Crimson Lotus Tea

Good morning! It is 8 am here, seems like another lazy day with cuppa of good tea. It is cloudy, it seems rain will come. Typical autumn weather I guess. Tea from derk.

No rinse, 3.5 grams, 85 ml gaiwan.
Wet leaf reminds me smoky lapschang, maybe bit of bacon. But in taste it is vegetal, bit salty, but still good. Okay, that was description of rinse.

1st steep, typical setup – 15 seconds.
Mellow sheng, vegetal a bit. Some refreshing note is there too.

2nd, 30 seconds
Much better, more flavourful, more full-in-taste. Good one.

3rd, 40 seconds
Derk is completly right. For newbies of pu-erh this is great tea. Why? It is easy to steep, it is tasty. But as well good to find if I like shengs or not. It shows little of astringency too, bit of vegetal taste, bit of sweet notes. Just easydrinking tea. But I am still a baby in world of Pu-erh. Yep, trying “more adult ones” but I am not really sure if pu-erh world is for me. I prefer oolongs :P

4th, 45 seconds.
Another easydrinking steep. It is tasty, maybe bit of peaches. Headache disappears slowly (I took a pill)

5th, 60 seconds.
Peach notes dominate this steep. Few of other stonefruits in background. Maybe plums?

6th, let it go seconds. More than 60. I do it with last steeps and usually it turns out tasty.
And it is tasty again.

Derk – thank you for this tea. I have half left, so maybe another day… But I know,I can expect good sheng with typical tastes for sheng. Little astringency, little sweetness, little vegetal. Stonefruits too. In conclusion, good tea, but clearly not top notch. Maybe my session was too long too.

Food pairing: oat cookies
Song pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwtdhWltSIg

Those who know me know that I love Lao Man’e. It is my favorite pu’er producing area. I own a bing of Hai Lang Hao’s absolutely stupid priced 2016 Lao Man’e, that’s how much I love this stuff. This year Crimson Lotus released both the sweet and bitter varietals as mao cha alongside blending the two into a limited number of cakes. Blending the two has always made sense to me: the sweet varietal lacks the kick that I look for in a proper Lao Man’e while also often having only average longevity, whereas the bitter varietal can often end up being a bit too one dimensional. Together the two complement one another nicely.

I ended up ordering one of each of their single sessions and blending the two together for this session in a 60:40 ratio of sweet versus bitter, totaling eight grams in a 100ml gaiwan. This was a casual session I did not expect to be reviewing, so did not take notes. I did an unknown number of steeps over the course of two to three hours, using up approx. 1.5 to 2 liters of water in the process. For the first countless steeps I kept the steeping times to a flash, until finally starting to lengthen them in my standard manner, ultimately stopping at the 3 minute mark.

For me the tea is a bit too green still. The rinsed leaves have a distinct asparagus smell to them, which comes across in the cup too. Some very green teas like green teas and jade wulongs have the bitter asparagus note and I’m personally not a fan. I’m not a fan of greener teas in general. The first few infusions are rather strange in general. All of Crimson Lotus’s mao cha that I’ve tried recently have suffered from this. I don’t know if it’s a storage thing or maybe a mao cha thing. I’ve never been a huge fan of mao cha; I’ve always felt pressed raws taste way, way better. Regardless, the weird funk does clear up after a few brews and the expected bitterness ramps up as well.

There’s definitely sweetness, but it only comes to the forefront after the bitterness has had its time in the limelight in the early to early mid brews. I found this tea somewhat atypical of Lao Man’e, which I suppose is a good thing as the teas can taste a bit too similar to one another. It could have to do with the young age or the tea being loose, but regardless it’s a welcome change even if I did miss some of the more classic attributes, which might develop later. For me the highlights of this tea were the extremely consistent robust body and the enjoyable, energizing cha qi. I’m used to Lao Man’e teas being rather aggressive generally, so the more pleasant energy was definitely welcomed. For a young tea there is already a good amount of fragrance going on and aerating the tea in my mouth I could tell in an instant that this is a great tea.

