Master Han’s Looseleaf 2004 Shu Pu’er

Tea type
Pu'erh Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Cream, Earth, Mushrooms, Wood
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by lteg
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 45 sec 6 oz / 184 ml

Currently unavailable

We don't know when or if this item will be available.

From Our Community

1 Image

0 Want it Want it

20 Own it Own it

  • +5

20 Tasting Notes View all

From Verdant Tea

Master Han wild-picks his tea in the Qianjiazhai region of the Mt. Ailao national forest preserve in the primeval tea forests of Yunnan. He very rarely produces and releases shu pu’er, as the natural terroir of the forest so often suits making sheng pu’er and black tea. Yet when he does break out the shu, it is always an incredible experience that changes the way we think about pu’er.

Master Han’s looseleaf shu pu’er is one of the cleanest, most refreshing pu’ers we have ever tasted. His looseleaf fermentation yields a beautifully crisp and juicy flavor. The aroma of the wet leaf is rich with notes of roasted sweet potato, earthy and sweet like raisins.

The tea steeps up as clean as can be, with cake and caramel notes, and a strong vanilla flavor. The aftertaste is that of dark candied fruit like goji berry and hawthorn. Later steepings yield a potent cinnamon sweetness, and a fresh vaporous sensation. Buy four to eight ounces and age this in a ceramic jar if you can. The textural complexity stands only to continue to deepen.

About Verdant Tea View company

Company description not available.

20 Tasting Notes

72
709 tasting notes

Two of my brothers are here this week for March Break and one has been throwing up all day so I am doing whatever I can to keep myself safe from the awful germs. I thought maybe some tea would be wise and I had the time to do gong-fu so I decided to open this one. I am not a pu-erh afficianado but I pick it up sometimes so I can try them out. I tend to prefer shu and didn’t want to pick at part of a cake so here I am.

The dry leaf smells nice, very much like black tea with some sweet grassiness in the aroma. I am steeping a heaping teaspoon in my small gaiwan with boiling water. Steep times listed below.

I did a ten second rinse and then ten seconds for the first steep which smells…less appetizing. This is more like wet animals and dung than the nice earthy barn flavour I have come to appreciate. Fortunately the taste is much more pleasant. It is actually surprisingly mild. I am having trouble describing it. There is some sweetness, and something earthy. No wet animals or dung. Yay!

Steep 2 at 15 seconds is much darker, aroma is much like the first, only less unpleasant. More like earth than animals. I don’t know if I am becoming accustomed to it or if the character of the tea has changed. The flavour is lighter than the aroma again, and sweeter than expected. There is some depth and richness but I have a hard time describing it. This is harder than it looks!

Steep 3 at approximately 20 seconds yields another dark cup that smells more like earth after a hard rain. I am liking this the best so far but unfortunately I had a chip between steeps and that is muting my taste buds. This is still sweet and strong, no bitterness or astringency. I do seem to be losing a bit of the flavour so I am upping the time for the next round.

Steep 4 at 30 seconds has kicked back up a bit, earthiness, fresh and sweet. I’m going to stop posting about this one now because not much is changing worth reporting and my (non-pukey) brother wants the puter back.

In general, I didn’t get any bitterness or astringency which I appreciated. The aroma could be overwhelming but the flavour was often a bit lighter in a pleasant way. I am enjoying it, but don’t find it remarkable. That could be my lack of experience or my personal preference but my rating is not to suggest it is a poor quality tea, it just doesn’t knock my socks off. I will try again at some point with even more leaf and less steep time when I have the opportunity to enjoy many many steeps.

MissB

Wowza, I really hope the puerh helps you fend off that nastiness. I hope everyone feels better soon!

Uniquity

Thanks MissB!

As for the tea, I’ve done an additional four steeps (2 combined twice) and nothing new really happened. I get a lot of colour from the leaves but not much flavour even when steeped for a minute or more. I think I’ve about exhausted my options. I think more leaf and less time would be interesting.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

83
104 tasting notes

This is an excellent pu’er. To me it was earthy but it could have been just a tad stronger. I really like the complexity of this tea. It really had a great feel and taste in my mouth. I will definitely order this tea again.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.