318 Tasting Notes
Brews a medium brown-orange. Flavors of wet wood, rocks, leather, and “old book smell.” Very thick and oily in the mouth with light bitterness. Later steeps are cleaner tasting with slight cocoa and red wine notes. Overall it’s ok. I’m not super wild about it, but I may buy a cake just because it’s hard to find a tea with so much aged character for so cheap. A good"daily drinker" aged cake.
Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Bitter, Cocoa, Leather, Paper, Red Wine, Wet Rocks, Wet wood
Preparation
From the Pu TTB:
Starts off super clean and refreshing. Moderate bitterness and florals. Notes of honey, rock sugar, and clorophyll. Actually more than moderate bitterness. Later steeps reveal hints of dry white wine and sandalwood. I enjoyed this one a lot, definitely among my top young sheng.
Flavors: Floral, Green, Honey, Mineral, White Wine
Preparation
From the Pu TTB:
Very clean for its age. Mineral, camphor, and cocoa notes. Slight apricot fruityness, fall leaves. I felt that this had a strong cha qi that I could feel as tingling across my forehead
Flavors: Apricot, Camphor, Cocoa, Dry Grass, Mineral
Preparation
Can’t believe I never reviewed this one, maybe Steepster ate my note? Anyways I’ve had this one since 2012, and while I have to say I think it was better fresh, it’s still a very enjoyable brew. Four years of Florida storage has turned the broth a nice yellow-orange. The most prominent feature of the taste is a strong, vegetal sugarcane sweetness. There’s some apricot, mushroom, and spice notes with just a little bitterness. Very thick mouthfeel and good lasting sweetness in the mouth.
Flavors: Apricot, Mushrooms, Spices, Sugarcane, Vegetal
Preparation
> Four years of Florida storage
Where in FL?
> I have to say I think it was better fresh
I have heard a theory that young sheng that is tasty goes stale after a few years and gets boring, because the fresh flowery stuff is gone but the mature tastes haven’t started to appear. This seems plausible to me: maybe that’s what’s going on with your tea?
Clearwater, near Tampa
That sounds plausible, it’s lost some of the desirable “fresh” traits but not yet gained much of an aged taste
Do you store your tea under A/C?
I have about convinced myself that my garage should be about perfect.
I store in A/C, but I take my tea boxes outside every once in a while. Are you in Florida too? I’m afraid that my garage would be too hot and humid
I’m over on the right coast, about halfway between Boca and West Palm. I was afraid the garage would bee too hot but have convinced myself otherwise. I’ve got it stacked on a shelf against a wall opposite the big door… it’s cooler there.
Tea hoarders….. ;P
I try Mr. M :P
You have had a good er, maybe not so good teacher….
Such modesty! I think you’re a silent force behind the North American pu revolution! We may be few, but we’re growing. :)
We are growing for sure, as well as our stash/ collections…
I thought the Qiu Yun was 2013, did Scott make this more than one year?
I think it was just 2012 but I’m not sure
Broad, course leaves loosely compressed. Strongly mineral and earthy taste with raisin, cocoa, and petrichor notes. No noticeable fermentation flavor left. The taste is thin and clean, not a thick and creamy sort of shou. Slight sweet/tart ginseng/dried cherry note. A really nice pu for the price!
Flavors: Cherry, Cocoa, Mineral, petrichor, Raisins
Preparation
can you link me to it?
thank you so much, i shall try it someday
Tightly rolled medium brown leaves. Brews and amber color. Has a fruity pineapple note as well as hints of roasted barley, pistachio, brown sugar, cannabis, cream, and cinnamon. A nice medium roasted oolong.
Flavors: Brown Sugar, Cannabis, Cinnamon, Cream, Nuts, Pineapple, Roasted Barley
Preparation
A classic dry stored cake, brews yellow-orange. Still slightly bitter with notes of kale, honey, and coriander. Slightly floral and citric.
Flavors: Coriander, Floral, Herbaceous, Honey, Kale, Lemon
Preparation
Brewing in my new Crimson Lotus Jian Shui pot!
http://imgur.com/a/OofIm
Spicy and bittersweet , notes of green wood, honey, tobacco, wet earth, and a unique cocoa powder note. It’s not cocoa in a “chocolate” sort of way, but it reminds me distinctly of baking with my mom. Not as green as you would expect for a 2013 tea. The mouthfeel is a bit thin, but I like the strong bitter character and the uniqueness of the flavor.
Flavors: Cocoa, Floral, Green Wood, Honey, petrichor, Tobacco
Preparation
A very light and clean shou. Prominent camphor-spice note with a mineral, pecan, and cocoa background. Very soft and velvety mouthfeel. Slight pencil shaving note.
Flavors: Camphor, Cocoa, Mineral, Pecan, Spices
