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2005 Nan-nuo raw pu-erh tea cake | ||
| Genre: Compressed Sheng/Green/Uncooked/Raw | ||
| Factory: Six Famous Tea Mountains | ||
| Vendor: Yunnan Sourcing | ||
| Reviewed by Tea Junkie on 11/04/2006 | ||
| Background | A blend of Nan-nuo and Menghai (I think) leaves. | |
| Dry Leaf Appearence: | Leaves are medium dark green tint with a good smattering of tips. Dismantling the cake gave a result that reminded me of India's infamous lettering classification of leaf grade. This one I would give a TGFOP, which means nought in our world. One of the best pu-erh I have tasted had leaves larger than my hand. | |
| Water to Leaf Ratio: | 10.0 gr of Leaf in 100 ml of water | |
| Brewing Method: | Brewed up gong-fu style with sheng-seasoned yi-xing pot and pitcher, and drank from porcelain bowls. Went 1/10 leaf to water because I was unsure of the potency of the leaves, many a Haiwan or Longyuan product I have tasted made me wish too late that I had used 10g vs. 7g. Of course this was a bit heavy, and made twenty seconds even a bit longish on the steeps. | |
| Wet Leaf Appearence: | The brewed leaves had a bit more oxidation than I would have expected, and the they did indeed seem to be something on the order of a TGFOP. | |
| 1st Steep | 20 sec. after a 20 sec. wash. Infusion was a light tan color in the bowl, with a good fragrance of honey. The flavor was one of deep foreboding power from a high level of poyphenol, with a 30 sec. finish of astringency fading into honey sweetness. | |
| 2nd Steep | 20 sec. infusion yielded a powerful polyphenol dance across my tongue that again faded into honey smoothness. | |
| 3rd Steep | 20 sec. infusion. An amber tinted liquor resulted that bathed the tongue in astringency, though at this point some subtlty had finally emerged in the flavor. Honey merged with leather (think saddleshop on a hot day) upfront, with a teensy hint of anise in the eternal finish. | |
| 4th Steep | 20 sec. was more of the same-steely determination in the polyphenol and the now standard honey and leather lingering long after the sip. | |
| Subsequent Steeps | Went on to eight infusions with little indication that the tea was ever going to quit, but the lack of nuance gave me little incentive to do more than quit. I pooled the excess liquor from the infusions to enjoy late into the evenning, which I did enjoy as a more balanced version of what had gone on before. | |
| Conclusion | I do not want to be harsh on this tea as I did find it to be a very pleasant, if a bit chalenging, experience. The leaves simply need a few years to develop some nuance from ambient oxidation of the abundant polyphenols. The cake as it stands is a two toned beast (honey and leather) that can be enjoyed, but will be something much better come 2010. | |
| Sorry, no Photos | ||