Crimson Lotus Tea

Dry leaf – Smells like a wet forest floor. Mushroom, but a refined earthiness like shiitake mushroom. This 1st steep is very clean, rounded, soft, and mellow.

1st Steep – Wet leaves smell like a very light shou puerh, but there’s something dusty about it something that reminds me antique store or an old book.

Second/ 3rd steeping – Pours a very brown liquor. There’s a sweetness almost a tobacco sweetness, something I associate with cigars but without the smokiness. A vegetable, almost carrot like sweetness. The taste is very rounded and soft and elegant. A flash of some medicinal flavors in the palate. Hint of salt. A clean finish, even in the body. Balanced, elegant, and delicate.

4th steeping – lighter in color, just barely. Everything, taken down a notch. A longer finish, some aloe, black peppercorn, and menthol vapors. The finish is medicinal but in the most non-aggressive way. I’ll steep for a little longer next time. Lighter body as well. Liquor is clear.

The 5th steeping -lighter in color again even with a 5 second longer steeping. I’ll steep for 30 seconds next to see. The tea is definitely mellowed out a lot as far as the earthiness goes. It’s drinking like nice black tea. a bit of malty sweetness.

In conclusion, the subsequent infusion went much like the 5th. It drank smooth and light, even with the longer steep time, it did not get aggressive.
This was a great session. It drank like wisdom. A very calming and centering experience. I did not get a ton of energy, as much as an overall boost in well-being. A warming and comforting tea. You can not go wrong with this one.

I received this as a sample, and I was intrigued because the MEGA brick is a pretty good value. Glen, and Lamu, are always so generous with to include a little surprise in all most of my orders. It is always about the little things, right?

Dry leaf – Pretty standard shou stuff here, not pungent or anything smells clean, not real funk, or fishy-ness. Standard wet leaves and forest floor, woody earthyness.

I rinsed twice, and sampled the 2nd rinse, out of curiosity. It was still a little weaker than I expected, but it had a certain brightness to it that was surprising , just elevated enough to keep things interesting, and not all flavors heading down the the dark earthy abyss.

Wet leaf – There is a lot here actually, why I’m falling in love with these teas. Forestry, earthy scents, with leather, and what I can only describe as perfume, like a peppery men’s cologne, its a hard scent to describe. Melon rind, and black pepper? All dominated by the standard shou – ness.

2nd-3rd steep – Wow, the leaf really opened up on the 2nd steep! poured a dark , dark garnet brown. Think Chimay Grande Reserve, for you fellow beer nerds. The body was lighter than expected, and it still had just a little brightness, to keep the palate from being sunk. However, not a flavor you’d normally call bright, but it is all relative. It drinks, soft, smooth, and mellow. Earthy, woodys, moss, and wet wood. I get a cooked / burnt, barbecue sauce scent, and leather in the background. semi-sweet, and mineral finish. If you have ever licked a salt block, when you were younger(the red ones) like that but not salty.

4th-5th steeping – The flavor really mellowed out here…just smooth tea, and maybe sweeter, but not sure if the earthy notes had died off a little, and made some room for the sweetness to come through more. It did however, give up the ghost a little here. Your first 4 steepings are where it shines, the tea definitely gets more focused, and less nuanced from here on out.

In conclusion, Overall it was a good tea session. It was a good shou, but about what I expected, given its price point. However, it would make a great daily drinker, which I think is more for what it is intended for. A solid shou, a good entry shou I think, and daily drinker fo’ shou!

I really enjoy this tea because it’s not a “in your face” kind of tea. Its mellow, its smooth, and it’s just plain easy to drink. The overall taste reminds me of an old farm smell…and not in a bad way! Simple yet unique. Hints of earthiness like dandelion grasses and wet wood come through for me. There is no strong aftertaste of this tea, so it’s a nice daily drinker in my opinion. As we all know, different ways of brewing teas create different outcomes, but in this instance, this is what comes through for me!

