Crimson Lotus Tea

From the CLT samples I got, Wildwood is one of my favourites. It is quite a green and floral sheng with a very soft and comforting mouthfeel, good huigan and interesting cha qi.

Its aroma is fairly light and standard. I can smell notes of cilantro, stewed kale, butter and steamed milk throughout the session. The taste starts out peppery and floral with muted bitterness and a mild sage flavour. Then it develops into a sour, grassy and crisp profile with floral sweetness in the finish and hints of dandelion. Over time, the astringency naturally appears, but it never becomes overpowering. The aftertaste is slightly salty, buttery, and quite long lasting and drying.

The best aspects of this tea, however, are its texture and the cha qi. It has a full body and very soft and smooth mouthfeel. The energy can be felt almost immediately. My limbs were trembling, my sensations and perceptions heightened and my body was filled with a comforting warmth.

One thing that I am slightly unsure about with respect to this tea is how it will age. It does seem more green than other sheng I have encountered, which might or not pose a problem in the long term. However, that’s not something I can really assess with my lack of experience.

Winner for 2018 Sheng. Has a wholesome nourishing quality and the high is so very pleasant. I don’t feel like I have to pay close attention to this tea to get a great amount of enjoyment from it. That’s kinda the magic of it. It just feels good and quiets your mind and takes you somewhere else. It’s some astringent and not very bitter which is the opposite of how I prefer a tea but I don’t mind. It more than makes up for that in the feels.

I drank this tea a lot when I ran out of all my other tea. It’s a huang pian and is a mighty fine one at that. Stone lion is a perfect name for this tea. Tastes like drinking an average puerh out of a granite cup.

This tea and I have a strong connection. I have an affiniTEA for this tea. Very well balanced flavors. The Cha Qi is where this tea shines in my opinion though. At one point in the session I felt like my head was expanding and my skull had enlarged 5 times its original size. This is a must try from Crimson Lotus.

Gong Fu “Sipdown” (592)!

Not technically a sipdown, as I’m giving away the last 7g or so that I have of this to someone else in a swap – but it’s close enough.

I thought I had written a tasting note on this one prior with a lot more detail about the flavours and progression through steeping it Gong Fu – but I’m realizing now that I was thinking of another one of CLT’s Shou offerings and I’ve actually not reviewed this one on Steepster yet. I’m sorta kicking myself for not checking before this session, as I would have kept some sort of record while I was drinking the tea. As I was under the impression I’d already done a thorough review before I did not take notes this time…

Seven infusions – could have done more, but y’all know the drill in regards to evening Gong Fu session on weekdays: didn’t want to be strung out on caffeine and unable to get a good nights sleep. #adulthood

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BwGHyl4FjHt/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2TiCkNF610

This is what I had to say, in terms of the flavour of the tea, on instagram: Lovely tea – this last session was relatively heavy handed and it produced a very earthy and full bodied cup w/ an almost woody ‘espresso’ kind of profile, with umami undertones and a sticky sweet raisin and maple finish? So unique!!

I do remember the woody, maple, and raisin qualities in particular because the were super enjoyable – love that combo in any tea, but especially in a good shou. Also by heavy handed I mean I was brewing, like, 11g? So, this really was a THICC session/infusions.

Smell- Not too much here, clean. Moss rock thing, and nori.

1st – 3rd Steeping This was a clean brewing , and a red brown, garnet liquor. Smooth. It had a malty nutty character which came as a surprise. Plenty of medicinal flavors though too, that balloon, latex glove thing.

4th-6th steepings: The tea has really opened up brewing a dark, opaque, chocolate liquor. Mineral, with a quite subdued earthy woody tones that you normally associate with a shou. Clean, malty smooth, chocolaty, mineral, a more wet rock character where the pile or, woody/earthy would live. A decent body, but no super thick. Finishes with some medium sweetness, and almost no bitterness. The latex/rubber balloons taste rolled off somewhere in here…

This was a nice surprise, it had a nice mellow character, and not overly earthy, and woody. It had a more of a black tea character, with malty-ness, and chocolate to it which I totally did not expect.

I’m not sure if I stressed the mineral character of the tea enough, its very chocolate, and sweet, smooth but the mineral things is very interesting for me in this one.

In the early steeps, it definitely had some medicinal tastes to it. This dissipated, and rounds out with sweetness quite nicely. I love Jingmai teas!

My evening drink today was chosen to be Slumbering Dragon, the first time I am trying this sample. I am not sure what I was expecting, but this is quite different from whatever that was. The highlights of the tea are nice mellow taste and a heady cha qi. In my opinion though, it lacks body and a dynamic character. Also, for a tea of this price point, I would expect a more interesting aftertaste. In the end, I think it’s too expensive for what is worth, but I will try it in a yixing instead of a gaiwan next time and see how it performs. Maybe it can impress me more in the next session.

