91

I’ve had this for a year, and tasted several times, so shame on me for waiting so long to post a review.

This style of puerh is unusual. Comparing this to most puerh teas is like comparing Champagne to Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a very light, delicate tea, with flavors of straw and light tropical fruit and/or melon. Really closer in flavor to a white tea than it is to most puerh. However, it does have a depth of flavor and mouth feel similar to a high-quality puerh. The taste was light straw and tropical fruits, but with a hint of bitterness in the finish in later steeps, which caused me to drop my rating by a point.

I got the bright idea of tasting this side-by-side with a similar tea:
http://steepster.com/teas/tuochatea-dot-com/56676-yubang-silver-bud
Turns out this was a bad idea. The yubang made this tea taste weak, while this tea made the yubang taste crude and inelegant. Either alone was much better by itself. Kind of like Champagne and cabernet.

A note on storage: This tea is so subtle that I worried about storing it in my pumidor. I have 4 teas of this style that I keep in a zip-locked bag inside the pumidor, periodically airing it out. This seems like a reasonable compromise between drying out and losing that subtle flavor. The teas did spend a few months in the pumidor, which may have caused them to lose their freshness, though that may just be age. I also steep at a lower temperature (190 F vs 200F).

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 g 2 OZ / 59 ML

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Retired engineer/physicist.
My ratings will usually be based on multiple tastings. Oolong teas are generally 3 grams of tea in 6 oz water for 1 minute. Black teas are 1.5 grams of tea in 6 oz water for 3-4 minutes. Pu-erh is 3 grams in 2.5 oz, generally 10, 10, 20, 30, 60 sec. Since I use less tea, 6 sessions is equivalent to twice that many for people who use 7 grams of tea.

My numerical ratings are all based on how much enjoyment I took from the tea. Since I prefer blacks and oolongs, they will receive higher scores. I also give a couple of extra points to decafs, just because I can drink them in the evening without staying up half the night. I don’t dislike flavored teas, but find that they lack the complexity of finer teas.

90-100 = superior, worth a high price
80-89 = Excellent. Will buy again
70-79 = Good tea, but probably won’t buy
60-69 = Nothing really wrong, but…
Below 60 = Wouldn’t drink again. Probably didn’t finish

I am having computer problems and my password is lost. If my computer dies, I won’t be able to access my account, so will need to start a new account as Dr_Jim. This statement vouches for my new identity.

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