2011 MGH 1112 Guafengzhai Green Pu-erh Tea Cake 357g

Every time I go to brew a puershop.com tea… I think about Marvel tv shows. Then when I go to drinking something from say Bana Tea, I think of DC tv shows. You know what I mean?

This was like a sour sweet mushroom… like, imagine a blueberry decided to mutate into something nasty and it did it well. It’s still part blueberry, regardless of what it is now, but you dislike the new sour aspect; and maybe those weird puss like explosions going on because it’s probably molding and all.

Was an odd session. Went 8 steeps and I gave up.

I ordered this one as part of a small order that I’m using to try out some of Puerhshop.com’s productions. This one is quite affordable, because it is huangpian leaf. I’m not sure whether I like huangpian yet – I believe the only ones I’ve had so far are 2016 Fade from W2T and now this one.

The Dry leaf and the rinsed leaf have a slight sour aroma to me. From the brewed liquid, I get some sourness with fruity notes – maybe slightly citric. The first couple steeps were pretty watery, but after that the texture did pick up a little bit in the next few steeps. I started to also get a bit of a hay note, still with a sour-ish finish. A couple steeps later, the hay flavor turned into more of a corn note, though not too sweet or anything.

This one wasn’t as sour as Fade was, but then again it’s five years older. I will have to try a couple more huangpian puerhs, but so far, I don’t think I’m particularly fond of them. Maybe the sourness ages out after long enough? I don’t know. This was drinkable, but not spectacular.

Delicious, beautiful and affordable, this sheng pu’er is sweet, savory, and complex in flavors as it transforms with each steep. The tea broth is very pure tasting, fruity, spicy and smooth. I’m inclined to say it has an oolong-like quality to it.

I’m willing to wait for teas that need to age a few years, but this one is perfect now. It may be one of the best teas I’ve ordered from Puerh Shop yet. See flavor profile below. I recommend using more leaf to experience the full potential of its flavor profile.