2011 Yunnan Sourcing "Yi Dian Hong" Ripe Pu-erh Tea Mini Cake

Forgot to write about this one!
Had a nice little tea tasting with a mutual friend of my future-MIL. She’s had tea before but has never really explored different types, loose tea, etc. So I was a little bit worried she wouldn’t like the taste. I was worried I wouldn’t like the taste because this is my first “loose” shou. There was no need though everybody liked it! I didn’t take notes or anything so I don’t remember exactly flavors that I picked up. I’ll have to try it again on my own so I can focus more on the taste. I was busy explaining tea things. :) It seems like this would be a good “everyday” type puer.

Just an example of good menghai shu and it’s my favorite YS ripe pu.
Main notes: chocolate, walnut, little bit of spice and bitterness (in a good way!). Very similar to the best Dayi offers but much cheaper.
Recommended.
Oct 2011

A puerh from Michelle on courtesy of Rich, thank you both!

Sadly, it isn’t much remarkable to me. It was fine, but not much to write about.
It wasn’t even much thick (considering I have used the half I had) and it has got some basic shu notes — as woody, a little mushroomy, a nicely earthy. But nothing was distinctive and nothing that would say this is great flavour note.

Good daily drinker in conclusion and I wonder if it was like that when new or it was just aged taste. Steep time is the average I did. So I did rather longer steeps this time.

This is your generic aged ripe puer. The smell is of earth, wet rotten wood and mushrooms. Some transitory fishiness, which is surprising given the age of the cake. The taste is typical for the aged shou but it is not complex and the aftertaste does not linger.

Nothing bad to say but nothing good either. The main pros are that it is cheap and comes in convenient 100 g cakes. I will relegate it to my office to sip it absent-mindedly while concentrating on work.

Got this from my local reseller. The tea reminds me a bit of roasted nuts dipped in honey. There is some astringency, which slowly disappears later into the steeps . The best part of this tea is the smell of the wet leaves – they smell woodsy and warm.

Giving this a 100 to balance out the poor review by the person that doesn’t like shou. This is a nice shou with a really great price point. Nice and dark and smooth. I would rate this in the lower to mid 80s I think. I enjoyed it and I’m happy it was sent to me as a mistake instead of a raw mini cake I ordered. A happy accident I will call it!

Very solid little shu… I don’t like shu much though.