Fengqing Ancient Tree Raw Pu-erh Cake 2014

Hubby and I have not had a quiet evening gong fu session in a while so I asked him if he was game for it tonight. He hasn’t had a lot of raw puerh, and this may be only the second one he has tried, so I didn’t know how it would go for him, especially since this one is SO young.

Raw puerh didn’t do much for me way back when, but I enjoy it much more now than I used to. And with this being a 2014, I was halfway expecting to walk away after a few steeps.

I used about 5 grams in an eight ounce pot with water that was 212F but the kettle sat beside us, so it was cooling with each steep.

I feel like I am in a strange mood tonight – I may be tea drunk – but the aroma that hit me smelled like….optimism. Bright lights ahead. Hope. Lightness of being. The initial steeps were zingy with youth, a little grassy with sunshine on top. Definitely feeling the chi with this one.

The liquor was deep, rich yellow in the little white cups. It stayed that way until about steep seven, when the color lightened considerably and the flavor became a little more milky.

I asked hubby how he felt, and he said he felt like he was winding down and felt ready for bed. This from a man who often can’t sleep and is restless for far too long considering how early he has to get up. While the tea was mellowing him, it was invigorating me. But now after two more steeps drunk alone, I am also ready to wind down and go to sleep. Happy and giddy, but sleepy.

This session has convinced me that I need to add more raw puerh to my tea stash. It is a good thing I am placing a combined Teavivre order for myself and a friend tomorrow.

Thank you, Teavivre, for this sample from your birthday pack!

Angel sent me this tea for review! Thank you!! I’m so grateful to be able to sample some raw puerhs. :)

After yesterday’s excitement of the 2013 old tree raw puerh, I was looking forward to trying this one for comparison. I think some samples of raw puerh will be going on my wishlist. I again brewed this up with my pseudo gaiwan set up. Here are my notes:

Tangy aroma of dry leaf. Wet leaf aroma is more pleasant than the puerh I tried yesterday… It doesn’t make me cough! Ha!

15sec: Really mild, no astringency, tastes like a roasted oolong.
30sec: more flavor, still oolong-like, a little astringent, some tobacco there but in background.
45sec: oolong-like, subtle note of dried fruit,
1min: similar to last steep.
1min30sec: smoother, sweeter.
2min: sweet, like an aged oolong.

Overall, this is fine, but it was a bit boring for me after trying the old tree puerh. I think maybe it has to do with how young it is. Maybe once it ages for awhile, it will have more complexity. The one I loved yesterday was a year older….can they really change that much in a year? What do really old raw puerhs taste like? I’m just embarking on my raw puerh journey, and I have so many questions! So excited to try more!

Thanks once again to Angel and Teavivre for this new tea sample!

I sampled another Teavivre raw Pu-erh tea cake last week. It was last year’s (2013) model but quite tasty. I was anxious to see how the 2014 version stacked up against it.

When I opened the package, the same grassy, compost-like aroma encountered with the 2013 rendition was experienced. However, I do believe the color of the unbrewed matted “cake” was a little greener in the new entry than the one harvested last year.

I steeped the leaves for 9 minutes at 212 degrees, again opting for almost maximum strength. The brewed color was a light gold. The odor had a mowed grass trait.

The taste of this tea was much like the 2013 entry. It was quite grassy with very similar flavor attributes as green tea. The main difference that I noticed with this younger offering was a tanginess to the taste. I wouldn’t call it astringency or bitterness. It was probably due to the more recent harvest and processing. The tanginess did eliminate the light and airy quality that I enjoyed in the raw 2013 tea.The tangy attribute also hung around for the after taste.

This is a cordial tea with pronounced flavor. Like the other raw Pu-erh that I sampled last week, this entry tasted much more like a green tea than a black selection. Having said that, though, this one (like the 2013 version) might be a nice tangy alternative for folks who are nauseated by the more robust and ripened Pu-erh teas.

Last night was just awesome, it was Thursday meaning Board Game Night at Tabletop, and it was certainly one of the better nights I have had there. I played so many good games (will be discussing some of those tomorrow on my weekly Geeky rambling post) and then after gaming just hung around with friends talking until almost 3AM. I feel wretched today and my sleep schedule is all messed up, but it is totally worth it.

Once I give the leaves a rinsing and then a brief steeping their aroma is still sweet and just a little bit fruity, but it is mostly wet hay, a bit of barnyard, and a sharp almost sour quality that does not really have a familiar aroma note, it is more of a sensation in my nose. I should state that it is not an unpleasant sensation, but it is an unfamiliar one. The liquid is very sweet, a mix of apricots, freshly mown hay, and honey. I was surprised at sweet it smelled.

The taste of the first steep is both sharp and sweet, it causes a very strong salivary response and an intense cooling sensation which is very refreshing. The flavor notes are freshly mown hay, apricot, and a finish of vegetation and a tiny bit of bitterness. There is a sweet honey aftertaste that lingers for a while.

Onto steep two! The aroma is sweet apricot and freshly mown hay, this still might be the sweetest smelling Sheng Pu-Erh that I have ever sniffed, I find that really kinda awesome. The taste this time around is a lot more mellow, no sharpness, no bitterness, no cooling salivary response, just smooth sweetness. The flavors are wet hay, fresh vegetation, and apricots. At the finish there is a tiny bit of camphor, which is something I do not get to say very often.

