Episkey Send Message

The first raw/sheng pu’er I’ve tried, and the second 100g cake I’ve purchased. (The first one I ever got, as a present, was the Ontario pu’er 100g cake from WPTC.) This is also the first tea cake I’ve ever attempted to crack apart. I think I did ok, although of course I did break a few tea leaves. This cake doesn’t seem so tightly compacted that it’s going to be hard to break some off for a cup of tea. The leaves are beautiful, of course, all twisted and varying in color from a light silvery color to dark walnut brown.

Since I’m still new to pu’er, I decided to follow someone else’s steepings on here as close as I could—first steep at 5 sec with 6.5 g of leaves and 5 oz water, though I skipped doing a rinse; the leaves I managed to get off were individual and not in a chunk, so I felt it would be unnecessary to do a rinse.

The dry leaves smelled amazing and the wet leaves did as well, with little difference between the two that I noticed. A nice floral aroma, sweet, perhaps more like hay or grass. The tea brewed up a pale green, similar to a silver needle tea I recently had. It actually tastes very similar, too, although the floral notes are stronger and it seems sweeter than the silver needle. Not a trace of bitterness, happily.

Second steep of about 10 sec. Tastes similar to the first cup, not much difference that I can tell. Third steep ~15 sec. This one has a more sour note to it, possibly the grass flavor I have seen others mention? Fourth steep ~20 sec. Grassy note is gone; back to the sweeter, more floral green tea taste. Fifth steep ~25-30 sec. Touch of the sour note again. Otherwise, the flavor is slightly fainter than before. Six steep ~40-45 sec. Tastes much like the first cup, with a faint hint of the grass.

The last of my sample of 10 g, so I only had 5 g left to steep. The dry leaves are very pretty, a silver-green color with a fuzzy looking coat on a leaf curled in upon itself. The scent is light and sweet, reminiscent of clover hay to me.

First steep at 6 sec. The wet leaves smell a bit sour to me, more grassy than before without a floral note. The brew is a very pale green color; from the first few sips, I can tell the flavor is going to be very light on this cup. It tastes faintly of grass to me, or maybe clover—the flavor is definitely something green/vegetal, but maybe a hint of floral to it. The overall impression is some creaminess, however, throughout the sip.

Second steep of about 9 sec. The same pale green color, the scent of the wet leaves seems stronger to me though. The flavors are stronger, which is good in my opinion. Heavier on the cream side, with some sweetness now, and a hint more floral and less on the green taste.

Third steep, 12 sec. This one is the creamiest yet, with a dash of sweetness and a hint of vanilla (maybe the marshmallow flavor the description on their site says?).

Using up my last of this; recommended is 7 g per 6 oz of water. However I only have 5.5 g left, so I’m cutting the water back to about 4 oz. If I recall, the first times I drank this I wasn’t terribly impressed with it. The dry leaves smell sweet, a touch of honey, while the wet leaves smell more earthy to me.

The first brew at ~30 sec (supposed to be 10 sec…. but I forgot it) is a golden color and smells of the same sweetness as the dry leaves. The taste is the same; the majority a light sweetness with a hint of fruit and nut to it, finishing off with a streak of cream.

I’m not having much luck today with my focus, or this tea. The second brew is the same color as the first, but with a noticeable tang of bitterness that I dislike.

Clearly I did something, or this tea just isn’t for me. By the end of the third cup, I’m tossing the leaves into the trash. I don’t remember it being so unappetizing the first few times, so I may have oversteeped or not had enough leaves or wrong water temperature. The third cup was nearly tasteless, but at least the bitterness was gone.

This tea brews up a surprising pink, but is just as sweet, creamy, and nutty as it smells. The flavor is on the light side, so perhaps adding more ‘leaves’ would help strengthen the brew. It has hints of apple, almond, cinnamon, and cream that leaves a nice, comforting feeling behind. I’ve noticed others have compared it to David’s Tea Forever Nuts; I had a sample of that one quite a while ago, but I recall being unimpressed with it. Tiesta Tea’s version is one I would go to rather than David’s Tea (although perhaps I just need to try it again).

The recommended 6 oz of water is too much for my small gaiwan, so I estimate that I used closer to 5 oz. The dry leaves are loose, whole, and individual; they smell like apricots to me and a touch of dry grass. After the first steep of ~10 sec, the leaves seem more thin and delicate than I was expecting. The brew is a light yellow-green and still smells of fruit and grass to me. My first sip hits off on the fruit side, as I was expecting, and rounds out with a more mellow savory sort of tone. I think I get a tiny hint of jasmine at the front and middle of each sip, but it’s difficult to pin down. There’s not bitterness or sourness, either.

