2007 Qiao Jun "Huang Zhi" shou puerh

I really enjoy the aroma: exquisite deep mushroom, rotting wood, mineral, humid moss. With each steep I put my hand over my cup and then took in the aroma, the highlight of this tea, along with its grounding qi.

Also the texture at its best: oily, almost syrupy, smooths out into velvet.

Flavors transform from:
1. Initial smoky and burnt, strong edge
2. Wet moss and leaves
3. Musty and moldy leather boots in the Amazon jungle: “hongeado” in Spanish.

Very calming, grounding, contemplative, steady.

Didn’t see this as an everyday tea. A tea to get excited about drinking on a cold autumn day, rainy, cloudy, thinking deep thoughts, reflecting, reading poetry, musing.

Flattened out at 7 steeps and maxed out at 10 steeps (using 5 grams in 75 ml).

This was my first Huangpian blended shue which was refreshing, sweet and light .
If I forgot it was steeping there was more of an earthiness, in a good way.
I must have enjoyed it because the jar is empty and needs a refill.

Second sampling of the day is 2007 huang zhi shou. I was in the mood for another strong tea today and picked this one. I started with giving the tea a wash to clear the dust and a bit of the ripe puerh dank from it. After looking at the leaves, and they were still packed pretty darn tightly, I decided to give it a second wash. I did sip the second wash and was surprised to find it was actually decent, though a bit watery since I flash washed.

The first proper infusion gave me a dark chocolate looking liquor that had scents of earth, peat, oak, and caramel. I also got a hint of cacao in it and a slightly lingering aftertaste that was quite pleasant. This was done with like a 1, 2, 3, start pouring and using the about 5-6 second pour of the yixing as most of the steep.

The second infusion gave a darker liquor and a tiny bit of cloudiness, probably as the leaves really opened now and started giving their all. This infusion was wonderful, sweet, dark, oak, earth, maybe berries or something as well. Basically everything you want in a dark ripe.

The third infusion is always the most fun when it comes to a shou puerh. Basically I poured the water in, and then right out again as fast as possible and I still got a liquor that was nearly black. This is the most intense infusion and it was quite dark, and earthy and sweet. The third usually isnt my favorite, it something gets to be a bit too much and this was similar. It was still good but its a bit much.

The fourth infusion is almost always my favorite, the leaves have poured their heart out in the third and now you get that beautiful slow slide. All the flavors are coming out, the notes are high and you get a chance to give it a moment to steep. Yup this was my favorite, dark sweet and delightful and not overpowering at all. This is what I wait for when I break open a shou!

The fifth and on infusions I slowly increase the time to maintain as much as the delight as I had in that fourth. I got about 3-4 more good steeps out of this before it started to wear down, but its got quite a bit of power and got nearly 10 steeps from it. Very nice tea, plenty of staying power.

I only got a slight bit of dankness in the first wash, and by the first infusion all hints of it are gone. I probably could have skipped the second wash, but it all worked out good.

Highly recommended if you like dark shou tea. I got this as part of my what is puerh from crimson lotus.

Nice, Smooth and a bit sweet.

Sort of mellow and very pleasant to drink.

The sweetnes is hard to place, not quite sure what it is but there is a sweetnes to it that I rather like.

Reminds me of going past a small pool, stream or pond in a forest on a nice day with the sun shining in spring.

I bought the brick a while back, and I’m still reaping the rewards. This brick breaks apart into some very fine scraps though, could be I’m not breaking right. I do dig deep right through the center though to get those “shelves” of tea.
I brewed up maybe 6- 7g i don’t really know, i just threw it in the french press and added the water. I let it sit for 4- 5min and used a nice ceramic mug. The rest of the tea, I put in a mason jar with the lid on. Of coarse I don’t get all the slight changes of the tea when I go western, but I don’t care right now, I’m happy to have the quantity of tea.

I’m now drinking the second cup and I just love this tea. I’ve been drinking lots of coffee lately and this is more than a good substitute, as it ( as most shou) is full bodied and rich, with a bit of bitter on the finish. I personally love the fermentation flavor, because it some how taps into the nostalgia vein, or rather just simpler times.
The mouth feel is somewhat astringent, and coats the mouth.
I don’t know if its because I’m drinking a hot drink on a hot day and the result is a heavy feeling, I don’t know, but I feel slightly tea drunk with a good sense of qi. Something tells me I’ll be brewing another pot in about an hour- savage!

-nycoma

Had this sample along with a couple of others from Crimson Lotus sitting around, decided to revisit them and review them.

I think this is a really good tea which is quite easy to drink with some nice sweetness. It seems to be a good representation of a nice light pu’erh, I would definitely recommend it

Thank you for the sample ChaiVeck!

This is a nice easy drinking shou! Clean and basic “shou flavor”, but with a nice pleasant sweetness. A little bit of cocoa notes make me think of Special Dark which is always good.

These larger leafed shous are really starting to make an impression on me. This tea has hints of honey sweetness that is quite enjoyable. This is a mellow tea but that is not to say it lacks flavor in any way. I thought I picked up hints of vanilla and even floral notes along with some of your usual woodsy flavor that tend to be in shous. It is a really pleasant tea and I thank the folks at Crimson Lotus for including this with my recent order.

Light, sweet, with some slight woodiness. Mouthwatering aftertaste. I have no idea why I sometimes think I taste the tiniest hint of banana in this. (The last time this happened, it was more prominent and with Mandala’s 2009 Bulang Gong Ting shu but I don’t think the leaves are from the same region…)

The first time I brewed this, I used my 150 ml gaiwan. It tasted pretty good, but I wasn’t getting much of an aftertaste or the “mellow sweetness” mentioned in the description. It didn’t really impress me, to be honest.

I decided that I wanted a mug of tea earlier tonight, rather than multiple little cups. Normally, I go for flavoured teas or black teas at this hour (caffeine doesn’t really affect me, which is a blessing as a tea drinker and a curse as a student) but for mysterious and unknown reasons I reached into my box of pu’er samples instead and randomly pulled out a pouch.

So, I brewed it with my infuser and mug (quick rinse x2, 5 second steep). I must have messed up with the ratios in my gaiwan the first time around, because I can certainly taste the sweetness and mouthwatering aftertaste now! Definitely a huge departure from the earthy, dark shus I usually prefer.

I received 3 samples from Crimson Lotus Leaf. I couldn’t decide which one to start with, so I just picked this one at random. The smell is earthy, woodsy, and a touch like pond water.

I rinsed twice, 10 second each. 15,60,45,60,60,60,90,90,120 second steeps. 5g 8 oz water, 200F.

First steep is sweet and gentle. A little earthy, a little woodsy, a little cocoa powdery. Second steep I stepped away and accidentally steeped it for 60 seconds instead of the 30 seconds I intended. The result was thick and yummy. Still sweet, still earthy, still super smooth. It sort of coated my throat and lingered around for a long time. Third steep is much like the last two. Some caramel or honey like notes.

I’m noticing that while this puerh is thick and lingering, it’s not heavy. In fact, it’s sort of up lifting. Forth and fifth steep, the earthy note is a little toned down. And there’s an almost fruitiness now. 7-10th steeps stay smooth and sweet.

This baby can keep going, but I think I’m going to call it a night and maybe cold steep the leaves.