2013 Xiaguan T8663 Shou/Ripe Puerh

This is one of my favorite shou puerh. It is the benchmark for which I judge all the others. It’s got great mouthfeel and has a very calming and grounding Qi. Mostly earthy,woody and a tinge of sweetness on the backend. Maybe a little bit of chocolate in there as well. You wouldn’t expect this one to be all that great as it’s fairly cheap (cakes range from $15-$30), yet it’s one I keep coming back to time and time again.

If you enjoy shou then I can almost guarantee you will enjoy this. I’m currently drinking the 2014 batch of this which is near identical to the 2013. Neither are a complexity bomb, they will however scratch the itch quite well as a daily drinker. The Guinness of shou puerh!

This is a very smooth ripe with a nice sweetness at the end of it. I really enjoy the sweetness that ends the notes because I thought it might be just pure earth because of the dry aroma. It could be to do with the storage too :)
It’s something I could rely on.

This is a great everyday shou. I purchased a full bing and broke it up completely to bring with me to work. I did six steeps ranging from 15 seconds up to 30 seconds. It is very earthy and woodsy the first few steeps and it develops some sweetness towards the later steeps. Color is light on the first steep. Steeps 2-4 develop a much darker brew. The last two steeps get a little lighter but still some darkness to it. This shou can keep going but I can’t. This one is a winner.

This is one of my daily drinkers its everything I’d want out a shou pu’erh around this price half about half of a cake left and hopefully I can find something similar to replace it with. It brews up really smooth and dark has a decent balance of sweet and earth flavors. With I higher leaf to water ratio I am able to bring out quite strong flavors.

This tea is sweet, earthy and delicious. It is quite good. I am having trouble identifying the specific notes as I was not paying attention to this tea. But suffice to say it is good. I am glad I bought a full bing as Crimson Lotus Tea appears to be sold out. I only steeped this six times because as always I am watching my caffeine because I want to sleep but it was far from played out. I am sure I would have gotten twelve or more steeps out of this one.

I steeped this six times in a 170ml Yixing teapot with 9.2g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 10 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 30 sec, and 1 min.