2016 Yunnan Sourcing "Green Mark" Ripe Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake

Date drunk: 2023 Jan 14

- 5g in 100ml gaiwan [[Gongfu brewing]]. Filtered water in stainless steel kettle with bamboo charcoal.
- Rinsed once but wet leaf smelled fishy so I had to rinse a second time. Wet leaf now has smell of baked bread.
- 1st infusion (100˚C, 0:15)
- Liquor smells slightly fishy. I guess even neglectful ageing in Singapore counts as “wet storage”. Texture feels flat (or sharp?), slightly metallic flavour. Do not like.
- Rating: 50
- 2nd infusion (95˚C, 0:15)
- Ah, much better. I’m getting a slightly rounder body now, a tinge of sweetness on my tongue. Fleeting hints of dark chocolate and mushroom. Still a bit of that flat/sharp texture that I dislike though (leather?).
- Rating: 70
- 3rd infusion (99˚C, 0:20)
- Far stronger aroma of baked bread now, a bit of roasting coffee – promising.
- Liquor tastes more chocolatey and full-bodied now. It’s the classic ripe pu-er (chocolatey, mushroomy, baking brown bread) but with a touch more floral and fruity quality. This tea has finally hit its stride! Again, still that flatness in the aftertaste which is quite disappointing. But it pairs well with my oatmeal with bananas and dried cherries; I think drinking this tea together with fruit is very nice.
- Rating: 82
- 4th infusion (100˚C, 0:30)
- Rating: 81
- 5th infusion (100˚C, 0:45)
- Ah finally – a smooth, full-bodied infusion! No more flat or metallic taste. This is wonderful when drunk warm.
- Rating: 87

Verdict: Now looking back on my glowing (yet lacking-in-concrete-notes) review from 2020, I have no idea whether I just stored / aged this poorly or if my tastes have evolved. Whatever the case, I simply did not find this tea very complex nor enjoyable today. I might try this in an Yixing / Jianshui clay pot next time. Even at 6.5 years of age, it needs something to even it out a bit to make it more drinkable for me.
Rating: 74

still savoring

pulled this out of the cupboard last night (a little too late last night) … 5 grams in the tiny white gaiwan and wow! smooth, subtle, interesting after many, many steeps – just couldn’t stop brewing it, one little cup at a time. Didn’t get much sleep but it was worth it. The only word that comes to mind is beguiling

Mixing shou and sheng together is something I’ve played around with myself with various cakes I’ve owned, but it’s never turned out nearly as good as this. The ratio of the two as well as the quality of leaves is much better than anything I’ve used. Nice large leaves in the sheng and seemingly quality shou.
Good mostly shou flavors with maybe a bit of bitter, floral sheng flavor in there. The smell of the steeped leaves alone makes this worth it for the cheap price tag however. I couldn’t get enough of the strong aromatic profile of the leaves after each steep. There’s some really nice spicy, rich shou odors mixed in with young sheng floral notes. This is something I would consider picking up a cake of however I have no idea how the two teas would age together and if that would take away from the strong aromatic qualities as the leaves settle in. Also cakes of mixed leaves always scare me as the ratio of the two types will vary so much between sessions. I would definitely recommend sampling this one if you’re looking for a daily drinker.