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“Tomorrow morning I’m flying to Orlando, FL to visit my folks, who live in Apopka. It will be a week of no real responsibilities. At least once a day Dad will ask me to show him something on the...” Read full tasting note
“I’ve been drinking this one over the course of the morning/afternoon as Try to get my tea order figured out and get some work done. Turns out with the Nina’s order and the Lupicia order that were...” Read full tasting note
“smells like a tieguanyin but with a deeper warm roundness to it. it steeped up very light and clear…. BUT. sigh. sometimes there is a but. my ‘but’ is this: i don’t like this for the same reason i...” Read full tasting note
“I felt like being adventurous today, so I picked a random puerh. While I’m no expert on sheng, I’ve had my fair share of cheap young sheng samples, and not many of them were palatable let alone...” Read full tasting note
Master Han picks wild tea trees in the Qianjiazhai region of the Mount Ailao National Forest Preserve, Yunnan. He takes the utmost care to “let the leaves speak,” pressing each batch of leaves differently to bring out their best, either as a looseleaf sheng, a black tea or a pressed cake or ball of tea.
He works his own land, but is part of the Dongsa farmers cooperative. The cooperative does not pool tea for bulk selling, but rather invests in equipment together so that each farmer can produce their own distinct products with a greater degree of ownership.
This unique 250g brick of tea presents a great opportunity to invest in Mast Han’s craft and age a young pu’er of his. Even with only a year of age, this tea is rich, smooth and complex. The first sips move between citrus and savory, like teff-flour based injera bread, or malted semolina. The sweet aftertaste is crisp like fresh napa cabbage, and the citrus moves towards lime. The darker lingering aftertaste hints at Holy Basil.
In later steepings the body continues to build and has the olive-oil smoothness that is characteristic of Master Han’s finest teas, a true reflection of the Qianjiazhai region. Compare this tea with Master Han’s black tea so that you can see the strong relation between them, especially in the olive oil notes. This sheng is like a fresh unfiltered olive oil- full of green spicy chlorophyl notes, while the black tea is smoother and sweeter like a filtered oil.
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This one came from Stephanie.
I checked the directions on Verdant’s website to be sure, and went with a 5-second rinse ~1-2 minutes after letting the kettle cool from boiling, then a 15-second steep.
I am happy to say it doesn’t have the earthy/fishy taste of the darker steeping pu’erhs I’ve tried. There is an earthy taste here, but it’s completely different – more like dry dirt. Actually a bit bizarre, but I’m not exactly turned off by it. I’ll have to keep sipping away to see what else comes of this tea. And resteep it, of course.
Thanks Stephanie! I really appreciate your helpfulness in the pu’erh department. Before you I didn’t even realize there were different types of pu’erh.
Definitely has a distinctive taste. Too complex for my blown-out American taste buds. Ate too many Doritos in my life to be able to taste more than one flavor at one time. Had a sample of this tea with my last Verdant order. Steeped it for about five seconds. Turned the water a bit green. Tasted ‘refreshing’ almost like a juice. Every other pu’er I’ve tasted suggested organic decay. This one was totally clean. There are probably pu’er subtypes that I should read up on. Anyway, it’s pretty good.
:) They are really bizarre at first! Kind of like drinking a tree :)