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“I had to have something strong like a ripe pu’er after test tasting today… I brewed around 3 ounces of tea to get the temperature and timing down for Liquid Proust Teas. After all of that, I needed...” Read full tasting note
“This was a lovely gift from my lovely TheTeaFairy – thank you darling for sharing this! I really enjoyed this. It was sweet and dreamy with a nice relaxing, yet not too heavy qi. It seems to be...” Read full tasting note
“These little nuggets are so creamy and sweet. I so wish I had hoarded them. But they are sold out now sadly :-( Simple tea, but so comforting and soothing. The taste is rich and deep, vanilla and...” Read full tasting note
“MMMMM! These nuggets are delicious! Super creamy with lots of dark dried fruit flavors. Raisin, date and prune. YUM! SO good.” Read full tasting note
Cha Tou is a kind of tea nugget that forms naturally from the pressures of compression and heat that occurs during the fermentation process. Typically during fermentation process to make ripe pu-erh there is a pile of tea about 1 meter high. It is kept wet to allow the fermentation process and the pile is turned every few days to allow for an even degree of fermentation, moving the tea from the bottom of the pile (where it is hotter and wetter) to the top of the pile where it is cooler and drier. The “cha tou” are the leaves that ball up and get stuck together. The best cha tou are ones that have not been over-fermented and are smaller in size.
We drank more than 10 different “cha tou” before deciding on this one, we think the best of them all! The tea was fermented in 2007 at the Jinggu Tea Factory in Simao. It is creamy and smooth, already having lost most of its post-fermentation funk it’s tea liquor is a clear and deep red-wine color. It can easily be infused more than 25 times!!!
Same material as used in our 2009 Cha Tou brick.
Net Weight: 100 grams per bag
Fermentation time: August-September 2007
Harvest Area: Jinggu County of Simao Prefecture
Company description not available.
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Yunnan SourcingI had to have something strong like a ripe pu’er after test tasting today… I brewed around 3 ounces of tea to get the temperature and timing down for Liquid Proust Teas. After all of that, I needed something bold so I pulled these guys out. I only steeped them seven times though.
The aroma isn’t very appealing but the flavor is constantly good. If it wasn’t for the amazing people on here sharing samples, I wouldn’t know the difference between great and good pu’er. Thankfully to have nuggets though :)
This was a lovely gift from my lovely TheTeaFairy – thank you darling for sharing this! I really enjoyed this. It was sweet and dreamy with a nice relaxing, yet not too heavy qi. It seems to be steeping forever. It is sweet and smooth and with slight notes of caramel and dried fruit – the deep kind, raisins or prunes and I like this very very much. I’m very sad it has sold out.
Flavors: Caramel, Raisins
These little nuggets are so creamy and sweet.
I so wish I had hoarded them. But they are sold out now sadly :-(
Simple tea, but so comforting and soothing.
The taste is rich and deep, vanilla and raisins mostly.Sweet caramel undertones, but I also get a nice fresh mouthfeel at the end of the sip.
For those who like me are very sad to see it gone, here’s what I think could replace it, though I haven’t tried it yet, but it seems to be the 2013 version.
http://yunnansourcing.com/en/ripepu-erh/2680-yong-de-lao-cha-tou-ripe-pu-erh-tea-nuggets.html
Also, pics of tonight’s session :-)
Maybe if we buy the 2013 and hang on to them for 7 years? Heh
mine disappearing quickly cause i always get 10g at least for 100cc. they are opening slowly and i cant wait. and i like it thick and rich. maybe another session left. i just tried 2014 year Supreme MengHai LangHe 7599 and i MADLY in love. my next order ;)
Boychik, i like it strong too!! Is tgat 2014 you are refering to from YS also?
Yeah, write a tasting note on it for us, boychik! :D
Beautiful teapot. Beautiful setup and pictures.