The quality is honestly top notch, and as someone having tasted many, many teas in the $1/g region, this is one of the few that is actually worth it, or let’s say it’s one of the teas most worth its price point. For those seeking to figure out how to discern true old tree material, I think this is one of the best and clearest examples I have come across. I have no doubts about this material being old arbor and the leaves look stunning both in dry form and brewed.

Before the session I was absolutely not in the market for buying a second cake of Lao Man’e, and despite that by the end of the session I’d placed an order for the blended cake. I highly, highly recommend sampling this tea, both for a Lao Man’e novice as well as a veteran. Despite being unsure how I felt about the tea at first, it eventually won me over and it is an impeccable tea. If you want to recreate the blending experiment I did but are not fully on board with the full-on bitterness of Lao Man’e, you can increase the ratio even further, something like 2:1 could work nicely. I’m tempted to blend the rest of the mao cha I have with the Honeymoon sheng I reviewed previously and see how that works out. Might be a waste of expensive tea, but you never know before you try.

I received 20g of this tea as a freebie with an order. I’ve read up on CLT’s 2018 teas when they came out, but since then the details have slipped from my mind and blended together. For this session I decided not to check the description or the price to go in mostly blind. All I remember is that this one is a blend, but nothing more.

I used 7g in a 100ml gaiwan. The dry leaf has an uncanny smell of fruit candies. Unmistakably Yiwu if you were to ask me. Quick 5s rinse, followed by a 5 min. rest while I sipped the wash. The taste was sweet, mineral, touch creamy. I was also picking up on some tobacco and leather which is rather rare. I proceeded to do a total of ten infusions, the timing for these 5s, 5s, 7s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 45s, 75s and 2 min.

Honeymoon starts off sweet, fruity, fresh and refreshing, with a distinct pineapple note to it. The fruitiness is prevalent throughout most of the session, only dropping off briefly in the early late steeps before coming back later on. From the second infusion onward the tea develops a nice texture to it, which like the fruitiness persists for most of the session. Underneath this very approachable exterior, there is definite underlying sheng strength to be found as well, without it ever completely taking over the tea.

Contrary to most raws I typically drink, Honeymoon feels very cooling in the body, with some minor cooling to be found in the throat as well in the mid steeps. The tea does develop some oiliness and in the mid steeps where the tea peaks the raw character does come to the forefront briefly, revealing a very pure, clean character to this tea. Only toward the very end does the unmistakable characteristic Yiwu sweetness reveal itself, joining the fruit.

All in all I enjoyed this tea a hell of a lot more than I expected to. First off, while I’m quite fond of the shu pu’ers Crimson Lotus offers, their house taste for selecting sheng pu’ers – typically leaning toward fairly safe and inoffensive teas – have never really appealed to me. Secondly, those who know me may know that I don’t really do blends. They just aren’t what I’m looking for in tea. In the past I would have said shu pu’er was an exception to this as it made sense there, but since tasting some incredible single-origin old tree ripes, I’ve reversed my stance on that.

Honeymoon is a very enjoyable, clearly high-quality tea. I would suspect that it is predominantly made up of Yiwu material, if not exclusively so. While I’ve tasted a very limited number of blended shengs, Honeymoon is likely the best one out of them. Ironically, though, I think most of that comes down it having many qualities that closely resemble single-origin teas. With all the praise though, it’s not a tea I’d be looking to purchase. It’s perfectly drinkable now, in fact I’d be unsure if there’s much benefit to aging it. Astringency and bitterness are fairly minimal, and while there’s also a good amount of strength to the tea as well, I’d be wary of the tea potentially mellowing out too much in the longterm. For me the tea is a bit too safe and I’ve grown quite tired of most Yiwu teas because of the high focus most western vendors have on it.

After revisiting the product description after the session, this tea having a Manzhuan base makes perfect sense, as in my limited experience most raws I’ve tried from Manzhuan have been very fruity. The description leaves unclear to me if this is a blend of material exclusively from Manzhuan or if the base material is Manzhuan with smaller amounts of other regions thrown in as well. Pure Manzhuan would explain the very single-origin quality I got from this tea.

