Artisan Revival Stone-Pressed Sheng from Verdant Tea

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Pu-erh

Where to Buy:  Verdant Tea

Product Description:

Region – Hekai Mountain, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China

Processing –  This is wild picked from one of the most bio diverse ancient tea forests in China.  Hekai leaf is known for an orchid-like fragrance absorbed from native flowers.  The tea is allowed to sun dry and age loose as maocha for several months to a year before being steamed and stone pressed into bricks.  The leaf material for the Artisan Revival brick is from the oldest tea trees, some of which have to be climbed during the picking.

Read more about this tea.

Taster’s Review:

My experience with Pu-erh has been pretty well-documented through the blogs for which I write, because really, before embarking upon writing reviews on tea, I had less than a handful of experiences with Pu-erh, and those tea moments were best forgotten.  They were negative experiences, to say the least.  Since those times, I have learned better ways to steep Pu-erh and have come to appreciate it.

This Artisan Revival Stone-Pressed Sheng (2006) from Verdant Tea is one of the best Pu-erh teas that I’ve tried yet.  The aroma of the dry leaf is quite different from other Pu-erh teas that I’ve approached, rather than that strong, earthy presence, I find this one to to be a little more like warm spice and tobacco.  It reminds me of the smell of my father’s pipe tobacco (my stepmother was very keen on trying to get him to smoke a pipe, she seemed more interested in it than he did, though).

For the first couple of infusions, I am tasting a floral note.  This is a Pu-erh?  There is very little earthy taste to this cup, and what little earthiness that I do taste is on the sweet side, like hints of wood and earth.  It is incredibly smooth.  So smooth, in fact, that it almost feels like melted butter as it glides over the palate.  There is a sweetness that comes from the floral notes, as well as a somewhat honey-esque tone in the background.  These honey notes, together with the floral tones give this a very honeysuckle-like finish.  Overall, these first few infusions are light, sweet, and flowery, reminding me a bit of those early moments in spring when the air is clean and the plants begin to show hints of life.

With the subsequent infusions, the flavors became more assertive and yet the tea kept its smooth demeanor.  It hasn’t become earthy, though, as much as it has become more vegetative.  I can taste grassy tones.  The aforementioned buttery texture is still there, and I can taste a buttery flavor as well.  There are still flowery tones to this tea, but they are a little less distinct with the emergence of the grassy flavor.  Still incredibly sweet and delicious.

In the last two infusions (infusions five and six … I suspect that these leaves could very well have submitted even more, but, I was content with the six infusions), I began to note a savory flavor emerge.  It was still quite sweet, but there was a savory tone in the background that provided a nice contrast to the sweetness.  There are still floral notes.  The grassy flavor has mellowed slightly, making for an even smoother taste.  There is less buttery flavor to these infusions, but the sweetness remains.  If anything, I think the sweetness becomes more intense.

Now, as I sit and contemplate this exquisite tea, I can’t help but think back to those first few Pu-erh experiences with a bit of sadness.  If only they had tasted like this Pu-erh…

2006 Twin Elephants Tea Trail Commemorative Shu from Verdant Tea

Tea Type: Pu-erh

Where To Buy: Verdant Tea

Product Description:

Year: 2006

Dry Leaf: Small black leaves and vibrant orange curled buds.

Aroma: Musty notes of a long-extinguished campfire, and the smells of hot chocolate and oatmeal with raisins.

Tea Color: The dark red-brown of rosewood, completely crystalline with tea oil swirling on the surface.

Taste through early steepings: Assertive and literally mouth watering spearmint and cedar notes which quickly evaporate off the palate leaving the sweetness of flaky pasty and dark mission figs. A few steepings in, a warmth builds up in the throat like the glow of red wine.

Taste in middle to late steepings: The dark fig sweetness develops into a deeply complex spice of ginger and ceylon cinnamon with hints of cracked peppercorn, while paradoxically becoming cooling on the tongue. The tip of the tongue is engaged by the subdued sweetness of raw sugar.

Steeped Leaf: Dark mahogany brown, with buds still tightly coiled.

Notes: This brick is an excellent investment. At a lower price point, this tea offers an incredibly intriguing and diverse set of flavors that could only grow with time.

Tasters Review:

Right up front I will say that this pu-erh blew me away!  My favorite part were the plum and fig notes.  I did do an infusion test with this one and think it would just be easier to show you how that went so – here goes!

My 1st infusion was for approx 5 seconds.  The aroma after infusion was musky, woodsy, and raisin-like.  The color was a light reddish brown.  The taste was fairly malty with a hint of raisin or figs.   I seemed to enjoy it a bit more after it cooled for just a few moments.

Infusion 2 was for 8-10 seconds.  It was darker in color a nice medium brown.  The aroma is musky and of PLUMS! Yum!  The taste is Plum-like and near creamy.  WOW!  I enjoyed the 2nd infusion much more than the first.  I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy the first but the 2nd touches my heart and soul a lot more!  This is truly special!

My 3rd infusion was for 10 seconds or so.  The color was Dark(er) Brown…much like a hefty black tea.  The aroma: was a Bolder-Musky and a little less plum scent than the 2nd infusion.  And the taste was  creamier than the last infusion, still very plum like with the taste, semi-mouth watering.

