Wild Quarter Brick 1990

82/100
4g in Gaiwan.

Dry leaf: Dark brown. Med/high compression. No aroma. Square shaped.
Wet leaf: Bird cage/chicken hut old aroma; creamy.

Summary: An interesting aged tea that shows how the development of flavour can distinguish it from other teas that show that raw beetroot flavour.

5s – Light/medium. Lightly earthy. Not particularly flat; it has some roundness in the earthiness.
10s – Medium brown. No bitterness; no astringency. A buttery taste accompanies the still mild earth. Liquor has a grainy texture, which may be the specs of tea leaves.
15s – Med brown. More earthy/soiliness. Very mild with nothing standing out. Finish is subtly sweet; body is soft.
20s – Med brown. Ah that’s better. Raw beetroot has appeared in the finish, which is bright but subtle. A swill around the mouth reveals mild earthiness and mild raw beetroot. The finish at the last sip is spritely; it is slowly gaining pace.
25s – Darker med brown. Much brighter raw beetroot; mild earthy in background. The buttery base sits on the front of the tongue, while the raw beetroot shifts towards the back of the throat in a fashion likened to liquid man T-1000 on Terminator 2 passing smoothly through the bars. Raw beetroot is left in the mouth.
30s – Med brown. Buttery base on the front of the tongue; bird cage has joined the beetroot on the finish. This is interesting: the tone of the raw beetroot has dropped and merged with the bird cage.
35s – Med brown. Grainy thickness. Very smooth; raw beetroot shines again.
40s – Darker med brown. It has some thickness. It is very enjoyable. It is mature in it’s form: it is smooth and has not rough edges. More the bird cage; the raw beetroot has softened.
60s – Med brown. Streams of raw beetroot flavour rise to brightness, then sparkle in the finish. Bird cage can still be found.
3 minutes – Med brown. Soil; buttery; bird cage.

It has been quite a while since I have posted a review, however I have managed to find some spare time this evening to write up a few notes on this aged puerh.

Besides the 2002 White Whale I don’t really have that many bricks in my puerh collection. I have had a 25 gram sample of this for a while now, courtesy of pu-erh.sk, but have not had an opportunity to dedicate an entire evening to tasting this. Tonight I decided to brew up a big 12 gram chunk in my 250ml teapot and here are my notes.

This puerh is tightly compressed and takes a good few steeps for it to break open. To put things into perspective I have already drunk a litre of this and it could easily go on for another litre or 2. Highly durable.

Smelling the wet leaves I am finding it difficult to describe what this smells like…to me it has a good aged aroma, probably drier storage as I am not getting any of that “mineral” aroma you can get from wetter storage. This makes a good change for me, as lately I have been drinking a lot of wetter stored puerh.

No issues “punishing” the leaves with boiling water…in fact I found boiling water to be the best way to slowly break this 12 gram chunk apart. First few steeps start out a little thin, but by the third steep the liquid has become a beautiful, clean, dark red colour. Slowly sipping this it reminds me of drinking a good Yiwu…there is a lot of warmth and comfort. The liquid tastes clean and crisp, with a hint of sweetness and a gentle aged flavour. I am not detecting any hints of spicy camphor. I find the gentle aged taste very pleasant, however not overly complex or exciting.

You can be generous with your steeping times on this one. Sometimes I steeped it for 10 seconds, other times 30 seconds or a bit longer. Longer steeping times means a bit more powerful brew, however it never tasted bitter or obtrusive. I am feeling some Qi, not the aggressive type or “drunken” type but more a feeling of calmness in my mind and body. Very relaxing and again comforting.

It has a pleasant finish, the gentle aged taste sits there on your tongue and at the back of the throat. I think the puerhs greatest asset is its comfort and longevity…you can steep this over and over again.

Overall I think this is a very good example of an aged brick, that would appeal to novices and veterans alike. As I have said I don’t think it is overly complex, but is perfect to just sit and relax with for a good few hours. From a price point I think it is fair…a 300gram brick is 99 euros. When you take into consideration how many steeps you will get out of it you will realise this is a good deal. A 25 gram sample is only 11 euros so it is definitely worth trying out at least once to see if you will enjoy it. Definitely recommended.

Many thanks to Peter at pu-erh.sk for yet another really good aged example.