AllanK Send Message

Over the course of twelve steeps this turned from a bitter sheng to a fairly sweet sheng. I would not use the word apricots to describe it’s sweet notes as this tea seems to have started to age. For the first six infusions it also had a strong and bitter aftertaste. If you bought this tea and brewed it Western style you would hate it. But brewed gongfu it turned into a nice sheng.

I steeped this twelve times with 8.7g leaf and boiling water in a 150ml gaiwan. 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. I could have definitely gotten a few more steeps out of the tea leaves but I had had enough at twelve steeps.

Bought this the other day at Clipper Ship Tea Company. It is thick, rich and definitely buttery from the added caramel. I can’t really taste the vanilla. This is an overall nice puer tea for western steeping. I don’t know how the flavors would hold up gongfu style.

I steeped this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper for three minutes in boiling water and 3 tsp leaf.

This is an odd blend if there ever was one. It has some Chai spices in there but they are weak. It’s got Yerba Mate and Rooibos too as well as black tea. It sounded interesting. It is not as good as I had hoped. I will try it iced as the other reviewer suggested.

Brewed this tea one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 200 degree water for 3 minutes.

Overall this was a fairly nice ripe brick. There was a lot of fermentation taste to it. That taste was a bit unpleasant and in the first steep what you might call fishy. This particular note was gone by the second steep but the fermentation continued until around the sixth steep. It was a sweet tea in general, no real bitterness to it. I think given another two years to age and it will become something quite nice and it wasn’t too expensive. The whole 660g brick only costs $42. It is definitely worth a sample and I think worth buying a brick to age. Menghai Tea Factory ripes I think tend to age quite well. We shall see how this one does.

I steeped this ten times in a 160ml Solid Silver Teapot with 15g 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.

After sampling this twice and not liking it the first time but liking it the second time I finally bought a bing of this from the Yunnan Sourcing China site. This tea had virtually no fermentation flavor. The last time I drank this was about a year ago and I reported it had a little. This time I didn’t notice it. There was just a bit of storage flavor barely perceptible in the first two steeps, I would say wet storage flavors. This evolved into a nice sweet ripe with no unpleasant flavors to it. I steeped it fourteen times and am sure it would have gone a few more steeps if I wanted to get up towards five minute steeps. This is an expensive tea but from Yunnan Sourcing you can be sure it is actually from 1999 and not a fake. Many sellers would sell something much younger and call it a 1999 tea. I definitely recommend anyone putting in an order with Yunnan Sourcing get a sample of this tea. It is hard to say which I liked better, the 1992 ripe CNNP, the 1996 ripe CNNP, or this tea. ALl three were very good and I am glad to have bought them. This is one I will look into buying an extra of as the price is not too obnoxious. It is still expensive however.

I steeped this tea fourteen times in a 160ml Solid Silver Teapot with 14.3g leaf and boiling water. 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.

Drinking this this morning because I couldn’t sleep. This is a nice aged ripe with just a vestige of fermentation flavor left. Barely noticeable in the first two steeps. There was also an aged flavor for the first four to six steeps, after that it was a nice sweet tea. This one one worth trying. I definitely recommend a sample.

Steeped this fourteen times in a 160ml Solid Silver teapot with 14.1g leaf and boiling water. I gave the tea a 10 minute rest. I gave it a 10 second rinse.I steeped the tea 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 min. I could have gotten a couple more steeps out of the leaves but I had had enough tea at fourteen steeps.

Picked this up at Clipper Ship Tea Company yesterday. This is fairly nice tea. It is slightly malty and slightly fruity. It is also just a little bit bitter. I picked this up for drinking at an hour where I stop drinking caffeinated teas due to my insomnia. If I have real tea at this hour I won’t sleep. This is a nice tasting blend but not quite as good as most caffeinated breakfast blends I have had.

I st6eeped this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 200 degree water for 3 minutes.

Got a sample of this witih Liquid Proust’s Sheng Olympics 2017. This was a pretty good tea. It was a fairly balanced mix of bitter and sweet. I didn’t really pick up on the specifics so I will just generalize and say it was good. If I had any shortage of sheng cakes I would say it is good enough to buy a cake. But I have a lot of sheng cakes, although far fewer than I have shou cakes. It was very good and it was nice to try it.

I steeped this tea twelve times in a 150ml gaiwan with 8.1g 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, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 min.

I have little clue what else in in this Tisane other than dried cherries. Saw it today while I was at Clipper Ship Tea Company where I bought a lot of tea. Picked this one that I got a 50g package of because it is caffeine free. It is sweet with notes of cherry and other fruits, not sure what they are.

Brewed this one time in a 16oz Teapot with 3 tsp leaf and 200 degree water for 5 minutes.

Counted over fourteen steeps this was an excellent tea. There was a lot of fermentation taste at first. This taste was a little unpleasant but not fishy. It was think and rich in the first six or eight infusions and I think you could say there were notes of bittersweet dark chocolate in there. This chocolate taste disappeared along with the fermentation taste and the bitterness around steep eight. Well really the fermentation was only strong through steep four or five. Another note replaced this bittersweet note, a sweet note you would call it. Not really fruity or dates flavor, more of a neutral sweet note. Still this was one good tea. It is definitely worth buying a sample of. I have not yet decided if it was worth buying the whole brick yet. When I have drank it four or five times I will decide this. But it was one of the very best young ripe teas I have tried. Now as to cha qi, Scott says it has some, but I didn’t really feel it. Maybe I will feel it before I finish my cup who knows.

I steeped this tea fourteen times in a 160ml silver teapot with 14.3g 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. Again I definitely recommend a sample of this but I have not yet decided if it was worth buying the whole brick. If I drink it again and it is still this good I will judge it to have been worth it.