Looking at the price surprised me a little. I recalled most of Crimson Lotus’s blended cakes being in the $60 to $80 region, so seeing this one going for quite a bit more I wasn’t sure if I considered that a bit steep or simply more than I was expecting to see. The material is certainly good and I’ve tasted teas more expensive than this that impressed me less. That being said I’ve also tasted teas that blew me away at this price point, something this tea didn’t do. There’s definitely a lot of competition around this price, so a sample is something I can easily recommend, but a cake something you should decide after trying the tea for yourself. Overall, thumbs up to Honeymoon, though. A pleasant surprise.

Edit: I’ve since finished my sample. Please see the comment I’ve posted to this review.

I still have some old CLT samples, and Jinggu Bàng is one of them. I found it a little boring taste-wise, and no other aspect particularly grabbed my attention either. However, today I did like it a bit more than at our first encounter – it seemed to have a greater depth of flavours with some fruity sweetness and camphor present.

Aroma is mostly reminiscent of forest floor, thyme, and mushrooms, with hints of alcohol, oregano, and peppercorn. The taste starts of herbal and honey-like, but quickly becomes very vegetal and astringent. There are flavours such as straw, spinach, kale, and ginger. Later on, the minerality gets enhanced too and further flavours such as fenugreek emerge. The aftertaste is long, cooling, and drying with a hint of smoke and a good hui gan.

I think the mouthfeel is actually pretty good in early infusions – soft, creamy, and active/mouth-watering – but it gets less interesting fast.

Sunshine? Not here much today. it is cloudy, quite cold. Finally.

But the name is very nice. As well the dry leaf aroma; it is quite floral; violets and some other flowers. No rinse.

1st steep is 15 seconds, pours light yellow-green liquor. It became bit more fruity in aroma and vegetable (cucumbers). In taste light and bit of citrus fruits, but not so much. Maybe bit of stonefruits.

2nd / 30 s.
Lemongrass; by heichaholiday? True too! Now it is full of different flavours. Lemongrass, stonefruits, just more full-bodied.

3rd / 45 s.
Maybe little of white grapes appear.

4th / +- 60 s.
Little of astringency appeared. Good though.
Of course I continued, but it just had mood (and time) to write these.

Song pairing (sad): https://publisher.bandcamp.com/track/never-wanted

Thank you derk for sample; I used all in one go.

Hey there Steepster folks, I am back after a short break caused by a great deal of travelling and basically being away from home for about two months, visiting Orange (California), Zurich and other places in Switzerland, Slovakia, Banff, and Vancouver. I should get back to tea reviews now though.

Here’s a tea I chose for today’s evening session, my first tasting of Midas Touch. I found it to be a good quality, medium-bodied tea that could be very enjoyable 10-20 years down the line, but it’s not interesting enough at the moment for me personally.

The dry leaf scent is mild and most reminiscent of green peppercorns. On the other hand, the wet leaves smell of cannabis, pumpkin leaves, sandstone and cookies.

The wash presents a mineral and vegetal drink which tastes like a mix of sweet grass and wet rocks. The first proper infusion is more balanced with a decent umami and a nice sour note like sorrel. I can also taste menthol and there is a noticeable green tea like bitterness, even though I steeped this one at closer to 90°C than boiling. The aftertaste is not super pronounced, but there is a hint of cantaloupe. The next few infusions produce an even stronger sorrel impression. Around steep two, I notice a strong and disorienting feeling, arriving almost without warning. Overall, the cha qi is pretty strong throughout the session and gets a bit rushy later on.

Later infusions display more floral qualities and astringency as well as notes of honey, brown sugar, fruits and resin in the aftertaste that gets quite drying towards the end.

All in all, the tea has a nice energy, a sorrel like and vegetal taste, and quite a lot of astringency.

2 quick rinses.

1st steep – Autumn Leaves,. Nori, soy sauce, salt. Iodine, and minerals. Smell of wet leaves. Soft, and medium thick in the mouth.

2nd – Very standard. Smooth. Not overly woody. Lots of autumn leaf notes. Dry leaf pile. Earthy. Lots of mineral character coming through. Enjoyable. Even if you’re not a fan of pile flavors in the tea, this is still pretty subdued. Super approachable.

3rd – Seems to be really rounded on this steep, not flat , just cohesive? it is one experience. Round and broth like, with a mineral , and kind of salt characteristic, soy sauce, and fishy like pile flavors have taken a far back seat.

