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Reasonably loosely compressed, attractive dark purple leaves, the tea brews a bit more copper colored than typical young shengs, and has an enjoyable smooth quality (in comparison to other purple leaf sheng I’ve had). Quite flavorful and an enjoyable cup.

Quite a lovely sheng. It brews a light orange color at this point (Jan. 2015), and has quite a fruity overtone of apricots/peaches. Later steeping reveal a touch of bitterness which turns to sweetness and a nice salivating effect. I like the tea.

This is an interesting tea! It has some camphor aromas that cleared up my nose, some black tea elements in the flavors, a touch of green bitterness which gives me an awakening sensation, and a touch of tannin to pucker my mouth. I can’t say it is delightful, but it certainly is interesting.

A really lovely ripe pu-erh. Nothing is out of place, the flavors are deep and clean, and the impression for me is of a cake that was well made from good materials. Very pleasant tea.

For the last three days I have been having the Crimson Lotus tea’s 2007 Qiao Jun “Huang Zhi” shou pu-erh. The website states: “This puerh brews very light even with longer steepings. This will brew very smooth with a pronounced mellow sweetness. It’s moist in the throat with a pleasant aftertaste.” I completely agree with this note. The tea is simply pleasant, has a certain lightness to it, and has a hint of chocolate in its finish during early steepings. I found it grew on me over the three days it took to go through 10 steepings. Seems like a pretty good bargain for a pleasant everyday drinker at $22 for a 250 ml brick (also available in 25 gram sample size). More info available at http://crimsonlotustea.com/products/2007-qiao-jun-huang-zhi-250g-shou-ripe-puerh-brick. My tea was from a sample purchased last month.
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This cake is progressing nicely. Color is now mid orange, the intense alfalfa like grassiness is faded a bit and replaced with a camphor like and lighter grass flavor with hints of olive, a still slightly astringent mouthfeel, and a pronounced salivary effect. Quite a nice experience overall.

This is an interesting tea of depth and complexity with bright, well balanced flavors and a deep sweetness. Good earthy flavor, hints of tobacco, and perhaps even a whisper of cherry and forest in the flavors, this is quite a good tasting tea. Just a hint of astringency in the long lasting flavors. Quite enjoyable (from a sample).

This is truly a wild purple pu-erh. It was hard for me to evaluate because it is so young and strong at this juncture. It is strong, smoky, untamed. It will integrate over time I believe (the 2012 version tasted side by side) while still a bit wild is much more integrated. Be prepared for a wild ride.

Today this tea brewed a clear coppery color with a shy aroma but a complex flavor of citrus, sweetness, metal, and alfalfa. Not a powerhouse tea, but one of subtlety and depth.