Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: New Mexico Tea Co.
Tea Description:
A bizarre and wonderful tea. This aged green puerh tea is made up of extraordinarily large tea leaves that have been gathered into small bundles (hence the name). It has a marvelous flavor and delivers a lighter, sweet taste with a lingering aftertaste of dark peaches or plums. We recommend six to eight leaves per cup with multiple steepings.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I ordered this 2001 Witch’s Broom Raw Puerh Tea with my last order from New Mexico Tea Company, mostly because I found the tea’s appearance to be so intriguing! It really does look like the bristles of a witch’s broom!
With the leaves on the darker side, I was surprised at the color of the liquid produced when I brewed the leaves. And, I’m used to Pu-erh teas producing a rather dark liquor, but, this is quite pale. But … the flavor is LOVELY!
I decided to take this tea through its paces and go for at least six infusions. However, because of the size of the leaves, I couldn’t fit them in my gaiwan without breaking them … and I just couldn’t bring myself to doing that! So, I brewed them in a larger vessel (my Smart Tea Maker did the job very nicely).
The first infusion (following a quick 15 second rinse) delivered just what I was promised with the above description from New Mexico Tea Company … a sweet, light taste with notes of fruit. I don’t know that I taste peaches or plums just yet, but, there is definite sweet fruit notes here. There are notes of earth, but I’m pleased to report that the earthy tones are subdued and off in the background.
With each subsequent infusion, this tea became sweeter and sweeter. By the third infusion, I began to pick up on more of the fruity notes that were promised in the description … I can definitely taste stone fruit … a sweet plum and hints of peach. Amazing!
By the time I reached my fourth infusion, I was really delighted with how sweet this tea had become. It’s so sweet and mellow and the fruity notes evoke thoughts of a thinned fruit nectar. Very nice, indeed.
I stopped at six infusions … not because the tea was ready to quit on me, but because it was time to go to bed! This is truly an amazing Pu-erh. I highly recommend it to those looking for a unique Pu-erh that is less earthy and more sweet and fruit-like!
2011 Douji “Nuan Jiang Shan” Ripe Puerh Tea from China Cha Dao
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: China Cha Dao
Tea Description:
Douji’s Riped Puerh Series.
2011 Douji “Nuan Jiang Shan” (Warm River Mountain) Ripe Puerh Loose Leaf Tea 200g
Recommend Douji Product, good for collecting, limited product due to its low production!
Aroma – Mellow, unique.
Flavor – Thick, Smooth and Sweet.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
With my first sip of this 2011 Douji “Nuan Jiang Shan” Ripe Puerh Tea from China Cha Dao my first reaction was one of surprise! I couldn’t believe I was sipping a Pu-erh! This tastes so sweet and fruity! Where’s the earthiness I was expecting from a ripe Pu-erh? After a couple of sips, a slight earthiness does develop, but only after I had the opportunity to explore the other flavors that this unique Pu-erh has to offer.
The aroma of the dry leaf is sweet and mildly earthy. The wet leaf has a stronger earth note, much more like what I’d expect from a Pu-erh. The brewed tea has very little fragrance.
The sip starts out pleasantly sweet – not at all cloying – and the sip is abundant with fruit notes. Like juicy, ripe peaches and melon. There is a distinct vanilla tone to this as well … almost creamy! As I continue to explore the tea, I notice notes of wood.
The earthiness doesn’t reach the palate until I’ve consumed about half the cup, and even then, it is such a faint hint of earthiness that if I wasn’t so intently focused on everything I was tasting … I might have missed the earthy tones all together. This is the kind of Pu-erh I’d recommend to someone who typically avoids Pu-erh because of that earthy/fishy/brine-y sort of taste … because I’m not getting that at all.
After reading TeaEqualsBliss’s thoughts on this tea, I found myself surprised again … because I just didn’t get the earthiness that she experienced from this tea. I got a delicious, delightful sweetness and an incredible smoothness. This is a lovely Pu-erh – one I’d highly recommend to all tea lovers out there!
PS: I’d love to hear any of your thoughts on this tea as well!
Wild Orange Pu’er Tea from Teasenz
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Teasenz
Tea Description:
SMOOTH, FRUITY with ORANGE AROMA: A beautiful tea for the adventurous tea drinker. Definitely a master piece resulting from aging pu’er leaves in a hollowed out wild orange (clementines). Simply a must-have for any pu’er tea collector.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Even though I am rarely “excited” to try a pu-erh tea, I have to admit that I was a little excited to try this Wild Orange Pu’er Tea from Teasenz. Especially after opening the foil packaging and seeing the dried tangerine casing. Maybe it’s silly (my husband would say “nerdy”) of me to think so … but these tiny dried oranges filled with pu-erh are just … so cool and clever!
But how to prepare this tea? I can imagine someone new to tea might find the tangerine casing to be a bit confounding. And to be perfectly honest, I can’t tell you if I did it “right” or not … but I’ll tell you what I did.
Since I brew pu-erh in my gaiwan, I cut away the tight cellophane wrapping from the dried tangerine, and then I took off the little “lid” of the tangerine and cut into the side of the fruit. I cut off a portion of the dried tangerine peel, and then I scooped out some of the dark tea leaves and I put the bit of tangerine peel and the scoop of dark tea leaves into my gaiwan.
Then I brewed it the way I would normally brew pu-erh: with a quick 15 second rinse, and then I started infusing. My first infusion was 45 seconds, and then I added 15 seconds to each subsequent infusion. I got eight tasty infusions out of this one bit of Wild Orange Pu’er.