4th – Very soft still, medium body. Still pretty light in the flavor department. Some roasty note. Maillard reaction characteristic. Still very round. super smooth.

5th – More of the same. still has depth with the flavors. dried leaves, earth, a roast character. However, there is a brightness, this accentuates the brine/ saltiness you get on the finish of the tea. mineral aftertaste. Some cedar/ humidor notes too.

6th – more wood character up front. still that Spanish cedar/ humidor flavor…like wood with an accent of pepper. Some brightness came through, lime, and tobacco. leaf, and light wood flavors continue. something about this is almost cigar like. the combination of the wood,and maybe the brightness is making an ash like flavor, very light, but reminder of a Connecticut cigar, in a humidor.

7th – Finally starting to lighten up in the color realm, never brewed super dark or inky. Much like the flavors…pretty nimble, and brown. Down the middle. Lightened up in flavor as well, some slight black pepper notes. Some fruit element, almost peach on aftertaste. Followed by some sweetness. A little juicy.

8th – Brews even lighter now. Some melon sweetness, comes through. Honey dew. Some milky-ness. Melons, milk, black pepper, leaf type earthiness. Very light in the flavors, predominantly dried leaf flavors, and some sweetness.

9th – Brews even lighter, at a 1 min steep time at this point. Definitely coming to the end of the tea. However, I still feel like it is a decent brewer, and have nothing to complain about at this point. Yeh, nothing too much here. Some malt maybe, body lightened up as well. A flash of watermelon/ apple jolly rancher type sweetness? calling it a day with this one.

All in all, a lot of bang for your buck. I bought two cakes of this as a daily drinker, due to price point, and as of right now, really into shou as my go to, as some shengs on the regular can be a little rough on you. This isn’t a knock your socks off, or a one of a kind experience , however, it is a great enjoyable tea. Easy going, and approachable. Perfect for a daily drinker. Drinks above its price point. If it was more complex, it’d score higher, but makes up for it in the value department.

Watch my session with this tea! https://www.twitch.tv/videos/459333627

Daydream is one of my favourite Crimson Lotus teas I’ve tried. Its highlight is the dreamy stoning cha qi coupled with a long evolving aftertaste. It seems to me, however, that it might be a tea to drink now rather than to age; the processing of most of the material seems very “green”.

It has a grassy aroma almost like a sencha with notes of apricot pits, wet wood, cream, cinnamon, cucumber, seaweed and grain appearing after the rinse.

The taste starts out savoury, floral, bitter, and vegetal with flavours such as thistles, freshly cut grass, watermelon skin (the light green part), hay, broccoli, and lavender. It has a butter-like finish and a drying citrusy afertaste reminiscent of lime and citrus zest. Later on I notice further flavours of agar wood, pine, green wood and an edamame-like sweetness. There are also some jasmine and lavender notes in the aftertaste now.

The liquor has a medium body and a lubricating, creamy mouthfeel. It is very soft and somewhat effervescent. As I mentioned already, I really like the energy of this tea. It provides a dizzying and elevating sensation that’s really a full body experience.

The cake has beautiful looking leaf. Upon the first steeping there is a pleasant blend of floral and fruity notes, medium thickness in the mouth with notes of caramel and cream. Cane sugar sweetness. Clean. Flatter the second steep. Not as syrupy. Pineapple, and mango. Third steep it continues…background sweetness, with a fruit forward, and floral flavor. Subtle, sweet cream, and vanilla tones. Round and very relaxing. The fourth steeping, the fruitiness has taken a back seat, more bittersweet and astringency has come forward. Lots orchid, almost nectar type flavors.

The tea rounds outs is still very comforting to drink, lots of soul to the tea. Not a ton of energy, but more of a relaxing energy.

This is definitely one I enjoy, it’s one where it is hard to describe the experience. If you get the chance to try it or purchase it, please do. This is one of the best I’ve had from CLT …IMHO. I need to purchase another cake. The humidity here in Florida ages these quite quickly.

