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Gongfu brewed in my shiboridashi. The Huron Te Ji in cake form is stronger than the loose leaf variety. I would say it has more of the medium range of how shou goes. The tea yields a rich mellow brew with a clean mineral taste to it. Highly recommended as this is the type of shou that deserves to be set aside for the times when you can relax and focus upon the tea and only the tea.

Gongfu brewed in my shiboridashi. Without a doubt Jim has done it again when it comes to producing private label puerh cakes that break expectations for their price range. A darker level fermentation compared to must lighter shous today. A smooth brew with a malty taste that while neither bitter nor sweet is leaning slightly to the sweet side.

This one is interesting as your brewing method determines if it comes off more as a green tea or young sheng puerh. Brewed in either a mug infuser or grandpa style in a chawan, it comes off as a decent green tea. Brewed gongfu style in a shiboridashi and it comes off as a more mild young sheng puerh.

Overall a decent green puerh. Can easily get on the harsh side if brewed gongfu style if you are not careful. If you are sensitive to sheng puerh I recommend brewing it grandpa style which leads to a more enjoyable experience in my opinion.

Brewed with short influsions in my shiboridashi. I do not drink many shengs as I am sensitive to their harshness, but this one is very safe on the stomach. The tea comes out in the middle between bitter and sweet. Overall the tea comes out light and mild. It also has a nice relaxing qi to it.

I think the best way to describe Old Reliable is that it is a “generic shou puerh” in the best possible sense. Basically a good quality everyday puerh that I think is summed up in its name of Old Reliable house blend. A simple puerh for when you just want a decent plain puerh to enjoy.

Shiboridashi brewed gongfu style. The main things that stand out is that it is smooth enough to have a thicker feel in your mouth. The tea is also on the sweet side (for a shou) that goes along nicely with the texture. This is not a casual brewing tea. If you use more casual style brewing it does not come off as that impressive. So your care in brewing is literally the make or break factor for this tea.

I bought this tea more out of curiosity about Irish tea for two main reasons. First because I am part Irish and second because I know that as a nation the Irish consume even more tea than the British. Bary’s Tea was not kidding when they said that they used only teas from the top few CTC tea factories as this was the fist time that I found a CTC tea that was enjoyable and not on the bitter side when drank straight, and this is coming from guy that drinks almost exclusively whole leaf loose Chinese teas. This tea is strong but smooth and stops short of bitter. This tea literally changed my mind about CTC processing as I now realize that better quality teas are possible, especially when mixed with skillful blending. I have a feeling this will not be the last box that I buy of Barry’s teabags

Gongfu brewed in my shiboridashi. Without a doubt this is a good quality nugget puerh, but it is also more expensive due to the more elaborate “gift tea” packaging. This nugget puerh is on the lighter side but it still has expected smooth sweet mellow taste of one. This is also a very clean tea without any earthiness to it.

Gongfu brewed in my shiboridashi. The Huron Te Ji is the strongest shou puerh that I have encountered from Whispering Pines to date in a good way but still in the light medium range of how shou goes. Huron Te Ji has a sweeter mellow taste that is more of a clean mineral taste than earthy. I am looking forward to trying this again in cake form when they get released as I think the cake versions generally taste better than the loose leaf.