2015 Yunnan Sourcing "Lao Shu Bai Cha" Old Arbor Raw Puerh Tea Cake

I found this sheng to be very sweet and quite long-lasting. Used 7g in a 100mL gaiwan with boiled water (turned it down to 200F later in the session). I drank this over a 24 hour period, leaving it overnight because I had to get to bed before I finished the session, it took so long. 17 steeps total I believe.

The leaves from this tea are pretty cool looking, with some white/silver leaves mixed with different shades of brown and green. Dry, they smelled buttery and fruity, and after rinsing the leaves, it was more of just a sweet fruity/maybe herbal aroma. Different from most raw puerhs in that respect.

I successfully kept my steep times down with this one, as I seem to fail to do so often! Working on that! So I got almost 10 steeps in before my steep time rose above 20 sec. Right from the start this tea was thick and sweet, with honey and floral flavors dominating it. Also got some grassy/hay flavors in the front on a couple steeps, always accompanied by a nice honey sweet finish. The texture of the liquor was creamy even through the late steeps. On my 4th steep I was reminded of brown sugar. Even that steep had the honey finish, so definitely one of the sweeter raw puerhs I’ve tried. In steeps 3-7 or so, the thickness and flavor were very notable not only in my mouth, but as I swallowed as well, giving a good throat-feel which I don’t get all that often.

I didn’t get too much of the fruit flavor that I smelled in the leaves (like apricot). It reared its head just barely every once in a while, but I only tasted it distinctly on my final steep, when I just left some water sitting in the gaiwan for maybe 5 min.

Towards the middle of my session, it started to get a little drying and just a touch bitter. This was right before I went to bed last night, so when I came back to the tea, I lowered the temp to 200 degrees and was rewarded with another 6 or 7 lighter but still pleasantly sweet cups of tea.

I really did enjoy this session, but I don’t think I would want a full cake of it, because at some points it was almost sickly sweet to me at some points. As I drink more puerh, I think I’m starting to find that I like mine to have at least some bitterness to them. Makes them seem stronger maybe. I wonder how this tea would age. Not much of any bitterness to age out of it – would it get sweeter? That might be crazy lol.

Brewed in a gaiwan,

Fresh green latte aroma. The gaiwan lid is milky and grassy. Silky smooth to start, transitions nicely into a bittersweet liquor. I, being such a huge fan of matcha latte, find this to be a very unique and exciting tea. Not like most of the teas I have tried, it has a special aroma and texture that fills and coats my pallet.

I seriously enjoyed this tea for what it is. My taste may be a little less selective for these types of teas, but either way it was enjoyable to say the least.

This is a strong and somewhat bitter tea. Not that there wasn’t a sweetness too but this was bitter. I’d say I noticed a pronounced bitterness through the first six steeps. It developed a nice sweetness in the seventh and eighth steeps. Not quite apricots, but a little harsher sweetness.

I brewed this eight times in a 120ml gaiwan with 9.2g leaf and 200 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. I have heard that bitter teas age better, then this one may be a good candidate for aging.