This tea drinks for me simply awesome. I think it could be taken as a simple profile. However, I think it’s magic is in what it doesn’t do. It doesn’t hit you over the head with all these, flavors, and scents. It does however just have that mmmhhmmm quality to it. It stays just enough out reach to keep you coming back and wondering. A lot of green forest character to it, and for me some lychee / pear sweetness in the background. Hard to get a lot of bitterness from the tea however you do tip toe on some astringent flavors on the long steeps, but still a super clean tea. Just plain intriguing. I want this as a daily, but it deserves an occasion. With the pricing, it will have to be too.

Stone Lion is an awesome budget LaomanE HP with notes of bitter (of course), char, stone fruits, grapefruit, all with a thick cake batter texture. Great if you love bitter teas or want something to age.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2018-stone-lion-sheng-puer-from-crimson-lotus-tea/

I didn’t really take good notes of this one, but I do remember it being pretty heavy on the florals, with some crisp green vegetal notes as well. Quite perfumey, as fall teas sometimes can be. I enjoyed all my sessions with it, but didn’t find it all that remarkable.

Good tea.

song pairing: What Am I – Why Don’t We
-——
Separately from the tea, it is a fun wrapper by Stasia Burrington. Who doesn’t want to take a private bath in tea in a giant teapot in a forest? The little piglets are a hilarious bonus.

Thematically on point but innocent enough to be in a children’s book. And the bather looks like she could be East Asian!!! Also, it doesn’t remind us of outdated, sexist names like oriental beauty and drunken concubine. Nice to feel decently represented in tea wrapper art yet not objectified. A daydream indeed.

When the samples arrived, I started a spreadsheet that sorts by $/g and included brief tasting notes. I gave this one good marks, but at the time I was more disciplined and would only drink one tea at a time, focusing on it. These days I have so many half-finished teas lying around in brewing vessels, I will often get to steep 7 or 8 and then while waiting for the longer steeps, finish up the overnight kill steeps of other teas, if that makes sense. So like, over the course of a day, steeps 1-3 a raw, the penultimate steep of a ripe, steep 4 of the raw, steeps 7-8 of a black, the final steep of the raw, steeps 5-7 of the raw, the kill steep of the black, an experimental steep or two of the dead ripe, steeps 8-10 of the raw. Taken in this massively chaotic manner, Daydream loses much of its charm. So if you get this tea, maybe give it your full attention.

12 gram sample from derk, so I took half and… prepared gongfu. Thank you derk

I don’t have exact steepings, but there are so many nice aromas dry, wet leaves or liquor taste or…

Today mornin was quite a strange weather. It was looking it will rain dogs and cats, but nothing from that. In the afternoon was few heavy showers, the sky is like iron curtain all day, I need to study but can’t focus at all today (and tomorrow is important exam, if I fail, then next Saturday is really last chance from all the book; and that is hell (Mathematics!!!)).

But to the tea; certainly there are pertichor aroma. I love that smell and somehow I thought it is present somehow in all steeps. In aroma? For sure. In taste? Nope.

So first steeps were 10-30 seconds long, depends how much I was speaking with my dad. I noticed chocolate notes, its smooth flavour, not woody at all, but certainly note of wet coniferous forests. It was quite pleasant, easy to drink. I wasn’t paying too much attention, but it was somehow on sweet notes too, I checked my previous tasting note saying vanilla and it could be that. But today I think it is ratther some heavier black beer, maybe bit similar to Guinness? Dunno. But it was very pleasant.

Following steeps were longer and longer, while I usually ended around 45 seconds, certainly less than minute.

It was quite same, while it was once stronger, once weaker, but still somehow chocolate like with coating aftetaste with sweet notes and now it went bit woody, autumn leaf piles and similar notes.

Last two steeps were over minute long, which brought mild bitterness in addition to all previous notes. Maybe I am not that amazed with this tea as I was last time, but I will keep 99 for historical reasons. Maybe it’s not that great, but it is first pu-erh that amazed me!

