Special Grade Green Cake Xiaguan Puer Tea 2011 Raw

Trying my best to have a lazy day as I’m just not feeling tip top today. While packing some tea swaps today I got the craving for some puerh and chose one on my shelf at random. Dragon Tea House have a wide range of pu erh and I make it my mission to try them all.

This puerh cake is dark brown and golden brown in colour with a sweet earthy and floral scent.

Steeping with the following times in my Gongfu Teapot -
5 steeps:30s,1m,2m,3m,4m 100ºC/212ºF

Steep one – 30 seconds – Colour is yellow/green with a thick earthen clay aroma. Flavour is subtle and floral with a hint of sweetness and dryness. Also a little muddy and wooden.

Steep two – 1 minute – Sweeter in flavour and more floral. Also more honeyed and wooden. Lost some of it’s earthy clay taste and is smoothing out very nicely.

Steep three – 2 minutes – Even less earthy and more floral, almost perfumey and musky. Also sort of ricey and gluttonous but mildly.

Steep four – 3 minutes – Light red/brown now in colour. Quite astringent and musky with a dry, floral after taste. Still has some wooden sweetness but not as much in comparison to the first few steeps.

Steep five – 4 minutes – Smoother than the previous steep and once again very mellow overall. All that is really left is a wooden musk and sweet floral hue that become dry in the after taste.

Overall this tea is very pleasant and is suitable for multiple steeps without becoming too harsh and bitter. It’s a very musky puerh but I think it has real charm. Not one of my favourites but definitely something I would be happy to share with friends and family. Plus I have a warm glow after drinking this tea and a bit of a buzz :)

This was from the generous Dexter3657, who has sent many pu’erh samples, this being of them…I thank you so very much!!

This one falls on the lighter side of pu’erh. From the name I kin of expected that it would brew to a lighter colour…deep golden colour.

The taste is lighter as well. There is light earthy quality that puts to mind the ravine and trails that beast and I traverse. The tea is a little woodsy…but not overpowering. It is a pleasing outdoorsy taste.

I usually add creamer to the darker pu’erhs, but it is not required in this case. This one I did straight up. This sample will have me looking at more raw pu’erhs…thank you Dexter for introducing me to a variety of pu’erhs!

I am currently on steep 2, and I anticipate several more steepings.

The brewed colour is now deeper, as is the taste. Earthy clay-like taste, but still pleasing.

I so love pu’erhs.

I’m drinking this at work tonight (trying to balance drinking older teas and samples, this one fits both categories). This is a tea that I received from KittyLovesTea eons ago. I have drank it before, and am a little surprised that I don’t have any tasting notes on it.
This is a really nice, light, bright, sheng with just a hint of citrus notes. It has all the usual earthiness of pu’erh, but it’s not as “sharp” as some shengs can be. I’m enjoying it tonight.
Thank you KittyLovesTea for sharing this interesting pu’erh with me.