I received this as a sample at first it seems kind of light heartedly not offering up too much the first couple steeps, definitely not a fruit bomb. More vegital. Definitely more of a savory tea, with a dried herb notes and some kind of dried floral notes? But drying in the mouth. Behind my lips and the sides of my tongue. All in all I think a very approachable Sheng. I see that I could get bitter or astringent if you over-steeped, but overall fairly easy to contend with. There’s some residual sweetness in the background but definitely take second fiddle to the floral, herbal, and earthy notes that it has. It sweetens as you brew through. Finishes dry with that cotton ball feeling in the mouth. Resinous at times.

I think overall a good tea definitely a daily drinker as a lighter, and approachable tea. Definitely for a sheng. It’s just easier to contend with, on your casual drinking. However, I think I’m having a problem getting past the drying from the tea. I feel like it overshadows a lot of subtle flavors that it has. Its light, and fairly light hearted, but it kind of gets ran over with this inevitable flavor and feel. The herby, peppery, earthy notes are welcome. I wish I would of got these custard notes, as some other reviews, but no joy..

I wouldn’t seek it out, but I wouldn’t turn it away. Just not a lot of bang for me from the tea ;p

Steeps 1 -5

Brews light brown at first, but It has started off as a 7g chunk. Second steep it brewed a dark mahogany brown, with hints of red. It is brothy, reminds me of Soba or Ramen noodles. It has a certain starchiness to which adds to its mouthfeel. Which is substantial, but not heavy. Has the classic shou flavors, with a hint of latex, methanol. Third steep: Very dark, brown. Not transparent at all. Richer this time around, darker, carbony flavors, but not burnt. Much more minerally. Maybe some Chinese five spice flavors. Black pepper? Like burnt shishito peppers without the spice? good energy from the tea making itself present. The fourth steep, has much more roundness to it. Seems to have more of a savory aspect to it, like good soup broth, an umami if you will. Apparently a very Japanese tea haha. Its a very comforting experience. Some roasted notes here. Like drinking tea in a kitchen. The fifth steeping its is showing an ever slight give up color. A lot of energy, which i typically don’t associate with Shou’s. Usually a nightime tea for , or a casual drinker, this one would be great mid day, but I don’t for caffeine sensitive people might have to be careful. The tea seems to still offer up some solid steeps but has flattened out as far as complexity is concerned. Should go for at least 10+ steeps.

Overall, a good tea, and a surprising energy boost that I did not see coming.

Something I’ve noticed, is the cake is not pressed as tightly as some other offerings from CLT. So it seems to use larger chunks of tea, as it seems to be lighter, and fluffier than others. The cake I have is also short a few grams which is a bummer since the tea does not go as far. Beautiful cake! Really nice attention to wrapping, and artwork. Affordable too.

Steep 1 -4

Brews a golden yellow. Fairly Clear.

Soft, medium bitterness, cucumber skin, zucchini.
Salty. Slightly Floral. Subtle apricot sweetness in the background. Vanilla. Bitterness kicking in on second steep. Light acidity, apple like. green apple core flavors.

Steep 5-8

Bitterness and astringency is starting to mellowing. Pear, lychee sweetness, starts to come forward. Interesting apple, acidity, sweetness as well continues. Tea continues to brew strong with flash steeps and is very potent, and assertive. You can brew this fro sure into the double digits, if you can hang in there that long.

All in all, a solid sheng, however age will help this. I see it becoming a phenomenal tea in 5 years, or more. Its age brews away after a few steepings, and it is vibrant as ever. Very easy to oversteep I think. I don’t like to play with temps much, but it might be interesting to brew with cooler temps to see the results. I f you like big shengs, and bitterness, this is a winner for sure. A big bold, tea, that should reap some great results with age. Not to mention an affordable sheng as well.

Gongfu Sipdown (620)!

Finished off last weekend – a really nice session overall! This was something I was given as a free sample when I ordered my Honeymoon cake last Black Friday, so I’ve had it for a little while now. Probably not something I would have ordered for myself, but those are often the best samples because they surprise you and push you outside your comfort zone!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/Byx9UqwgUEW/

To brew this tea, I used my largest chahai and I stacked my infusions four at a time (excluding the rinse) – I did this for three “sets”, so a total of twelve infusions. This doesn’t allow you to see the flavour unfold/develop in the same way as normal Gong Fu brewing, but it does work for a more casual sitting, because you have a minute or two of straight brewing and then a large quantity of brewed tea to drink over a prolonged period of time.

