Yunnan Golden Peacock Pu'erh Tea

mmmm this is a pretty nice puerh. I’ve been sipping on it throughout the morning and while it’s good, i prefer the puerhs from mandala that i’ve had. This has a very mellow profile. It’s got a bit of an earthiness to it, but not over poweringly so. this is a yunnan, so i expect that it contributes to it’s mellowness. Overall, still a good little example of what yezi tea is all about. nice!

Thank you Yezi Tea for this sample!
A strong bodied, slightly earthy tea which is
reminiscent scent wise of old leather and tobacco. (To me)
this is my first Pu’erh tea, and something of an unusual flavor
remonding me of sour dough bread, but it is not at all toasty
and neither is it astringent.
This is not my favorite tea, and yet I am thankful for the introduction
to the world or Pu’erh via this tea.
This could become a staple for me.
I received this today and have steeped it multiple times.
This tea is very consistent steep after steep, and I like that.
Color of an amber-burgundy garnet.

Oh god, I have had this sample literally forever. I was very good about my other, non-pu-erh samples from Yezi, but I could never bring myself to take the time and make this one.

Part of the problem is that pu-erh is kind of scary, and I’ve never really had one that I’ve liked yet. I chose this sample to stretch myself and try a new, higher quality pu-erh than I’ve had before.

Dry, the leaf smells sweet and slightly of hay. It’s very reminiscent of midwestern autumns.

I am using an approx. 75 mL gaiwan and about 1.5 g of tea, per the website’s suggestion. Water is near a full boil. I will also be following the website’s suggested steeping times.

Rinse: super fishy smelling. Wet leaf: Now smells like wet hay. It’s very strong, I can feel it at the back of my throat. There’s a sweet undercurrent similar to the soft innards of homemade bread.

30 sec: Auugh, I splashed myself with some of the hot tea! After cooling my poor scalded finger, I come back to a cup cool enough to drink. The upfront taste and smell is all hay. I am stuck on hay today, apparently. However, there is this incredibly chocolatey aftertaste that hits maybe 10 seconds after I swallow and lasts for quite a while afterwards. Wet leaf now smells of new shoe leather and wet autumn leaves.

40 sec: Not much development from the first steeping. It feels pretty thin, but the flavors are very similar to the first steep, down to the chocolate aftertaste hitting after I swallow. Wet leaf smells crazy like hay again.

1 min: I have lost the chocolate aftertaste.

I have probably steeped this a total of about 5 times now and the flavor hasn’t really changed. Overall, this is fine. A lot better than the pu-erh that I have had previously. It’s made pu-erh a little less scary. However, I don’t think I would drink it again; it just doesn’t do much for me. I will hold off on rating this tea, because as I said, I am not a pu-erh drinker. I would not want to affect its rating because of that.

I’ve had this sample for awhile, while I got over my fear of shou. Now that it’s done, I’ve been diving in!

This had some earthiness, but it wasn’t crazy. It wasn’t bad at all, but it didn’t wow me. Anyway, I liked it. It just wasn’t luuuuuurve.

I think I’ve been drinking this tea for pretty much the past three days. Thank you to Albertocanfly for sending this to be through the Tealephone.

My littlest teapot definitely isn’t about the size of a gaiwan. (I really need to invest in one… maybe.) It holds maybe a full 8oz, or thereabouts. I think I’ve gotten through maybe 7 steepings, but while there is a little bit of flavor left if I leave it to steep a long time, it’s mostly just colored water at this point. Steeps are 212*F, starting at 1min and adding 15 secs for each additional steep…. with a little bit of lag time for me walking back to the pot and pouring it out. =)

So, the dry leaf smelt fruit, and it was still really compact, not too many loose leaves.
The fishy puerh smell didn’t really fade until maybe the third or fourth steep, but the liquor was smooth and nice throughout. The liquor was a very saturated red at first, and it gradually got lighter in saturation, but it’s still on the red-golden color. It did really come out to be as red-gold, I think the name golden peacock is very apt.

I’m glad this came in the Tealephone, I probably never would have tried it otherwise. Thanks again Albertocanfly!

I haven’t had pu’erh in a while, even though I adore it. So I decided to crack this open to start the day.

The dry leaf smells of worn leather and sweet tobacco. The taste is smooth and mellow – a hint of damp earth. While I don’t find this complex, I do find it enjoyable and easy to sip.

I’m on my third steep (western style) and I can see that I’ll get a few more steeps out of it.

Thank you Dexter for sharing this sample with me!

Yunnan Jin Kong Que (Golden Peacock)

5/28/14

Origin: Yunnan Province
Vintage 2010
Dry Leaf: Scents of sweet tobacco, dried plum, dried apple. Leaves are tiny twisted brown and gold threads within the compressed cake.

Method: 4 oz porcelain Gong Fu pot
2 tsp tea – 4oz H20
200F 30” rinse/45”/45”

Wet Leaf: The small twists have unfurled a bit and are dark brown with scents of prune, wood, and sweet tobacco.

Liquor: beautiful deep plum, scents of the wood and prune

Flavor: Wood, smooth, sweet prune, no bitter, rich, subtle vanilla in the finish.

Definitely taste after a meal because it is heavy on the stomach.

Thank you to Yezi Tea for this sample with purchase!!

Got around to this generous sample finally because I was looking for one from Mandala (still haven’t found it…eurgh) and unearthed this in the mean time. A lovely leathery but mellow pu erh. I really need to give Yezi more props here than I do—I adore Qing Pin and the scotch-y tea, and this is a great intro to pu erh, flavorful but not scary, ha. (I still don’t share the fuss for Jin Pins from any company I’ve tried them from, but I reckon that’s like me and Monkey teas; my palate is just not wired right to catch the subtle notes in their full glory.)