Farmerleaf

I find this a pretty unexciting black tea. It has some thickness, some cinamonny spicyness and not much sweetness. I see others comparing it to a darjeeling, and indeed it reminds me of a second flush darjeeling but without the refinement. It is a quite astringent for a dianhong, and has none of the honeyish or caramelly aspects that are characteristic of many dianhongs. There is nothing particularly attractive. The aftertaste leaves you with a subtle lingering bitterness that I don’t enjoy.

I have a very little left from 100 grams pouch I bought last year; as i have shared it with others and drank it quite rapidly myself as well.

Sadly, I can’t tell it is great tea. Fine enough, yes. But something is lacking; the complexity of flavours and aromas aren’t here, rather it tastes, as others mentioned, like a simple Darjeeling with its floral / muscatel note.
It was smooth, but as Inkling have written, it misses oomph note. Definitely a good daily drinker and the price is worth that; but not for enjoying hiqh quality tea with lots of to explore.
Its 2019 harvest was better than this one. I have tried different steeping times, lower temperatures, nothing made me wow.

2025 TTB #26

This was a very light, fruity black tea with an almost wine-like flavor and aroma. It had a smooth mouthfeel, but just a touch of bitterness came through in the aftertaste. A Darjeeling aficionado might really enjoy this one, but I like my black teas to have a bit more oomph.

2025 sipdown no. 7

Thanks Martin for sending this!

I had the first two cups of this at home and found it to be floral-bitter, like a lower quality Darjeeling perhaps. The last two cups I had at work and found it to be milky in taste. Neither version was for me!

I tried boiling and 200°F at both 3 minutes and 2.5 minutes.

Those Jingmai Moonlights are like a cuddle in a cup. So sweet, so smooth, so easydrinking.
I have used today 90°C water and just finished my thermos full of that water with various, definitely uncounted and random steeping times; and there wasn’t a single bad steep.

Some were distinctly stonefruity, later ones were more herbaceous and meadow forward; with hot fresh hay notes.

All steeps were companied with velvety smooth and long mouthfeel and perfect as usual.

Comparing it to the 2018 harvest I had, I find this a wee better, although my impressions of that harvest are very faded by now.

A very distinctive sheng with none of the typical floral and fruity fragrance, more of a musky one. Strongly savory and mineralic, almost salty. Coupled with the medium to high bitterness that lingers in the mouth, it makes me think of olives oddly enough. Slight smoky-roasty leathery nuance. A slight hint of pastry sweetness? Interesting active mouthfeel, at once biting and oily. Good endurance for an autumn young tree tea,

I understand why William likes Lao Man E tea so much, as it’s the perfect example of his beloved concept of terroir, so different from most other areas outside of Bulang. The tea lacks the strong sweetness or huigan of some more expensive examples though, so it may come off as not balanced or more simple. A fun purchase nonetheless.

A tea from my blind Farmerleaf sheng shopping spree in the spring.

I was steeping 5 grams in my 125 ml gaiwan with steeps starting 10 seconds and adding 5 seconds increments. Quick rinse.

Oveall impressions are good, there is no astringency, mild sweetness as Marshall Weber notices. I am not that sure about apricots, but definitely there are some stonefruits in flavour. Not overly complex, but great daily drinker for sure. For that price, worth it. Surprisingly long mouthfeel.

Don’t rush. There is a pleasure in enjoying the bowl of dry fruits these leaves emit before steeping. Embrace this. Natural perfumes are born after the rinse, inviting you to sit closer to the lady. There must be something going on there in Laos. Medium mouth, an astringent bouquet. Hide away some for the Spring mornings to come.

I have bought a few teas from Farmerleaf, focusing mostly on the puerhs. But two bags of black teas jumped to my cart too; and I have decided to try again a Jingmai Sun-dried black after 5 years. I have no idea what Shengtai mean, so feel free to educate me.

Anyway… this tea seems to be definitely more robust and stronger black tea than the 5 years old counterpart. Reading that notes now, and this is definitely “darker” tea. In fact, there are woody notes (oak and cherry), dark honey, autumn leaves and spices. Malt isn’t missing and there is long and a little tingling aftertaste, but I wouldn’t consider it bitter or astringent. Strong in caffeine and warming up body and I am feeling cozy after drinking a mug of this.
For the price 12$ / 100 gr; great deal. But sold out now.

