see these leaves breathe. I like this tea! To sum up: it’s an autumn pile of smokey burning leaves and branches. It made me really miss autumn, even though it’s March (well, I miss autumn the first day it snows anyway.) Very unique… but I’m sure all of Verdant’s teas are unique.

Also, I read some of the tasting notes after typing mine up, and it seems I’ve said a lot of the same descriptions that others have. It seems my palate has improved too! Nice!

I have more Verdant Teas on tap! Here’s one that was a nice surprise…but then again…most of them are from Verdant!

It’s light in color – a light brown with a touch of tangerine color.

The aroma is earthy/sweet-woodsy with maybe a bit of gentle smoke underneath.

The taste is gentle, too…velvety, very slightly sweet, a bit nutty – like walnuts, it sort of reminds me of a gentle mist or fog. This is a wonder! This is mighty-fine! Thumbs up!

In my limited pu’erh experience, I seem to prefer sheng to shu pu’erh. Perhaps it’s just the ones I’ve tried (as they’re pretty limited anyways), but I decided to start trying a few more to figure out which I like! Also, I just bought samples of 4 more from Verdant… so it would be best if I started drinking them!

I probably didn’t brew this one completely properly – I rinsed it with a continuous stream of close-to-boiling water for 15 seconds, then infused for two minutes. The water was from a kettle, so likely dropped more in temperature had I microwaved the water as usual (yeah yeah, I know…)

Ok… this is a bit too strong for me. I probably overleafed, so likely my fault. It is, however, much more pleasant than many pue’rhs I’ve had. No fishiness, and more of a creamy flavour. Astringent though, however (but that’s my fault I suspect). I thought I had measured out about 1.5 tsp of leaf, but it was a bit difficult to be accurate, so I was probably a bit off.

Not my favourite… I’ll try it again a bit more carefully, but although it’s definitely drinkable, it’s probably not something I’d reach for. I may be offloading the majority of my pu’erhs on my mom at Christmas, as she does seem to enjoy them.

There was just too much talk about Verdant here to not at least give them a try, especially their green tea and pu’er, so when they had an excellent deal recently, I took them up.

This was one of the samples I requested. I have very limited experience with pu’er… just two others; one ‘beginner-friendly’ shu from a tea store that wasn’t too bad, and a sample of Guan Zi Zai 2005 from Life in Teacup.

I don’t have any concerns about sheng; to me, aged tea is no more strange than other aged things, cheese, wine, etc. So approaching this tea was no concern. In fact, I imagine shu is to tea as cabbage is to kim chee, sauerkraut, etc. and I love certain things that have been fermented well, so I can imagine enjoying shu a lot, as well. On the other hand, I have heard a lot of horror stories about it, so I would probably approach it more carefully.

I also enjoy (to a certain extent) earthy and smokey flavors, like mate (which is almost always smoked) or houjicha, so pu’er hasn’t seemed a strange concept to me, rather very intriguing.

I followed Verdant’s instructions, and using my makeshift gaiwan, put the remainder of my sample (3-4g) in, rinsed once, and used 2-3oz water per infusion, going up to about 17.

The leaf looked like it had actually been loose pu’er rather than pressed into a cake (the leaves were not stuck together and looked like dried, unrolled, dong fang mei ren [oriental beauty]), and as their description states, it sounds like the method of stone pressing causes the leaf to be loosely packed into the cake.

Since I have so little experience with sheng, I don’t know how that influences my impression of this tea. The first steepings (esp the first) had an underlying citrus-like sweetness. It wasn’t sweet like the returning sweetness in the back of the throat, but left an almost sweet flavor somewhere in the middle.

The aroma was a smokey-woody-earthiness, similar to mate but much smoother. I could say it was almost like what you would imagine an earthy cave to smell like (“not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole”).
EDIT: I meant to add here – this was the best part about it for me and delicious!
Besides this smokey-woody flavor, which in one steeping reminded me of a nice savory/salty stew, it was a very smooth tea. I didn’t get much else from it, actually.

Late into the steepings, I experienced a very mouth-drying sensation that was almost unpleasant. I was hoping this would signal a shift in what the tea became/tasted like, but unfortunately it seemed to mean that the tea had only a couple pleasant (but not overly interesting) infusions left.

So, take my long review as you like, since while I know I am someone who could probably really enjoy pu’er, I don’t know a lot of what to expect (what makes one good or not). As far as whether I simply liked this tea- yes, I did, but it just wasn’t the same as Japanese greens.

I think I knew this before I started, but I don’t believe pu’er is something I will ever get into, at least not for this season of life. I don’t have hours to do long tea sessions and many infusions. The best I can get most days is one pot/4 infusions, but more often it is 3 infusions (for a Japanese tea, which is an easier brewing method than gaiwan, imo). I will certainly enjoy a few pots of pu’er here and there, but I simply don’t have the time to do it proper justice (via gaiwan).

Unless, someone who has a lot of experience with it can say that the western method works well? If I could do the western method and drink 3-4 infusions, instead of 15-20, that would be doable. Let me know if that really does good sheng/shu justice and what the parameters for each infusion could be (in general).

First of all I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. This I promise will be my only tasting note today. I learned yesterday with the Star Of Bulang to respect these sheng. Do not overload with leaf and do not oversteep. Today I am using the Yixing again and after an approximately 2 minute steep I directly transfer the liquor into a large cup. Sort of western style with the Yixing. The first cup is mellow and satisfying. My body temperature feels like it is rising. The second steep is really shining. I am getting that slight sparkle and a bit of a numbness in the mouth. I cannot really find one flavor profile with this sheng. All I can say is that I am enjoying it. It’s truly a feel good brew. The third cup is opening up even more. When I was pouring I thought I smelled those oranges with the cloves poked in them that my friends mom had on the kitchen table. The flavor is getting stronger. I cannot go through the whole ritual today. Time to give Thanks….