I really like this 3rd infusion, too, I would say equally as the 2nd infusion but they taste distinctly different. This is very nice!  I appreciate the change-up in flavors between infusions!  This is a solid Pu-erh!  Two cheers for Verdant Tea!

 

2003 Farmer’s Cooperative (Mt. Banzhan) Wild Arbor Zheng Tea from Verdant Tea

Tea Type: Pu-Erh

Where To Buy: Verdant Tea

Product Description:

Year: 2003

Dry Leaf: Very dark, large curled leaf, unbroken with longer stems. Loose hand-pressed ball of tea.

Aroma: Smoke of a campfire deep in a wet forest of redwood and eucalyptus after fresh rain.

Tea Color: Small floating down gives this Chardonnay color a darker opacity that turns orange in sunlight.

Taste through early steepings: Immediately creamy with a tingling sweetness like the finest spring Gyokuro. Assertive notes of toasted walnut and hazelnut linger in the throat. As this continues steeping, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom spice with mucovado brown sugar play across the palate.

Taste in middle to late steepings: The intriguing muscovado sweetness carries through even as the intense tingling texture subsides. The spice of early steepings slowly moves towards baked apple. Very late in steeping, the texture of licorice root comes through across the tongue accompanied by notes of malt and barley.

Steeped Leaf: Enormous dark green leaves that are thick and strong with abundant buds and long stems.

http://verdanttea.com/gallery/farmers-cooperative-sheng/

Tasters Review:

I’m very happy that Verdant told me to rinse twice 🙂

My first ‘real’ infusion – post rinses – was quite pleasant – but still full of natural flavor!  The aroma wasn’t overwhelming and the taste was a bit nutty with a tad of sweetness for a pu-erh.  There was a slight earth-green type taste in the background, too.  I ended up liking that quite a bit.

It was like camp-fire smoke from a distance toward the beginning of the aroma but then it changed up into a wild minty-fresh trying to hide underneath.  This reminds me of the great outdoors!

I did multiple infusions on this and they were equally as good.

This wasn’t bitter at all.  It is quite sturdy but oh-so-nice!

Wild Fresh Buds – Puerh from In Nature Teas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Pu-erh

Where to Buy:  In Nature Teas

Product Description:

Wild Fresh Buds – Puerh, hand picked in the high mountains of Yunnan.

This naturally grown tea is a delicacy which is produced and delivered by Mother Nature without any human interference. It is the purest form of tea one can drink. The sweet taste and aroma are a feast and its endless health properties makes it a very special treat for the body, mind and spirit.

Taster’s Review:

This is really unexpected.  Unexpectedly delightful!

The first thing I notice is the aroma – or should I say lack of aroma?  Normally when I open a package of Pu-erh the surrounding air is immediately filled with that distinctive earthy quality.  That didn’t happen this time.  Instead, I was greeted with a very soft, vegetative scent that sort of reminded me of the salad bar when I visit Sweet Tomatoes.

Then I notice the leaves.  They look like dry, white leaf buds.  Very young leaf buds.  Think of the earliest days of spring, when the tiniest of leaf buds begin forming on the trees.  Yes, that is what they look like.  Tiny, white, and covered with fluffy fuzz.

The flavor these soft, delicate leaf buds produce is amazing.  This … THIS? … is Pu-erh?   It tastes like no other Pu-erh I’ve ever tasted.  It tastes light and crisp.  Clean.  Slightly vegetative.  I wouldn’t describe it as earthy, at least, not in the same context as I would describe other Pu-erh teas that I’ve tasted.  There are some earthy tones to this cup but it is more like a vegetal earthiness.

As I continue to sip, the earthy flavors develop slightly, but they never become overwhelming.  What I taste mostly from this tea, though, is sweetness.  The cool sweetness you might expect after biting into a crisp piece of celery.

One of the most surprising and delicious Pu-erh teas I’ve yet to taste!  I like this very much.

 

Puerh (Yunnan) from In Nature

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Pu-erh

Where to Buy:  In Nature

Product Description:

Pu-erh, the great “connoisseur Tea”. The Queen of all Teas, known for its noble palate, taste and aroma. Also famous for its numerous health properties. Yunnan region.

This tea brews to a reddish-brown colour and has a distinctive liquorice, soothing taste.

Taster’s Review:

The more I drink Pu-erh, the more I am liking it.  As I’ve mentioned before, I wasn’t always fond of it.  In fact, disgust would be a better way to describe my feelings toward Pu-erh.  But, since that time, I have learned how to brew Pu-erh and now that I brew it properly (well, properly for me, anyway), I actually quite like it.

The aroma of the dry tuocha is earthy but it is not as strong an earthy essence as some Pu-erh I have encountered.  Once brewed, the liquor is quite light in fragrance.  Likewise, the flavor is much lighter-tasting.  It is remarkably smooth and even.  The sometimes off-putting earthy flavor of Pu-erh is not present here.  Yes, it has an earthy quality to it, but it is rather delicate and quite nice.

The description above suggests that this has a liquorice flavor, and I must agree, I can taste the liquorice-like note in this, and it resonates throughout the sip.  This liquorice flavor highlights the deep sweetness to this cup.

this is definitely one of the most delightful Pu-erh teas that I’ve ever had the opportunity to taste.  I like it very much.