Fengqing Paddy Flavor Raw Pu-erh Cake Tea 2006

I must now confess that the world Sheng Puer remains a mystery to me and I am a mere neophyte. I think my initial idea of what Sheng Puer is was quite misguided, as my first Sheng Puer experience was with Moonlight White from Jingmai, and the next few I had were equally sweet and mellow types. I had heard people mention things about Sheng Puer being bitter and wondered what the fuss was about since all the ones I had had were very sweet.

Fast forward to the Raw Puer sampler from Mandala tea I received the other day and I finally realized what people were talking about, but look for more on that on my other reviews, this one is about the Fengqing 2006 cake from Teavivre.

It may well be that one of the primary appeals of Sheng Puer is that the sip starts subtle, becomes somewhat bitter (or quite a bit), then recedes to a sweet finish. I don’t personally enjoy bitter flavors, so I would typically not choose to drink a bitter tea more than one time to evaluate it. With Sheng Puer, though, it is not all bitter, so the bitterness presence adds some interesting contrast with the rest of the flavors. Maybe the finish wouldn’t be so sweet if not for that bitterness mid-sip? Perhaps there is a benefit to having that contrast. It makes for a more dynamic experience as opposed to teas that are just naturally sweet throughout (though you won’t hear me complain about those). ;3

This Fengqing Puer has a sweet start, and if you brew it light enough, the bitterness mid-sip is not all that detectable, if at all, but you have to use very quick infusions to achieve this. The sweetness is a syrupy kind of sweetness, but not a thick one, something like light agave nectar. There are little notes of camphor and spice in the aroma, especially as it cools. There’s a hint of smokiness at the end of a sip, but it is subtle. I really enjoyed this tea in later steepings, where it became more more sweet with delicate notes of bamboo and hardly any trace of earthy or bitter flavors, but to achieve this I did flash infusions in my gaiwan, only steeping it for 5-10 seconds each time. I only used 3 grams of leaf for a 100ml gaiwan, which is less than some puer drinkers like to use, but I find if I use more it is quite bitter to me.

First, I want to thank Angel at Teavivre for asking me to be part of the tasting activity program. I received five beautiful pu’erh sheng samples today, and I am happy to start reviewing them.

The care put in those samples is amazing. The leaves from this cake chunk are beautifully separated, with very minimum breakage.

Using 8g for 5oz yixing clay pot.

It’s undeniable, the first steeps provide a very floral mouthfeel, nice bouquet. It’s crisp and bright with a light astringency that already tingles my tongue.

The smell of the wet leaf is so fragrant and beautiful. Autumn leaves and hay. Love that humid and mossy scent.

Later steeps bring a certain sweetness. It’s juicy and fruity. I get apples and grapes. It’s delicious.

The ending of the sip is all about grapefruit for me, that light bitterness you find in the Ruby Red variety.

It’s not offensive, but it’s there and it gives a lot of character to this lovely sheng. This will steep forever, I can tell. I might cold brew it before the leaves are all spent.

I am very grateful for this wonderful experience.

Thanks again Angel for allowing me to try this raw pu’erh.

EDT: Oh, and as the lovely Sarsonator pointed out, I forgot the pic! Here it is:

http://instagram.com/p/rnFb65Qh-Z/

It is so warm! The high temperature today was almost eighty degrees, it has gone from early spring to early summer. Hopefully it was just a nice warm spell and we get back to nice spring weather, or this is Midwest spring weather and I am still clinging to my days in the Northeast. One good thing about this warmth is the promise of storms tonight, I have been stalking the radar and have seen some massive Supercells out in the plains. Also, it seems overnight all the plants have exploded into full green and bloom. Spring is such an exciting season.

Today’s Teavivre tea is Fengqing Paddy Flavor Raw Pu-erh Cake Tea 2006, a Pu-erh who is coming up on its tenth birthday! Produced in Fengqing, Yunnan from 30-40 year old Arbor Trees, made from Spring (Ming Qian or Chun Jian) harvested leaves and Autumn (Gu Hua or Paddy Flower) Leaves. Each season’s leaves bringing its own unique aroma to the mix. And what an aroma it is! The aroma is strong, like old hay and a slight smoky aroma that fades to old flowers. It has an aroma that reminds me of late summer heat and the sweetness of decaying vegetation.

After the initial rinse and short steep time, the aroma of the wet leaves retains their old flowers and old hay aroma with a hint of barnyard. The liquid, however, smells very sweet and floral, to the point of being heady. There is a finish of smokiness. It seems like the leaves are autumn and the liquid is spring time, a very fascinating transition.

Teavivre says this tea can hold out for fourteen steeps, and I decided to make a day of it. The first steep starts off a bit smoky and a bit metallic, a bit of old hay and a bit of flowers. There are certainly flavors presents but they are faint with a promise of future strength. The mouthfeel is sharp and certainly the most distinct thing about the first steep.

The aroma of the second steep has one of the most complex blend of notes I have ever encountered in a tea. There are notes of anise, faint smoke, spicebush, copper, and crepe myrtle…and all of the notes work really well together. So, this is fascinating, the initial taste is at first metallic and faintly floral, this fades to a sharply bitter taste similar to when you swallow a pill poorly and get that residue in your mouth. This immediately causes a salivary response causing my mouth to flood with sweetness, just like a mouthful of honeysuckle nectar. As the tea cools (like really cools, I left the room and came back to a tiny cup of cold tea) the bitterness has vanished completely and replaced by a pine resin taste. It is really a fascinating experience.

For the third steeping the aroma is very faint pine smoke with anise and Sweet Annie and spicebush. The aroma of this tea keeps transitioning between different flowers and I love it! The taste starts out sweet, like sucking on a piece straw, like the previous steep there is (this time much subdued) bitterness then an explosion of sweetness that lingers for quite a while.

The fourth steep does not have much of a story, the aroma is identical to the previous steep. The taste is all flowers and sweetness, starting with spring time flowers and flowing into honey with a finish of hay. The mouthfeel is not at all sharp anymore, just smoothness.

Steep number six had a pungent surprise for me, the barnyard aroma from the wet leaves has finally showed up in the aroma of the liquid. The taste is a touch bitter with the barnyard aspect, think old hay and the faintest hint of manure. It is like mouth-breathing in farm country, not the most unpleasant experience but certainly not a favorite one.

For steep number seven and eight, I noticed no difference so they are getting lumped together. The aroma has only a barest hint of the pungent at the finish, the rest is all hay and flowers, specifically crepe myrtles, it is quite sweet. The taste is very sweet, blending flower nectar and honey with strong floral qualities. The finish has a bit of a fermented taste, similar to Grecian Honeyed Wine (basically white wine mixed with honey and left to sit for a week) leaving a honey aftertaste.

Steeps nine through fourteen are a fascinating journey of dwindling tea presence. The aroma starts off much like the previous steep, but slowly fades in intensity until there is none left. The taste is much the same, starting out with honey, hay, and flowers and slowly fading to honey and finally a ghost of flowers. This tea was really fascinating, I will not say it is my favorite ever (I am still pretty new to Raw Pu-erh in general) but I loved the journey I went on with this tea, especially with the aroma of some of my favorite flowers. It was like spring flowers and autumn hay and pastoral things.

For LOTS of photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/04/teavivre-fengqing-paddy-flavor-raw-pu.html

Has a grassy and slight earthy flavour. Quite bitter when over-steeped. I recommend halving the recommended steep time for western style brewing.