Now, let’s go back to studies of Mathematics. Bleh.

Sample provided by Derk, thank you again!

Dry leaves smelled wonderful, though I am not really sure what I noticed. Like air before rain. You just know it is coming, air has specific smell, you have find some shelter if you don´t want get wet. Preheated gaiwan.

Okay, 10 seconds rinse, 15 seconds first steep.
Bit weak, but yeah, expected. Tastes good, bit of raisins. Wet leaves smell like some shop with construction materials, but it is quite pleasant. Not really funky.

Another 15 seconds, it is starting to break, colour become dark copper and more red than usual “copper” colour. Aroma is woody, strong and pleasant. Maybe bit of cocoa. Taste is wonderful. Certainly cocoa and of vanilla. It is relaxing. Lingers for quite long and it is smooth.

3rd, 30 seconds. Broke completely, colour dark red. Another relaxing aroma, stronger than last one. Taste is going from cocoa to chocolate, still smooth and lingers.

4th, 40 seconds. I am writing a postcard (postcrossing), colour is really dark red, it doesn´t change much. It became bit more bitter though.

5th, 1 minute. It is almost same, no signs of being weak, rather opposite, still smooth, with pleasant aftertaste. I am noticing energy boost.

6th, 1 minute. In a hour my train leaves, so I have about 40 minutes left maximum. Hmm, again bit more bitter, but still it is good. Chocolate notes are dying a bit. No signs of dying.

7th, 1:15. Colour is lighter than last steep. Taste is weaker too. But not so much. Still very enjoyable. More typical pu-erh taste.

8th, 1:30. Wet leaf before adding water smells bit like tobacco with sweet after"smell". Let´s see how is the brew though. Thermos is empty, I am done. I do not have time left too. Anyway, good time with great tea! This steep is again lighter. I guess it is just time to stop it now. As we say: “V nejlepším přestat”. It means something like “when it is best, it is time to stop.” It became quite weak, like second brew or something between first and second. Still pretty tasty with dominant sweetness. Not really sweet from sugar, but complex sweet. Enjoyable!

Conclusion: Well, it took 8 steeps, while last ones were quite long. I have enjoyed the smoothness of this tea, as well the taste of dark chocolate. I have no idea what to expect, as my teaste buds aren´t really so precise as someone else. Anyway, I am glad that I can try it, as getting anything from Crimson Lotus is quite expensive for me as a student, not saying that the shipping is going to be another story as we don´t have e-packets yet here.

I am now full of energy, which is great as I have courses to 7 pm, so I have to stay awake whole day. Now, let´s go to the railway station.

PS: YAAAAY, 50th tasting notes! I wanted something special and this was certainly one of the best teas I ever had I guess.
PPS: Thank you for reading whole, quite long tasting note. If there is some English mistakes, please let me know – I am not native speaker.
PPPS: Really thank you Derk!

Halfway through the sample. As of yet not inspired to cake or tong this. It tastes more like an educational bark infusion than a tea. I could not have guessed in a blind tasting that this is a pu at all. It would get anyone into a mood ready for meditation, though, since the latter activity is all about emptying the mind and focusing on one’s breath. This drink does seem to create a surprising amount of space in one’s head, if that makes any sense, more so than other teas. Instead of getting drunk, you enter a quasi state of auto-meditation. Is that something people want from tea, to momentarily fake-transcend all worldly desires only to come crashing right back down again? Then this may be the cake for you. I’m not enlightened enough for it yet. Will have to try upping the ratio of leaf next time.

