Thanks so much Azzrian for sending a bit of this along! I was in the mood for a pu-erh and this is the first tea I was able to try in my new Bodum YoYo infuser and mug! I have no idea why it is called “yoyo”. (It matches my vintage Bodum electric kettle!) The mug is clear so I have a nice view of the steep color. This one has the color of a draft of beer! So I’m not sure how much caffeine pu-erh has if the color is so light. (I’m assuming the darker the steep color, the more caffeine it has? I don’t know.) I like this mug though.. it’s either because the bottom of the mug is slanted or because the mug is clear, that when I’m sipping it, it looks like the mug has less tea in it than it actually does. I get a bit sad, but when I set it down, I can see that there IS a ton of tea left in the cup!
All of these steeps were for two minutes after two 10 second rinses (not sure if I’m doing that right!) Autumn is what the tea reminds me of. The leaves look like autumn leaves. The fragrance is smokey, like there is a burning pile of leaves in the yard. I wouldn’t guess that this is a pu-erh, because it doesn’t have that typical pu-erh flavor profile. It kind of seems like the flavor of tree bark, in the most appetizing way… so I guess you could still call it earthy! The flavor is smokey.. it most reminds me of a russian caravan. The flavor is smooth, silky, woodsy, light, and a tiny bit spicy… The second steep gets even smoother. It’s interesting that pu-erhs have such a wide range of flavor. I pity the fool who doesn’t steep their leaves multiple times. All three steeps were very consistent! I’m sure I could have steeped many more times. But I’M the fool who only used those dipper infusers until now (those I still will, especially for teas like rooibos that don’t need expanding). I knew for a while that the leaves were being strangled… so it was nice to see these leaves breathe. I like this tea! To sum up: it’s an autumn pile of smokey burning leaves and branches. It made me really miss autumn, even though it’s March (well, I miss autumn the first day it snows anyway.) Very unique… but I’m sure all of Verdant’s teas are unique.
Also, I read some of the tasting notes after typing mine up, and it seems I’ve said a lot of the same descriptions that others have. It seems my palate has improved too! Nice!
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I think the long rinses saved you, Sipper!
Most shengs can be pretty harsh if steeped for any length of time, at least that has been my experience. If you still have some of the sample left, I recommend 3-4 oz in a smaller cup, 1 quick rinse, then steep 4 – 6 seconds, adding a few seconds to each steep. I’m not trying to be a know it all, but it would be a fun experiment & another way to enjoy the tea. I love Mt. Banzang’s, wish I could buy a whole cake of it!
Enjoy the day!
I’m sorry but this comment is a little odd. She liked the tea, so clearly this method “worked” for her. This is a more western-style steeping but it’s not a wrong way to steep.
Definitely not wrong! It’s all an experiment anyway, so I was just suggesting an alternative experiment. I hope what I said wasn’t taken as criticism, as that wasn’t my intention. :)
Sorry Terri, my comment wasn’t meant toward you. I agree it’s fun and interesting to try different ways to steep. It’s just odd because she wasn’t complaining about the tea at all! If she had rated it poorly based on her steeping parameters it would have made more sense to me to immediately suggest different ones.
She did actually follow Verdant’s western-style steeping instructions for a sheng. They recommend two rinses followed by a 2 minute steep.
Erased comments to avoid pissing off anyone. I have a difference of opinion about steeping this puer.
Sorry Bonnie, if I made you feel like your opinion was unwelcome. It wasn’t my intention, I just wanted to make sure that Tea Sipper, as a new puerh drinker, didn’t feel like she was being told she did it wrong after she enjoyed the tea.
I appreciate any suggestions! Just because I liked the way I brewed it this way, doesn’t mean there isn’t a better way. Maybe it would have been better, but I only have the set up for western style brewing right now (hey, I just advanced past the dipper infusers. haha.) However, that was the last of this tea I have. I do worry that I’m ruining really great teas (especially Verdant’s) if I’m steeping them wrong, but that was the way that Verdant suggested brewing one of their Shengs. thanks everyone (And I wouldn’t have minded seeing your comment, Bonnie — I know you are a puer drinker!)
I just checked again for the Mt. Banzhang Sheng and it says two rinses for 10 seconds and then steep for two minutes. (I realize the Sheng I had could have had different steeping instructions, but I couldn’t find them.) So I poured water so it was covering the leaves, left it in for 10 seconds, dumped the water, did that again, and then steeped for two minutes. All other steeps were for two minutes too. (And no rinses in between steeps.) I know that Verdant’s oolongs have very short steep times, even with western, but I didn’t think to do that with this one since the site was telling me two minutes.) ah well! It wasn’t terrible!
Maybe if Steepsters have the original packaging for some of these Verdant teas, they could edit the info on Steepster if the info isn’t on Verdant? Unless all sheng steeping instructions aren’t that different… I have no idea.
Great review, T S! I have very little experience with shengs compared to shu. I love me sme good, strong shu! Well, as long as it isn’t fishy! I usually give it a nice long western steep and then resteep. One thing Bonnie does with shu that I just love is…I steep one pot of shu western style, then put the leaves in the refrigerator to cold steep. And I can leave them in there for days and it still tastes good. It is such a refreshing drink, what I imagine a big glass of cool water would taste like to someone who just crawled across the Sahara! Like primal, pure water before pollution existed, with all the tastes of creation (earth and leaf) mixed in! Can you tell I like it? LOL!
oh ashmanra! blowin my mind! love it
Yeah, that made it sound pretty good, ashmanra!
