2015 Zenpuer 1501 Year of the Goat Ripe Puerh Tea Cake 357g

Gongfu brewed in my shiboridashi. Without a doubt Jim has done it again when it comes to producing private label puerh cakes that break expectations for their price range. A darker level fermentation compared to must lighter shous today. A smooth brew with a malty taste that while neither bitter nor sweet is leaning slightly to the sweet side.

This is a nice tasting ripe tea. It has got quite a lot of fermentation flavor left to it. I’d say it lasted into the fifth steep. It was dark and rich in the early infusions too. It was sweet with little bitterness. I’m not sure if I’d say notes of chocolate but it’s not out of bounds. I steeped it eight times and it developed a fruity flavor in the end. This is a very inexpensive ripe from Puerhshop. It cost me only $16.99 so I’m not upset that it was only good and not spectacular.

I steeped this tea eight times in a 120ml gaiwan with 8.6g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. It still had a dark color to it in the eighth steep. I could I think gotten about five or six more steeps out of it but I’ve had enough caffeine for today.