2011 Yunnan Sourcing "Hui Run" Ripe Pu-erh tea cake of Bu Lang Mountain

Infused 3 grams of tea including the few crumbs in this sample, in a very small porcelain gaiwain. Flash rinsed x 1, then a 10 second infusion with about 40mL water at 195 degrees: a teasing impression, a little sweet, a little earthy, promising a lot more with longer infusions. It is quite nice through 10 or so infusions—where I am now—earthy, sweet, plummy. Nice stuff.

Editing to add, that this tea has an unusually nice long sweetwater phase, fruity and not just faintly sweet. Very nice pu.

The dry leaves of this tea smell great like a box of Raisinetes on a wooden shelf of an old country store. I did two short rinses in a small clay pot. The rinse water had a pale rose color. That should have been the clue I needed to know to steep longer, but I only did about a 10 second steep, and the first infusion was a bit too weak. Wet leaves still had a touch of chocolate, but the earthy, composted leaf smell was the dominate aroma. It was hard to detect the raisin, sweet dried fruit aroma in the wet leaves. Second infusion, I went for 30 seconds. I think I could have gone longer with no bad consequences. Liquor became much darker, but still on the reddish-brown side and not that crimson black that some shous produce. If I could only use one word to describe this, I would say SMOOTH. This is a very smooth shou pu-erh. Zero bitterness. In the tasting notes, there is a sweetness to it. Earthy, mushroom, hint of cocoa, but I don’t taste any of the raisin that was so dominate in the dry leaves. Smooth and wet mouthfeel, lingering coating. I think I’m getting just a smidgen of sourness, but surely that can’t be right. This is well fermented tea. Maybe it is an unusual astringent quality. It only comes late after the finish and is present only near the front of my mouth.

I grabbed a sample of this amongst a few other ripes with my last YS order to evaluate towards a future purchase. Used 8g in a 120ml gaiwan. Did a 20 second rinse and then steeped for 15 seconds. The first steep was quite light, and the second still a bit on the lighter side but getting darker. A little earthy, slight hints of cocoa with the associated bitterness, no fermentation flavour. The leaves had really opened up by the 3rd steep and 15 seconds this was a tad too long. Very rich dark mahogny color, a bit of bitterness. Reduced the steeping time to ten seconds for the next infusion, lighter with a sweet after taste. The 4, 5 and 6 infusions were what I enjoyed most, earthy but smoothy and sweet.

This tea was still going strong at 8 infusions but I’m a bit tired and feel like a change. May continue with this in the morning. I have often have this problem with solo sessions and probably need to get a smaller gaiwan or pot.

Will try this western style later as well. I am finding that I like my shou thick and dark and apart from the really exceptional ones with more distinct notes that I like to gong fu, western style hits the spot more often especially when I’m at my desk working.

Second up from puerh plus box is 2011 Hui Run ripe from YS. I started by heating the yixing and giving the tea a rinse. The leaves were surprisingly clean with not much dust. I got an aroma of dark cherries and plums and peat from the tea.

Starting with the first infusion I got a very dark almost coffee like liqour, it was a bit thick as well. A strong aroma of peat and wet wood. It has a certain sweetness as well, chocolate and maybe plums or raisins as well.

Second infusion I got a funky flavor in the tea, im not sure what it is, but it wasnt altogether pleasant. Liquor color is consistent and most of the flavor profiles are consistent as well.

Third infusion similiar to the second, Im not sure what that off flavor is, but its still there. Wet wood and peat are playing over it as well.

Fourth infusion , much much better now, now it tastes like ripe tea usually does, wet wood, sweetness, peat, and plums and a bit of chocolate as well. Though it has a slight bit of dampness in the flavor now, its got that classic ripe puerh flavor profile.

Judging by the colors, this is going to brew out many many steepings.

I do recommend this tea, but I also might recommend giving it an extra wash or two,

I did a 20 second rinse then 20 seconds for the first 3 infusions then +10 for the rest of the infusions

For the first steeping I noticed this almost overwhelming earthiness. Like, a mushroom if it were stuck in a glass of hot water. This taste overwhelmed the rest of the flavors, and other than this I got a little bit of a black tea taste but barely noticeable and with the classic ripe taste. It was smooth, almost too smooth. For those who like really smooth tea this one if for you. I on the otherhand like my ripes to have at least a little bit of character, not just super smooth. But, again, this is just me, and when it comes to ripes I have my standards very high, and it all comes down to what you are looking for in a puerh.

after the earthiness came a medicinal black liquorish tasting cooling effect.

Sorry it’s been like an hour since I drank this and the qi is so strong like I am really sorry if this tasting note makes no sense at all. I will edit this later when the qi leaves me alone, haha.

Got 25g of this since I loved the 2013 sample I bought so much and I wanted to see what it would be like with some age. I’m a little under the weather so take this with a grain of salt, but I just didn’t like this nearly as much as the 2013. Flavor profile was similar, with some earthiness and that deep fruity sweetness lingering. It just was way more muted and less interesting than the 2013—fewer flavor notes I could pick up and less thick and satisfying. I also felt the mouth-watering effects were far less on this cake than the 2013. Still definitely good, and it’s lasting till 8 steeps with dark brews, but as it stands now I’d choose the 2013 over the 2011.

Going through the samples of my recent YS order. I let this one air out for 3-4 days before trying it this morning. 12.5g in my 200ml yixing. I got this since it was one of the high end YS shou productions, but in the end I’m not a fan. That’s not to say the tea isn’t good, because it’s pretty tasty and the reviews here and on the YS site certainly bear that out, but because it has a particular flavor in it I don’t care for. I tried my hardest to pin down exactly what flavor it is and this is the best I could come up with. It comes on the back on the tongue and palate and is a sort of grainy woodsy malty raisin flavor. I’ve tasted this in other high quality shou before like Mandala’s year of the dragon 2012 and it’s just a little off putting for me. It reminds me of when I was a drinker and could not stand beer that was brewed using copper malt. Overall the tea is good, but this one flavor ruins it for me.

Got this one in a split with Liqyud Proust. Im SO glad I did. This one may have just vaulted to the top of my list of Shu! Sweet, raisin or plum, with no fishy smell or taste. Cake batter comes to mind when Im sipping this tea! So sweet with a lingering fruitinessQ I will be offering a cake of this stuff as soon as this half cake I have is gone. Will be my new go to.

Gong fu style…

From the Sheng and Shou TTB.

This is good shou. Smooth, clean, with caramel and cocoa notes. I really liked it. If I hadn’t already found some other good shou, which I plan to buy, for half the price, I would consider getting this. As it is, the two other 357g cakes should keep me busy. ;)

Still pretty new to Pu-erh.

I really enjoyed this tea. Gungfu style in a 80ml Gaiwan. Sweet boxed yellow cake aroma. Cornbread. Purple color liquor. Smooth and easy to put down many cups. I think I’m getting the feel for age on a Pu-erh with this one.