Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: China Cha Dao
Tea Description:
2012 Douji “Hong Shang Dou” Raw Puerh Tea Cake 357g
Material: Mengku, Menghai and Si Mao wild arbor tea trees leaves. Is a mixture of 80% Spring Tea and 20% Autumn Tea!
Taster’s Review:
While this 2012 Douji “Hong Shang Dou” Raw Puerh Tea Cake from China Cha Dao no longer appears available on the vendor’s website, the 2011 and 2013 examples of this tea are currently available … hopefully my review of this tea might help you make a decision about it!
This tea brewed up surprisingly light in color because I generally expect a dark color from a Pu-erh, but, then I had to remind myself that not all Pu-erh are alike! Case and point IS this Pu-erh, not just because of it’s color, but because of the flavor.
The aroma is more vegetative than it is earthy, and the flavor is reflective of that. It does have a slightly earthy taste, but, for those of you out there that tend to shy away from Pu-erh because of it’s strong earthy character, this tea will be more to your liking, I think.
My first cup is sweet and smooth and very mellow. There is virtually no astringency and absolutely no bitterness. It is just … SMOOTH. The texture is that of a light broth: very soft and comforting. It is a relaxing cup.
My second cup delivered a more intense flavor. This cup is slightly more earthy than the first was, but the earthiness is not the usual earthiness that I associate with a Pu-erh. This is more like a vegetative earthiness. Warm yet crisp. Sweet, but a little less sweet than the first cup, this is still a very mellow and smooth drink.
My third and fourth cups of this Pu-erh developed a more savory kind of taste to them: earthy, vegetative, and almost salty. There is more astringency at this point than in the first two cups, but, still it’s a very small amount. Each cup becomes a little less smooth, but more complex. It’s as though the softness lifts to reveal the layers of flavor.
Overall, a very pleasant Pu-erh experience!
Mengku Arbor Tree Ripened Puerh Cake Tea ZhenMu LingYa 2007 from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
With a century-old history, abundant rainfall and sunlight, Yunnan owns a reputation as “South of the Colorful Clouds”. She feeds her people and the land they live on with her own stream. This time TeaVivre brings you Pu-erh lovers the ZhenMu LingYa, within which the passion of Yunnan Pu-erh people you can feel. This Ripened Puerh Cake Tea ZhenMu LingYa uses fresh leaves of Mengku arbor tree as material. The tea workers have years of experience in making Pu-erh tea. With their hands and professional experience, they made the fresh tea leaves into this beautiful ripened Pu-erh cake. Using the Mengku arbor tree of high quality as material, this ZhenMu LingYa has the pure and mellow flavor of ripened tea. You could see the golden pekoe covering on the dry leaves. As the cake was suppressed just fine in tension, you could enjoy breaking the cake.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Like I do with most Pu-erh … I put off trying this Mengku Arbor Tree Ripened Puerh Cake Tea ZhenMu LingYa 2007 from Teavivre for a little while, but, I’m glad to be sipping on it today.
I brewed a chunk of this cake in my gaiwan, and I managed quite a few infusions from one small chunk. The first infusion was earthy (most Pu-erh teas are!) but I liked that the earthy notes were subdued. The flavor is deep, rich and mellow. Really smooth without any astringency. The sweetness is reminiscent of molasses!
My second infusion was a little more earthy than the first, but it was still very sweet and smooth. By the third infusion, I found that the earthiness had really subsided to the point where I really found myself enjoying this Pu-erh. Sure, I liked the first and second infusions just fine, but, my palate was much fonder of the third infusion!
The fourth infusion produced a slightly smoother taste – the taste was still very smooth in the first three infusions, but here I notice that the flavors tend to meld and become more unified. It becomes a very smooth drinking kind of tea, with lovely sweet notes, hints of earth, and a sweet, caramel-y, molasses-y kind of taste all coming together in a seamless flavor. It was really nice and mellow – the kind of cup that you like to enjoy after a meal.
I could have very easily taken this tea through even more infusions … although it was getting late. My personal tea time had come to an end before this tea was ready to quit! A really enjoyable Pu-erh … not my favorite, perhaps, but, certainly one I’d be happy to enjoy again!
Yunnan Beauty Oolong Tea from Mandala Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Mandala Tea
Tea Description:
This tea is a variation on a Taiwanese oolong named “Oriental Beauty”, utilizing large-leaf wild arbor Yunnan grown leaves. Nearly black leaves and silver tips impart a dark, sweet, wine-like flavor unto the water. Great no matter how you choose to brew it. This tea is quickly becoming a favorite in the tea thermos. It will keep well and develop new flavors over 2-3 years.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Yunnan Beauty Oolong Tea from Mandala Tea is a very forgiving tea! I accidentally brewed it at too high a temperature (boiling water!) because the sampling that I received said “Yunnan” and I saw leaves that were large and black and I thought … Alright, this is a black tea. So I brewed it the way I would normally brew a black Yunnan!
But the flavor is amazing, regardless of this oversight on my part. The flavor is sweet, rich, and has a lovely woody tone to it. The sweetness is fruity with notes of molasses. I also notice a toasty nutty taste to this as the tea starts to cool down a little bit … still warm, but, not quite as hot as it was when I started sipping. A hint of caramel also weaves its way through the sip every once in a while, too.
