1758 Tasting Notes
This tea is mildly astringent with a fairly strong roasted barley taste. At least that is the closest to an accurate description I can give it. Its not bad and not great in my book. I am sure however that some people would absolutely love it.
I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.
Flavors: Roasted Barley
Preparation
I brewed this again today, radically different from last time. This time I used 160 degree water and gave it much less time. It is noticeably improved. It is still not incredible though as peach oolong should be. The peach flavor is improved steeped like this. There is no longer any bitterness. There is still a touch of sourness, but no longer so much that I wouldn’t want to drink this tea. At least I didn’t waste my money as I thought.
I brewed this one time in an 18oz teapot with 160 degree water and 2.5 tsp leaf for 1 min 15 sec.
Flavors: Peach
Preparation
The early steeps of this tea were quite strong. There were notes of leather, if that is the best description. There was quite a lot of fermentation flavor. Much more than in the 2013 tea I drank last night. The fermentation flavor did not last past the third steep and I got to the flavors beneath it. There were sweet flavors in later steeps, even berry notes. I did add sugar which I suspect accentuated these notes. They, however weren’t there in the first three steeps where I also added sugar. I don’t think it was the sugar. There appeared to be an incredibly small amount of white mold on this tea cake, barely perceptible. A photo of this cake extremely exaggerated this feature. I am not actually sure this white on the cake was mold and it was only on one side and only on the outside from what I can tell. This tea was not especially great and not especially terrible. I do suspect that it was not a real Banzhang cake like Berylleb said. I didn’t believe it to be a Banzhang cake when I bought it as it was only around $24.99 or so.
I brewed this six times in a 220ml gaiwan with 8.5g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 10 sec, 5 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, and 30 sec. Had I wanted to continue the tea session I would guess there were about 2 to 4 steeps left in the tea but I have to get up for work tomorrow and besides, it wasn’t good enough to steep more than six times anyway.
Flavors: Earth, Leather, Sweet
Preparation
Here are photos of the cake. What appears to be a lage amount of mold on one side is greatly exaggerated. In reality there is a small amount, in two or three places of white on the cake. I am not convinced for sure it is mold.
http://instagram.com/p/velANezDW4/?modal=true
http://instagram.com/p/velEoLTDXX/?modal=true
http://instagram.com/p/veku5ETDU2/?modal=true
it looks like mold to me . you can brush it off. also i wouldnt put the same paper wrapper on since traces of mold are on a paper. im sorry you got this, but on a teachat they say its not that bad if you can brush it off. doesnt look too bad to me. i’m checking my cakes when i get them.
it doesn’t necessarily mean that. badly fermented pu’erh doesn’t have to be moldy and moldy pu’erh doesn’t have to be badly fermented.
I have sent a copy of the photo to Berylleb. Hopefully they will give me a refund. I have already given them feedback so it is too late to give them negative feedback or threaten such.
This is an excellent tea, very tasty. The steepster write up says leather and stonefruits as to notes. I won’t substantially disagree although the note they mean as leather I might have described differently. I suppose leather is as good a description as any though. I brewed this tea western style because I don’t have time for gongfu sessions before work in the morning. It is still quite good.
I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 6.4g leaf and boiling water for 30 sec.
Flavors: Leather, Stonefruit
Preparation
The flavor profile of this tea is quite good, sweet and fragrant. The aroma of the dry leaves is positively enticing, it is incredible. Sometimes Jasmine Tea smells far better than it tastes. This one tastes nearly as good as it aroma suggests. I bought a one ounce sample of this and may buy more with my next order, or at least the next time Mandala has a sale.
I brewed this once in an 18 oz teapot with 2.25 tsp leaf and 175 degree water for 1 min.