And from someone who tends to be timid when it comes to pu-erh, I like the tangerine flavor that the casing imparts on the earthy tea. The fruit notes balance out the earthy tones without making it taste too “sweet” and without making it taste as though it’s been artificially flavored. The tangerine comes through, providing notes of sweet and hints of tart.
If I had to choose just one word to describe this tea, that word would be mellow. The flavor of the tea is sweet with notes of deep caramel, but overall, it’s a very smooth and mellow taste. There is earthy notes but it doesn’t taste brine-y or fishy. The orange notes are also mellow, but they do a little more than just mellow out the earthy tones here … the tangerine also brightens the overall flavor.
This is definitely an ideal pu-erh for someone who – like me – tends to shy away from pu-erh because of its strong earthy overtures. The fruit notes soften the earthy notes … bringing a taste that is neither too fruity nor too earthy. This is just right. Even in the subsequent infusions, as the fruit notes tend to taper, I found that the tea kept it’s mellowness and did not ever taste too earthy.
A true delight!
Eight Treasures Yabao Tea from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh & Green Tea
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
Yabao is an incredibly intriguing tea, evoking marshmallow sweetness, spice, and even cooling cedar notes. By combining it with a light sun dried green jasmine from Yunnan, and whole vanilla bean, this brew steeps up perfectly smooth, thick and velvety. The floral elements of the vanilla and honeysuckle are extended to the aftertaste with marigold and rose petals, and the spice of the yabao is sharpened with goji berry. This well-integrated take on the traditional “Eight Treasures” is sweet but nuanced, and great hot or iced.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
This Eight Treasures Yabao Tea from Verdant Tea is absolutely delightful! Then again, I was expecting nothing less from a company like Verdant Tea. I can’t recall ever being disappointed by a tea from them!
This blend takes the natural creamy sweetness of a Yabao tea and combines it with vanilla bean to enhance the rich, creamy notes and the decadent sweetness. These two components together would be enough to send this tea drinker into a blissful tea experience, but, this is EIGHT Treasures … so Verdant Tea didn’t stop there.
The jasmine green tea adds a little bit of a vegetative taste and a distinct jasmine note. The floral tones are further accentuated with the addition of marigold and rose. I don’t notice the marigold a lot, but, the rose has a distinguished flavor. The tasting note from Verdant Tea suggests an “orchid” note and I am getting that here, although I find that I taste more jasmine and rose than orchid.
I taste the goji berry and the berry adds a tart, tingly sensation toward the finish that offers a nice contrast to the smooth, creaminess of the vanilla and marshmallow notes of the Yabao, and the sweet flowery tones. My first few sips I noticed a slight “resinous” taste … and as I continued to sip, and after reading the tasting notes from Verdant that suggest a Cedar note, I realize that this is the resinous note I was noticing at the start. Slightly woody, slightly earthy … with an invigorating crisp, cool sensation.
The most surprising thing about this tea is just how good it is iced! I was astonished by it’s iced flavor. It is sweet and fruity and very refreshing! The next time you place your order with Verdant … add this tea to your shopping cart – you won’t be disappointed!
Mengku Arbor Tree Ripened Puerh Cake Tea ZhenMu LingYa 2007 from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
With a century-old history, abundant rainfall and sunlight, Yunnan owns a reputation as “South of the Colorful Clouds”. She feeds her people and the land they live on with her own stream. This time TeaVivre brings you Pu-erh lovers the ZhenMu LingYa, within which the passion of Yunnan Pu-erh people you can feel. This Ripened Puerh Cake Tea ZhenMu LingYa uses fresh leaves of Mengku arbor tree as material. The tea workers have years of experience in making Pu-erh tea. With their hands and professional experience, they made the fresh tea leaves into this beautiful ripened Pu-erh cake. Using the Mengku arbor tree of high quality as material, this ZhenMu LingYa has the pure and mellow flavor of ripened tea. You could see the golden pekoe covering on the dry leaves. As the cake was suppressed just fine in tension, you could enjoy breaking the cake.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Like I do with most Pu-erh … I put off trying this Mengku Arbor Tree Ripened Puerh Cake Tea ZhenMu LingYa 2007 from Teavivre for a little while, but, I’m glad to be sipping on it today.
I brewed a chunk of this cake in my gaiwan, and I managed quite a few infusions from one small chunk. The first infusion was earthy (most Pu-erh teas are!) but I liked that the earthy notes were subdued. The flavor is deep, rich and mellow. Really smooth without any astringency. The sweetness is reminiscent of molasses!
My second infusion was a little more earthy than the first, but it was still very sweet and smooth. By the third infusion, I found that the earthiness had really subsided to the point where I really found myself enjoying this Pu-erh. Sure, I liked the first and second infusions just fine, but, my palate was much fonder of the third infusion!
The fourth infusion produced a slightly smoother taste – the taste was still very smooth in the first three infusions, but here I notice that the flavors tend to meld and become more unified. It becomes a very smooth drinking kind of tea, with lovely sweet notes, hints of earth, and a sweet, caramel-y, molasses-y kind of taste all coming together in a seamless flavor. It was really nice and mellow – the kind of cup that you like to enjoy after a meal.
I could have very easily taken this tea through even more infusions … although it was getting late. My personal tea time had come to an end before this tea was ready to quit! A really enjoyable Pu-erh … not my favorite, perhaps, but, certainly one I’d be happy to enjoy again!