Got a cake of the pressed version when released and had a session then that apparently didn’t make much of an impression on me at the time…probably because I was bombarding my tastebuds with wild teas from Lincang and Wuliang around that time…and because it seems that it takes teas from this area a few months to pick up steam. This morning I dug into my crock and this bing was staring me in the face. The devil on my shoulder said cmon man, you don’t want that mellow stuff. Steep up a Menghai…but the angel on my other shoulder told me to steep this one cos it’d transport me to a warm sunny place on this miserable winter day. That angel was right. Two sips in and I’m on the beach sipping a cocktail comprised of mangoes, green mango powder, coconut milk, unfiltered gold rum and garnished with a spearmint leaf. Does such a beverage exist? It should. That’s what this tea tastes like. It’s also among the oiliest teas I’ve had. Very mouth watering and smooth. This tea passes the mom test (the qi is so pleasant and gentle she would likely get tea drunk without realizing it) and would be a good introduction to sheng for those who like fruity beverages but recoil at bitter, woody, camphorous notes that usually accompany it. I’ve been sampling several Yiwu area teas like Chawangshu and Tongqighe in the $1.50-2 a gram range and I think this tea, while not quite of that caliber, can hang comfortably with those teas at $.56 a gram. Thanks to Glen and Lammu for making this tea available. Highly recommended.

I have been going through my CLT samples, thinking whether I should get any of the cakes, and I realized I never wrote a review for this one. It is among the better semi-aged teas I’ve tried, but the price reflects that as well.

The highlights of the tea for me are its flavour complexity and the cha qi. It also steeps for a long time. Even though I don’t find it quite as appealing taste & texture wise, I might get the cake with the current sale. I’ve been generally disappointed by CLT’s house productions, so I may not add anything else to the order. If you have any strong suggestions, let me know please :)

The aroma is deep and sweet with notes of rainforest, plum, fermented fruits, copper, thyme, honey, and a touch of lavender and nettle. Taste has a lot going on too. It is bittersweet, crisp and tannic overall with a good astringency. Over the course of the session I noted flavours of eucalyptus, autumn leaf pile, anise, grape skin, kombucha, chamomile, bread crust, walnut bread, rice paper, and red grape juice. Aftertaste continues with the impressive display of flavours, ranging from kale, to apricot and macadamia nuts. It is pungent and mineral, with a fairly long-lasting huigan and a camphor-like throat cooling quality.

Body is light to medium with a drying, bubbly mouthfeel that becomes a bit more milky mid session and silky at the end. The cha qi is noticeable and fast to appear. In my older notes, I described it as a full-body experience, but I am not sure I am getting that this session quite as much. I do get some slightly numbing sensations in my legs, but it seems mostly just very calming today.

Does what is says it does:
+simple use (easily breakable)
+simple and decent taste
+free shipping
+not overpriced

great concept/marketing angle,
and not a bad way to get introduced to Sheng..

This is an excellent ripe, with vanilla and nutty flavors.
It is quite unique among the ripes I’ve tried, and well worth a sample.

As far as I’m concerned this, Storm Breaker, and Iron Forge are the ultimate “ripe introduction sampler pack”

This is my favorite CLT ripe, and considering I associate CLT with “great ripes” then that says something..
Not cheap, but worth at least a sample, for reference..

If someone asked me which CLT ripes to try out, I’d recommend this one, Iron Forge, and Nannuo Mini Mushrooms.. actually that would be my Ideal “ripe introduction sampler pack” in general

Progression note.

Lighter in body with an airy mouthfeel. Much less sweet and green though still possesses a mossy-lichen petrichor undertone. Definite development of butterscotch-caramel taste that weaves through a bright, fruity-brassy midground with somewhat floral high tones. Later steeps see the expansion of aged florals and the buttery, baked mango aftertaste slowly blooms quite large. Throaty cooling quality also presents later in the session. Soft, lingering bitterness in the back of the mouth remains from my first experience with this sheng. Sits somewhat heavy in my stomach, like the Planet Kunlu dragon ball from Crimson Lotus. Strong rainforest vibe.