Very nice and easy drinking tea. Not terribly complex, but at this price, I wasn’t expecting that.

Very mild bitterness on steep 2 only. No astringency. Mild sweetness. Lasts 12 infusions.

Price is $0.12/g.

Location: Fa Tang Village, Lincang

Flavors: Apricot, fruity, sweet, bitter.

SUPER approachable and easygoing puerh. This would be a great introduction sheng for teaheads wanting to try some puerh. Very clean flavor profile with some distinct notes, which can be difficult for puerh sometimes.

Minimal to no bitterness. No astringency. Mild sweetness. Mouthfeel is fairly full and oily. Lasts 10+ infusions. Awesome value at $0.24/g for a cake.

Location: Pa Pai Village, Cang Yuan, Lincang

Dry leaf: Apricot
Wet leaf: Apricot, hay
Flavors: Apricot, fruity, sweet, bitter, cream, oily

Very nice and very expensive (> $1/g) tea from FL. Super subdued for the first 2-3 infusions, then becomes very sweet. Infusions 2 and 3 have some mild bitterness, but it dissipates. Very fruity and overall a delicious tea :).

Super clean and the leaves are HUGE and all intact. Definitely another winner from FL.

Harvest: Spring, 2024
Location: Ba Ka Noy, Menghai

Dry leaf: Apricot, fruity
Wet leaf: Same
Flavors: Apricot, fruity, grapes, sweet, bitter

From a new FL order. This is much better than I remember the Miyun being in 2022. Maybe this year is a better crop? He did write on his website that he was able to get some fairly high quality shengtai for this one.

Anyways, it is very well balanced and a great value at $0.17/g. A bit of sweetness, some mild bitterness and astringency in steeps 2-5, and an incredibly fruity smell to the dry leaves! I really enjoy this one, though it’s not the best puerh I’ve had or anything. Lasts 13-14 steeps. Also got to drink it in my new square glass teacup from FL, which is beautiful :).

Probably will have to buy a cake :).

Harvest: Spring 2024
Location: Liu Dui Garden (FL-owned) + Da Ping Zhang-adjacent garden, Jingmai Mtn

Dry leaf: Apricot, peach
Wet leaf: Grape, sweet
Flavor: Grape, sweet, bitter, astringent, fruity

After another long gongfu break, I was able to do eastern method once again. Happy to do such, and happy to try some new teas in my stash.

I have placed an order at Farmerleaf to support William and his, relatively, small business and because I had a good experience with them in the bast.

The tea, I chose, was just a random choice though. I brought pouch in the box, reading what is it (I didn’t wanted to drink black teas I bought there); and just prepared my gaiwan. 5 grams / 125 ml, 90°C water, fast rinse with very small amount of water, rather just soaking the leaves. Steeps 7/10/15/20/25 seconds, and a few uncounted ones.

Partially luckily, partially not so great, is that Farmerleaf describes their teas rather shortly. This one saying: “Experience the alpine taste…” is not saying much to me, until I have tried it.

The tea was rather loose than compressed, which I wonder if it is because I ordered just sample qty (20 g) instead of cake; or because it’s so fresh and it was so easy to pry when preparing the sample.

Anyway, measured 5 grams as I wrote before, added some water, smelled it… and it was indeed like a meadow in full bloom with some sheng astringent notes, however these weren’t much present and a little bit herbaceous.

I won’t describe steep after steep, as I am writing this note as a post-session note, but honestly it has highly surprised me. It was smooth and indeed again a bit herbal, little astringency but never too high, light and refreshing; with longer steeps you get some fruity (apricot) flavours, all followed with long and round mouthfeel; and again stone fruit notes, this time as an aftertaste, keeping the experience memorable.

It is definitely an easy drinker and probably as well a daily drinker, however in this way I would finish my sample in 4 days. My ratio was just right, so definitely keeping this in mind when preparing it next time.

This is my fourth year of trying a Black tea from Farmerleaf. Most of these fall under the medium oxidation and some are more oolong like than others. This tea is probably closer to 90% oxidized. Some of the leaves are a little bit un-oxidized while most are fully.

