I broke a lot of rules today. Some of them were my rules. Some of them were tea rules. But everything came out okay!
The first rule I broke was – no tea on an empty stomach. This is my rule. I have a sensitive stomach, a dodgy esophagus, and I can get heartburn looking at a bowl of chili. I wasn’t hungry and I wanted tea, so RULE DISREGARDED.
The second rule I broke was – rinse puerh leaves and discard the rinse water. I confess I break this rule a lot. Sometimes I am glad, sometimes not. This time – oh yeh, glad. That first steep was delish. I kept it oh so short and sweet. Golden color, scent of menthol, smooth, and sweet.
Steep two – didn’t time it! Another broken rule! This is golden and rich in color and LIVELY on the tongue. So much energy in this tea! Like a precocious but adorable pre-teen that you love spending time with but who maybe wears you out a little in big doses.
Steep three – ah, you are a nice tea with a bite of thin cinnamon cookie. Still golden. Still lively.
Steep four – with lunch now. A bit mellower and lovely with food. Hay, white tea-ish but with a vibrant energy. Bright and raw. Go to their website to learn in depth about each tea they carry!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Puerh
Where to Buy: Wymm Tea
Description
This sheng pu-erh brews a bright golden liquor. It has notes of cut hay and earth in its aroma, complimented with a bold almond, buttery flavour.
We were lucky enough to obtain some of these huangpian which give insights into the highly sought after Bingdao Laozhai sheng pu-erh. Bingdao Laozhai is a place renowned in the Yunnan tea industry. Situated at 1400-2000 meters mountaintops, it is the one and only high altitude village occupied by Dai minority group in the Mengku town region. The price of pu-erh from this village would go into the thousands due to the extremely limited supply. Please visit our Bingdao Laozhai pu-erh blog post to learn more about it.
These huangpian are picked from the same trees as the Bingdao Laozhai, the only difference being that it is less aesthetically pleasing; the bigger leaves (huangpian) are filtered out so that the remaining leaves are neat and symmetrical when pressed into cakes. These bigger leaves are often kept by the tea farmers for personal consumption and are rarely found in the market. Even though the huangpian do not have the tidy appearance of its counterparts, it possesses similar taste characteristics and are sometimes considered more flavourful as the leaves spent longer period of time growing on the trees.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
2014 Bingdao Laozhai Huangpian from Wymm Tea
2014 Bingdao Laozhai Huangpian from Wymm Tea is a sheng pu-erh that brews up to be a lovely shade of glowing gold-light brown color. Right away I could smell the outdoorsy aroma – more specifically cotton and hay.
As for the flavor 2014 Bingdao Laozhai Huangpian from Wymm Tea has a sweeter-earthy flavor with the aftertaste of subtle almond. I have found that I like the flavor best after the piping hot pu-erh has had about 10 minutes to cool at room temperature. The flavors of the 2014 Bingdao Laozhai Huangpian from Wymm Tea really stand out after about 10 minutes or so.
2014 Bingdao Laozhai Huangpian from Wymm Tea is a VERY pleasant pu-erh. The more I sip it the more I really like it and the more I seem to crave more. Another thing I should mention is that 2014 Bingdao Laozhai Huangpian from Wymm Tea is pretty thirst-quenching! This isn’t a strong -fueled pu-erh but of the more delicate flavor type. I can see this one pleasing the masses! It certainly did, me!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Pu-eh
Where to Buy: Wymm Tea
Description:
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
2010 Spring Kunlu Mountain from Wymm Tea (Ancient Tea Pu-Erh)
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-Erh
Where to Buy: Wymm Tea (Ancient Tree Pu-Erh)
Tea Description:
Kunlu Mountain is located within Ning’er Hani and Yi autonomous prefecture county in Pu’er city. Kun means “valley” and lu means “sparrow” in Dai minority group’s language, together Kunlu means a valley inhabited with sparrows. Kunlu Mountain sits at the end of the Wuliang mountain range, where Lancang and Honghe rivers divide. Kunlu Mountain’s altitude ranges between 1410 and 2271 meters, and is considered one of the higher mountains within Pu’er city region. A combination of early-cultivated and wild-grown trees forms the ancient tea tree forest, which covers 10,122 mu (equivalent to 6.75 sqkm) on the mountain.
Kunlu Mountain once served as imperial tea garden for the Qing emperors over 200 years. After successful bureaucratization of Cheli Xuanweisi in 1729, E’ertai (Ortai), the governor-general of Yunnan-Guizhou-Guangxi tri-province, established a tribute tea factory in Ning’er village, Pu’er Fu (known nowadays as Xishuangbanna). Every year, only the best and most delicate tea buds harvested from Kunlu Mountain in early spring were sent into this factory, in which they were carefully pressed into shapes or processed into paste. These products were presented in front of the Qing emperors after a 6-month, 4100-km route done solely on horseback. These products were carefully supervised by feudal officials and guarded by soldiers.
