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This was a free sample with my order from Pu-Erh.sk. Sample labelled 6 and containing 8g.

4g in Gaiwan.
Dry leaf:
Dark brown; high compression. At a guess, very light herbyness.
Rinsed Gaiwan: Dusty smoke; wood burning.
Wet leaf: Electric smoke; some fruit. The rinse was light brown suggesting some humid storage.

Summary: Tasty with it’s sharp bitterness and early smoothness.

5s – Light brown liquor. Must be humid storage. Liquor is thick; there is a little smoke in the background. There is a balance of honey and tobacco. Incredibly smooth with a delicate soft sweetness.
10s – Light brown liquor. More smoky, peppery smoke and bitterness. This has some Menghai flavour profile, but the smoke is a little heavy and a little thicker than what I expect.
15s – Bronze liquor. There are raisins. It has a slightly bitter, sour finish, and that is when the raisins really come in. The smoke is easy off. The finish is good: it has a good bite with the bitter/sour notes against the sweet raisin fruitiness.
20s – Light brown. It is sparkling on a woody base with a very tasty sour finish. I had a look at the leaves in the Gaiwan and they look like plantation stuff: small green leaves and stems, reminding me of my Menghai tuo. Menghai tuo with humid storage. I’m guessing cheaper leaves have been aged in an environment that has improved the tea greatly.
25s – Lighter brown. The bitterness/sour flavour stays with you and there is some tartness. This tea is juicy and makes the mouth water with its crisp, sharp bitterness.

6g in Gaiwan this time and here we go :)

Interesting pairing with Ardbeg.

Dry leaf: Loose leaves; dark, dry and twig-like. Aroma is very much like milk chocolate: it is smooth and creamy/milky.
In hot Gaiwan: Not much; subdued dust.
Wet leaf: Cooked pastry, sweet, oil.

Summary: This tea is very good. It has aged into something very interesting to drink with it’s aged flavours and moreish texture.

Rinse was dark brown.

5s – Med brown liquor. It sizzles in the mouth. I have drunk nothing like this before. Very smooth, soft and supple. There is no bitterness. It evokes a sense of calm as it reveals it’s flavours gently, melting and subtle sweetness, before disappearing. The finish leaves a constant low buzz; the mouth is left dry and I can almost hear the buzzing after taste.
10s – Med/dark brown liquor. There is a lot going on here. There is a small amount of bitterness; there is a warehouse/musty flavour. There is some beetroot developing, but not much. As an aged tea I am not getting any church/bird cage flavours.
15s – Darkish brown liquor. Rolling it around the mouth reveals some old flavours such as mustiness and a hint of the British Library – the Ancient Greek section. The form is interesting: it is smooth and simple at first, and then on swallowing it seems to reverberate/oscillate/fluctuate up and down subtly.
20s – Darkish brown. It has a fizzy, lightly spiciness on the sip. Liquor is not particularly thick. It lingers quite strongly of the flavour of the tea.
25s – Darkish brown. There is some dark chocolate and a little spice, then some bitterness. It fades away slowly, leaving the mouth dryish and full of the flavour.
50s – Darkish brown. Brewed for longer increases the bite, gives more thickness, and gives more bitterness, which gives it a better mouth action.

How does it pair with Camembert? Not so well, as the ammonia taste of the cheese swamps the tea.

Dry leaf: Slightly fishy; smoked fish.
Wet leaf: Burnt wood; not strong in aroma.

5s – Medium light brown liquor. No fishiness. Subdued, creamy milk and some background milk chocolate. Soft.
10s – Medium brown liquor. Multi-layers. Earthy floral sits on top of a creamy, wooden base.
15s – Darker medium brown liquor. Creamy sweet, burnt wood with something interesting in the background…
20s – Medium brown liquor. Solid, sweet and creamy Shu.
25s – Medium/dark brown liquor. Not so creamy now. It has some bitterness and an almost treacle like taste. That flavour in the background appeared briefly – chicken shed?
30s – Medium/dark brown liquor. It is milk creamy, but it also has some dark chocolaty notes.
35s – Medium brown liquor. Light on flavour.
Reboiled kettle.
2 minutes – Medium/dark brown liquor. Solid; some cardboard.
35 minutes – Medium/dark brown liquor. Wet wood; mild creamy.

