Whatever 95 Private Collection Ripe Puer

If this hasn’t had sticky rice herb somewhere near it, I will eat my hat!

(I love sticky rice herb so this hits the spot for me, but I’m not sure I believe this could taste like it does without it).

Gongfu, shared at work with coworkers.

I’ll be honest; I’d forgotten that I owned this tea so I was somewhat surprised when I saw it in my shou sample drawer earlier in the week. I was looking for a sample that was close to being at a sipdown; something I could bring to work and share and either finish off or get close to finishing off. This fit that bill, and had stood out to me so I picked it to come to the office with me for the day…

I shared this with two coworkers; one who is very familiar with shou and one who has only had four or five different shou pu’erhs to mixed success. They both enjoyed the tea, but the more familiar with shou coworker and I both agreed that we were craving more depth/body from this tea – while my other coworker really enjoyed how soft and clean it was. I’ll be honest, I do really love a very clean and smooth tasting shou and this certainly fits that description – but a shou can have A LOT of body and still taste clean…

It took a little while for a clear, identifiable flavour note to emerge throughout the session as the tea is quite soft/delicate for a pu’erh – but when it did that flavour note was intensely and unabashedly “sticky rice”. Such a strong, rice tasting pu’erh! Like some of the other people who’ve reviewed this, I think it’s such an intense and clear sticky rice note that I wouldn’t at all be surprised to find out that this shou was scented in some way.

Good session; even if not deeply satisfying. Lots of life to the leaf; we got a dozen infusions out of the tea. It just doesn’t build up in intensity the way that I crave from it…

Earlier reviewer was correct in noting shellfish aroma, like a tray of shrimp the day after the party. If you can get over that flaw the underlying tea’s pretty boring and lacks the aged notes I’ve enjoyed in other mid-90s shou of less questionable provenance.

I got this tea before I had read any descriptions or heard anything about it actually, so I had no idea what to expect.

The aroma in the pack was giving off a kind of shellfish smell, which surprised me, but I think that was mostly just me picking that up. Underneath that was a dark, creamy sweetness and that is what is expressed in the liquor.

The tea is not tightly packed, it crumbles easily into small chunks, making a consistent brew.

After a wash brew, the first infusion is a strong deep red (I brewed the first infusion about 10 seconds) and the aroma matches the dry leaf aroma, just with a bit more life to it.

The liquor is not as thick as some puers, more mellow and somewhat transparent, vibrant red.

The flavour is simple – oats, malt, rice and other cereals. There’s not to much mystery with this tea and it stays consistent over the mutliple brews. Getting lighter and lighter as you go.

Very patient. After the first steeping I did a couple of flash brews then slowly increase brew time. I went right up to 15 brews, it still had something to offer, albeit much weaker than the first infusion.

The energy is very good. Comfortable. Warming for sure and positive, reassuring. Very balanced. I don’t feel I could get an uncomfortable or anxious feeling from this tea – it’s consistent and balanced. Really good for meditation and paying close attention to.

There’s not much of a kick to it, no overwhelming ‘hit’, just a nice, deep, mellow energy that moves quickly to your whole body. An internal warm bath of sorts.

It’s not the most complex of teas – wears its colours on its sleeves – creamy, slightly sweet, malty and oats – all the way through start to finish.

No signs of damp, mold, forest floor or compost – which is nice. Very much a ‘go-to’, happy to have it in the collection kind of tea when you’re looking for something that tastes and feels great without knocking your socks off energy-wise.

Would love to try the ’98 version to compare and contrast.

Got a sample of this in my last order and recently got around to trying it. I took my time because, as I’ve mentioned again and again, I usually gravitate towards sheng more than shou.

This sample broke apart fairly easily and the leaves are nice and dark. I had totally forgotten how this tea was described, so I was shocked by the sweet, ricey aroma that emerged as soon as the water hit the leaves. Liquor started out a clearish red and quickly darkened over the next two steeps.

This tea has an addicting sweetness, and it’s ricey and smooth from the very first sip, even without washing it. The sweet aftertaste is strong and lingers with a faint hint of salt, which really boosts it and balances it out.

This is absolutely my favorite shou that I’ve tried from BLT!

I really want to like bitterleaf, their teaware is amazing and the people seem really solid but their puer keeps falling short for me. Their dancong and blacks were amazing for me, but.. well, I have some of their high end sheng still resting, and this is my first taste of this one.

This is my first really old (>10 years) ripe.

brewing in my 90ml jianshui teapot, just over half full of leaf, rested about 2 weeks since arrival.

It has a very ricey, peanut buttery, earth, chocolate, getting into the mid-session its just a smooth, rich rice taste. The lingering aftertaste is exactly as if I just ate a bowl of white rice, its strange. I like it though. A lot. Doesn’t change too much throughout the session, the chocolate/earth leaves pretty quick, and the mid-end session is sweet, wet rice with some peanuts.