This was delicious – very sweet and syrupy, both in taste but a syrupy/thick mouthfeel as well. Each set was packed with those syrupy/sweet elements in the form of stonefruit notes and dense, sickly sweet overripe pineapple juice notes – both being flavours that I adore, but especially the overripe pineapple. The kind that gushes when you bite into it, and dribbles on your chin. It was the tiniest bit bitter and astringent (in a pleasant way), with a hint of a more green element, and then a buttery note in the finish.

Solid, solid tea.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uz0rr_7O90

Still trying out some of my Crimson Lotus tea samples from 2018. There are so many good ones!

95C – 120 ml- 4g , started off with less than 5 sec and worked up
The first 4 steeps were my favourite. There was no bitterness or very little in the early steeps. It was so apricot fruity and juicy. I just loved that. There was also a light honey sweetness that coats the tongue. Also got a bit of mineral taste.
After steep 4 , it became much more mineral, less apricot and honey. Bitterness started creeping in more and I detected a bit of a sour note. It just kept getting more mineral with each successive steep. After that I was getting a bit bored with it. Around steep 8 , it started changing around again and I could pick up more honey again. I never made it much past that. I was too busy to go back to my tea and don’t drink any tea with caffeine late afternoon or evening.

If I had to introduce somebody to the world of puerh, and this person had sheng-y trepidations, Hidden Song would be first pick. It’s friendly, mild and sweet with some throaty astringency and light bitterness. The warmed/rinsed leaf has an aroma of cooked sweet blackberries, an umami that lies along a meaty-beany spectrum, dusty florals and old books, moderate flat smoke. The fruity aroma drops away in the brew, leaving a viscous soup that tastes like sweet yellow bean paste with hints of those dusty florals and old books, both of which later become dominant. Some mild, well integrated lemony sourness on the sides of the tongue also makes a presence. A tea difficult to screw up.

If you’re brand new to puerh, I’d highly suggest this tea. The lower score is only my personal preference.

This is a nice floral, sweet, and full-bodied tea with a long-lasting aftertaste. There is enough complexity, but the taste profile remains fairly balanced. One of the better teas I sampled from CLT. The taste is profile is a little strange, but I attribute that to the fact that the tea is in its transition period already.

The dry leaf aroma has a gin and woody quality that turns into a mix of cream, grass compost, camphor and tobacco later on. Towards the end of the session, I can also smell some white peach.

As for taste notes, I noticed flavours of fenugreek, lemon zest, nutmeg, fresh dates, walnut shells and bread. It is somewhat juicy and bitter taste with heavy sweetness and a strong floral component. The aftertaste is dry and tart with notes of honey, dandelion leaves, and guava. The huigan is strong and lasts for a while too.

One of the highlights, and a reason why I think this tea might age well, is its very thick mouthfeel. It is also fairly slick and soft though, with a slight foamy quality that should get enhanced over time. On the other hand, what the tea does not seem to have is a particularly memorable cha qi. However, I don’t really see that as a problem, I don’t necessarily want every sheng I drink to have a hard-hitting qi.

Jingmai LOVE is an ok sheng, but doesn’t seem to stand out in any particular way. Maybe the most memorable is its qi, but not necessarily in a good way either.

The dry leaves have a weak floral smell mixed with some sawdust. On the other hand, the wet leaf aroma is fairly strong. It is fresh and reminiscent of barn cooked meat and a dry meadow.

The rinse has a soft and coating mouthfeel and quite a dynamic taste. It is herbal with vegetal sourness and savoury notes. I also notice some tangerine peel and in the aftertaste phyllo pastry and some sweetness emerging.

First few steeps retain a nice coating mouthfeel, but later on, the texture becomes quite uninteresting. The taste is initially very similar to unripe apricots with some umami and dry grass notes. Over time more floral sweetness is present and around infusion 6, moderate bitterness appears too. After a metallic finish, I get a biting and numbing aftertaste that’s quite nondescript in terms of flavours. The only new one I picked up on is black pepper. There are a lot of returning flavour over time, but the aftertaste is not one that would keep my attention.