There is a very pleasing sweet wine-esque note, complete with a muscatel-ish taste that … had I tasted this without knowing what it was, I might have guessed a Darjeeling, or at least an Oolong that was grown in the Darjeeling region. After reading my Sister’s review (Azzrian!) of this tea, I see that she’s probably not going to agree with that last part, but, that’s OK. Since I brewed this tea “wrong” … perhaps the way I infused the tea brought out the flavors I’m experiencing.
The mouthfeel is silky smooth. This is one of those teas that I’d want to brew up a big pot of, and just keep sipping on all day long. The leaves will submit several infusions as well, so be sure to resteep!
A really delightful tea from Mandala, I’d recommend this to all Oolong enthusiasts out there – it’s a deliciously different Oolong that will delight your palate!
Wild Arbor Buds (White Pu-erh Leaf Buds) from Mandala Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Mandala Tea
Tea Description:
Although this amazing tea is pu’er leaf buds, it is best described and prepared as a white tea since it is picked in the late winter/early spring of 2011 and only sundried. No other processing takes place.
The liquor is clear and the flavor is sweet and floral with hints of pine. Complex flavors and yet so simple to enjoy. Mild and pleasant. This tea is rare and beautiful, as fresh as spring!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is one of the more unusual looking teas that I’ve come across in my tea adventures. These buds remind me of the tops of the grassy weeds that I used to run through when I was a kid … you know the ones that would deposit burrs in socks and then keep poking you as it got further and further embedded into the fabric of the sock, becoming more and more uncomfortable? Well, the uncomfortable feeling never stopped me from running through those grassy fields when I was a kid, and this tea’s unusual appearance isn’t going to stop me from trying this tea!
It brews up to a very pale color … it almost looks like water that is in my cup, it is so pale. But for such a light color, there is a lot of flavor to this. I hadn’t read the description above until after I had taken my first couple of sips, and my initial reaction was that this tastes very much like a pu-erh. It has that pu-erh earthiness to it, although it is more like a “white tea” pu-erh earthiness (which is quite appropriate for this IS a white pu-erh) than the darker pu-erh teas that I’m used to.
It also has some characteristics that I’d expect from a white tea, although it is not as delicate as most white teas I’ve tasted. But this does have that hay-like quality to it that I often taste in a high quality Bai Mu Dan.
The sip starts sweet, with an almost immediate transition to the earthiness of the cup, and hints of hay, as well as woody tones and floral notes weave their way throughout the sip. Towards the end of the sip, I notice a mineral-y kind of taste toward the end of the sip that settles on the palate. The finish is slightly earthy with hints of fresh pine.
It’s quite a nice cup, and a different way to experience pu-erh.
Single Mountain: Yiwu Wild Arbor Sheng (2004) from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Product Description:
Mt. Banzhang is considered the absolute top of the line in pu’er leaf, but Mt. Yiwu is giving Banzhang a run for its money. The art of pu’er in Yiwu is thriving and threatening to take 1st place. Compare this to the American cheese and wine movement that is finally strong enough to hold its own against France. Because Yiwu is not yet as famous, the tea is much more affordable, even certified single origin bricks like this one. Buy a brick if you can and watch this tea age into some of the best. In ten years it may be much more difficult to even obtain Yiwu leaf for import.
To Learn More, click here.
Taster’s Review:
This is Pu-erh? I found myself questioning it the moment I opened the pouch and noted the aroma, which was not strong nor as earthy as a typical Pu-erh. The earthiness is very slight, smelling a bit more like mushrooms to me than earth. The brewed liquor takes on a slightly stronger earthy tone, but, still, not nearly what I’ve come to prepare myself for when I drink Pu-erh. There are lingering notes of wood, reminding me of a walk through the forest – again, not so much of the smell of the earth in that forest, but the trees and the surrounding air which is enhanced with a hint of smoke from a nearby cabin.
The complexity of the aroma translates into the flavor. I taste a fruit note in this cup – something I can’t ever recall noticing in another cup of Pu-erh. It is not a strong flavor, but more of a whisper of a flavor in the background, a mystery that is hidden behind the solid notes of wood and spice. The spice tones start out “almost” peppery – almost but not quite. As I continue to sip, I find that the peppery tones develop somewhat, but it remains a subtle spiced note.
The tasting notes on the Verdant Tea website suggest a hibiscus tone, but I have to say that I don’t really notice hibiscus. Perhaps a hint of tartness from the berry/fruit notes that I mentioned earlier, but as I don’t like hibiscus, and I am enjoying these fruit notes, I don’t taste hibiscus when I taste the berry-like flavor; but I can see where the comparison to hibiscus is made.
It is incredibly smooth with no astringency or bitterness. The body is lighter, delivering a taste that is not quite as heavy as a typical Pu-erh. It has a light sweetness that is not so much the caramel-like sweetness that I’ve come to appreciate in Pu-erh … it’s different, but no less enjoyable. In fact, that this IS different, it becomes even more enjoyable; intriguing me to continue to sip so that I may pinpoint what it is I taste.
Subsequent infusions seem to deliver more complexity. Just as the previously mentioned tasting notes from Verdant Tea suggests, the berry/hibiscus-y notes develop into more of a tart apple taste. I can really taste the cedar notes now. The spice has developed as well, a light peppery note without those high spice notes. A subtle, low pepper tone.
If you’re new to Pu-erh, I think that this would be an excellent Pu-erh with which to start. If you’re a seasoned Pu-erh veteran, I would still recommend trying this Pu-erh for its unique set of flavors, you may find it to be a deliciously different addition to your tea cupboard.
An exquisite Pu-erh (and I really don’t think I’ve used exquisite to describe a Pu-erh before!)