The first thing I notice is how different the dry leaves look from other sheng, like TJ Elite pointed out. The aroma I get is mostly peppery with notes of forest and wild strawberries. As for the taste, I was definitely expecting a much harsher and stronger one. Instead, it is mellow with relatively low bitterness that also only appears properly in very late steeps. There is no astringency to speak of either. The taste profile is sweet, sour and vegetal with fruity tones. There are flavours of tree bark and black currant (especially its leaves).

The aftertaste is long, but not extremely so. It can be a little dry and numbing as well as cooling in the initial steeps.I get additional notes of menthol, spices like cloves and cinnamon and a light cocoa bitterness.

The tea has a medium to light body and a buttery mouthfeel. It is decent, but not the Slumbering Dragon’s selling point I’d say. Overall, the liquor is thinner than I expected.

I am going to give it a “not recommended” badge, but that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it. I do think however that there are similar teas available at half the price and similarly priced teas that are much better.

Dry leaf – Smells like a wet forest floor. Mushroom, but a refined earthiness like shiitake mushroom. This 1st steep is very clean, rounded, soft, and mellow.

1st Steep – Wet leaves smell like a very light shou puerh, but there’s something dusty about it something that reminds me antique store or an old book.

Second/ 3rd steeping – Pours a very brown liquor. There’s a sweetness almost a tobacco sweetness, something I associate with cigars but without the smokiness. A vegetable, almost carrot like sweetness. The taste is very rounded and soft and elegant. A flash of some medicinal flavors in the palate. Hint of salt. A clean finish, even in the body. Balanced, elegant, and delicate.

4th steeping – lighter in color, just barely. Everything, taken down a notch. A longer finish, some aloe, black peppercorn, and menthol vapors. The finish is medicinal but in the most non-aggressive way. I’ll steep for a little longer next time. Lighter body as well. Liquor is clear.

The 5th steeping -lighter in color again even with a 5 second longer steeping. I’ll steep for 30 seconds next to see. The tea is definitely mellowed out a lot as far as the earthiness goes. It’s drinking like nice black tea. a bit of malty sweetness.

In conclusion, the subsequent infusion went much like the 5th. It drank smooth and light, even with the longer steep time, it did not get aggressive.
This was a great session. It drank like wisdom. A very calming and centering experience. I did not get a ton of energy, as much as an overall boost in well-being. A warming and comforting tea. You can not go wrong with this one.

I received this as a sample, and I was intrigued because the MEGA brick is a pretty good value. Glen, and Lamu, are always so generous with to include a little surprise in all most of my orders. It is always about the little things, right?

Dry leaf – Pretty standard shou stuff here, not pungent or anything smells clean, not real funk, or fishy-ness. Standard wet leaves and forest floor, woody earthyness.

I rinsed twice, and sampled the 2nd rinse, out of curiosity. It was still a little weaker than I expected, but it had a certain brightness to it that was surprising , just elevated enough to keep things interesting, and not all flavors heading down the the dark earthy abyss.

Wet leaf – There is a lot here actually, why I’m falling in love with these teas. Forestry, earthy scents, with leather, and what I can only describe as perfume, like a peppery men’s cologne, its a hard scent to describe. Melon rind, and black pepper? All dominated by the standard shou – ness.

2nd-3rd steep – Wow, the leaf really opened up on the 2nd steep! poured a dark , dark garnet brown. Think Chimay Grande Reserve, for you fellow beer nerds. The body was lighter than expected, and it still had just a little brightness, to keep the palate from being sunk. However, not a flavor you’d normally call bright, but it is all relative. It drinks, soft, smooth, and mellow. Earthy, woodys, moss, and wet wood. I get a cooked / burnt, barbecue sauce scent, and leather in the background. semi-sweet, and mineral finish. If you have ever licked a salt block, when you were younger(the red ones) like that but not salty.

4th-5th steeping – The flavor really mellowed out here…just smooth tea, and maybe sweeter, but not sure if the earthy notes had died off a little, and made some room for the sweetness to come through more. It did however, give up the ghost a little here. Your first 4 steepings are where it shines, the tea definitely gets more focused, and less nuanced from here on out.

In conclusion, Overall it was a good tea session. It was a good shou, but about what I expected, given its price point. However, it would make a great daily drinker, which I think is more for what it is intended for. A solid shou, a good entry shou I think, and daily drinker fo’ shou!

I really enjoy this tea because it’s not a “in your face” kind of tea. Its mellow, its smooth, and it’s just plain easy to drink. The overall taste reminds me of an old farm smell…and not in a bad way! Simple yet unique. Hints of earthiness like dandelion grasses and wet wood come through for me. There is no strong aftertaste of this tea, so it’s a nice daily drinker in my opinion. As we all know, different ways of brewing teas create different outcomes, but in this instance, this is what comes through for me!