Taster’s Review:
This 2010 Spring Kunlu Mountain from Wymm Tea (Ancient Tea Pu-Erh) doesn’t appear to be listed on the Wymm Tea shop any longer. There is, however, a Pu-Erh called Kunlu Sheng Pu-Erh from Ancient Tree 2010 Spring which I can only assume could be comparable. Don’t quote me on that because I haven’t tried that offering yet.
I mainly wanted to mention this offering from Wymm Tea because it was the very first Pu-Erh experience I had from this company and it was a great one. This Pu-Erh is right up my alley. It’s not the muddy-thick-wormy-earthy-tar like pu-erh that I have had from other companies. This is more of a gentler-earthy yet semi-floral Pu-Erh experience. I think this is a great Pu-Erh to start with if you are trying them for the first time. It will NOT scare you away from Pu-Erhs as a whole and will NOT make you pre-judge other Pu-Erh’s but at the same time it’s very pleasing and will set a standard for other Pu-Erh’s. This is very well-done and I can’t wait to try additional offerings from Wymm Tea!
Menghai Wangshuji Shou Pu-erh in Seventh Grade 2008 from Wymm Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Wymm Tea
Tea Description:
This shou pu-erh brews with a rich and honey flavor and long-lasting jasmine rice aroma. Full tea leaves from high mountains in Menghai County, located in west of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, are picked to make the tea in 2008. Pu-erh tea has the potential to ferment over time, and this tea has been post-fermented for 6 years since production. Post-fermentation gives the tea vibrant flavours and richer aroma as well as deep wine colour.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Menghai Wangshuji Shou Pu-erh in Seventh Grade 2008 is the fourth of the teas that I was sent by Wymm Tea in their lovely sampler presentation package. These samplers come beautifully wrapped in a milk-carton shaped box. (You can see the box in this review.)
As I’ve mentioned many times: pu-erh just isn’t my favorite type of tea. But, after trial and error, I learned the ways to best brew pu-erh to my liking and I’ve come to appreciate it. It still isn’t my favorite, but I can say that I enjoy pu-erh tea.
When it comes to pu-erh, though, I find that I tend to prefer sheng to shou. What’s the difference? Well, I’m no expert on the subject of pu-erh, but what I’ve come to understand is that sheng tea is raw tea material that has been aged while shou tea is cooked tea material which seems to accelerate the aging process a bit. Why do I prefer sheng? Because while my experience with pu-erh is rather limited (again, I’m no expert!), my limited experience has taught me that shou pu-erh tends to be the pu-erh that sometimes has a briny or fishy flavor and the shou pu-erh tends to be the earthiest tasting (as in, it sometimes tastes of dirt).
But NOT this shou! This is LOVELY! This is so lovely that it has me rethinking my stance on pu-erh!
Sweet! Mellow! Smooth! All those words come to mind as I sip this. I taste no brine, no fish, no strong earthy dirty flavors. Just wonderfully mellow flavors. A sweet honeyed undertone with hints of burnt sugar caramel. I taste notes of earth but not dirt. This is more like damp, woodsy notes, evoking thoughts of a walk through the old-growth forests here in the Pacific Northwest after it rained. (We get some rain up here.)
I also taste very subtle hints of rice. The description of the tea suggests a jasmine rice note, I don’t know if it’s jasmine rice that I taste (I’m very familiar with jasmine rice as it’s my go-to rice in my pantry), but then again, this is only my first cup – perhaps those flavors will reveal themselves in later infusions. For now, I find myself in awe of the beautiful honey notes. So sweet. So delightful.
With my second cup, those aforementioned jasmine rice notes begin to emerge. I taste less of that honey flavor, but more of the sweet rice flavor and that’s quite pleasant. The flavor is still very mellow and smooth but it’s deeper and stronger than the first cup. I taste notes of burnt sugar and rice, hints of flower and a soft woodsy note. I love that there’s not even a hint of astringency or bitterness here. Just lovely!
I enjoyed this tea immensely! The later infusions (I got eight infusions out of this tea!) were just as mellow and smooth – but with each infusion, I found a deeper flavor. I never really experienced any strong earthy notes – bonus! – and I enjoyed a lovely sweetness from the notes of rice and hints of molasses and honey. A truly remarkable shou! This is the shou I’d recommend to someone who has had some unfavorable experiences in the past with shou pu-erh, this tea will change your mind about shou!