Thanks guys, I didn’t want to sound like a big know it all. I do want to say that the color of the tea has nothing to do with the caffeine content. Green and white tea most often have more than something like puer. It’s the quality of the leaf, the handling…age…processing and such that effects the amount of caffeine. (I heard that coffee is similar on the news yesterday on the Today Show)
thanks for the info, Bonnie! I had no idea that green & white have more caffeine than puer, but like you said, it depends. Very interesting!
Age of the leaf matters, too. I believe I read that caffeine is often higher in the little buds of leaves because it discourages insects from eating the baby leaves. Sugars are higher, too, to fuel the growth. Tea. Is. Wonderful. Miraculous and complex.
What Ashmanra said!!
Also, I don’t know if anyone could tell but that one bit about resteeping was like channeling Mr.T and not really me calling anyone a fool. :D
I think the long rinses saved you, Sipper!
Most shengs can be pretty harsh if steeped for any length of time, at least that has been my experience. If you still have some of the sample left, I recommend 3-4 oz in a smaller cup, 1 quick rinse, then steep 4 – 6 seconds, adding a few seconds to each steep. I’m not trying to be a know it all, but it would be a fun experiment & another way to enjoy the tea. I love Mt. Banzang’s, wish I could buy a whole cake of it!
Enjoy the day!
I’m sorry but this comment is a little odd. She liked the tea, so clearly this method “worked” for her. This is a more western-style steeping but it’s not a wrong way to steep.
Definitely not wrong! It’s all an experiment anyway, so I was just suggesting an alternative experiment. I hope what I said wasn’t taken as criticism, as that wasn’t my intention. :)
Sorry Terri, my comment wasn’t meant toward you. I agree it’s fun and interesting to try different ways to steep. It’s just odd because she wasn’t complaining about the tea at all! If she had rated it poorly based on her steeping parameters it would have made more sense to me to immediately suggest different ones.
She did actually follow Verdant’s western-style steeping instructions for a sheng. They recommend two rinses followed by a 2 minute steep.
Erased comments to avoid pissing off anyone. I have a difference of opinion about steeping this puer.
Sorry Bonnie, if I made you feel like your opinion was unwelcome. It wasn’t my intention, I just wanted to make sure that Tea Sipper, as a new puerh drinker, didn’t feel like she was being told she did it wrong after she enjoyed the tea.
I appreciate any suggestions! Just because I liked the way I brewed it this way, doesn’t mean there isn’t a better way. Maybe it would have been better, but I only have the set up for western style brewing right now (hey, I just advanced past the dipper infusers. haha.) However, that was the last of this tea I have. I do worry that I’m ruining really great teas (especially Verdant’s) if I’m steeping them wrong, but that was the way that Verdant suggested brewing one of their Shengs. thanks everyone (And I wouldn’t have minded seeing your comment, Bonnie — I know you are a puer drinker!)
I just checked again for the Mt. Banzhang Sheng and it says two rinses for 10 seconds and then steep for two minutes. (I realize the Sheng I had could have had different steeping instructions, but I couldn’t find them.) So I poured water so it was covering the leaves, left it in for 10 seconds, dumped the water, did that again, and then steeped for two minutes. All other steeps were for two minutes too. (And no rinses in between steeps.) I know that Verdant’s oolongs have very short steep times, even with western, but I didn’t think to do that with this one since the site was telling me two minutes.) ah well! It wasn’t terrible!
Maybe if Steepsters have the original packaging for some of these Verdant teas, they could edit the info on Steepster if the info isn’t on Verdant? Unless all sheng steeping instructions aren’t that different… I have no idea.
Great review, T S! I have very little experience with shengs compared to shu. I love me sme good, strong shu! Well, as long as it isn’t fishy! I usually give it a nice long western steep and then resteep. One thing Bonnie does with shu that I just love is…I steep one pot of shu western style, then put the leaves in the refrigerator to cold steep. And I can leave them in there for days and it still tastes good. It is such a refreshing drink, what I imagine a big glass of cool water would taste like to someone who just crawled across the Sahara! Like primal, pure water before pollution existed, with all the tastes of creation (earth and leaf) mixed in! Can you tell I like it? LOL!
oh ashmanra! blowin my mind! love it
Yeah, that made it sound pretty good, ashmanra!
Thanks guys, I didn’t want to sound like a big know it all. I do want to say that the color of the tea has nothing to do with the caffeine content. Green and white tea most often have more than something like puer. It’s the quality of the leaf, the handling…age…processing and such that effects the amount of caffeine. (I heard that coffee is similar on the news yesterday on the Today Show)
thanks for the info, Bonnie! I had no idea that green & white have more caffeine than puer, but like you said, it depends. Very interesting!
Age of the leaf matters, too. I believe I read that caffeine is often higher in the little buds of leaves because it discourages insects from eating the baby leaves. Sugars are higher, too, to fuel the growth. Tea. Is. Wonderful. Miraculous and complex.
What Ashmanra said!!
Also, I don’t know if anyone could tell but that one bit about resteeping was like channeling Mr.T and not really me calling anyone a fool. :D