I’m not usually a pu erh tea drinker but I saw the lovely label from Kelly Puissegur on the Yiwu Spring 2016 blend from Bitterleaf Teas and had to give it a go. This is a limited run of tea, so you won’t be able to get this exact blend anymore, but the same tea harvest for 2017 can be found in the year of the rooster blend.
This tea starts off like many of my past pu erh tea sessions. The scents are intense and fermented, and off-putting to me as a prelude for something I’m about to taste. The aroma isn’t bad exactly, in fact with smells like old books or leather or wet grass, I find the flavors to be nostalgic and dreamy; they just aren’t something I’d personally want to smell right before I take a sip.
I steeped this tea over the course of a session, brewing several times. Before I even tasted it, I stepped for 1 minute in 200F water to rinse and let the leaves open up. After that I steeped for increasing 5 second intervals.
The first brew had the typical hay barn scent I expect, but less fermented and much more fresh. Almost like green grapes or wet peony flowers. The brightness in the first steep was a pleasant surprise.
In the second steep there was more white tea buttery earthiness, but still the green grapes and peony came through on the aftertaste. The tea is very smooth on the tongue.
In the third steep the hay scent was more gentle and the overall flavors were more relaxed. The brew was sweeter almost like cacao earth tones and smooth honey floral flavors, paired with a very pleasant caramelly mouthfeel.
On the fourth steep and beyond, the tea still holds up the fresh grape and peony tones, but eventually the earthy cacao flavors end up taking over.
I’m not a pu erh expect but this tea took me by surprise and contained pleasantly complex flavors that I wasn’t expecting. Be bold and try one of Bitterleaf Teas’ pu erh harvests for your next brew.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Pu erh
Where to Buy: Bitter Leaf Teas
Description:
This Yiwu raw puer is one of our two Year of the Monkey puers. The material for this tea comes from a recently transitioned fang yang (literally meaning “left to grow”) garden that receives minimal human interference, to the extent that all weeding is done once a year by hand (taking up to one month) and is harvested only in the Spring. The tea itself has an initial and surprising honey-like sweetness at the front, which yields to some slight roughness and unique lasting aroma. With good cha qi/tea energy and a solid mineral fragrance that lingers, this is a strong candidate for storage.
Typical of Yiwu teas, this one is on the softer side of things for now, but still maintains a solid backbone with plenty to offer. This also makes it a very drinkable young raw puer, and well suited for beginners and experienced drinkers alike. Don’t be fooled though, Yiwu teas tend to age well, even if they seem lighter in their early years.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Giant White Moonlight 2015 Spring Jing Gu Tea from Bitterleaf
After sampling at least 5 of Bitterleaf’s teas I guess it’s about time I declared myself one of their fans! Giant White Moonlight 2015 Spring Jing Gu Tea from Bitterleaf is considered an “anytime tea” and I agree for the most part. Personally, I look for a ‘smack you in the face’ sort of strong tea first thing in the morning but any other time this one will certainly do well!
Giant White Moonlight 2015 Spring Jing Gu Tea from Bitterleaf has tri-colored long leaves. The aroma while dry is incredibly crisp . Once infused there is a hint of sweetness to the nose.
As for the taste on the tongue – Giant White Moonlight 2015 Spring Jing Gu Tea from Bitterleaf – is pretty incredible! It’s delicate yet delightful! It has a sweeter-floral flavor but it’s hydrating and almost naturally fruity in a mysterious way!
As a white tea I really love this. It’s a Yunnan White, too, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that I like this as much as I do. Giant White Moonlight 2015 Spring Jing Gu Tea from Bitterleaf is awesome!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White Tea
Where to Buy: Bitterleaf
Description:
A great “anytime” tea, this exclusive to Yunnan white tea is both light and delicate, but with a wild spirit. An early vegetal taste develops into a subtle sweetness with subsequent brewings. Drink it now, or store it for the future, as this is a white tea that is particularly suitable for aging.
Click here for more information about this tea and brewing instructions.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Firebird 2015 Fenghuang Dancong Songzhong Oolong from Bitterleaf
Firebird 2015 Fenghuang Dancong Songzhong Oolong from Bitterleaf is really something special! It has a crustiness or bakey-like flavor to it – much like some of the more bakey black teas I enjoy but with the leaf of an oolong! The product description says it’s ‘the closest thing they’ve experienced to drinking a sticky bun’. I was intrigued at that statement. However I didn’t have that exact experience – I did still have a wonderful sipping experience regardless!
Having said that Firebird 2015 Fenghuang Dancong Songzhong Oolong from Bitterleaf is slightly sweet and does have that touch of natural caramel goodness laying underneath while still providing a VERY strong crustiness to the sip and I find that amazingly wonderful!
For kicks I decided to add a few pure sugar crystals to this – which I almost NEVER do – but I had them on hand. By doing so I found that Firebird 2015 Fenghuang Dancong Songzhong Oolong from Bitterleaf taste a bit more like the ‘sticky bun’ nod the product description claimed.
The natural honey-like aftertaste is something that certainly lingers on to the aftertaste. This is a really interesting offering from Bitterteas and I’m honored to have tried it!
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong Tea
Where to Buy: Bitterleaf
Tea Description:
One of our first two selections from the world of oolong, our Firebird Song Zhong Dancong is medium oxidized with a roasted sweetness. With honey and caramel as the most prominent flavours, this tea is about the closest thing we’ve experienced to drinking a sticky bun. The soup brews also out a clear honey-orange, but no actual honey was added, we swear.
This tea comes to us farm-direct from Chao Zhou.
