World Pu-erh

Been tasting the 1990, 2000 and 2005 version of this basket, shu that is. Quite a discovery, it’s close to pu erh, but has its own character. It has a smooth woodsy fragrance, although, the 2005 still has a green touch. Quality is good, as it steeps easily 10 times and still has that nice no-nonsense flavor. As it is less popular than pu erh, prices are quite modest.

I received this tea as a sample. I’ve been experimenting with sheng recently so I thought I would try a session. The tea leaf is pretty beat up lots of bits and pieces which reminds me of the tibetan flame from the dame year that I have on hand, but this one is better.dry leaf smelled like smoke, similar or a lapsang but not quite as much pine tar. The Guoyan is very good, not great. The tea elicits a foggy feeling, and some tea drunkeness. the infusion fills my mouth with a brothy consistency indicating umami. I have not detected any bitterness in my 205 degree 30 second infusions. This is one of those teas that really grows on me, the first infusion was unremarkable in any way, but as I have been tasting through now the 5th infusion there is getting to be more to like. 6th infusion a sweet coating is taking hold in the back of my mouth, and now there is a cooling effect in my mouth. This is being brewed in a 175 ml yixing with about 10 grams of tea. Indeed, I like this tea a lot. And honestly it is a shame it is now gone.

Brews yellow-amber, slightly bitter, mostly floral in flavor. Aftertaste doesn’t linger too long. Smooth texture; doesn’t dry out my mouth like other sheng. Leaf quality is rather poor: mostly broken bits, doesn’t look handpicked. That said, while there’s nothing great about this tea, there’s nothing wrong with it, either.

Old Dragon Well from floatingleaves.com. Still pretty good even though it’s over a year old. I got 4 decent steeps from it.

A nice simple white tea with a rich fruity sweetness. One of the best bai mu dans I’ve ever had, and one of the cheapest ($14 CND/lb)

Infused in my gaiwan and drank in the bright mid-morning sunlight (only a couple of days of sun before the rain returns – ah, spring in the Pacific Northwest) and sipped the sweetness. I’m so glad I learned to brew this correctly — my first half-dozen tries were wayyyyy to astringent (hint, avoid boiling water, long infusions, or too much leaf).

The sun finally came out, so what better way to celebrate than with a cooling tea, and the first green tea of the year on the market? Although this isn’t the highest grade of dragon well by a long shot (the leaf size and shape is very inconsistent) it’s brisk, fresh, and far sweeter than most dragon wells on the market. Nummy!

I’ve let my basket of liu an age for three years now and it’s a marvelous variant on the pu-erh taste, with more of a nettle-like tingle. Delicious!