Haiwan Supreme Tea Ripe Pu’er Tea 2008

Drinking this one now. Warm malty with almost a mineral taste. Tart on the tongue dark in the brew. Almost wood like with a touch of vanilla. Front of cake has lots of golden buds. Dry smell almost like cocoa powder. Very nice for the afternoon tea.

Hello Everyone!

It’s been quite a while since since I’ve written a review. However, my wife & I have been enjoying shou puerh every morning since being introduced to it here on Steepster. Yes, we’ve come over to the Dark side! :-)

Courtesy of a very kind Steepster friend, I brewed this Haiwan shou Gongfu style: 15g / 6 oz. / 205° / 5-sec rinse / 20-min rest / 5, 5, 10, 10, 15, 30, 60, 120-sec for a total of 8 6-oz. infusions. Every two steeps combined in a sharing pitcher.

I understand that this shou is known by at least three different names: Supreme, Ultimate, and also perhaps Peerless.

Aroma: Faint cocoa or chocolate

This ripe pu-erh is dark yet light-bodied, velvety smooth, and somewhat rich w/o any astringency or bitterness. There were no off-putting flavors or aromas of any kind. However, there was a slight woody flavor at the end of the sip. I didn’t notice any cha qi. Additional infusions had the same “delicate” (my wife’s accurate & concise dsecription) flavor profile using longer brewing times.

Impression: I agree with mrmopar that this shou is better as an afternoon tea, as it’s not as robust and invigorating as is typically enjoyed with breakfast: https://steepster.com/mrmopar/posts/184618
tperez wrote an incisive review of the 2010 version: https://steepster.com/tperez/posts/337954#comments

Gong-Fu Brewing Method:
Please see my profile.

I’m really behind on tasting notes..
This is delicious, though not as delicious as the dragon spirit from Haiwan. Very smooth and creamy :)

I have been enjoying this lovely ripe puerh yesterday evening and this afternoon in my xiying fish teapot.

I’ve been savoring shus a lot in the past few weeks. A few years ago I was having stomach pains and I went into a Chinese tea shop (that was also a liquor store) in San Francisco. The saleswoman said puerh is the least acidic of teas. I agree, at least on the cooked side of puerh.

This brick seems to be lightly fermented and it’s definitely mellow. Tea liquor is a reddish brown and has elements of earth, cinnamon and cocoa powder with no discernible bitterness. Aroma has a slight tobacco but doesn’t really have the bitter tobacco taste you sometimes find. Some shus are sweet and velvety, this one isn’t, but it has a lot of nice qualities just the same and I am appreciating it a lot. It gives a nice, cozy feeling.

On the wish list it goes!

p.s. I gave some to my boyfriend last night for his opinion and he said: “it tastes like tea”. lolol.

I had this tea at work today. I wish I’d written better notes, but I didn’t.

I really enjoyed it. Rich, not quite sweet, a touch earthy. This tea was comforting, energizing, soothing.

I loved the aroma.

http://instagram.com/p/uqmrwogyWi/

7g 150ml gaiwan
rinse 5/5/10/10/15/15/20 to be cont
Actually i had it last night. only after 3rd steep leaves started to open up and it became incredibly dark burgundy. Smooth, clean taste of dried fruits. it has like walnut aftertaste( not bitter but something hard to explain). After drinking i felt some warmth in my throat. i’m going to continue tonight. it sets me in a great mood,very calm, and i slept like a baby(good baby who is not teething yet, no ear aches, just blissful)