This tea is a little bit sweet, sour, metallic, and earthy. It has a good complexity to it, but less sweetness than the other black teas Farmerleaf has sold. This a great tea, but I recommend trying the Yingpan Shan tea over it. I compared the this tea with the 2023 Yingpan and I found the Yingpan much more rich and floral than this.

It feels rare to find a tea that has been smoked like this. There are plenty of western facing vendors with charcoal roasted teas from HK and pine smoked teas from wuyi, but this tea has a very different flavor profile. The smoke is more mellow and leaves a nice peppery note in the aftertaste. The tea has a tiny bit of sweetness and the oxidation has imparted some minerality to the taste. As with all of the Farmerleaf teas, the mouthfeel is great and the tannin dries out your tongue after each sip. Overall, I really enjoy this tea and I hope Farmerleaf tries this half-smoked process next year.

Deep, dry, roasted seaweed, woody, earthy, bitter and astringent. Hints of lingering sweetness and basil. This tea can quickly become overly bitter. It is really nice and punchy when you steep it a little under boiling and for shorter times. If you overdo it, you will taste nothing but bitter and astringent tea. While I enjoyed this tea quite a bit, I’m not recommending it as there are so many other cakes from Farmerleaf this year that I recommend more and I do not think this is an amazing cake for someone who is new to Puerh.

Received as a free sample

Nice balance while keeping the punch. Little bit of sweetness and great hui gan. At the start of each year, I usually buy a cake or two from Farmerleaf. I enjoy how complex their sheng is and it always packs a punch. This year, they threw in a sample of this tea with my order and it was the star of the show. You get plenty of the green, young sheng flavor mixed in with some sourness and astringency like you’d have with fresh basil and mint. Those flavors linger on into that lasting sweetness that rounds out the experience. This is exactly what I want from a sheng.

Very interesting, characterful 2023 sheng puer that is a real bargain. It is refreshing and lightly-fruity, yet also full-bodied and deeply sweet.

This cheap sheng puer is simple, but nice and substantial. It does not really have much of the flowery and fruity aspects of most other young teas, and in a way it kinda feels semi-aged. It is thick, sweet, herbaceous and kind of malty and has a long, substantial aftertaste. I guess the emphasis on sweetness and substance instead of flowery perfumes and bitterness does make it similar to Yiwu teas indeed. I bought a cake of this to have a cheap young sheng, and it performs great for that.

So awesome of William to include free 25g samples of high-end teas like this :) .

This is great tea. It is elegant, sweet, deep, soft and active in the mouth. It provides endless brewing and has a great, very present aftertaste.

A charming, well-priced raw pu-erh with a unique character.
The taste profile is green and citrusy, with notes of green beans, herbs and lemon. Some hints of honeyed floral. Low to medium bitterness and astringency and some nice mineralic texture. The tea leaves behind a pleasant citrusy aroma in the throat, though without returning sweetness or strong cooling effects. Average endurance and a somewhat relaxing effect.

Very strong, flowery and fresh. Drinking this in sept. 2023 and I guess that means it also feels a little rough around edges; it is very perfumy, sweet and active but also kinda airy and bright, not very deep in terms of sweetness in the aftertaste.

[edit:] after a week of resting, it actually changed a lot. It now has a lot of body and really active, complex mouthfeel as well. I think this is an awesome tea.

This is a high quality tea and was either not cheap, or was a great value if so. Impossible to know as it is sold out on their website. Glad I got a free sample anyways :).

This is a blend of leaves from six large trees from the mountain Ba Da Ye just north of Little Jinggu. The man who sourced and processed the tea is Luo Kai Yin.

Unlike their 2022 Gulan from yesterday, this one had arms wide open from the start. William’s description on the website is spot on. Only a twinkle of bitterness with no astringency. Mouthfeel is medium-thick. Mild sweetness. Hou yun is long and vaporous like a cloud in your throat. Flavor is mild, but incredibly pleasant, soothing, and most noticeable in the aftertaste. Longevity is 16+ infusions.

Wish they still had cakes left…

Dry Leaf: Vegetal.
Wet Leaf: Dried apricots.
Flavors: Bitter, sweet, cream, white grapes.