2005 Chang Tai Menghai Qiao Sheng puer

Another lovely Chang Tai tea!

I was quite amazed with the first Chang Tai tea I tasted, Golden Bamboo mountain, this one however surpassed my expectations!

Opening the sample bag, from Bret, a lovely smokey smell arrives. Almost a sweet smokiness like my grandfathers old chewing tobacco.
The smell from the steeping pots is just amazing. It reminds me of raw leather and grass.
This tea lasted a good eight infusions before it started to become light, but still bold.

The first infusion was a very strong bitter brew. It tasted as if I had bitten into a belt, at first. As it sits in your mouth however a sweetness, that was soon to appear in bold new ways, appears.

Second-Forth infusions lead to a sweet almost pine, but not quite, sweetness appearing and the bitter backed off becoming more of an aftertaste really. The leathery taste was still present but transforming into something more like a woodiness.
Fifth-Seventh, these infusions lead to even more, yet subtle changes. The sweetness came out even more and the woodiness ended up being a main portion of this flavor profile.

The eighth and last infusion was still a very bold woody flavor and enjoyable.

Thanks Bret for this wonderful tea!

2001 Ming Yuan Hao Yiwu Zheng Shan Sheng Puer

I would like to start off by thanking Bret for this lovely tea.

There isn't much smell to the dry tea leaves. But while it is steeping you can smell a smell that reminds me of forest soil.

I decided to test two different brewing vessels with this tea.

The Yixing was a bit lighter surprisingly but they both generally had the same flavors.

The first infusion was very woody and had a pleasant bitterness as an aftertaste. As I made more and more infusions I started to taste a hint of sweetness. By the third infusion it was a great mix of wood and sweetness. The sweetness is hard to place it isn't fruit but it isn't sugar either. Needless to say this was a very interesting tea. I honestly loved it!

On another note, sorry I haven't been posting but I have been busy with the start of school, switching over to a new computer and work. But I am back now with many new samples to test.

2005 Chang Tai Gold Bamboo Mountain (Sheng Puer)

This is a sample I got from Bret, Thanks again for everything!
That is also a new cup I got from him a "Red Shino" by Petr Novak

The tea itself smells sort of clean. There really isn't much smell to this tea.
Even as the hot water goes into the pot with the leaves there still isn't much of a smell.
I am not really used to not being able to smell anything other then like a clean green smell.

The taste of the soup is very light and clean. With an undertone of bitter vegetal tastes. The bitterness went away after the first infusion though, maybe I just steeped it too long. Lighter then before. The Vegetal undertones came out more in the second infusion, tasting like a really light soup broth almost.

This was a very interesting(yet simple) tea, certainly not my favorite but worth a try and I look forward to trying the other Chang Tai sample I got. It was a good start to the morning!

2007 Raw Yuan Nian Jiang Cheng Puer tea

I have Two samples of Yuan Nian company puer tea's both raw however this one is a year older.

The leaves of smell of an earthy forest, however, very sweet almost floral.

The leaves brewing smell sweet and somewhat smokey. I am using a cup brewing vessel that I would rather not use but, I do not have any teaware that is good for rare puer tea. If you have one for sale please let me know. Thanks


The orange musty soup tastes smooth and smokey at first. A very light sweetness comes after sort of like sweet grass but not quite. I enjoyed the sweet aftertaste with the smokey front it was perfect to start my morning. I couldn't get more then one infusion because my cat decided to chew on the leaves when I went to wash a better cup.

I can't wait to try the next Yuan Nian Tea!

Ripe 2008 orange Puer

I have been looking forward to drinking this puer for a long time, I just haven't found a time that would best fit this tea. Today however was a day for this strong tea. With my AP Biology exam tomorrow I thought it would be a great time to have this tea and relax.

As I took off the top of the shell and broke away the tea an amazing aroma of orange mixed with damp soil.
As the hot water went across the tea in my lidded cup, no not gaiwan I wish, the steam came up and smelt so wonderful. The soup was a dark ruby, once again I am colorblind so I had to ask other people.
The first infusion was very strong. It had a very natural taste to it. Sort of like dark rich soil with a hint of citrus. However it wasn't an orange citrus I was tasting, it was more of a grapefruit.
The second infusion was just as dark but less flavor and the citrus started to be more like a orange or tangerine. also it was less bitter and a lot sweeter.
I got to four infusions before I felt it was to weak of a tea for me. The citrus really starts to come out towards the end though.

