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This is a surprisingly decent puerh tea from the Chinese grocery store. It is slightly fruity with a very slight bamboo flavor beneath it. For what I paid for this it was a good deal, decent. I will probably, eventually finish this tea. It is good enough to drink. Some grocery store teas are not.

I added a small amount of sugar that may have helped bring out the fruity flavor.

I gave this tea two long rinses based on the theory that grocery store teas are usually quite strong. I used 9g tea in an 18oz teapot with boiling water. I gave it an 10 sec steep. If you shop at Asian grocery stores and find this exact tea it is decent and worth the small price they charge.

This tea is really good. I find myself liking sheng more than ever before. It was a little fruity as the description says and there were slight notes of apricots. It was just a tiny bit bitter in the first steeping. This was gone by the second steeping. By the fourth steeping it was very smooth. It was slightly sweet too (not meaning sugar sweet). It was good.

I steeped this four times in a 140 ml yixing teapot with 5g leaf and 200 degree water. I steeped it for 15 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, and 20 sec. It had a very pale yellow color.

This is a very tasty oolong blend from Clipper Ship Tea Company. It contains nuts and I suspect vanilla. It is quite good. There are notes of nuts, butter and vanilla in any case. I will call Clipper Ship Tea Company later and get the ingredients so I can update the website. There is almost no bitterness in this tea even though I brewed it western style, not Gongfu style. It has a slightly sweet flavor to it.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 190 degree water and 3 tsp leaf for 3 min.

This tea was good. The brewed tea had a beautiful golden color. There was only a touch of bitterness in the early steepings then none. There were definite notes of plums and honey.

I really liked this tea, a lot. I will eventually want to order it but not right away.

I brewed this tea five times in a 180ml teapot with 6g leaf and 190 degree water. I steeped it for 15 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. There were probably three more steepings to this tea, it wasn’t played out but I am at my caffeine limit for the night.

This tea was one I wasn’t planning to review here as it was a find from the Chinese grocery store. However, Boychik showed an interest in these teas and asked me to review them. This tea was not very good steeped western style this morning at 175 degrees. It was just too bitter. I remembered Boychik saying he had salvaged a tea from the Asian Market with gongfu and short steeps. I gave it a try. I lowered the temperature to 160 degrees and gave the tea short steeps in a gaiwan. While still not great it was much improved. For the price I was paying I wasn’t expecting much anyway. What was left was a tea with a vegetal taste and little bitterness, decent. I’ll never drink it all as I had to buy 8 ounces but at least I should get my moneys worth.

I steeped this three times in a 150ml gaiwan with 160 degree water and 3g leaf. I steeped it for 15 sec, 15 sec, and 30 sec.

This tea is really, really good. I added a small amount of sugar to it. This brought out an incredible honey and apricot flavor to the tea. I don’t know if it would be there without the sugar. I did not add much. I bought this because I thought it looked interesting and I am glad I did. I don’t know if three weeks in my pumidor had any effect on the tea but it was good. The honey and apricot notes were prevalent in the first two steepings and less thereafter. It was only a little bitter in the first steeping and not at all after that. By the fifth steeping it was very smooth. It lost a little depth of flavor by the fifth steeping, but not much. In the end I steeped this six times and think I could certainly have gotten three or four more out of the tea.

I steeped this six times in a 140ml Yixing teapot with 5g leaf and 200 degree water. I gave it one 10 sec rinse. I steeped it for 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min.

The spent leaves had a really nice apricot aroma to them. I never noticed any bamboo flavor despite this being stored in bamboo.

This is a very tasty shou puerh with a great deal of fermentation flavor left. There were strong chocolate notes in this tea as well as a very earthy flavor. I also picked up on the leather notes in it although I did not notice much of the list. Perhaps I was not paying close enough attention. I think this a tea with a lot of potential. That is why I will put this away and age it for a while before drinking again.

When I brewed this the first steep was over brewed because my brand new teapot was clogged from being seasoned. Also, it pours a little slowly. I adjusted the steeps downward and got better results. The first steep was very, very earthy. By the third steep the flavor improved. By the fifth steep it was markedly better. It should be noted that it never completely lost its fermentation flavor. I guess I have become accustomed to older, better aged shou puerh.

I steeped this 6 times in a 207ml teapot with 7g of leaf and boiling water. i steeped it for 10 sec, 5 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 30 sec, and 1 min. I had to adjust the time after the first steep because the tea was over brewed.

Thank you Sarsonator for this sample. This is good stuff. I was just about to add sugar to it when something made me change my mind. It doesn’t need it. It had definite notes of honey, plums, and apricots. It was very tasty. I did not notice any discernible fall off of flavor even in the sixth steeping. It was mildly strong but not overpowering. I definitely noticed an unusual effect from the tea, I was slightly buzzed but not tea drunk. This was very nice. This is a tea that has some Qi to it, many don’t.

I brewed this six times in a 125ml Gaiwan with 175 degree water and 4g leaf. I brewed it for 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min. There was no need for lengthy steepings. If I hadn’t been planning on more tea later I might have steeped it a couple more times. The spent leaves had a discernible aroma that I would describe as honey like.

This tea is very strong and very malty and somewhat bitter. It should hopefully wake me up. It is a little too bitter and a little too malty, not meaning chocolate malt. It is good as breakfast blends go, just too bitter.

I brewed this tea once in an 18oz teapot with boiling water and 3 tsp leaf for 3 min.