2014 Sheng Pu'erh - Autumn

Floral, slightly spicy and with hints of apricots.
Images and more at https://puerh.blog/teanotes/2014-misty-peak-autumn

The number one tea, beating out tens of thousands of other teas worldwide, ranked by us experts here at Steepster, at least at some point. So, this is my third sheng ever. Is it going to give me a spiritual experience? Change my life? Make me a better person? I mean, it’s number one, after all, meaning it beats out rare teas that cost thousands of dollars. It had better be something special. Plus! It’s in this handy little ball shape, an innovation so groundbreaking that the company views it as intellectual property. Patent-pending, you guys!

Anyway, I’m even putting aside the douchebro marketing tactics for a second. You see, Misty Peaks would like me to give out its adorable little balls to all my friends who are “not a size zero” in order to fat-shame them into buying expensive teas. Because it believes all us women over a size zero are not f***able or something, and we had better do something about it!

Steeps 1 and 2, 5 seconds each: Astringent, vegetal. Blech. Disappointing because the wet leaves smell sweet and molassesy. No spiritual epiphanies yet. I like this better than a mushroom-y tea, but it’s far too vegetal for me to enjoy so far. I will withhold a number rating until I have a few more steeps, just to see if it gets any better. Why? Because I am fair, even to shitty companies that I don’t like.

Steeps 3 and 4 , 7 seconds each: Astringent, no new developments. I’m not even drinking all of it — tasting and then pouring the steeps out.

Steeps 5 and 6: And… Yep, still not tasting anything that redeems this for me. Good thing I can live without it, because I never want to purchase from this company again.

As this was going down, I kept thinking the flavor reminded me of something, but I couldn’t figure out what. Then it came to me while I was pondering the unpleasant sour aftertaste: It tastes like acid reflux. Mmmm!

I guess sheng quite this young is just not for me.

Boychik was kind enough to send me a sample of this.

This is better than a lot of the young sheng, but still not to my tastes. The earlier steeps are pretty sweet, a little hay ish, but it’s sharp. Nit really bitter, but lots of top notes. The more I steeped it the grassier and more bitter it got. I can understand why others like this, but it’s not for me.
Thanks boychik for the opportunityto try it.

I believe this is the 2014 raw pu’erh I got a sample from for Misty Peaks:
The leaf is quite appealing as there are a few silver strands in the dark green sheng. I thought that the first few brews would be bitter since it’s a newer pu’erh. Interestingly enough this was not bitter from steep #1. Quite nicely done. Though, I’m still a shou guy for sure :/

I’ve been drooling over this companies products for awhile, and I have finally received one! This was a strange but wonderful brew! The cake is a forest of colors. It is spotted with deep green, mudded yellow, and golden brown. The cake broke apart smoothly without harming the integrity of the leaves (good sign). It carried a light forest scent and granite. I brewed this in my yixing. I washed the leaves once and gave it a whiff. My tea was filled with a sweet tone. This tone carried a heavy earth flavor and slight citrus undertone. The liquor was a deep yellow and thick. The taste was incredibly surprising. I did not encounter even the slightest of bitterness in any of the steepings. It was completely smooth and sweet. I actually added more leaves to increase the potency. The flavor was a smooth apricot and mineral. Once I reached about the sixth steeping it released an amazing syrup. My mouth became engulfed with a honey and oak flavor. This brew lasted well into the double digits and is incredibly silky. If you don’t enjoy a bitter Sheng then this is the brew for you. I am very grateful to have enjoyed this cake!

https://instagram.com/p/11J9M-TGXC/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Last one from the Sheng and Shou TTB. This is the loose leaf version, but I didn’t want to create a new “tea” for this note.

Brewed gongfu-style with a ceramic gaiwan. Used enough leaf to fill half the gaiwan. 10 second rinse. Steeping times: 5, 8, 12, 15, 20, 30, 60, 90, 120.

Despite being an autumn sheng, spring is in the dry leaf, which smells of flowers, notably hyacinths, and a newly mowed lawn. The wet leaf aroma reminds me of leafhopper oolongs. Purely stonefruit after the rinse, and then i becomes richly jam-like.

The liquor is a clear pale gold. Slightly thick texture. Light-bodied. Bright personality. Uplifting yet calming feel. The first couple infusions resemble white tea. Airy feel, tastes of field grass. Beginning with the third infusion, this becomes more sheng-like – sweet grass and asparagus notes appear. Infusions eight and nine are fruitier, very fruity. Plum lingers in the mouth long after the very last sip.

The dry leaf is something to admire. I think this is my first sheng in which the leaves are so long, unbroken and full. They’re also lovely in color and texture.

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

A great everyday pu’er, has mellowed out nicely since I purchased it (was too bitter to drink back in spring 2015). The on palate flavor is okay, not incredibly smooth but not too tannic either. The 回甘 (sweet finish) is something else though – it just continues to develop and lasts a good hour! Apricot jam, dragonfruit, oranges, vanilla. Yum!

I’ve tried this tea twice now after it came in. I was really hoping to love this as I was crazy about the 2013 mao cha from Misty Peak and its lovely fruity flavor.

To me this seems more like a standard type of sheng. It has a light color with light smoke notes, a bit of floral, lemon and a bittersweet finish. I threw the first steep out and have been doing short infusions of it. It starts to mellow out a bit after steep #3, but I am just not getting plum or peach flavor from this at all, even after 7 steeps.

So I am a bit torn on how to give this a rating for now. It is definitely a nice, young sheng but I was hoping for something a little different, or a little more like the product description, anyway. It isn’t terribly aggressive but I also think it could benefit from a few years of aging.

First let me just say I am new to Pu’er tea. I’ve tried some other Pu’er from misty peak teas that I loved, but this might be my favorite. It has a soft flavor, and fills the drinker with peace and tranquility. Truly an uplifting tea.

Meh, just not my thing I guess. I did my first gong fu styled brewing with my new tiny teapot and my new teacups. I tried three steepings of it and every one tasted the same… vegetal, almost flavorless. Maybe my pallet is just too unrefined but it tasted like grass-water.