Re-saved as the link was not working anymore – a re-review will be coming shortly.

2010 HAI LANG HAO “CHA WANG” YI WU ANCIENT ARBOR RAW PU-ERH TEA
4g used.
Note#1: My notes from 25s on will need confirming in a further session, as I’m not convinced the sweetness came from the tea alone.
The dry leaf is loose leaf. I guess a 10g chunk was not possible. This tea is expensive at $12.50/£7.98 for a 10g sample.
The wet leaf: Wow. Lemon on top; concentrated fruit underneath. When I say ‘on top’ I mean the aroma is layered in a way I have not come across before. Very complex. Citrus fruits, plums. I was tentative about brewing this, as it is so expensive. I only ordered 10 grams, hence the small amount of leaf used. I was pleasantly surprised to find 11 grams in my sample; wow, an extra one gram . The aroma shares some notes with the 2008 XIAGUAN “DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER”, but this does not have the mushroom direction. As it cools it has strawberries, lemons, light concentrated herbyness and no smoke.
The rinse was a clear, pale orange; at this price, I was tempted to drink this.

5s – Here goes. Liquor is very light yellow and very clear. Amazing. Liquor is thick, syrupy, lemony – very similar to 2013 YUNNAN SOURCING “WU LIANG YE SHENG”. Notes of honey and lemon cough medicine.
10s – Liquor is pale yellow; the same as for a Dayuling high mountain Oolong. Soft, sweet, with a long ‘ringing’ finish.
15s – This tea is subtle. It requires focus and attention. The flavour is light. The empty cup smells of honey and lemon cough medicine.
20s – Subtle. Light fruits, not so strong on the lemon. This tea is one to drink in silence to appreciate.
25s – Spice – where did that come from? Punchy with a sugary sweet after taste that fades away. Interesting: this tea makes the mouth water, the sweetness then increases to a dry sugary sweetness, then it settles down, finally leaving a dry sugary sweetness. This sweetness remained for up to a minute afterwards – a dry sugary sweetness in the mouth and teeth. Intriguing.
30s – Not so subtle now. It has a bold sweetness that leaves a dry sugary sweetness on the swallow. It’s like I’m drinking tea with sugar in.
35s – Liquor is almost clear with faint yellow. Crystal sweetness; chlorine is appearing. This cannot be attributed to tap water, as I used bottle water.

Dry leaf: High compression; dark and smoky.
Wet leaf: Thick smoke; fruity; concentrated herbyness. Small leaves – possible plantation material.
Notes: This tea was removed from Dragon Tea House shortly after I ordered it.

The rinse was darker than usual. I could smell smoke when rinsing the leaves.

5s – Light brown liquor. Smells a bit smoky. The smoke is strong, but it is in the background. This isn’t particularly smooth as the flavour drops of early; the smoke lingers.
10s – Light brown liquor. Strong with tobacco smoke.
15s – Darker brown liquor. Tobacco on the sip. There is a surprisingly bright sweetness that gives light to the smoke.
20s –Medium brown liquor. Smoke is still there. There is a nice action with bitterness and the sweet finish. Liquor is thin.
25s – The bitterness is sparkling on the darker base with tobacco smoke in the background.
30s – Ligher brown. Base sheng taste – end of the session.

My 50 gram sample is composed of two small chunks and the rest, the other 80% is dust/tiny pieces of the cake. This suggests to me Dragon Tea House do not take this cake seriously. I found the tea quite boring and do not recommend it. According to the website this tea is no longer available!

3g in Gaiwan.

Dry leaf: Loose leaves; looks like dried grass.
Wet leaf: Smells like sencha with hints of high mountain Dayuling.
Summary: A Korean green tea, which provides a sencha-like flavour with an unusual boldness.
Note: This is my very first Korean green tea so my description might not be that good.

No rinse. First brew is well below boiling; then each subsequent brew has a slightly higher temperature.