Second steep ~30 sec. Disappointing this time; perhaps I didn’t steep it long enough. The fruit and floral notes disappeared to be replaced by dry grass, although the brew remains sweet.

Third steep ~60 sec. Either these leaves run out really quickly or I’m doing something wrong somehow, despite following the suggestions on steeping for this tea. Now the brew really tastes like water, without a hint of flavor from the tea leaves, except perhaps a bit of sourness.

First time tasting this one, and I’ve been looking forward to it since I got it about 4-5 months ago. Dry leaves smell sweet and grassy, like hay that’s been sun-dried for a couple days. The leaves appear mostly intact, in small spheres.

The first steep, I realize my little gaiwan can’t hold 6 oz of water + 7 g of leaves. Oops. But I catch the scent of honey as I pour the gold liquor into my cup. The first few sips though, all I taste is a tinge of hay and some sweetness. It’s a light flavor and not heavy on the mouth, though I find it warming. The only other thing I noticed as I finish the cup is a slight tingling on the roof of my mouth.

Second steep at about ~15 sec. This time I don’t overfill my gaiwan, probably use about 4-5 oz of water. I catch a hint of caramel mixed in with the hay this time, and the leaves have opened up well. It’s creamier than the first cup and the taste, although still light, is more apparent.

Third steep (maybe ~20 sec)! I smell the honey more strongly now in this cup and I finally figured out how much water will fit (4 oz). The taste is a bit sweeter, but still not much different to it than the first cup that I notice.

Fourth steep (not sure on time… 30-45 sec?). Ah there’s the cream I was looking for, plus a hint of honey in the aftertaste. A longer wait of a few seconds after the sips gives a milky feeling in my mouth (if that makes sense).

First steep at 190 F with 1 tsp of leaves for ~2 min. The dry leaves smell strongly of lilac, as if you’d buried your head in a lilac bush in the middle of a springtime garden. After steeping, they remain half-opened, again the strong scent of lilac. The brew is the palest shade of jade and the scent is lightly floral. The floral taste comes mostly in the aftertaste to me. There is no hint of bitterness at all, although the taste is so light I think perhaps I didn’t steep it long enough or use enough leaves.

Second steep of ~3 min. Leaves have opened more fully, showing off their beautiful vibrant green color. They look mostly complete, with very little broken leaves and some missing just a bit around the edges. The color of the brew is a darker shade of jade now, although the taste remains light. Still not as much floral or creaminess as I was hoping.

Third steep of ~4 min. Leaves look as if they are fully opened, although I no longer smell the lilacs from them. The shade of the brew is perhaps a touch lighter than the second brew, and less aromatic too. It does taste creamier though than the previous two brews, although less floral as well.

The leaves are small, dark, and compact, with some broken leaves and dust from its excision from a larger cake. (I unfortunately do not have an entire cake, although I do love this tea.) The layers are visible from the side of the chunk and are separated without much difficulty using a pu’er pick. The scent is mostly vanilla to me, with a sweetness that could potentially be the cake flavor the description reads.

First I did a 8 sec rinse, then the first steep was about 15 sec. The color of the brew is a medium red-toned chestnut; it smells much the leaves did. The taste starts off sweet and ends with a thickening (best I can describe it) of the taste, with vanilla throughout. The aftertaste is a pleasant fading of the vanilla, leaving a heavy feel on the back of my tongue.

Second steep of ~30 sec. The taste was much the same, although the heaviness was more apparent. The leaves have now fully broken apart from the clump I first put in the gaiwan.

Third steep of ~60 sec. The taste is more subtle now, and the heaviness lighter. The color of the brew is unchanged however.

The dry leaves smell mostly floral to me, with a touch of fruitiness. The colors are very pretty, the green leaves with the blue and yellow flower petals. The leaves aren’t entirely whole, however, but I’ve had this tea for a while and it went through some travel. I’ve never had dragonwell or sencha tea just plain (yet), so I can’t say much as to the quality of the green tea. It tastes natural, however, although it says there is strawberry and rhubarb flavorings in it. (Note: I used 0.5 tsp to 4 oz water ratio for this brew.)

The tea came out yellow-green, more on the yellow side of the spectrum. It’s a much lighter flavor than you might expect from the scent of the dry leaves, but I still enjoy it. The strawberry flavor comes out more strongly in the brew than what I could discern by scent in the tea leaves. If you could call a tantalizing hint as ‘strong’. (Although perhaps that is my own inexperience at smelling tea leaves at work and matching flavors to scents.) There is some freshness—grass maybe?—to it, which I would expect from a green tea. Nice for a cool spring night, but I doubt I will get this specific tea again.

(Yay for my first tasting note!)