This tea drinks for me simply awesome. I think it could be taken as a simple profile. However, I think it’s magic is in what it doesn’t do. It doesn’t hit you over the head with all these, flavors, and scents. It does however just have that mmmhhmmm quality to it. It stays just enough out reach to keep you coming back and wondering. A lot of green forest character to it, and for me some lychee / pear sweetness in the background. Hard to get a lot of bitterness from the tea however you do tip toe on some astringent flavors on the long steeps, but still a super clean tea. Just plain intriguing. I want this as a daily, but it deserves an occasion. With the pricing, it will have to be too.

Stone Lion is an awesome budget LaomanE HP with notes of bitter (of course), char, stone fruits, grapefruit, all with a thick cake batter texture. Great if you love bitter teas or want something to age.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2018-stone-lion-sheng-puer-from-crimson-lotus-tea/

I didn’t really take good notes of this one, but I do remember it being pretty heavy on the florals, with some crisp green vegetal notes as well. Quite perfumey, as fall teas sometimes can be. I enjoyed all my sessions with it, but didn’t find it all that remarkable.

Good tea.

song pairing: What Am I – Why Don’t We
-——
Separately from the tea, it is a fun wrapper by Stasia Burrington. Who doesn’t want to take a private bath in tea in a giant teapot in a forest? The little piglets are a hilarious bonus.

Thematically on point but innocent enough to be in a children’s book. And the bather looks like she could be East Asian!!! Also, it doesn’t remind us of outdated, sexist names like oriental beauty and drunken concubine. Nice to feel decently represented in tea wrapper art yet not objectified. A daydream indeed.

When the samples arrived, I started a spreadsheet that sorts by $/g and included brief tasting notes. I gave this one good marks, but at the time I was more disciplined and would only drink one tea at a time, focusing on it. These days I have so many half-finished teas lying around in brewing vessels, I will often get to steep 7 or 8 and then while waiting for the longer steeps, finish up the overnight kill steeps of other teas, if that makes sense. So like, over the course of a day, steeps 1-3 a raw, the penultimate steep of a ripe, steep 4 of the raw, steeps 7-8 of a black, the final steep of the raw, steeps 5-7 of the raw, the kill steep of the black, an experimental steep or two of the dead ripe, steeps 8-10 of the raw. Taken in this massively chaotic manner, Daydream loses much of its charm. So if you get this tea, maybe give it your full attention.

A sipdown! (M: 2 Y: 34)
This tea has shown me that shu pu erhs deserve attention and if it’s well done, it’s a treat.

This treat I have received from derk and not just once. This treat I just needed today afternoon with awful weather outside, after working overtime, just to turn off all the thoughts and to get rid of memories of my panic attack earlier in the day.

Thank you derk for this wonderful tea and samples of it. It’s a treat I would never get otherwise.

Song pairing: Bruce Springsteen — Land Of Hope And Dreams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdGeSIHgCb8

12 gram sample from derk, so I took half and… prepared gongfu. Thank you derk

I don’t have exact steepings, but there are so many nice aromas dry, wet leaves or liquor taste or…

Today mornin was quite a strange weather. It was looking it will rain dogs and cats, but nothing from that. In the afternoon was few heavy showers, the sky is like iron curtain all day, I need to study but can’t focus at all today (and tomorrow is important exam, if I fail, then next Saturday is really last chance from all the book; and that is hell (Mathematics!!!)).

But to the tea; certainly there are pertichor aroma. I love that smell and somehow I thought it is present somehow in all steeps. In aroma? For sure. In taste? Nope.

So first steeps were 10-30 seconds long, depends how much I was speaking with my dad. I noticed chocolate notes, its smooth flavour, not woody at all, but certainly note of wet coniferous forests. It was quite pleasant, easy to drink. I wasn’t paying too much attention, but it was somehow on sweet notes too, I checked my previous tasting note saying vanilla and it could be that. But today I think it is ratther some heavier black beer, maybe bit similar to Guinness? Dunno. But it was very pleasant.

Following steeps were longer and longer, while I usually ended around 45 seconds, certainly less than minute.

It was quite same, while it was once stronger, once weaker, but still somehow chocolate like with coating aftetaste with sweet notes and now it went bit woody, autumn leaf piles and similar notes.

Last two steeps were over minute long, which brought mild bitterness in addition to all previous notes. Maybe I am not that amazed with this tea as I was last time, but I will keep 99 for historical reasons. Maybe it’s not that great, but it is first pu-erh that amazed me!

Now, let’s go back to studies of Mathematics. Bleh.