The aroma for the third steep is honey sweet, apricots, and fresh hay. There is a little touch of wet hay and barnyard this time, but it is very faint. The taste is very sweet and rich, the cooling sensation has returned along with tastes of fresh hay, honey, and apricot. I think this tea still has quite a few steeps in it, but sadly after the second steep I started noticing stomach spasms and knew after steep three that I had to call it quits. This has NOTHING to do with the tea, sometimes my stomach decides to freak out, and I have noticed that it has a mixed track record with Sheng, so don’t let my belly stop you! I really thought this tea was enjoyable, especially with how sweet it is.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/08/teavivre-fengqing-ancient-tree-raw-pu.html

Sorry, but I killed this one. I had a hard time deciding what ratio to use, and ended up with the whole packet, which was way too much, and I should not have used the whole packet with my 12 oz of water. What I could taste of it, it was like the sheng from David’s and Verdant that I’ve had.

I am thankful to Angel at Teavivre for sending this one my way. I sent the other pack to a friend to see what she thinks because she doesn’t like pu erh teas, but I told her these were different, and not the thick pu erh teas they’re likely to have had. Anway, I feel bad I busted my only sample. :(

Tea provided by Teavivre for review

First steep tasted was fairly palatable. It was less bitter and bland than I expected. There was a bold, bitter vegetal aroma that lingered after sipping.

Second through sixth steeps brought out some enjoyable flavours- crisp vegetal&minty, pepper&spice. And some more subtle hints of plum and honeyed sweetness. By the third steep there was an intense flavour that generated a mouth-watering feeling in my mouth. Even though the bitterness was always there, I somewhat got used to it and appreciated the underlying vibrant flavours.

Seventh through eleventh steeps were milder in flavour and bitterness but not really to an extent that I couldn’t taste the same tea characteristics. My last two final steeps were much more palatable but lacked the punchy vibrant flavour I noticed in earlier steepings.

Overall It was an interesting experience to drink this sample from first steep through the eleventh. I knew the young raw puerh would be bitter, but I enjoyed the bold and vibrant flavours of the steeps one through six. I’m not an experienced raw puerh drinker, but each time I try some it helps me understand the appeal others see in it. Still, it was pleasant to drink a raw puerh that lacked some negative qualities that I have encountered before (such as being too smoky or flat).

edit: Since my tea session (~2hr) I’m quite ‘tea drunk’. Just making a note because it could be a pro or con for some. Sometimes my gongfu sessions are really intense afterwards. I always find it’s good to stay well hydrated (with water) when I’m done steeping.

I am just getting a good start with this one and will probably keep steeping the same leaf tomorrow as well. I just wanted to jump in and say this is most unexpected. Well, maybe I should have suspected it from Teavivre. This raw pu-erh is only a couple months old but it is very tasty. I used the whole sample (how out of my comfort zone ). I did compromise just a little by using a gigantic 5 oz of water :) and I lowered the temperature of the first steep to 205 F for a 15 second steep. I was anticipating a young sharp bitter astringent blast. Instead I got some cheek tingle and some bite but very manageable. To me this is kind of fruity (maybe apricot) along with a nutty or woodsy taste. It is also kind of mineral in a good way.

The main reason I am posting before getting too far into the session is to report the antihistamine or camphor qualities are cooling my lungs and I feel like I can breathe to my toes. I love that. The is also an easy peaceful feeling present (que the Eagles). Excellent Cha Chi.

My anniversary sampler finally can in and I decided to start with this since I’ve never tried raw puerh before. The dry leaf smells sweet and vegetal. I did 2 15 second rinses and then 20,25,30,25,30,30,40,40,45 second steeps. If other raw puerhs are like this, I don’t understand why so many people fear them. It reminds me a lot of a dark green tea. The first steep tasted exactly like spinach. Pure spinach. The second steep was a but bitter and astringent. As was the third, which is why I backed up the steeping times. But the tea remained very spinachy, taking on a (chest?)nut background note in the later steepings and as it cooled. The last few steep were also pretty green bean and kale like. There’s also the astringency and bitterness popping in and out at random times.

Definitely not as scary as I thought.

Leaf aroma: Pungent earthy vegetal
Flavor: Very green tea like, strong liquor with noticeable sweetness resembling almost-overripe fruit. There is mild astringent aftertaste.
Wet Leaf Aroma: A bit like ripe fruit, much like the flavor of the tea

Initial thoughts on first steeping: My first thought was an oversteeped green tea, when it becomes overpowering and astringent at the end. However, did not reach such an undrinkable flavor. One can taste many complex flavors resulting in thinking it is oversteeped. Assuming this is very young, flavors would develop well I think.

Second steeping thoughts: More fruit-green-vegetal that suddenly drops off to a significantly sharper almost-but-not-quite bitterness mid-flavor mid-sip, with an odd dry feeling in the mouth afterwards. Very intriguing. From research on puerh, this sharpness would fade with appropriate aging. I have noticed about this time as I savor the tea, there is a strong warmth in my stomach after a little while of drinking. I’m unsure if this is from the tea itself.

Third steep: The sharpness is more pronounced but significantly shorter, but the overwhelming flavor has lessened a bit.

I think this is the first raw pu-erh I’ve ever had. It smells earthy, but lighter. The flavour is a bit on the sweet side, and rather mild. Interesting, will have to try again in a few months.