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!