2006 Imperial Tribute Ripen

Decided to steep western this shu puerh from Michelle — thank you!

I feel this is the best I got from her; creamy and smooth, with hints of dates and dried fruits. Highly enjoyable and high in caffeine, definitely a great wake-up tea.

Looking forward to try it gongfu!

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – December 2023 Tea #6- December 21 – Winter Solstice

A day late! I thought I’d go with a puerh for this prompt!  A dark tea, but also brewing up a ripe puerh usually brightens my day. :D
From Michelle a while ago!  It’s good to be back with my neglected teas.   The leaf here looks huge and high quality — and really not tightly compacted within the bits of cake Michelle sent — the cake is quite loose.   The flavor is lighter because of that huge leaf.  This was a good reminder why I probably like “lesser quality” ripe puerh.  It’s DARKER.  But this is delicious anyway — especially that third steep that I really went overboard on.  It was such a sweet tasting cup!  Very interesting that such a long steep was so sweet.  A great no-offender puerh that should sway some newbies… but not distinct enough for me.
Steep #1 // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // 2 minutes after boiling // 10 min

Creamy and smooth, with no harsh bitterness. Just a hint of earthy dirt to let you know its a ripe pu. Another winner gifted by Rich!

I’ve had this for 2 years, drinking it on occasion. I’ve discovered over time that it’s a very inconsistent tea. The material pried from near the bing hole usually brews up dark, rich and full, whereas when I pry from just the edges it’s lighter bodied and has thinner flavor. The rich, full cups make me want to have it again and the light ones cause me to put it away for months.

Today I tried a mixture of the two and it comes across as a decent, clean, medium bodied shou, but nothing spectacular. Since we’re in the cooler months now and I’m drinking more shou I think I’ll leave it out until it’s gone.

Bought this about a year ago. Drank it yesterday after putting it away for many months because, it seemed to me when first trying it and drinking nearly half the cake, to have lost it’s tea essence sitting around for 8 or 9 years since it was made. But yesterday, after drinking a lot of raw and very little ripe for the last month or so, I was amazed and pleasantly surprised to suddenly find it unexpectedly and remarkably delicious – definitely creamy, caramel and date flavored. It also lasted through many, many steeps, albeit without much change.

This is a nice slightly sweet ripe puerh. This is an excellent tea. It has very little fermentation flavor left, very little. This was not an expensive puerh. It is a good value too. It also has a dates flavor.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 8.7g leaf and boiling water for 30 sec.

A nice deep fairly smooth shu. It has that characteristic gong ting flavor, with some acidity. Not top notch, but pretty good.