The cha qi is somewhat frontloaded. After few steeps I feel warm and sleepy, with a light dizziness. Later on, the only effect is the caffeine rush, which is quite strong from this tea.

Another sample in my Crimson Lotus sample pack.

I haven’t got much to say about this tea except mushrooms. That was the dominant flavour throughout with a bit of bitterness. After infusion 5, the mushroom was a bit less.

Later steeps past 6 were better for me but this is not my type of sheng. I am surprised it has such good reviews. I guess we are all looking for something different in our teas. This one didn’t cut it for me.

I got the sample 2018 package from Crimson Lotus because I was missing some Pu-erh in my cabinet. I wanted to try some samples and just get one good cake of something I love.

This one was very good. I keep the leaf amount and water down. 3g and 100 ml water approximately with 90C water. That might be too weak for most Pu-erh drinkers but I find I like them a bit weak. They keep getting strong in the early infusions anyway.

This one was so smooth. Hardly any bitterness and strong honey & creamy taste in the early infusions. I also picked up some faint fruity notes. The creamy taste disappeared by steep 6 and it was just honey and smooth. I could have easily gone beyond the 9 infusions I did because this tea has practically no caffeine. They were not kidding when they say this tea is so relaxing! Once I hit that many infusions of most Pu-erh , I’ve gone over my caffeine quota for the day.

All in all this is definitely a good Pu-erh for me but (drumroll) what is the price? $94.99 for a 200g cake. I’ve never spent that much on a tea EVER and I’ve gotten some really good teas. That’s probably US funds too so converted to Cdn at 1.3 would be $123.49. Add on shipping and the cost would rise more. No, definitely won’t be buying a cake of this tea. Too bad. It’s such a good one.

I’ve had 2014 Cloudy Days from Crimson Lotus in storage for a few years and decided to try it for the first time this morning. Since I did not taste it when it was first produced, I read the other tasting notes, and it sounds like it has not changed much over the years except to continue to mellow out as one would expect. There are zero negative qualities to this tea, now. It is ready to drink. I brewed this gongfu style in a clay teapot with quick seconds-long steeps progressively extending the steep time. Cloudy Days is a really smooth and balanced shou pu’er. It is initially quite sweet. There is a warm hay like quality with the typical earthiness and nutty flavors. There is a small amount of bitterness in the aftertaste. I initially wrote no throat feels, but I am now getting a little deep in the throat. There is a little mild chalkiness on the back of the lips after the finish. I think a lot of people would enjoy this. It would be an excellent introduction to shou pu’er. The 2014 Cloudy Days is sold out, but Crimson Lotus has reproduced this tea in a 2016 version that is still available.

Addendum: Don’t be afraid to push this tea hard in later steepings. I got distracted and left the leaves steeping for several minutes, and remarkably the tea was perfect with no initial bitterness. Wow.

From the CLT samples I got, Wildwood is one of my favourites. It is quite a green and floral sheng with a very soft and comforting mouthfeel, good huigan and interesting cha qi.

Its aroma is fairly light and standard. I can smell notes of cilantro, stewed kale, butter and steamed milk throughout the session. The taste starts out peppery and floral with muted bitterness and a mild sage flavour. Then it develops into a sour, grassy and crisp profile with floral sweetness in the finish and hints of dandelion. Over time, the astringency naturally appears, but it never becomes overpowering. The aftertaste is slightly salty, buttery, and quite long lasting and drying.

The best aspects of this tea, however, are its texture and the cha qi. It has a full body and very soft and smooth mouthfeel. The energy can be felt almost immediately. My limbs were trembling, my sensations and perceptions heightened and my body was filled with a comforting warmth.

One thing that I am slightly unsure about with respect to this tea is how it will age. It does seem more green than other sheng I have encountered, which might or not pose a problem in the long term. However, that’s not something I can really assess with my lack of experience.

Winner for 2018 Sheng. Has a wholesome nourishing quality and the high is so very pleasant. I don’t feel like I have to pay close attention to this tea to get a great amount of enjoyment from it. That’s kinda the magic of it. It just feels good and quiets your mind and takes you somewhere else. It’s some astringent and not very bitter which is the opposite of how I prefer a tea but I don’t mind. It more than makes up for that in the feels.