Big Leaf Puer

4.5g with 115ml water in a seasoned squat shi piao ZiNi yixing teapot. Single rinse went a little longer than intended – 20 seconds.

Not many “big leaves” left in this little tin since I’ve gotten to the bottom. These seem to be graded for size and what I’m reviewing here are mostly broken pieces of the leaves (no bits as small as a BOP grade, but only a few the size of OP or longer). Originally the tin was populated with leaves about on par with average WuYi oolong leaf length… Having had puerh with leaves nearly as long as my hand’s width or longer it’s hard to consider this “big leaf” but it is certainly longer than most loose shou puerh and longer than the standard loose leaf puerh offered by this company. Dry fragrance kind of dusty-earthy like old unswept wood floor with some water damage. Wet aroma much sweeter and woodier. I sort of laughed when I read the note the company claims of citrus, but it actually is there in a dried orange peal kind of aroma. Color is deep amber-brown with good clarity.

Body is comparable to sugarwater. Pretty full and tacky but not heavy enough for me to consider chewy or really rich when comparing to other dark teas. Smooth with a bit of a blood orange crispness. Juicy mouthfeel. I agree on the citrus quality, but it is citrus oil not citrus juice. Really, if there is a fruit in the taste it is grape but that is under the base flavor of dried vines and wet wood. The woody notes here are like standing dead wood – an old tree or vines that have finally bitten the dust after many years and are left standing in a woodland. There is a clay slurry effect in swallowing, like the body thickens as it goes down to the back of the mouth. As it cools more sweet and vegetal qualities come out… I’m picking up a bit of green apple peel snappy faint acidity and astringency in the fourth infusion. Sort of a copper metal sweetness throughout but most obvious in aftertaste. Afteraroma and nose remain true to the flavor but carries a faint bit of wet ash, producing a light rubbertree sap note in the nose.

Drinking exclusively the larger leaves carry pretty much the same flavors and aromas I’ve written here, but body is reduced. I’m surprised I’m getting the same number of infusions (11) out of the broken leaves as the more intact ones before the flavor starts going.

Calming and soothing tea. Not too exciting, but unoffensive. Pretty darn approachable for an inexpensive loose puerh, but it isn’t hard to find better ones for slightly cheaper. Good for drinking after a meal.