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Bought this a while ago from Yunnan Sourcing. Just getting around to trying it. I suppose some people would really like this tea. Those who like the aged flavors generally described as leather and tobacco would really like this one. However what it is doing for me is reminding me that I almost never like a semi aged sheng. I have never had an authentic aged sheng meaning something over 25 years old so I don’t know if I would like that. Started brewing this at boiling. Then four steeps in I switched to 190 degrees hoping the negative flavors would dissipate. They did not. I am finding that I like young sheng, not semi aged sheng. I keep buying ten year old sheng hoping to come across one I really like but I haven’t found one yet that I liked for the taste. The Yang QIng Hao teas I did like but more for their strong cha qi than their taste.

I brewed this ten times in a 150ml gaiwan with 10g leaf and starting with boiling water, then switching to 190 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 minute.

Bought this tea from Clipper Ship Tea company after trying it in store. Taste wise it is no too bad. I’d probably give this tea a 60 if I was rating it on taste alone. The strongest taste is the Chamomile giving it an apple note. The second strongest note is the valerian which is an unpleasant and a bit sour note. Not really sure if I can taste the peppermint or other ingredients. The woman who owns the store has several of these sleepy teas with valerian. She brewed all three of them for me in store. I thought this one was the one closest to tasting good. No tea with valerian really tastes good. She says she drinks them about an hour before she goes to bed and they help her stay asleep. This is highly subjective sort of thing and I don’t know that it will help me sleep at all. I do know that the fact that the chamomile is stronger in taste than the valerian is a good thing. If this tea has any effect on my sleep I may give it a rating tomorrow.

I brewed 3 tsp leaf in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker with boiling water for 7 minutes.

This is a really tasty tea from Whispering Pines. It is the sort or raw I like most, not real bitter and too young to have developed any unpleasant aged flavors. I brewed this tea at 190 degrees to lessen any potential bitterness. It was really good. As another reviewer mentioned there was a slight grassy note to it. It had what I would describe as a sweet note from the beginning, not sweet like sugar mind you. I didn’t find the flavor notes of apricots that are so often mentioned in young sheng. I am not really sure to describe the sweet note.

I steeped this tea twelve times in a 100ml teapot with 9g leaf and 190 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 minutes. Could have gotten a few more steeps out of these leaves. This is the sort of yound sheng that is good to drink now due to the lack of bitterness.

Cold brewed this as an iced tea and it is really good. The taste of the cocoa is really strong and the puerh is good too. There is really no bitterness present. There is some fermentation taste but with the cold brew it doesn’t seem too strong. This is without a doubt one of the best teas I have ever had cold brewed.

I steeped this overnight in a 32oz Lupica Handy Cooler with 4 tsp leaf in the refrigerator.

Got this tea from Liquid Proust’s latest group buy. I have tried four Naka teas and I would say that this one is the most aged having an orange colored tea liquid and my least favorite. It had developed a lot of negative storage flavors already. I guess you would call them leather and tobacco. It did improve over twelve steeps but the storage flavors lingered strongly through about eight steeps. This one might improve with time but it would need a number of years storage.

I steeped this twelve times in a 150ml gaiwan with 8.2g leaf and boiling water. I ave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 min.

This tea is surprisingly good considering what I paid for it. One of the other reviewers said it had a buttery texture and I would agree. It was sweet with little bitterness and a fair amount of fermentation flavor. But that flavor was neither unpleasant or fishy. This was one good tea overall. I steeped it fourteen times in a 120ml shibo and think it would have gone a few more.

I steeped this tea fourteen times in a 120ml shibo with 10.2g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, 2 min, 2.5 min, and 3 minutes. There were maybe two to three more steeps left to this one.

Bought a tong of this recently to age. It is a very good tea. The fermentation taste was neither unpleasant or fishy but on the sweet side. There was really no bitterness to this tea. I did seem to notice a fruity taste in thew early steeps. This was surprising as I usually notice this in later steeps with a ripe. This checked out under the black light and it was from Yunnan Sourcing so I am sure it is real.

I steeped this tea ten times in a 160ml solid silver teapot with 14.2g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min.

I am trying to decide if I still like this as much as the first time I drank it. It was sweet with little fermentation flavor. I don’t seem to be getting the dates flavor this time, at least not as strong. Usually my ripe tea does pretty well in my storage but it may be that the winter has effected this storage and it needs the summer humidity to perk it up a bit. It is still really good, I just don’t find myself liking it as much. I really need a pumidor for shou puerh but have no place to put one.

I steeped this ten times in a 160ml solid silver teapot with 14.5g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 minute.

Today I am drinking the 2014 Naka by Chen Sheng Hao from Liquid Proust’s group buy. This was a strong and bitter sheng. I’d say noticeably bitter for the first eight steepings before a sweet note started to emerge. So far I have tried the 2016, 2015 and 2014 Naka by Chen Sheng Hao. This one seemed the most bitter to me. They have also reminded me that I prefer shou to sheng in general. It’s not that this was a bad tea, just not really the sort of tea I really like. I am not overly fond of bitter sheng. And more sheng is bitter than not.

I steeped this tea twelve times in a 150ml gaiwan with 8.5g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 min.

Bought this recently from Streetshop88. It is a very nice ripe but a very different ripe from the average. The flavor of the sticky rice is very strong. So strong I could not taste the fermentation of this tea. I do not know if this is made with the sticky rice herb or real sticky rice. It does not say on the website but the herb is more common. It had an extremely sweet flavor to it with no bitterness at all. This is a good tea but very different. This is one I recommend trying. He sells this in single 100g cakes or tongs of five cakes. I bought the tong. I am not sure if a sample below a 100g cake is available. I really enjoyed this tea.

I steeped this ten times in a 160ml Solid Silver Teapot with 14.1g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 minute. I suspect if I wanted to continue I would get another four or five steeps out of this.