289 Tasting Notes

82

This is a lightly fermented safely tasty shu. Just a slight touch of fishiness, which I actually like in this tea. It is quite smooth, with light body, and a hefty caffeine kick! Kind of a safe shu. Hard not to like, though I enjoy bolder teas.

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85
drank Jing Mai 2012 Spring by Tea Urchin
289 tasting notes

Another lovely tea from Tea Urchin. The first three steeps were quite bitter and acidic, and the flavor seemed kind of flat. But on the fourth, it opened up. Just a little fruitiness and honey sweetness. It held up very well to a good 10 infusions before turning a bit bitter again. The energy is strong and stable, not too flighty. For those of us getting into the pu erh thing, I think we are trying to guess about whether a tea like this will age well, lose the bitterness, and evolve into something wonderful. So it is a bit of a gamble when we lack the experience to tell what flavors will develop into. I think I am going to take a chance on this one and order a cake. At the very least, like all teas I’ve tried from Tea Urchin, it wreaks of high quality. In another few years, at least, I will hopefully see how this one ages and add it to my experience!

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91

This is my fourth tea sample from Tea Urchin. The only problem I’m having is that they are all so good I want to order a cake of everything I’ve tried! Pu erh is an expensive passion. This was another high quality tea with a nice feel to it. It is definitely on the more mellow side and seems to already be exhibiting some signs of aging. Got a good number of steeps, each honey colored medium bodied with not much bitterness and some honey like sweetness. The cha qi was solid but not overpowering. Another solid tea from a great company. An added plus – the wrapper is adorable!

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drank Lao Man E 2013 Spring by Tea Urchin
289 tasting notes

Wow, talk about bitter! This tea is not for the faint of heart. It is incredibly bitter, purposely made to be so. Will this bitterness translate into a well aged pu erh? Perhaps! But I would not drink it again for at least another few years. It does, however, have staying power, lasting a god number of infusions, and you can just tell that this is a quality tea. It has a nice feel to it, possesses medium body, and so far is not terribly stimulating. I’m not sure whether I want to buy a cake and age it, but I am considering it! I am not going to rank it because I just wouldn’t know how to.

mrmopar

Yeah those young shengs can be brutal! Lao Man E and Mang Fei as well as some Bulangs are POTENT!!!

Rich

Indeed. So how does one decide whether to take the chance and purchase a cake like this for aging? I feel like it has a lot of substance. But it’s hard to know without experience what a tea like this will turn into.

mrmopar

I would be hard pressed to say on this one Rich. I am still learning the sheng thing as it has just been a year or so since I have found ones I like.

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91

A lovely tea acquired from Tea Urchin. It has a touch of fruitiness, the good kind of bitterness, and a well balanced young pu erh flavor that held up well to a good number of steepings. It seems like it would have the potential to age well, it just has that feel to it, though I suppose one never knows. The cha qi was really different, it wasn’t overly stimulating but rather facilitated a calm alertness. The only downside is the price – a cake comes in at just over $100. If it were half that, I’d buy it in a heartbeat. The sample came as a freebie with a recent order.

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85
drank Lang He 2010 Yu pin by Tea Urchin
289 tasting notes

This is my first tea from Tea Urchin. I was very excited to try some teas from them, the company has a nice feel to it. Their wrappers are really fun (I know, don’t judge a book by its cover or a pu by its wrapper. Isn’t that how the saying goes?) Their teas are a bit on the more expensive side, so I was hoping for high quality in return. This particular tea is not one of their own, but rather is from the Langhe factory. This ripe pu erh didn’t disappoint. I’m going to have a hard time going back to Menghai ripes after this one. It is a exceedingly smooth tea. Rich, medium bodied, and not a hint of bitterness or any off flavors. It is just a fine tea! Creamy, very slightly woodsy, and clean. I have several other Tea Urchin samples I will review in the weeks ahead. But this is surely a good start.

mrmopar

+1 Good people.

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86

A very pleasant smooth and mellow medium-heavy shu. When mrmopar gives a 100, one takes notice! So I bought a cake based on his and the other reviews. I liked it quite a bit, but maybe not quite as much as others. It goes down easy. I did not find much complexity in the flavor, but it is quite soothing.

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90

A nice mature full flavored ripe tea, with somewhat light body. It has a very good flavor, a bit woodsy and mushroomy, and it just tastes ‘old’ though I’m not even sure myself what that means. Definitely worth trying at least a sample to see what you’re in for, since the price is somewhat steep.

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89

A solid little cake. Nice full body, deep fermented taste. A touch of bitterness disappears after a few infusions. I have the 2009 and 2010 versions as well, only tried the 2009 so far and it is at least as good. It seems like these are pretty dependable cakes for a good price. Lots of infusions so it is a good deal. I got mine from tuocha.com.

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25

Tried this one since it was just 4 bucks on sale. I guess you get what you pay for. The tea smelled nice. But the leaves are kind of chopped up, leading to a bitter drinking experience. And not in the good way. The flavor was not very pleasant. I would not recommend it even for the low price.

mrmopar

You need to put this one up for a while. Any new “Raw” sheng can be very bitter and very astringent, It makes my stomach hurt sometimes also. This will be a “different” tea in 5 to 10 years. I always buy new sheng to put up and age a while.

Rich

Perhaps, I guess we shall see! But I’ve tried young sheng before, and this just tasted bad to me.

mrmopar

I got ya. I may have to get one out and get into it this weekend.

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