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I’m just going to save up to buy a cake of this one. I’ve spent another $100 hoping to find something with this taste profile and cha qi. If one of my incoming teas come close, great, that money will by a lot more tea. If not, this cake is worth every dime of it’s price. If I could get it cheaper I’d be overjoyed, but it blows my other teas out of the water so…

This one has grown on me. I didn’t expect to like it so much, but it’s a pleasant and palatable tea. May actually buy a brick of this one.

Rinsed twice, 10s each. Let rest 10+ minutes.
My 200mL pot has a 10s pour, so it’s fill, count 10s, pour 10s. Not sure if other include the pour in their steep time.

Steep – Time – Notes
1st – 10s – Prominent smell of young sheng puerh, but none of the astringency associated with the smell. Very interesting mouthfeel. Sort of thick and smooth and sticks to the mouth while held, like cold, thin wax suddenly coating the mouth momentarily… I have no idea what that’s like, but if I ever experienced it I imagine it would be something like this. Anyway, it’s not unpleasant, just up front and noticeable on the initial sip. Ends slightly astringent with a tiny bit of sweetness.

2nd – 10s – The smell makes me expect overpowering astringency, but it’s really mild. Nice crisp finish with a bit of sweetness in the aftertaste. Not really picking up any flavors beyond a young-ish sheng.

3rd – 10s – The sheng aroma so noticeable in the first two steeps is largely gone. The taste is greatly mellowed also, but pleasantly so. A little more astringency noticed in the aftertaste. Not strong, but there at the back of the throat. May be noticing just a tiny bit of cha qi. Still have that funny mouth feel mentioned before going on.

4th – 15s – Same as previous.

5th – 20s – Intended to do 15s. Same as previous, nothing remarkable except for the mouth feel.

6th – 20s – About the same as previous. Picking up a little fruit note.

7th – 20s – should have gone 30s. Quite light. I bit of sharpness that I hadn’t realized was there until now has softened. A bit more sweetness developing.

8th – 30s – About the same as previous with a little more bite. Sweetness about the same. I now have a growing fear though. What if NO sheng amazes me ever again after that Chawanshu?!

9th – 45s – A bit light like the 7th steep. Still nothing to write home about. More after a break.

Decided to have another go with this one.

Steep – Time – Note
1st – 20s – I wanted to test a longer initial steep with this tea. 20s is riding that razor’s edge of getting too much astringency. At 20s though it’s still very pleasant (for me) as a nice dry finish with a lot of sweetness. The first time I did a 10s steep and I thought, “Maybe I’m detecting a little cha qi…” This time there’s no doubt. There really isn’t much of the fruit flavors that develop in the later steeping in this cup. Just that pleasant sort of honey-like sweetness.

2nd – 20s – I think this pot has an 8-10 second pour. I don’t know if people count the pouring time as part of the steep time, but for simplicity’s sake I’m not. As would be expected this brew is stronger than the first. Still not overly astringent and the astringency has that lovely sweetness to it

3rd – 20s – Thicker, with the same sweet crisp aftertaste. A bit strong for someone new to sheng puerh maybe, but quite good in my book.

4th – 20s – Same as previous

5th – 20s – Those fruity notes are starting to show themselves now. The astringency has settled into that remarkably crisp, sweet ending. Brews like this one cause me to make unreasonable demands on my teacup to not be empty for say the next hour or ten as I drink to my heart’s content. Oh well, back to the pot.

6th – 20s – Had an overnight break between the 4th & 5th steep. About halfway through this pot and getting a reminder of how strong the cha qi is in this leaf. Starts as a sort of gentle head rush and tingling and then this very calm alertness. Chemically I have no idea what to attribute it to (I’ve seen some pretty good nonsense out there), but whatever it is I love it. Makes this tea an awesome companion with I have to do some coding, editing or other high focus detailed work. Crisp, sweet finish. The first fruit note that opens up is a sort of plum/stone fruit… something. It’s good. Wish I had something better to compare it to.

7th – 60s – Didn’t mean to steep that long. Got distracted. No harm done of course, because this tea is obviously hell bent on kicking ass. Thicker brew, the astringency is crisp, sweet – a little deeper and long lasting. Has that dryness that you get with a full bodied red wine. Very nice. I think stone fruit and/or a plum that has just hit the point of being ripe enough to eat is the fruit note I’m picking up. I’m also noting a sweetness at the back of the throat that I didn’t catch before. The 6th & 7th steeps are near perfection. The one before and after are absolutely amazing, but these two steeps… it’s everything you want in a good sheng. Drank this one a little slower, but it still didn’t last near long enough.

8th – ?? – Got distracted with work and I have no idea how long I brewed this one. Had to do it Russian Samovar style and cut it with a little hot water. Still good, but can’t honestly assess it because I’ve no idea of the ratio I used and if it was what an 8th steep actually would have been like.

Ummm… yeah… a little off the deep end.

19th – 600s – The leaves were cold and sleepy so the taste was a bit watered down, but still pleasant.

20th – “You can’t be serious” – I have a cup warmer at my desk and this time I set my teapot on it and left it steeping while I did some editing. Not sure how long I let it sit, LOL, but hot damn if it didn’t yield me a damn good cup of tea at least as good as the 17th steeping. At this point the amount of time needed to get great taste from the leaves is pretty dang high, but what the hell, let’s go for one more.

21st – “This is absurd” – Love it! I really should lay off, but now I’m amused at how much flavor I can get out of these longer steepings. I’m guess the last two have been at 15 minutes or so. I think keeping the temperature up and constant is a big help.I want to keep steeping until there’s just no flavor, but I don’t know if I have the patience. This one is pretty close to the 18th steep as well.