Sample provided by Derk, thank you again!

Dry leaves smelled wonderful, though I am not really sure what I noticed. Like air before rain. You just know it is coming, air has specific smell, you have find some shelter if you don´t want get wet. Preheated gaiwan.

Okay, 10 seconds rinse, 15 seconds first steep.
Bit weak, but yeah, expected. Tastes good, bit of raisins. Wet leaves smell like some shop with construction materials, but it is quite pleasant. Not really funky.

Another 15 seconds, it is starting to break, colour become dark copper and more red than usual “copper” colour. Aroma is woody, strong and pleasant. Maybe bit of cocoa. Taste is wonderful. Certainly cocoa and of vanilla. It is relaxing. Lingers for quite long and it is smooth.

3rd, 30 seconds. Broke completely, colour dark red. Another relaxing aroma, stronger than last one. Taste is going from cocoa to chocolate, still smooth and lingers.

4th, 40 seconds. I am writing a postcard (postcrossing), colour is really dark red, it doesn´t change much. It became bit more bitter though.

5th, 1 minute. It is almost same, no signs of being weak, rather opposite, still smooth, with pleasant aftertaste. I am noticing energy boost.

6th, 1 minute. In a hour my train leaves, so I have about 40 minutes left maximum. Hmm, again bit more bitter, but still it is good. Chocolate notes are dying a bit. No signs of dying.

7th, 1:15. Colour is lighter than last steep. Taste is weaker too. But not so much. Still very enjoyable. More typical pu-erh taste.

8th, 1:30. Wet leaf before adding water smells bit like tobacco with sweet after"smell". Let´s see how is the brew though. Thermos is empty, I am done. I do not have time left too. Anyway, good time with great tea! This steep is again lighter. I guess it is just time to stop it now. As we say: “V nejlepším přestat”. It means something like “when it is best, it is time to stop.” It became quite weak, like second brew or something between first and second. Still pretty tasty with dominant sweetness. Not really sweet from sugar, but complex sweet. Enjoyable!

Conclusion: Well, it took 8 steeps, while last ones were quite long. I have enjoyed the smoothness of this tea, as well the taste of dark chocolate. I have no idea what to expect, as my teaste buds aren´t really so precise as someone else. Anyway, I am glad that I can try it, as getting anything from Crimson Lotus is quite expensive for me as a student, not saying that the shipping is going to be another story as we don´t have e-packets yet here.

I am now full of energy, which is great as I have courses to 7 pm, so I have to stay awake whole day. Now, let´s go to the railway station.

PS: YAAAAY, 50th tasting notes! I wanted something special and this was certainly one of the best teas I ever had I guess.
PPS: Thank you for reading whole, quite long tasting note. If there is some English mistakes, please let me know – I am not native speaker.
PPPS: Really thank you Derk!

Halfway through the sample. As of yet not inspired to cake or tong this. It tastes more like an educational bark infusion than a tea. I could not have guessed in a blind tasting that this is a pu at all. It would get anyone into a mood ready for meditation, though, since the latter activity is all about emptying the mind and focusing on one’s breath. This drink does seem to create a surprising amount of space in one’s head, if that makes any sense, more so than other teas. Instead of getting drunk, you enter a quasi state of auto-meditation. Is that something people want from tea, to momentarily fake-transcend all worldly desires only to come crashing right back down again? Then this may be the cake for you. I’m not enlightened enough for it yet. Will have to try upping the ratio of leaf next time.

Got a cake of the pressed version when released and had a session then that apparently didn’t make much of an impression on me at the time…probably because I was bombarding my tastebuds with wild teas from Lincang and Wuliang around that time…and because it seems that it takes teas from this area a few months to pick up steam. This morning I dug into my crock and this bing was staring me in the face. The devil on my shoulder said cmon man, you don’t want that mellow stuff. Steep up a Menghai…but the angel on my other shoulder told me to steep this one cos it’d transport me to a warm sunny place on this miserable winter day. That angel was right. Two sips in and I’m on the beach sipping a cocktail comprised of mangoes, green mango powder, coconut milk, unfiltered gold rum and garnished with a spearmint leaf. Does such a beverage exist? It should. That’s what this tea tastes like. It’s also among the oiliest teas I’ve had. Very mouth watering and smooth. This tea passes the mom test (the qi is so pleasant and gentle she would likely get tea drunk without realizing it) and would be a good introduction to sheng for those who like fruity beverages but recoil at bitter, woody, camphorous notes that usually accompany it. I’ve been sampling several Yiwu area teas like Chawangshu and Tongqighe in the $1.50-2 a gram range and I think this tea, while not quite of that caliber, can hang comfortably with those teas at $.56 a gram. Thanks to Glen and Lammu for making this tea available. Highly recommended.