2013 Yunnan Sourcing Yong De Blue Label Ripe Pu-erh tea cake

I really like this one, it is very nice to me, It’s kinda complex, very thick dark tea with No astringent or bitter at all, extremely mellow. Its Earthy and kinda spicy(slight peppery spice) and slightly sweet(brown sugar/molasses) at the same time, slight woody kinda sandalwood notes, it was a fruity note going to like raisin or dried fig, almost savory at times even with a camphor type note over all of that. This is a Puerh that i would Highly recommend, its nice enough for beginners also. So Extremely thick and black this one is yet so extremely smooth and mellow.
I didn’t find the anise in this one like others did :(

I don’t feel like picking apart a tea today, but this is by a step the most delicious shou I’ve had so far. Every step of drinking it is so rich, balanced, and gentle on the body. I liked the cha tou version too, but this is tastier.

Good well-balanced ripe puerh with plenty of buds. Plenty of wood and camphora, some dried fruits, buckweet honey. Good mouthfeel, nice long lasting aftertaste. Reasonable longevity. Nothing extraordinary but very solid. Received a trial size pack as a gift from YS, may order a cake next time. Thanks to YS – and I guess it’s a good marketing idea to give away the trial packs.

This tea has a really beautiful dark amber liquor. The smell is very intriguing, but I can’t quite identify it. There is definitely some ripe pu-erh smell of old furniture and it’s also a little fishy, but not overpoweringly so.

The taste is where this tea won me over though, it has a great balance and depth. There is salty and savoury taste of vegetable broth with some umami, molasses sweetness, bitterness not unlike medium roast coffee and some sour notes too. On top of that, there is noticeable spiciness, which reminds me of aromatic arabic dishes, in particular those with star anise. In later steeps, slight astringency develops as well. All in all, given it’s price, I would highly recommend this tea for anyone (like me) new to the world of pu-erh tea.

24/02/18

I just noticed there that the aftertaste has some brazil nuts hints to it. Those are my favourite nuts :)