Learn even more about this tea here.
Silver Egret 2015 Spring Heng Xian Silver Tip Jasmine Green Tea from Bitterleaf
If you are a fan of JASMINE you shouldn’t pass up Silver Egret 2015 Spring Heng Xian Silver Tip Jasmine Green Tea because it’s some of the most INTENSE natural, straight-up Jasmine I have ever had!
Having said that…Silver Egret 2015 Spring Heng Xian Silver Tip Jasmine Green Tea from Bitterleaf is top-notch in every way! They use only the tips and use only REAL Jasmine and Magnolia Flowers in this offering.
The tips are light, fluffy, delicate, and fuzzy! Once infused – Silver Egret 2015 Spring Heng Xian Silver Tip Jasmine Green Tea from Bitterleaf – is VERY clean, clear, and crisp! This is extremely fresh! It has an intense Jasmine aroma and taste that I won’t be forgetting any time soon.
I tried Silver Egret 2015 Spring Heng Xian Silver Tip Jasmine Green Tea from Bitterleaf both hot and cold. Both make fine cups! I think I prefer this iced, personally!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Bitterleaf
Description:
Our Silver Egret 2015 Spring Jasmine Green Tea, along with our Pearl Buds Jasmine, are currently our only non-Yunnan teas on offer and technically also our only green teas at the moment. Produced in Yunnan’s neighbor province of Guangxi using Zhe Jiang green tea, these teas come from the largest Jasmine Flower producing region of China, Heng Xian. A complex and labour intensive tea to make, this large tip-only green Jasmine tea is elegantly perfumed with the scent of both Jasmine flowers and Yulan Magnolia. By employing a scenting process that involves lining the bottom with Yulan Magnolia and the top with Jasmine flower, a balanced and complimentary flavor is achieved.
This tea is extremely refreshing, with a pleasant, cooling aftertaste. We recommend brewing this tea a little lighter in order to enjoy the subtle sweetness without being too overwhelmed by the floral scent.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Dragon Blood Zi Juan Purple Tea 2015 Spring Lin Cang from Bitterleaf
It’s been a while since I have had a good, solid Purple Tea. Dragon Blood Zi Juan Purple Tea 2015 Spring Lin Cang from Bitterleaf is a PRIME example of an excellent one!
Dragon Blood Zi Juan Purple Tea 2015 Spring Lin Cang from Bitterleaf has a grey-purple color leaf look to it that are stiff and pressed – of course – on infused the leaves loosen up and swim free. The flavor of this tea is slightly vegetal, a tad sweet, and a mellow pu-erh type flavor all rolled into one.
I’m happy to see more and more purple teas on the market. I’m looking forward to the different qualities, different offerings, and to see if companies out there will start flavoring purple tea. Stand alone – Dragon Blood Zi Juan Purple Tea 2015 Spring Lin Cang from Bitterleaf – is one of the best tasting ones I have had to date.
Here’s the scoop:
Leaf Type: Purple Tea
Where to Buy: Bitterleaf
Tea Description:
Our Dragon Blood Zi Juan Purple is sourced from a variety of tea that naturally has higher levels of anthocyanin. This not only gives the tea a purple colour, but gives it higher antioxidant properties which can promote cardiovascular health. Aside from the heralded health benefits, this is a unique tea, with a slight vegetal taste leading to a smoky sweetness. Processed similarly to a raw Puer, this tea can be stored for later or enjoyed now.
We can’t make any verifiable claims about whether or not this tea can or can’t give you super powers, so it’s best to just try for yourself.
Click here for more information about this tea and brewing instructions.
Our Dragon Blood 2015 Zi Juan Purple tea is a truly unique offering with an almost indescribable taste. It’s perhaps easiest to say that “it tastes like purple tea” – in other words, you just have to try it for yourself!
This Lin Cang area spring tea has been processed and pressed into cakes, similarly to how raw Puer is, imparting a slight vegetal, raw Puer taste, with some mild astringency. This is about the extent of its overlap with raw Puer though, as the bulk of its character is a complex, “purple tea” flavor, with unique hints of smoky sweetness that comes out more and more with each infusion.
Purple tea is often cited for its health benefits. These health benefits, as well as its dark purple colour, are due to higher levels of anthocyanin found in the tea. This in turn results in higher antioxidant activity and can promote cardiovascular health by way of anti-inflammatory properties and aiding in the reduction of blood pressure, lipid and blood sugar levels.* By undergoing minimal processing (similar to raw Puer), our Zi Juan purple tea optimizes these benefits. This is in contrast to purple teas that are processed using a black tea method (fully oxidized), which affects the chemical makeup of the tea and nullifies the positive effects of the high anthocyanin levels.
This tea brews up a beautiful light purple colour. Using additional leaves for a strong brew will yield a deeper purple soup, however the taste will be quite strong by that point, so we do not recommend brewing past the point of a light purple colour.
* With that said, we’re not doctors and are not qualified to make definitive claims (nor be held responsible) regarding the health benefits of this tea. Simply drinking this tea will not miraculously counteract the effects of washing down a bag of Doritos with Pepsi during a 10 hour Netflix marathon. This tea does, however, go well with a healthy diet and exercise.
Source:
This tea comes to us by way of the previous head of production and quality inspection with the formerly government owned Lin Cang Tea Factory. He now produces his own teas and has been able to work with us to provide this Lin Cang Zi Juan purple tea (as well as our 2015 Feng Qing Dian Hong, 2015 Fall Bing Dao and 2015 Spring Bang Dong raw Puer.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here.