The early steeps of this tea were quite strong. There were notes of leather, if that is the best description. There was quite a lot of fermentation flavor. Much more than in the 2013 tea I drank last night. The fermentation flavor did not last past the third steep and I got to the flavors beneath it. There were sweet flavors in later steeps, even berry notes. I did add sugar which I suspect accentuated these notes. They, however weren’t there in the first three steeps where I also added sugar. I don’t think it was the sugar. There appeared to be an incredibly small amount of white mold on this tea cake, barely perceptible. A photo of this cake extremely exaggerated this feature. I am not actually sure this white on the cake was mold and it was only on one side and only on the outside from what I can tell. This tea was not especially great and not especially terrible. I do suspect that it was not a real Banzhang cake like Berylleb said. I didn’t believe it to be a Banzhang cake when I bought it as it was only around $24.99 or so.
I brewed this six times in a 220ml gaiwan with 8.5g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 10 sec, 5 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, and 30 sec. Had I wanted to continue the tea session I would guess there were about 2 to 4 steeps left in the tea but I have to get up for work tomorrow and besides, it wasn’t good enough to steep more than six times anyway.
Flavors: Earth, Leather, Sweet
Preparation
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Here are photos of the cake. What appears to be a lage amount of mold on one side is greatly exaggerated. In reality there is a small amount, in two or three places of white on the cake. I am not convinced for sure it is mold.
http://instagram.com/p/velANezDW4/?modal=true
http://instagram.com/p/velEoLTDXX/?modal=true
http://instagram.com/p/veku5ETDU2/?modal=true
it looks like mold to me . you can brush it off. also i wouldnt put the same paper wrapper on since traces of mold are on a paper. im sorry you got this, but on a teachat they say its not that bad if you can brush it off. doesnt look too bad to me. i’m checking my cakes when i get them.
hm, I thought moldy puerh was bad because it didn’t ferment properly?
it doesn’t necessarily mean that. badly fermented pu’erh doesn’t have to be moldy and moldy pu’erh doesn’t have to be badly fermented.
TeaBrat, pu becomes moldy because of poor storage. humidity brings mold
I have sent a copy of the photo to Berylleb. Hopefully they will give me a refund. I have already given them feedback so it is too late to give them negative feedback or threaten such.
Yeah I think storage is the main thing. Allan let me know as to how they reply. I have always put good faith and recommendation on them as they are usually flawless in their operation.
Here are photos of the cake. What appears to be a lage amount of mold on one side is greatly exaggerated. In reality there is a small amount, in two or three places of white on the cake. I am not convinced for sure it is mold.
http://instagram.com/p/velANezDW4/?modal=true
http://instagram.com/p/velEoLTDXX/?modal=true
http://instagram.com/p/veku5ETDU2/?modal=true
it looks like mold to me . you can brush it off. also i wouldnt put the same paper wrapper on since traces of mold are on a paper. im sorry you got this, but on a teachat they say its not that bad if you can brush it off. doesnt look too bad to me. i’m checking my cakes when i get them.
hm, I thought moldy puerh was bad because it didn’t ferment properly?
it doesn’t necessarily mean that. badly fermented pu’erh doesn’t have to be moldy and moldy pu’erh doesn’t have to be badly fermented.
TeaBrat, pu becomes moldy because of poor storage. humidity brings mold
I have sent a copy of the photo to Berylleb. Hopefully they will give me a refund. I have already given them feedback so it is too late to give them negative feedback or threaten such.
Yeah I think storage is the main thing. Allan let me know as to how they reply. I have always put good faith and recommendation on them as they are usually flawless in their operation.