Beware – this is not an apple tea! Named for a George Harrison song, “apple scruffs” refers to a group of serious Beatles fans in the late 1960s. As for this puer cake, it is made with leaf from XiGui in the eastern Lincang Region. In my experience, XiGui tea is rather gentle and sometimes a bit finicky – this one is no exception. Note: over-brew or over-leaf this tea and you produce a less appealing bitter and astringent cup. Floral scent comes from the dry leaf of the cake which has lots of whole leaves. Bright clear yellow tea soup results from the leaf infusion – floral and sweet are the best taste descriptors for this tea liquor. Lingering mouth- and throat-feel. More fruity with sugarcane sweetness after the 4th infusions. I must say this really was a refreshing break from the older shengs I’ve been enjoying lately. Not terribly complex but a very nice tea if you do not care for the earthier puer so many of us drink regularly.
Good review. Can you recommend any teas from White2Tea to sample or buy cake-style?
There was a discussion on the Puerh thread a few days ago. Look at the top of this page – begins with comment by ZackS:
http://steepster.com/discuss/5496-pu-erh-of-the-day-sheng-or-shou?page=181&post_id=192163
This one is really good. I went through it pretty fast :P
I feel this one died down in popularity. it’s good to see it resurface.
Just made order #2 to white2tea. Slightly larger than my last order…
@haveteawilltravel I think it just sold out really fast when it was released so noone really got a chance to talk and contemplate buying more.
@tea123 glad you’ve ordered. I’ve been ordering from Paul for about two years now and I’ve never been disappointed. I’ve grown to trust his judgment and opinion and in so doing have added some very fine teas (old and new) to my puer collection.
@haveteawill travel I agree with James. I think Paul indicated at the the time of release that Xigui material was hard to come by and his release was on the small side. Anyway some how he tipped me off and I went back to purchase a second cake before he ran out since I enjoyed it so much.
That’s awesome! I figured something of the sorts happened, for I missed my opportunity to snatch some up.