28 Tasting Notes
Got this today. Was gonna wait to review till it rested a while and I had time to try some different brewing styles. The brick smelled so nice that I had to try it. Threw 4g in a 500ml thermos and let it brew while I did a few errands. Very thick sweet and clean. Very glad I bought a brick without sampling.
To be continued
Definitely “rich, smooth and mellow”. Super duper clean. Very balanced. No fishy, musty or camphor which are all things I avoid in a ripe. Unlike another reviewer I did not find this tea to be too strong and also didn’t notice any coffee flavors. This tea has all the flavors I like in a ripe like dark fruits, chocolate, warmer woods, sweetness etc but none of these flavors stands out particularly stronger than others and the tea doesn’t demand too much attention in order to enjoy. These qualities, along with the $.15/gram price and the obvious high quality and cleanliness, make this tea a perfect daily drinker for my particular taste buds.
Simply put, working within the $.20 to $.50 per gram range and averaging my overall sheng spending at $.35 per gram, this tea is wonderful. Getting a cake.
Also want to thank Tea Urchin for pricing their samples with such a low mark up.
PS May come back and add more notes at a future date.
Drinking 6.5g of this right now in my trusty 100ml porcelain xishi. Quick rinse. First steep tea is still opening up. Second ok. At the third steep this tea starts to give up some well rounded mellow mids and some really nice thick mouthfeel somewhere between soupy and oily. Nice mellow calming energy too. Fourth steep some balanced astringency and an almost barely just perceptible bitterness, mouthfeel really nice, feelin pretty glowy and liquidy. Fifth pretty similar except maybe a tad bit more astringency which is still balanced. Empty tummy is feelin good right now too. Sixth, bitterness developing slightly and also there is a tantalizing hint of sweetness got my attention. Seven, definitely getting some sweetness now but probably could have pushed this steep a bit more as the mouthfeel is a bit lighter.
Up to this point I would say that the session has been very comfortable and warm. Nice gentle progression. Empty tummy still feeling great and and also feeling warm and glowy but now with a bit more energy and lighter feeling in head. Went through 500ml water so far and now leaves are going in 500ml thermos with 100C water for at least half an hour. I’ll check back in here later.
So over an hr in thermos this tea is pouring pretty dark. Could have pushed tea more during first half of session. Enjoying it a lot though as I really like strong tea and greatly enjoy bitterness. I’m finding that the sweetness, bitterness and minerality are doing an amazing dance together as the tea moves past my palate and through my throat. They are all three very present and taking turns singing their spiralling song on my tast buds but none shouting over the others. Light astringency and very present dynamic huigan.
Ok Tea Urchin you have my attention. I’ve been enjoying your samples and look forward to trying more of your teas.
Preparation
Sampled this tea. It definitely offers a great depth of experience. Definitely very high quality. However, at this price and level of quality I would have preferred the tea to be less oxidized. It’s already pretty red and I feel like I already missed out on the lighter more delicate flavors it could have started with. Despite that, I would still buy a cake because it is a special tea and I enjoy it a lot and also it’s not high on my priority list of teas to buy. Worth sampling for sure.
Bought this mini cake with my first order of young sheng samples several months ago so that I would have a daily drinker and also a tea that I could drink without having to study or pay close attention to. Suprisingly enough, for a young plantation bush pu’er, it is very enjoyable. It may not have everything going for it but there is absolutely nothing wrong or off about it. It has never failed to deliver an easy going enjoyable session. It is great for letting go and turning off when I may be taking myself or my tea drinking too seriously. When expectations are minimized it opens up a lot of space for enjoyment and gratitude.
“The great way is not difficult for those who have no preferences” -Zen 3rd Patriarch
Wouldn’t normally enjoy singin’ that corner baggie blues but this Stirling is music to my taste buds.
I kinda like broken leaf anyways for the extra minerality and because the gong fu session gets goin full steam right away.
Keep it comin’ Bitterleaf. Got any other bottom bag material?
Update: I’ve drank through about 75g of this tea over the last 6+ months and still find it quite enjoyable. Will be ordering more for this coming summer and having it in my rotation as maybe not a daily but two or three times a weekly drinker.
Being a tea that is the left over bottom of the bag material gives it a unique mix of materials and qualities. Lots of buds (especially smaller buds), some bits of huang pian, broken leaf, and a higher than normal amount of beat up and oxidized bud and leaf. I wouldn’t say I prefer a more oxidized young raw but I do enjoy them for variety. These qualities combine to give a richness to the tea that could almost border on muddy but does stay pretty clear and crisp.
Good bitterness when pushed and good balance of more bitter than astringent (just how I like it) with a not overpowering sweetness. Nice hui gan, good texture, many steeps.
I recommend breaking into this choco style brick the way you would any normal brick or cake. The compression is not too heavy. I find that if I try to break off a square piece I end up making even more dust and broken leaf and that these bricks don’t seem to like to break at the perforation anyways.
Was sent this tea from CLT as a gift to make up for a booboo that happened with an order. Otherwise would probably not have tried this tea. Thanks Glen and Lamu.
I drank this at least 10 days ago. I didn’t want to write about it right away because it was a special experience and wanted to make sure that this review imparts the essence of the experience in some way and not just describe the tea in the usual quantitative/qualitative way.
What this tea is is a taste of what tea would be like for the first time. A taste of what someone who has never been exposed to tea would experience during their first tea session. Imagine possessing all the adoration and love for tea that you have now but with a palate that has become a clean slate, and a taste vocabulary/memory that has also been wiped clean.
CLT said they broke this tea up into single sessions so that as many people could experience it as possible. I get it.
