Spring 2015 Kunlu Shan, Slumbering Dragon, Sheng Puerh

Thank you phi for the sample!
7g in 110ml clay pot, boiling water

The dry leaf on this is #1 very different and gorgeous compared to other young sheng and #2, smells like macerated raspberries in rum…delicious.

The tea after rinse is like sour berries…
1. When you swallow, the first thing you notice is high floral berry perfume notes. I can feel tingling immediately crossing my cheeks sideways, then down my neck and out across my arms. Nice…
The taste is like those bitter raspberry seeds here in the early steeps, with a very interesting gan. It took me a long time to figure out what it was so I took my time here. I eventually figured it out—sake/rice wine!

2. And the sake aftertaste is gone :( . Instead its jasmine! Either way delicious! Undeniable that this is a SOUR and BITTER tea though. Absolutely no astringency which is a plus in my book but certainly be prepared for bitter.

Unfortunately by steep 4 the sour bitterness really starts to become overwhelming to me and never quite breaks…its like orange pith. I certainly hope that breaks out over time because this thing was really damn unique—nice job CLT!

Extremely bitter but in a nice, fruity and fresh way. Love wild tea!
Images and more at https://puerh.blog/teanotes/2015-kunlu-slumbering-dragon-clt

I’ve had so much stress lately. The power lines just got fixed to my house, so I can finally get back to my work. Today was the first time in weeks that I’ve been able to just sit and relax. I needed some quiet time, and I chose this to be my medicine.

This tea is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The dry leaf consists of long resinous maocha with fuzzy green spots. These tendrils are dotted with brilliant gold leaves. The scent is spectacular. This is by far one of the most fragrant sheng I’ve ever experienced. The scent is somewhat like berries and wine. I take in a sweet, yet its also a tangy aroma. I placed a generous chunk in my warmed yixing and gave it a shake. This wondrous aroma expanded. I was reminded of a Jingmai except waaay more potent. I could take in brown sugar and marsh land. It also reminded me of a time I went caving in Northern Arizona. This warmed leaf smelled of the inner mountain walls. It was a moist, living, and fungal aroma. This brew had just so much life in it. I began my brewing. The steeped leaves give off a grape leaf and wild greens aroma. This tea is bitter, and I mean BITTER. This is what an enjoyable bitterness should taste like. The kuwei is intense and pleasurable. This brew has a peppery taste that finishes with a long jing smoothness. It’s a complex mixture of flavors and sensations. The qi is perfect. I have never felt so good. It’s not an overpowering sensation. Its not an adrenaline rush, rather it’s a present feeling. I woke up from my slumber and just became centered. my body was tingling and my attention was focused. I could feel my being soothe and smooth out. The last few weeks have been a mess of bushiness and activities. This was exactly what I needed to just calm down and get quiet. This session was serene. I am most grateful for this opportunity.

https://instagram.com/p/6VobRZTGdz/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Thanks to Crimson Lotus Tea for the sample! (and sorry it took so long to review..)

This tea is quite the experience. The overwhelming bitterness presented in the first few steeps is a strange, intoxicating bitterness. I’m not a fan of bitter tea, but this is alluring, coating my mouth and throat with a sweet afternote. The bitterness slowly gives way to a lighter, sweeter tea, but the mouthfeel lingers, beckoning you to drink more. All in all, the tea is too bitter for my tastes, so I refrain from rating it; however, it was a delicious experience far beyond a standard tea. The feeling of this tea should be enjoyed and savored.

This tea is very different from any pu erh I’ve tried. It is very interesting! And so different, that I really don’t know how to describe it. First, I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has a wonderful energy. My fingers and toes were tingling after the first cup. And I feel just very wide awake and present. I often judge a tea based on how it makes me feel, rather than analyzing the flavors, and this felt very nice. That being said, the first steep was just surprising. It was very bitter, with almost a charred type bitterness. At first I thought maybe the leaves got burned in processing, but this was not the case after seeing the leaves. It was a very different kind of bitterness than one usually finds in pu erh. The flavor was – I don’t know, just different. You just have to try it to see what it’s like. Today, me and my wife got through probably 10 steeps. The bitterness cleared after 3 or 4. The broth was a bright and deep gold. The flavor kept changing, it was a very dynamic tea. It just kept getting better, and I found it quite addicting. We are going to have more tomorrow, as I’m sure there are a few steeps left to go.

CL has some pictures of the wild giant trees in the forest from which this tea was picked. From such trees, I can see why it would be very different than a typical pu. This tea is expensive, but really cool to try.