JingLong Tea Factory

“I needed another $10 to get Amazon free shipping and this was in the suggested list” is probably not the method that anyone should use to choose a tea. But that’s what I did. $15 for 200g of puerh? Heck yeah free shipping here we come!

Half the cakes are compressed so hard they cut my hand when I try to break them up. The other half fall apart at a touch. Rinsing twice, then a 2 minute steep provides a medium hued tea soup you could mistake for a very mild fish broth. Around a 4th steep the fish taste goes away. That’s it. When the fish taste goes away, there’s no other flavor, you’re just drinking hot water.

This is the second ever puerh I have tried and it’s probably going to take a while to find one that I like LESS than this. Ick.

Getting low on this one, probably a single session left.

Mixed with some Nantou red oolong for a nice little afternoon session.

First time back to this in a while!’

Good, solid, Yunnan black tea. Smooth and savory. One-dimensional but also exactly what I needed.

Back on this cake for a few infusions.

Yunnan hong cha, pressed. Tasty!

Revisiting this one after some years. Lets see how my old review stacks up now that I am better versed in gong fu.
I’m sad I will not be able to buy “Road Tea” again as it is not offered by Jing Long in 2023. Then again, it’s probably similar to their other ripe Pu-erh offerings. This is a chocolate bar shaped bing.

The nose after rinsed is a golden malt, maybe barley? but very sweet.

2 washes

1st Infusion: 30 seconds
Rich and malty body on the nose once brewed, nice deep brown-gold liquor. Very smooth on the tongue with a pleasant black tea heft and mouthfeel. Perhaps I expected more body but I can always kick up the infusion time. The sweetness is more a smell than taste, but it really adds to the experience with an empty cup to the nose. Just a good tea, not great but definitely solid. Very mild tannins or astringency.

2nd Infusion: 45 Seconds
Similar to the first infusion, with a little more bready sweetness on the body/finish. This is a straight black tea but offers a pleasant experience.

3rd Infusion: 60 Seconds
I shared this pour with a coworker/friend. The experience was the same albeit with a bit more clarity in the water.

4th Infusion: 120 Seconds
Doubling the infusion time added some body back but also brought an astringency to the throat along the way. I would probably leave this one at 4 infusions and top out around 75-90 seconds on the brew.

This has a unique flavor profile to it.

I picked up on some of the honey wheat they talk about in the description. The flavor notes are bright, light (when compared to a dark and malty tea,) and not flustered by oversteeping it seems.

A bready malt is within the body, nothing overpowering but reminiscent of nibbling on sweet crust. There is just a hint of astringency but again it all ends in a mellow flavor.
At the second steeping I can pick up more of the sweet dried fruit flavor.

Honestly for the reasonable price I scored this brick, it’s a solid tea with diverse flavor and a great body. I was surprised by the results!
There are notes containing the phrase Puerh in one of the description. Although this tea does from from the Yunnan province per the packaging I cannot confirm if it has “true Puerh” characteristics in the body.