2011 Nan Jian Certified Organic Mushroom Ripe Puerh Tea

Haven’t drunk this in years. Was looking through my stash for something to brew tonight and settled on this mushroom. I hadn’t remembered it as something particularly good. But tonight I brewed it up and noticed a very high level of phenols – distinct flavor of vanilla which was deliciously smooth and calming.

This is an alright tea, very good considering the price. Simple, reliable and organic. Tea for when you don’t want to rock the full Gongfu.

Decent puerh, didn’t last as long as I might have expected, 8 steeps was about the max I could see taking this today. Initial blast of musty basement, old leather books, camphor, dark bread, pipe tobacco gives way over several steepings to a sweet maple sugar or rock candy with old rotten apple aromas and a cinnamon flavor and cooling effect on the tongue. Dark red color, relatively twiggy in composition, very low astringency, the aftertaste does not linger very long.

Solid choice, might leaf a little heavier.

150ml gaiwan, 7g, 100C, 10 steep plus 10 each addl steep.

This tea took me several drinks to really develop a good review of it. I would say it’s got mild complexity to it, but at the same time the overall flavor is pretty subtle for a puerh. The taste/smell is primarily mushroom, but interchanges with a traditional “earthy” puerh flavor . There are hints of nuttiness here and there. There is definitely astringency that follows and this puerh does not feel full bodied. Overall, not very smooth. The shape is harder to break pieces off than a regular cake. The taste just isn’t bold enough for me – it’s not an undrinkable tea, but I think I’ll try something different next time.

This was a nice shou. I agree with the statement camphor and dark cocoa to this tea. There was also a spicy note under the tongue. And there was a sweet note too but the camphor was the strongest note. This was actually good as I have come to not mind camphor and somewhat like it. At one point I couldn’t stand a tea with notes of camphor. There was also a fair amount of fermentation flavor that I noticed for four or five steeps.

I brewed this twelve times in a 150ml gaiwan with 11g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 min. The tea is still quite dark at twelve steeps. I’m sure this would go at least four or five more steeps if I hadn’t hit my caffeine limit. This is definitely a long lasting shou puerh tea.

Tried this in the Pu TTB and ended up buying a three pack of shrooms! Starting out my birthday with a session of this nice shou. I think I have strep throat, but that’s not stopping me from enjoying some tea on my birthday.

The first steep has camphor, dark cocoa, and earthy notes with a slight fruityness. It’s really nice and clean, malty, and mineral.

Later steeps give a nice creamy texture and a prominent vanilla/spice note with hints of raisin and dense bread. There’s very little fermentation flavor.

I just got this tea in my much-delayed Yunnan Sourcing shipment! Ordered about a month ago, and apparently the package went through customs hell… The Chinese post found drugs in the cargo crate and every shipment was opened one by one. So when the box arrived at my door, all battered and bruised…well my hopes were low.

Fortunately, this tea is awesome! First of all, the price is simply incredible. $12 for 250g is unbelievably cheap, and plus the fact that this is organic(!) makes this a steal. The tea itself is delish, thick and sweet. It’s heavy on the cherrywood flavor, and it’s got a sweet fruitiness in the aftertaste. Reminds me a little of the 2013 Yunnan Sourcing Mini Tous, which I’ve also tried. The tea doesn’t go quite as long as I’d like—it’s not one of those that’s going to keep going strong all day—but it’s still delicious and an absolutely killer value!

Edit: also, it’s a cute little mushroom! What more could you ask for?

Perhaps the most notable features of this tea are the visual appeal of the tea soup, velvety texture, and the smooth creaminess. It’s not super infusable—maybe no more than 7 steeps, but still very enjoyable in terms of mouthfeel and subtle flavors. This one is particularly soothing during those cold winter nights. The tea soup is a very clear and a beautiful deep burgundy.

I brewed up about 7g in a 100ml gaiwan at about 210f/off boil. I gave the customary two rinses. It took about 2 steeps before this one opened up. The wet leaf gave a nice earthy, wet wood, and slight cherry/vanilla sweetness aroma. Mostly earthy and woodsy. I had tried this one about a month or so ago and it was a bit too woodsy and fungal for me. This session however I was a bit more pleased. I think it had a bit of airing out to do. The first few steeps are nice and dark with a good thick liquor. Its not super thick, at least with 7 grams but was nice and creamy and not thin at all. The flavor is of an old book in the back of a damp antique store that sits in the middle of a rainy forest. A nice wet wood mixed with earthy forest floor greatness and some hints of vanilla sweet lingering in the background. I would classify this as one of the more earthy ripes not overflowing with sweetness like some. Very enjoyable though. The qi was calming with a bit of caffeine energy that offsets nicely. I used a bit more mindfulness with this session with eyes closed at times. It definitely makes a difference in really pick out the nuances of the tea. Too often I gulp my way through a session like a fast food junkie in the throws of a stoner munch session. Ill drink while doing work or doing some other mundane task. Slowing it down and sitting in a quiet room with the bubbling kettle in front of the tea tray visiting the aromas, flavors and the mouthfeel, truly one on one, makes for a more honest tea session. I find the antique store/old book qualities of these kinds of ripes nostalgic. They seem to transport me. Terence Mckenna speaks of the mushroom (tho a different kind) and about how it is a doorway to our ancient past. Not sure if that is so but I do get a bit of nostalgia that seems “old” in nature. I digress. This tea gave about 4 or 5 good steeps and then trailed but was still giving at the end. I am not one to push a ripe in the the later steeps so it may go longer. I would recommend this as a good everyday ripe. Earthy, Woodsy, and even a bit sweet hiding in there somewhere. Not bad at all.

A very solid tea for a really good price, also quite easy to brew. It brews up nice and dark and has a pleasant sweet creamy flavor and it. Got three solid dark steeps and it was still quite enjoyable after. I would definitely recommend this one, as I am considering getting some for myself.