40s – Very faint yellow liquor. The aroma is quite strong. The flavour is sencha-like with a grassy sweetness. It tastes very much like sencha with the grassy sweetness, seaweed and umami. The sweetness roof and back of the mouth. The liquor has some thickness to it. The finish is very smooth and lingers for some seven seconds. Very pleasant.
55s – Faint yellow/green liquor. The lower temperature is really bringing out the soft sencha-like sweetness. Swirling it around the mouth reveals a range of sweet flavours. There is no taste of artificial sweetness; it is mainly fresh.
1 minute 10 sec – Very light green liquor. Liquor is fairly thick; sweetness has a little astringency.
1 minute 25 sec – I have increased the temperature and it has capped the sweetness and gives it more boldness and astringency.
1 minutes 40 sec – Poured from the kettle, which boiled minutes ago. It has taken the hot water well. The sweetness sparkles a little and it is active in the mouth. It is bold and stimulating. It’s interesting how this tea has taken the hot water; sencha would have tasted overly bitter at this high temperature, plus it would not have lasted as long. I find sencha (from O-Cha) generally makes 3 good brews.
1 minute 30 sec – Boiling water. Still sweet, but more like the base for Genmaicha without the roasted rice.

Dry leaf: Small chunks, lots of dust/tiny bits of leaves. The aroma is earthy and light raw beetroot
In a rinsed Gaiwan: Burning wood; very dusty; toasty.
Wet leaf: Pigeon loft / Chicken shed; church; some bright notes like subdued polish (Mr Sheen in UK). I know the aroma of polish as I just polished an hour ago.

Summary: A tea with an aged flavour, well controlled; some peppery smoke develops; an Islay whisky finish develops.

5s – Light brown liquor. Very bright on the first sip; it feels like it sizzles in my mouth. Flavour has some pigeon loft / chicken shed, but it has dry fruit and has cinnamon on the swallow. Soft and almost chalky mouth-feel. The finish lingers with some chicken shed, and the feeling I get is peaceful. Snow has landed softly on the ground to rest.
10s – Medium brown liquor. Not a thick mouth feel. Perhaps the chicken shed is the storage flavour? This reminds me of 1980’s Tong Qing Hao Tea Cake by SampleTea. There is a little bitterness on the swallow, which adds a nice finish to the body which is smooth, chicken shed and remarkably controlled. This differs from younger shengs in that there is no harsh bitterness and is not as bright; this tea is very mellow in tone. I can still taste the chicken shed when finishing the cup, when swallowing and when breathing out.
15s – Darker brown liquor. It’s interesting that I seem to feel the effect of the tea while it is in my mouth and before I swallow, almost as if swallowing is superfluous. It makes me feel relaxed.

Reboiled kettle.

20s – Darkish brown liquor. Some spice and peppery smoke give it a kick. Chicken shed faintly, but still in the background. Thin liquor. It is fruity, rather than woody; wet rather than dry, and fresh more than stale. The finish is slightly drying, spicy and has some similarities to an Islay whisky finish: that being slightly smoky, strong, some tobacco and complex.
25s – Medium/dark brown liquor. Definitely some dark chocolate, even glimpses of 100 cocoa. The smoke is fairly dry, but not overwhelming, though it does give some heat.
35s – Some sharpness appearing.
40s – Almost raw beetroot. The spiciness reminds me of 2005 Wild Tree “Ye Sheng Cha” Raw Puerh Tea Brick of Dehong by Yunnan.

3g in Gaiwan.

This tea does have a fishy odour in the dry leaf, which re-assures me that this properly made shu pu-erh. This has a good range of flavours, from sweet to very dark. It has a creamy, sweetness on the sip and it has excellent form and body. It is dearer than the Menghai Tianyu Ancient Puer Tea Cake 2006 357g Ripe, but it is worth the extra in my opinion for the extra depth of flavour, robustness and more stimulating drink.

6g in Gaiwan. My first cake :) (Yes I bought it because it was one of the cheapest I could find).

Dry leaf: It is dark and there are twigs in the mix, which suggests low quality material.

This shu pu-erh has a unique flavour, which I would describe as being similar to bovril and stewed tea. It is relatively smooth, but not creamy smooth. The brew does not have the depth and is not as dark as some Menghai’s I have tried, but it is very drinkable and I have found myself re-loading the Gaiwan tonight. Some of the leaves are black and some are dark grey, which to me suggests different levels of fermentation. It has zero fishiness in it, which I am very surprised at.

According to the description, this uses leaves harvested in 2001.

At $14.99 (£9.70) for a full 357g cake, it’s a bit of bargain in my humble opinion.