Flavors: Jasmine
Preparation
This tea, obtained from Yunnan Sourcing USA, is an excellent ripe puerh. It seems far more aged than a 2013 tea has a right to be. It has lost a considerable amount of fermentation flavor. There was a little fermentation flavor in the first three steeps, then pretty much none. While I was tired and not paying attention to the specifics it was sweet with little or no bitterness. It had plenty of complex notes, I just wasn’t paying attention to the specifics. While I would not use the phrase tea drunk, this tea had a nice relaxing effect on me. I have heard that Wei Zui Yan means the strongest taste. This tea was not horribly strong, probably because it was better aged than it had a right to be at only a year old. This tea was a pleasant surprise. I expected it to be good, I expected quality. It surpassed most 2013 teas I have ever drank. It was damn good.
I brewed this six times in a 207ml Taiwan Clay Teapot with 8.6g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 10 sec, 5 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, and 30 sec. I would have steeped it at least two or three more times but I have to be up for work tomorrow morning. I certainly think it had four or more steeps left to it.
Flavors: Sweet
Preparation
I am just starting out in puer, actually in tea in general. Would you think this would be a good starter into puers?
Wei Zui Yan means strongest taste. Lots of leeway in the puer world. Good starter shu would be a Menghai 7572 or a Green miracle from Yunnan Sourcing or Mandala’s Phatty cake. Sheng an Wu Liang from Yunnan Sourcing or one of Crimson Lotus’s planet series or a White2tea Daily drinker could be a good start.
This is an incredible product. I bought it a while ago but just tried it out today. I heated water to prime the thermos to be cleaned and poured out the water. I then heated water again and poured it in the 64 oz thermos. I put 4 tsp of smartsoak in initially but some of this bubbled off so I added two more teaspoons. In only seconds I could see my tea stained thermos interior was white colored again. I let it soak for twenty minutes as suggested. I then decided to try the same solution on a glazed teapot and strainer. I let that soak for 30 minutes. It did a pretty good job on this reusing the solution, making it sparkle too. The only thing it did not do was get all the tiny bits of encrusted tea off the strainer. It did make it sparkle though. I am glad I bought the large size of this and will definitely buy more when I run out. This stuff is worth every penny it costs.
Brewed this western style this morning not even remembering it was a loose puerh. It is quite tasty and very slightly bitter. This would be excellent brewed Asian style but I mistakenly thought it a green. I forgot what I had. I am getting the note of cedar mentioned in the tea write up. I am also getting the note of honeysuckle. Overall this is an excellent tea.
I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 4 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 1 min.
Flavors: Cedar, Honeysuckle
Preparation
Picked this one tonight because it is another night when I am avoiding caffeine. What I didn’t know about this is the ingredient list. When I bought it they didn’t list it. Now they do. It includes Rooibos, Rosehip Peels, Hibiscus, Apple Pieces, and essences of strawberry, Pawpaw, Apricot and Cream. It is very tasty. The notes of Strawberry and Cream are the most prominent flavors. I still don’t know what Pawpaw is, sounds like something you would give your dog. I suspect it is a tropical fruit. It don’t know what it tastes like to identify a note. The other ingredients are less prominent in the teas flavor profile. I would describe the overall flavor profile of this tea as sweet and creamy. I got a variety of excellent teas from the EBay seller Kisarwa, an seller out of Germany.
I brewed this tea once in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 5 min.
Flavors: Cream, Strawberry
Preparation
Pawpaws…I think they’re kind of sweet and squishy like dates. (Growing up, there’d always be an aunt who’d bring something odd like persimmon or gooseberry or pawpaw cobbler to the family reunion.)
This is an incredible tea. It is sweet with notes of honey. It is slightly floral with light vegetal notes. By processing technique it is green tea. It shares many characteristics with white tea, hence the contradictory name. Its leaves are long and flat and look like white tea. The tea broth is very light colored, almost clear, much like a white tea. This tea is said to be high in theanine, the substance in tea that relaxes you. This is expensive tea, $50 for 100g. This is without a doubt the best green tea I have ever drank.
Flavors: Floral, Honey