I really do love this tea, it made my terrible day of studying worth while.

Ripe 2008 Keemun Puer

So this is another Puer that came in the set of 18. This is however Keemun tea that goes through the processes over being puer instead of being black tea like it normally is.

The aroma had this almost honey like smell. Being in the condensed form it was I did not realize that there were lovely hairs in the tea. Is this normal? I have heard tales of it but I sort of thought it was a lie. Anyway I did not notice the hairs until the second infusion at which time I stopped drinking the tea...

The first infusion was so sweet. I now know why Keemun is known as the Champagne of tea.
The soup was a dark ruby color, I actually had to ask someone what color it was because I am colorblind in pretty much all dark colors. It was a bit sweet for my taste. I did enjoy it though. It was sort of like a flower and yet had a darker more earthy taste under the sweetness.

The second infusion was much better. The earthiness is more open and livens the cup with excellent taste. The color was just as dark as the last. Shortly into drinking the second infusion I found the hairs... So i stopped drinking naturally not knowing what to think of them.

After further examination I found out they were in fact animal hairs.


On a side my lovely tea plantation, four tea plants, is doing well. The first batch of tea is currently being processed. I cannot wait to try that!

If you have any tea suggestions feel free to message me because I am frankly at a loss of tea

2008 Honeysuckle Puer

So I finally have some more tea! its been a while I am so sorry. I ordered a set of 18 different puer teas, though each is a small amount, and some have questionable herbs/flowers in them. So I went with the first flower I knew Honeysuckle. The actual tea is ripe recipe *8582* from a factory not mentioned from the seller... if anyone has any information about that let me know.

My experience with this tea started out with finding a hair in this pressed tuo cha. Is this common? I didn't mind it that much because boiling water kills pretty much all germs and hey its from 2008 anyway nothing could still be alive. Upon further examination of the tea I saw the dried honeysuckle flowers. The aroma was enough to make my mouth water. It was a mix of freshly cut flowers and kind of an earthy smell.

The first infusion lead to an extremely floral brew, I didn't even drink all of it due to it tasting like I was chewing on a flower. The second infusion however was significantly better. I could actually taste the tea! I was surprised how quickly the floral taste left, yet very happy at the same time. It left behind a darker more strong tea. The more I sipped it the more intriguing flavors I got out of it. It at first seemed to have a kind of mushroom taste to it which changed into a nuttiness which was quite nice. This was also the first ripe puer I have tasted so it was all new to me. I still prefer raw I must say. Though for the time being I am just happy to be able to try any tea I can get! I can't wait to try the other 17, after I translate them so I know whats in them.

As always feel free to contact me if you want to talk about anything.
I really need to find a better way of storing tea... right now they reside in a cardboard box. Also I have realized I actually need a gaiwan, I attempted to use this lidded cup today(the lid was bigger then the lip of the cup covering it). Lets put it this way, hot water wet all over me and the floor. So yea a gaiwan is probably and I am really interested in buying some Yixing pots. If you have any for sale let me know.

Banzhang Chun Qing Puer

An other thanks is in order to my good friend Brett for this wonderful Puer.
This raw puer is fantastic. The smell from the cake itself is that of wet grass. Though a very young tea for puer I would still suggest trying it at this early age.

I made a total of 23 infusions of this puer, I have never had a tea last so long. Every different infusion had a different flavor to it. The first 5 where more earthy and had a taste of pine. A kind of bitter sweet came with it as well. Also a kind of spice that I cannot seem to place. After the 7th infusion I tasted various fruits, from the watery dragon fruit to pomegranate. This is a very clean tea leaving no negative tastes at all, it also was not very vegatal in nature. I was expecting a more grassy taste because of its young age, but I was gladly mistaken.

I would recommend buying this tea, Hopefully I will be able to try it years later.

On an other note, Sorry I have not been posting much lately. I have been busy working many dance concerts in my theatre and the end of term at my school was extremely hard this year. Also I have been buying gifts for my family and girlfriend, needless to say I haven't had much time to post anything. I will be posting a lot more now, well until I run out of tea to post about.

Happy Holidays all!