22nd – “Cut it out already!” – Alright, party people. I think this is the end of our reckless and insane tea steeping ride. The sweetness is now very mellow and alas, there is no discernible bite or crispness on the finish. Actually, there’s a little, but it does not soar my friend. It is time to retire these truly valiant and formidable leaves.
As a parting note, the flavor/aroma that showed up in the 16th steeping… that’s what the expired tea leaves smell like. Lovely experience from start to finish.

Ok, picking up where I left off earlier.

Steep
11th – 90s – Sweetness has increased, but the crispness of the finish has mellowed.
12th – 120s – A little more bite, the color is again a strong amber and the sweetness is unabated. Going to steep at 2 minutes again and see how far I can push the tea. Probably no more bite/crispness, but the sweetness is enjoyable. It’ll be interesting to see if I detect any cha qi this late in to the steeping (and this late at night).

13th – 120s – More sweetness and the the touch of stone fruit detected earlier is starting to mellow. The Qi is Gone to the tune of B.B. King’s The Thrill is Gone is now playing through my head.

14th – 180s – Good color and sweetness. Pleasant and probably should be happy that the cha qi isn’t full on this late at night.

15th – 300s – Going for broke…. errrr… got busy and probably steeped that for more like 600s, but huzzah, huzzah! Rewarded with some bursting honey and fruit and that nice crisp finish. The color is a deep amber. Yummy. Going to keep it going for a bit more.

16th – 600s – Beautiful stonefruit and plum and peach and honey bursting out in these late steepings. The long steep times have given back the crisp dry finish, but the bonus on the back end just lovely.

17th – 600s – Ahhhhh, so good! I know that a 10 minute steep is probably absurd, but I’m so glad I took it so far. Crisp honey and fruit with a lovely thickness. The sweet aftertaste just lingers forever. Either the cha qi is completely gone at this point or I’m tired off my rocker from working such long hours, but the flavor more than makes up for it.

18th – 600s – Sweetness and crisp finished mellowed just a touch. I’m going to stop here so that I can try one more long brew in the morning and test it out on my wife.

It is far from being a cheap tea cake, but I’m seriously thinking about saving up and treating myself to one some day.

200cc Zisha ShuiNi (Zhuni) pot. The smell of the dry leaves is sweet grass and wet the smell is more intense with a fruity note I can’t quite describe.

Rinse 10s, Rest 10 minutes.

Steeps
1st – 10s – A bit light and sweet. Nice crisp finish, but not much body. Bit of a honey and grass.

2nd – 15s – A bit more depth with a sweet slightly astringent finish that I love in sheng puerhs. I thought I was imagining in the first steeping, but the cha qi comes one really fast! I have breakfast this morning and I refused to eat before this session so as not to affect my taste buds so that might have something to do with it. LOL!

3rd – 20s – intended 15s, but started my pour late. Love the sweet aftertaste (hiugan?) It’s like a sweet astringency that just last and lasts.

4th – 20s – Ok, maybe just on an empty stomach, but man does this tea pack quite a punch. Love it! And the sweet aftertaste really does last forever. I really can’t pin down other flavors or notes. Just this slight honey sweetness and green tea that ends with this long lasting, crisp sweetness. I only had 50cc – 100cc of this one as my wife walked up, had a sip and promptly stole the rest of the pot.

5th – 25s – Just good tea. Starting to pick up notes of stone fruit.

6th – 30s – Stone fruit notes more pronounced. The cha qi just awesome. Stopped and had some food before this steeping and the sort of tingling, energetic sensation was starting to fade. 50cc into this steep and bam! Back on full bore.

7th – 30s – I was surprised and slightly offended when I looked down and found my cup unexpectedly empty. Then I remembered I was the culprit… time for another steep. :)

8th – 45s – A little light. Next steep should be 60s to 75s. Even with a slightly lighter brew the crisp sweet ending remains.

9th – 75s – That did the trick! Full flavor, thick and stone fruit. I’m going to try extending my steep times earlier next time I have this tea as it doesn’t seem overly astringent or sharp. Holy crap the cha qi is strong. Kind of sweating and tingling here. Of course I’ve had 1.8L (just shy of .5 Gallons US) of this tea at this point so…. LOL!

10th – 90s – Might have been a touch to strong at 90s, but damned good and a welcome bit of bite for me. Wrapping my work day up now so I’ll resume after dinner. I’m sure there a few more steeps in the leaves. I’ll pick up with the 11th in my next note/review.

If I were going to introduce a newbie to sheng pu’erh this one would be a great choice! I’ve only had one other sheng that I felt I could do that with. I really wish that I could afford to have this sheng as an everyday tea.

Ok, letting the leaves air out for a little while definitely reduces the moss aroma revealing a really pronounced plum/sweet tobacco scent.
Giving it more leaf and more time in the teapot adds body and a very nice crisp finish (sort of a light tartness perhaps). The moss flavor is now more of a background note tasted more towards the back of the throat but it doesn’t last into the aftertaste. The taste of plum and stone fruit is front and center now and very good. No bitterness detected and if there is any astringency it is more of a tartness.
I don’t know if I’ll buy this one in quantity given the size of my current tea collection and the teas yet waiting in my wishlist, but if someone were brewing up a pot, I’d be the first one to the table.

The wet leaves smell of old moss. Oddly pleasant.
Tastes of moss, plum and earth. Not very strong, but pleasant. Next time I’ll brew it a bit stronger (more leaves, more time)

Moved this to my 300cc glass teapot just because the tou cha is so big (15g).
Same leaves from before and working in my second steeping. Still has reasonable thickness and a the lovely sweetness that has developed. May only get 2 more steeps at 300cc, but it’s a great shou pu’reh and given the number of steeps it’s given me I have no complaints