Ancient Phoenix

4th infusion for 45 secs
only because it was super SUPER dark and bold at 45 secs

My last attempt at my infusion test before moving on to another tea!

SUPER DARK in color. Much of the aroma has faded away…a little bit of black pepper remains.

The taste is REALLY Hardcore BOLD almost near bitter…but a burnt leaves type…also tastes a lot like coffee.

Still mysterious and fun – this pu-erh is! YAY!

This puerh just keeps giving! One brick off the bunch will give you several steeps! So many that I broke down and made iced puerh out of it! The flavor is very rich with hints of chocolate ad I sip. The smell of the dry leaves smells like a typical puerh to me, but the taste is a nice mix of the chocolate and a hint of licorice. The color of the tea is an earth brown that looks a lot like coffee. But the taste is amazing!

Steep 1 Information:
Amount: 2 cubes
Water: ~8 oz
Tool: Adagio IngenuiTEA 16 oz
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes following a 10 second steep
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: I could not detect an aroma off the bar
Steeped Tea Smell: fall leaves, woods, sweet
Flavor: sweet, slightly gritty
Body: Light
Aftertaste: sweet, leafy
Liquor: translucent orange brown

Steep 2 Information:
Amount: 2 cubes
Water: ~8 oz
Tool: Adagio IngenuiTEA 16 oz
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Steeped Tea Smell: fall leaves, woods, sweet
Flavor: sweet, slightly gritty
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: toasted, leafy
Liquor: opaque dark brown

Steep 3 Information:
Amount: 2 cubes
Water: ~8 oz
Tool: Adagio IngenuiTEA 16 oz
Steep Time: a little over 1 minute
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Steeped Tea Smell: fall leaves, woods, sweet
Flavor: sweet, slightly gritty
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: toasted, leafy, astringent
Liquor: opaque dark brown

Steep 4 Information:
Amount: 2 cubes
Water: ~8 oz
Tool: Adagio IngenuiTEA 16 oz
Steep Time: a little over 1 minute
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Steeped Tea Smell: fall leaves, woods, sweet
Flavor: sweet, slightly gritty
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: toasted, leafy
Liquor: opaque dark brown

Steep 5 Information:
Amount: 2 cubes
Water: ~8 oz
Tool: Adagio IngenuiTEA 16 oz
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Steeped Tea Smell: fall leaves, woods, sweet
Flavor: sweet, slightly gritty
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: toasted, leafy
Liquor: opaque dark brown

Steep 6 Information:
Amount: 2 cubes
Water: ~8 oz
Tool: Adagio IngenuiTEA 16 oz
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Steeped Tea Smell: fall leaves, woods, sweet
Flavor: sweet, slightly gritty
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: toasted, leafy
Liquor: opaque dark brown

Steep 7 Information:
Amount: 2 cubes
Water: ~8 oz
Tool: Adagio IngenuiTEA 16 oz
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Steeped Tea Smell: fall leaves, woods, sweet
Flavor: sweet, slightly gritty
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: toasted, leafy
Liquor: opaque dark brown

Steep 8 Information:
Amount: 2 cubes
Water: ~8 oz
Tool: Adagio IngenuiTEA 16 oz
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Steeped Tea Smell: fall leaves, woods, sweet
Flavor: sweet, slightly gritty
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: toasted, leafy
Liquor: opaque dark brown

Steep 9 Information:
Amount: 2 cubes
Water: ~8 oz
Tool: Adagio IngenuiTEA 16 oz
Steep Time: a little over 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Steeped Tea Smell: fall leaves, woods, sweet
Flavor: sweet, slightly gritty
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: toasted, leafy
Liquor: opaque dark brown

Steep 10 Information:
Amount: 2 cubes
Water: ~8 oz
Tool: Adagio IngenuiTEA 16 oz
Steep Time: a little over 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Steeped Tea Smell: fall leaves, woods, sweet
Flavor: sweet, slightly gritty
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: toasted, leafy
Liquor: opaque dark brown

Steep 11 Information:
Amount: 2 cubes
Water: ~8 oz
Tool: Adagio IngenuiTEA 16 oz
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Steeped Tea Smell: fall leaves, woods, sweet
Flavor: sweet, slightly gritty
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: toasted, leafy
Liquor: opaque dark brown

Steep 12 Information:
Amount: 2 cubes
Water: ~8 oz
Tool: Adagio IngenuiTEA 16 oz
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Steeped Tea Smell: fall leaves, woods, sweet
Flavor: sweet, slightly gritty
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: toasted, leafy
Liquor: translucent dark brown

I ordered this at world tea east. I was so excited when the puer arrived yesterday.

When I came home today I decided to steep it.

The outer layers of paper came away easily yet were sturdy enough to stay put unless intentionally being removed.

The tape on the inner paper tape caused me to rip away the inner paper.

As for the puer itself, I found it a little messier than expected when I broke it apart, and it was easy to get 2 chunks, I was not easily
able to get 1 so I steeped with two. I was lazy!

The two steeped way more than 8 oz water! I speed steeped about 2 quarts of tea and it was still going strong, I’ve put them (wet leaves) in the fridge to hold overnight (I hope)

It was a slightly gritty mouthfeel, earthy, fall, but with a sweet hint throughout.

I really enjoyed it! I wonder if this is much better than some of the pureh I have had in the past or the earthy flavor is growing on me?

Rating: 3/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2011/09/wild-tea-qi-loose-leaf-pu-erh-tea.html