There was a time many years ago when I was snorkeling off the coast of a tropical island. Something about a cruise ship group outing involving a sunken ship. I slyly wriggled my hydrophobic self away from the school of us landlubbing flubbers as I often do in these situations (I went through Alcatraz backwards! without wearing those self-guided tour headphones! How edgy!). Doing my own exploration, I floated and bobbed in the warm sea, letting the sun warm my back as the soft waves carried me out. The ocean whispered a lullaby, one of those sung by the sirens of nefarious intent. Oh look at this, how curious. The continental shelf. The rays filtered through the salty emerald suspension, illuminating the last reaches of the inundated sandy coastline before shearing off into the black abyss. This is bliss. I would be ok with dying right now, peering down, down, down.

Wait, no.

Never whisper your deepest stirrings to the sirens. They answer your call, upset that you’ve had thoughts of breaking free from their enchanting chords, transforming sweet notes into an uproarious clang followed by waves of salty terror crashing into your lungs and when, in desperation, you call for help, the only thing that will come out is watery sputters of what you saw and heard, unintelligible to the flippered fools from whom you foolishly floated away, and thrashing cries of “Let me live!”

Never trust the ocean.

Luckily, this is tea. What could go wrong?

Nice sweet floral aroma that is supplemented in the mouth by whipped cream, a lemon high note, some green bean, asparagus, moss, wood, spiciness, mushroom broth. Soft, sweet and round with a moderate yet soft bitterness giving way to both astringency and minty cooling in the throat before depositing a defined and long-lasting baked mango aftertaste. Becomes more floral as the steeps progress then transforms into a buttery, nutty sweetness with a light layer of oily wax lining the mouth. A healthy-looking blend in the spent leaves. Cha qi seemed absent but then I turned into a bit of a wacky caffeinated jester good for creating some Saturday Night Lulz.

Perhaps a bit too sweet for me but I think you can trust immersing yourself in this emerald sea.

Coming back to Jinggu Bàng a year later, it has toned down a lot. No longer do I get green beans or creamy, custardy florals. Those have mellowed into a base of smokey straw and bitter kale tone with subdued dried yet damp meadow florals. Impression of mushrooms and bay leaf. It is savory-beany-vegetal, mineral, cooling in the mouth and body and bitter with very little sweetness. The bitterness might turn others away but I find it somehow refreshing. Astringency is short-lived for me. The aroma is savory and meadow floral with a hint of buttery apricot-osmanthus.

I’m actually quite enjoying the tea today. Nothing amazing but sometimes you don’t want sheng puerh to floor you.

Lightly smoked green beans, creamy white florals and vanilla in an aromatic gold liquor give way to a swallow much the same. Medium body transitions into something lighter with brassy vegetal tones and light bitterness. Oversteeping really brings out the bitter. Good longevity.

This sheng didn’t hook me — I’m not too fond of the floral/vegetal combo in some sheng — but it does have a really nice creamy, custardy quality early on that absolutely was not there for me in the Planet Jinggu dragon ball.

Initial rating: 74. That might change as I work my way through this sample.

Accidentally logged a tasting note for this tea under the wrong entry, so just cross referencing here for posterity’s sake:

https://steepster.com/roswellstrange/posts/387073#likes

My bad!

Gong Fu, from over the weekend. 5g/100ml ceramic pot.

I was surprised by how much I loved this tea – not that I expected it to be bad or anything but I don’t think I’ve tried a Shou from CLT that has really blown me out of the water yet. Only thing is that I wish this had more staying power, as after nine or so infusions I found that the flavour was all but gone. Then again, I could have added in another gram or two of tea – but I was pretty conservative…

Very sweet, smooth and clean profile/finish to the liquor. Started off quite dark, but settled into an amber hue fairly quickly. I picked up on notes of vanilla/tonka, fresh cream, milk chocolate, sweet earth, and some sort of red fruit (dare I say strawberry!?). Not a lot of the woodier notes that I’ve been leaning so heavily towards as of late, but sometimes it’s good to switch things up. Maybe would have appreciate a little more body/thickness to the taste and mouthfeel but ultimately very happy with this session!

EDIT: I realize now that I’ve written this under the loose version of this tea. What I drank was actually this tea, the compressed version:

https://steepster.com/teas/crimson-lotus-tea/74236-2013-lucky-cloud