@TheTeaFairy. it is from ebay or Ali. i will send you a link
Thank you so much Ubacat :-)
Thanks Boychik,, sounds amazing, just send me the ebay link please, I’m not a fan of Ali
check your PM ;)
@ Stephanie. i had it few days ago. i remember it very clean and chocolatey, not bittersweet, more like between milk chocolate and 50% lol if it makes sense. but very clean, clear, no funk even though its 2014. it was discussed recently in this thread sheng or shou of the day. and i have a pic on IG
@ theteafairy sorry for hijacking. @ stephanie and others ;)
http://steepster.com/discuss/5496-pu-erh-of-the-day-sheng-or-shou?post_id=157069#forum_post_157069
Thank you sweet boychik, much appreciated. And no hijacking, just sweet information :-)
YS’s “Cha Tou Sheng Yun” Bricks are the same stuff as this, material from the same exact factory from different years (the 2009 brick is actually made from these exact 2007 nuggets), I have the 2012 brick ( http://yunnansourcing.com/en/2012-yunnan-sourcing-teas/2081-2012-yunnan-sourcing-cha-tou-sheng-yun-ripe-pu-erh-tea-brick.html ) and it’s pretty much exactly the same just a little less aged though good to drink now, same sleep-inducing narcotic qi as these too. The 2013 yongde brick is from a different factory and is blended with loose shu too, I haven’t had it myself yet but supposedly it tastes pretty different.
@ sansnipple, thanks for letting us know. i bought 2007 White Dragon last spring based no your recommendation ;)
oh goodie! Thanks sansnipple!!!
Thanks a lot @sansnipple , will sure add a brick on my next YS order :-)
the 2009 brick with these exact nuggets is still available on the US site too, but sadly it’s price is twice as much as the younger ones.
MMMMM! These nuggets are delicious!
Super creamy with lots of dark dried fruit flavors. Raisin, date and prune. YUM!
SO good.
Boychik sent samples with the Yunnan Sourcing tea I ordered and this was one — thank you! I split it in half so I could have the other half of the sample. So I steeped up about a teaspoon and a half but didn’t fill the mug all of the way. These nuggets are something different – I haven’t seen anything like them before. The rinse definitely had the “pu-erh pond” scent going, but that seemed to disappear with the first steep. A standard pu-erh here – the color of the cup never goes a deep black – it remains a bright burgundy… but I believe that is because the leaves are fairly bigger. Just like a black tea, the smaller the leaves the deeper color of the brew. The flavor is smooth, sweet, a little like slightly smoky leather. I was reminded of marshmallows with one sip. This is a great pu-erh but it does lack a tiny nudge of something special to make it stand out from the pu-erh pack.
1 1/2 tsp (mug not filled all the way) // just boiled // rinse // 2 min // 3 min // 4 min
I got it yesterday from YS US site. It took only 4 days. I’m still awaiting my order fr China which I placed a month ago. Sigh
Anyway this tea is awesome. Never thought, just gave it a shot. The brew is deep red. Wet leaves smell of prunes. The brew tastes like prunes and some leather. It’s smooth and creamy. Yum. I think I should get more of it.
2 rinses 5/10/15/30 etc
Flavors: Cream, Leather, Stonefruit
Ha, I got another bag of these this week too (have had them before), love how mellow and smooth they are, with (for me at least) a very relaxing almost narcotic qi.
YS also has a 250g brick made of these same nuggets ( http://www.yunnansourcing.us/store/product.php?id_product=36 ) but the brick’s price has gone way too high. I wonder if their younger cha tou bricks are made from similarly excellent material.
haha, I see you actually got 3 of the same things I did! You’re going to LOVE the Mao Feng!
sansnipple, i have to admit its not a coincidence. I kinda “borrowed” some ideas of your order. And I’m happy i did. Haha, I hope you don’t mind;)
I’ll have to include this with my upcoming YS order of Imperial Mojiang
You should if you like sweet stone fruit notes. No earthiness . I only recommend to drink it at night. Fell asleep like a baby;)
How did you get these omg! Sold out everywhere and there one of my faves :(
It was from someone… Unfortunately I have a box with over 150 samples that Steepster members have sent in swaps. While that is great because I’ll hit my 500 teas tried this year with everyone’s help, it’s really hard to keep tract of who sent what :/
I sent over a cups worth (that was the last of my sample). Boychik sent it to me – Boychik mentions buying it from the Yunnan Sourcing US site. I checked Yunnansourcing.com and a search for ‘nuggets’ brings up a similar tea but not one that says 2007. (The yunnansourcing.us says the 2007 is sold out.)