I’ve received a sample of this tea with my last order from BJ about a week ago. It interested me from the first moment, not only because it’s probably the most expensive puerh I’ve drank in a long time (40 € for 357g cake), but also because I’ve recently ran out of all sheng (raw) puerh I had at home, so I’m currently looking for something to fill in and it’s always nice to get something like this for free :D
Smell of the dry leafs is quite typical for fresh sheng teas, very fruity and still somewhat “new” – however, there are also some deep tones, typical for older, already ripened puerh teas.
I used about five grams (half of the sample) on my 135 ml yixing teapot, which is quite a classic dosage for me, as you can notice from my previous post. Leaves are still quite strongly compressed and adhered to each other, which is a good sign for me, because I don’t like it when leaves of compressed puerh are too loose, if you understand. Like this, it’s more interesting to watch the process of the unfolding leaves and get more tones in taste.
Infusion color is deep yellow, with very nice smell, lacking the smoky tones of some teas of this kind. The taste is very similar to the smell, soft, fruity and with a little bit of gentle bitterness. There is almost no sourness at all, which is a good sign, too. This tea can be drank for whole day, because it’s really capable of numerous infusions, all of them very interesting and different from each other. For me, the most interesting infusions were probably the third and the fourth one, but it’s hard to say, as all of them had something special to offer.
I would describe infused leaves almost the same way as the seller already did, so I will just copy what they said: “Leaves are subtle and young, but tough on touch and smooth on surface.“ They really are of very high quality, just as one would expect from this grade of tea.
It’s also very stimulant, but I guess it’s like this with most puerh teas, due to their high level of theine (caffeine, if you want).
It’s definitely a tea worth trying and I’m looking forward to the second half of this sample, which I still have, because I believe I will find something new and interesting in it with each try.
I also have two other sheng puerh samples at home right now, one from 2006 and the other from 2007, so I will hopefully write about them soon.
