This is the first puerh I’ve gotten into from my Farmerleaf order. I was very pleasantly surprised by this. It’s really dirt cheap, coming in at about $0.06/g if you buy a 357g cake. The aroma off the dry leaves, which looked nice and green with some silver strands in there as well, was sweet and floral. After a rinse, I smelled mostly tobacco, and a green floral note, maybe with a bit of honey.
This tea is a light one – maybe the best illustration I’ve seen thus far of the differing characteristics of Autumn vs. Spring puerh. It’s got an airy sweetness to it – with boiling water, it was a bit grassy and vegetal. With 200F water, that flavor was more of a clean corn sweetness (it still vexes me that I can’t list that as a flavor on Steepster). The finish, bleeding into a slightly lasting aftertaste, is a rush of aromatic floral taste. Not sure what kind of floral it is – maybe honeysuckle? There’s also a barely tangible fruity undertone present throughout most of the session – it came and went, and I couldn’t pin it down. Probably the fruitiness which is often part of Jingmai teas. It has a surprising longevity to it, going 15 or 16 steeps. Despite the light and crisp, almost green tea-ish flavors, it does leave a bit of a lightly oiled feel in the mouth, especially in the earlier steeps.
I really need to do something to get my different floral flavors down – anybody have any suggestions? Should I go to a florist and just smell all the flowers, taking notes like a weirdo? Should I chew on them? Incense? Oils? Anybody have any experience with this? I guess it sounds a little crazy. I can tell that different floral flavors are different, but can’t place them due to lack of experience.
Anyways, regarding this tea – It’s a great value for a light daily drinker. After seeing that this is indeed a quality tea, I’m really looking forward to getting into the rest of my Farmerleaf order.
Flavors: Floral, Fruity, Grass, Nectar, Sweet, Vegetal
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you’re like me. I have rose & floral in my repertoire.. ha
i just did a quick google & you can get it for wine & spirits.. but not flowers..? I bet theres some way to buy a kit somewhere
I meant you can get a ‘masters aroma kit’.. i saw a wine one with 88 different wines to smell. that with flowers would be cool
Mine arrived yesterday. I stuck them in storage to nap, and I’ll be digging into them soon.
Rasseru – I’ve seen those before. The wine ones can run a few hundred dollars if I recall though! o.o
Haveteawilltravel – Awesome! :D Mine have been here around two weeks now.
I can’t wait to try these, but like Haveteawilltravel, mine just arrived so they’re resting. I also relate to the challenge of placing floral flavors and scents, particularly because they can trigger migraines for me so I avoid them. But I’d definitely like to be able to identify them while tasting, since it’s usually subtle enough for me in tea.
Thanks for taking notes, definitely making me look forward to trying this even more!
I have bought the 2015 version. When I first tasted it, it was rather bland. But when I re-tasted it after one year, to my surprise, it has transformed to a fruity, pineapple like taste. So I bought 2 mini cake of the 2016 version and kept it for future drink.
Awesome! They’re certainly priced in a way which makes it easy to pick up a couple to hang on to.
you’re like me. I have rose & floral in my repertoire.. ha
i just did a quick google & you can get it for wine & spirits.. but not flowers..? I bet theres some way to buy a kit somewhere
I meant you can get a ‘masters aroma kit’.. i saw a wine one with 88 different wines to smell. that with flowers would be cool
Mine arrived yesterday. I stuck them in storage to nap, and I’ll be digging into them soon.
Rasseru – I’ve seen those before. The wine ones can run a few hundred dollars if I recall though! o.o
Haveteawilltravel – Awesome! :D Mine have been here around two weeks now.
I can’t wait to try these, but like Haveteawilltravel, mine just arrived so they’re resting. I also relate to the challenge of placing floral flavors and scents, particularly because they can trigger migraines for me so I avoid them. But I’d definitely like to be able to identify them while tasting, since it’s usually subtle enough for me in tea.
Thanks for taking notes, definitely making me look forward to trying this even more!
I have bought the 2015 version. When I first tasted it, it was rather bland. But when I re-tasted it after one year, to my surprise, it has transformed to a fruity, pineapple like taste. So I bought 2 mini cake of the 2016 version and kept it for future drink.
Awesome! They’re certainly priced in a way which makes it easy to pick up a couple to hang on to.