This is one of my favorite pu’ers. I remember purchasing this 7 months ago and kind of forgot about it. Nice to find it again and be enchanted by its cedar apple qualities.

Spent the day with this (as much as I could with a very clingy toddler) and may have to come back to it again tomorrow, as I didn’t reinfuse as much as I could have. This one is tricky, its a subtle shape-shifter, a bit elusive, yet rewarding when you sit and listen.

It starts off silky, with a hint of wood, spice and nut. I had a hard time pinning down the walnut, but once I pictured my tongue running over those tannic silky membranes I was there. I get a hint of cedar, but not nearly as much as other shengs, its more just woodsy, but not any particular variety of forest. There is juniper and apple when you look for it (or read about it). However it is mostly dirt and spice. Not hot spice, but a rough, dry, anonymous Yunnan dirt and spice (but not just peppery). Right now I feel like sheng evokes dirt and shu moist soil (don’t get me wrong I lovvve tasting the earth) but I am overly tired and need to come back to this in the morning.

Edit: It has been revived and this time round I’m doing longer steeps, first thirty then a min and I’m on 2 and a half mins right now. The tea, or maybe I or perhaps both of us are responding better to this. Yes it is still musty and vaporous but there are some solid notes also, mint and clove, not strong clove, but like the taste and feeling of old fashioned clove gum after you’ve been chewing it for awhile and the flavor is starting to fade. That. Let’s push it to three and then I think I will have to revisit the Farmer’s Co-op 03 and Star of Bulang 06 before my other pu’erhs arrive tomorrow. I still find it a heck of a lot easier to enjoy shu, but I’m learning. Edit edit: this is gooood, went for another and another, might not stop ;). Will definitely be starting at 30sec after the rinse next time!

I have been drinking this tea non-stop since it came in. This is a find of my friend Wang Yanxin, who first introduced me to all the small cooperatives in Yunnan. I want to do a full description of its flavor in a tasting note, but that will take more care and re-tasting. It is one of the best sheng pu’ers I have tried, period.

My love affair with this tea, along with some prodding from Steepster friends has convinced me to do a Yunnan-themed Cyber Monday. Pu’er bricks, and our white, black and green teas from Yunnan, will be between 30-50% off. Check it out and invest in a brick of this for yourself if you can.

http://verdanttea.com/black-friday-weekend-sale/

Some note in the far far back of this tea reminds me of…Christmas. It kind of fades in and out and I keep losing and trying to find it again. But I think I’ve nailed it… worcestershire sauce. That must sound really strange, but the only time we ever made worcestershire-laden chex mix was during Christmas in my household; that’s what I’m reminded of.

I’m starting to understand why people might spend huge amounts of money on fancy yixing pots. Aside from the whole seasoning and making tea better over time thing, I hear they retain heat wonderfully, and with this tea, as well as the last pu’er I tried, I realized that my favorite flavors are best teased out on the first steeping immediately after the water is reboiled.

It’s funny, because I generally prefer to brew most teas at a lower than suggested temp. A lot of this is probably because I spent an extensive amount of my tea-life drinking Japanese greens, which are so easily destroyed by too-hot water. That, and I have an higher-than-normal aversion to astringency/dryness, which hotter water tends to bring out in most teas. But as I’m trying more sorts of pu’er, I’m learning how wonderful higher temps can be in pulling out those shy, complex flavors.

Right now my water setup isn’t exactly ideal— my water is boiled in my fancy electric water heater in the bathroom, then goes from that into a preheated thermos which I take to the desk for my tea session. Meaning the first pour is maybe just under 200 degrees (the best steeping in the case of this tea), and as the thermos sits there losing heat, the water gets progressively cooler until it’s empty and I have to go refill it with freshly boiled water again. I can’t exactly haul my water heater out to my desk… and I’d just rather not have tea sessions in my bathroom. I look forward to the day that I have a kitchen to cook (and make tea) in.

I have a confession to make though, I specifically brewed up a sheng today because I’ve noticed that the last several shengs I’ve tried have been very effective in eliciting a tea-high euphoria, and I have been under so much stress that I guess I wanted something a little more than a standard relaxing session. I wasn’t disappointed, but I wasn’t floored either— the euphoria is pretty manageable. I think it’s more effective on an empty stomach.

I may be a bit of an addict. Over the past several days my gaiwan and little fish cup haven’t left my desk; I only dump out old leaves to replace them with new ones. Meh. I need to clean out my tea inventory anyway; that way I’ll feel less guilty when I go to order new tea!

This tea is very hard for me to describe. The aroma has a touch of Juniper, but I’m not sure what the othe aromas are. Likewise, the taste o the tea is very good, but the only thing I can make out is a touch of walnut. That said, it is a very good tea.

EDIT (1 am)

When it’s all said and done, this tea still defies my ability to describe it. It continued to change in interesting and subtle ways throughout the day, but I only had time for four infusions, so I can’t say what the end was like. Each cup was just a bit different, and each was delicious in it’s own way. I honestly prefer Oolong, but this tea was so interesting, I actually feel like getting more of it just to see everything it has to offer.

Also, I apologize if this is a bit incoherent, as it’s late enough that I can’t have any more caffeine ( D: ), but not late enough for me to actually fall asleep. I’ll look over this again in the morning to make sure that it’s okay.