Yunnan Pu Erh Gold

I’ve been exploring puerh teas for a year or so now, and have come to find that the sheng (green or raw) type, initially feared and hated, is now my preference. Raw stuff is a work in progress, full of intrigue and complexity, although often with some bitterness and astringency. Indeed, a sheng which is too mellow early-on may not have enough ‘oomph’ to morph, with age, into something uniquely splendid.

This Yunnan Pu Erh Gold tea is not a sheng. It is a shu (ripe) puerh. Think “shu is through” (fermenting). And what’s more, it’s a shu which has been engineered for the Western palate and gaze: gussied up in gold and toned down in taste, with most of the funky horse stable quality long gone. A year ago, this would have pleased me. Now, I find it plainly boring (although amazingly smooth) like a nondescript, albeit very woody, black tea. Lately, I’m apt to add milk and sugar to hot shu puerh or to have it iced in the afternoon. Really, it’s good, rich, dark, earthy! And I guess it should be considered an accomplishment, because “richly-flavored yet smooth” seems to be the sought-after accolade for a shu puerh.

“Excellent of it’s kind,” rating objectively here. And off goes the rest of my sample, into the TTB, so others can experience the “Perfect Shu.”

I want to encourage others to try sheng (raw/green) puerhs. Beg, borrow or swap, or buy the readily available sample sizes, and don’t start with a banzhang (too strong). PuerShop and JasEtea ship from within the US. YunnanSourcing and others ship all over from China. Use less leaf and cooler water, so the taste won’t shock, in brewing tiny portions. If you don’t like it (yet), stick it in an unglazed clay jar, paper bag or cardboard box (NOT foil or plastic; this tea wants a bit of air) and shove it to the back of the cupboard to age. Try it again in a year or 6 months. I’ve even bought a few small (100 to 200 gram) cakes of compressed sheng puerh, so that even a cranky old crone like me can anticipate turning 75 … ;)

Based on the fact that I purchased more pu erh (sheng) as well as my 1st pu erh knife today and Jenn-cha’s own pu erh tasting note I decided that it was time to just break down and try this.

Maestro Collection: Set 2, Tea #4

I completely disregarded the suggested steeping parameters and used the one in the Editors Note.

3 oz cup.

The raw leaf looks nothing like the sheng or shu I’ve seen before- it looks more like Yunnan Golden Curls than Pu Erh… and smells as such. The aroma is very light w/ an even lighter earthy note.

Wow… um… yeah… the rinse is a very light pinky orangy color. Maybe my water wasn’t hot enough? That likelyhood increases when I see my 1st infusion. The liquor is back to being exactly what I expected, a rather dark brown- although by far not the darkest I’ve seen, w/ a reddish hue.

The aroma of the tea is much like that of the raw leaf (which wet is now the color of the liquor), although a bit stronger- both in the smoothness and earthyness.

No surprises here. The flavor is very sweet and smooth with the faintest hint of earthyness. Definitely not what I’d expect from a shu- if this is indeed a shu.

Thanks to Schoolbus39 for sending this sample. This is my first tea from Adagio and my first golden Pu-Erh that wasn’t in a blend. I am very much a fan of the darker Pu-Erhs. Out of the can a nice bright brownish/orange color. 1st steep 3 minutes. Drinking this while doing the dishes I thought…nice earthy but not quite as smooth as say an Imperial Pu-Erh. It’s not as full bodied either.
Second infusion a little bit darker, and smoother. I think my favorite aspect of this Pu-Erh is that it 4 steeps until it took on the mushroomy flavor on the 5th steep. In my opinion once you hit that mark your Pu-erh is done. I like this tea a lot….however I don’t see in shelling out fifty bucks for 3.2oz as it says on the website, and I would rather pay half that for my favorite Imperial Pu-Erh for the same amount of tea. For being my first Adagio selection A+

Compared to my other shu pu-erh from adagio this one is a lot more interesting. Sweeter and lighter in the first steep (after rinse) but still rich and complex, a slight brown sugar quality. This pu-erh also does not smell like rot but instead has a sweeter mustier smell. Further steepings are more of the same and the leaves do not evolve too much. Last steep was ten minutes and there was no bitterness at all. Not a bad pu-erh but I’m still not a huge fan of shu pu-erh

This is my first pu erh ever. Straighter, chocolate-brown leaves that smell very fermented — it’s a sour, fishy scent, almost like when you open a can of tuna. The smell of the leaves left much to be desired. But I’ll try everything once.

Liquor loses the sour scent of the leaves, and the fishiness is much less pronounced. There’s a graininess there now that reminds me of tuna-noodle casserole. Taste has none of the fishiness, but instead a grainy, earthy taste that is slightly woody. An interesting tasting tea, but not something I’d drink on a regular basis.

A yummy tea very earthy. You can tell this tea has in fact been aged. I will be drinking more.

A very ancient and fish like smell. I like it though. Taste is very smooth and it is a very pretty color.

Incredibly expensive tea, not worth the money. You can find better same/better quality for a LOT less if you look in the right places.

Nose and Color: Very strong fermented smell. Vibrant reddish black color. dirt, earthy smell.

Tasting: nice wood notes
-dirt component
-earthy
-surprisingly smooth finish

http://www.indieteas.com/home/2010/4/14/tea-review-17-adagios-yunnan-pu-erh-gold.html

I really enjoyed drinking this, but I do not think I would purchase a larger size. It is smooth and sweet, and doesn’t taste as “earthy” as I have gotten used to puerhs tasting. It also can be steeped pretty much a bazillion times like others of its type if you do very short infusions. But overall, I think there is better out there for the price. Recommended because it was a quite enjoyable sample.