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2005 Nan-nuo organic cake | ||
| Genre: Compressed Sheng/Green/Uncooked/Raw | ||
| Factory: Yunnan Province Agricultural Sciences Academy | ||
| Vendor: Yunnan Sourcing | ||
| Reviewed by tea junkie on 11/19/2006 | ||
| Background | This is a otrdc certified (sticker on the wrapper) cake produced by a group that I have little familiarity with, but in this cake from Nan-nuo mountain there is strong evidence that they know what they are doing. | |
| Dry Leaf Appearence: | A rich mix of emerald leaves and plenty of pretty tips adorn this evenly, but moderately compressed cake. Seperating out the tea revealed alot of small to medium sized leaves. The aroma was full of honey and anise and mulch. | |
| Water to Leaf Ratio: | 10 gr of Leaf in 100 ml of water | |
| Brewing Method: | Brewed up this tea gong-fu style with a cured yixing (zisha) pot and served in a porcelain pitcher and porcelain thimble-cups. Rinsed tea for about fifteen seconds, then went to town. I served this up to my daughter, one of her friends, and my wife; though they only lasted through the first three infusions. They all got a bit too jittery and yappy from the strong dose of polyphenols and caffeine and decided to go play Super Smash Brothers Melee on the Gamecube. | |
| Wet Leaf Appearence: | This was a gorgeous plate of leaves. There were very large leaves almost the length of my hands that were a deep verdant hue, but also alot of very tiny bud sets that were extremely pale whitish-green color that were barely the size of my thumbnail. This cake has everything but the kitchen sink! And even after eleven infusions it still held a very luscious aroma. | |
| 1st Steep | Thirty seconds with 195 degree water (all infusions were done with this temperature) revealed an initial burst of licorice with alot of autumn leaves and caramel notes that faded after thirty or so seconds. A bit light, but so goes the first infusion. The ladies were quite impressed, though I warned them that things were about to get quite serious. | |
| 2nd Steep | Twenty seconds and the leaves were starting to awaken, but they were still quite groggy. Autumn leaves dominated with a full mouthfeel and a bright, woody finish that faded into honey. A lightly sharp burst of polyphenols introduced that woody flavor after a few seconds in the mouth. The ladies were still liking the tea, but were quite insistent in drinking water and eating a water craker after a minute or so. They found the body pleasant, but after a minute or so the salivating effect became a bit drying in their mouths. | |
| 3rd Steep | Twenty seconds of steeping brought out a thick wave of autumn leaves that was quickly accompanied by a burst of bright polyphenols that I had a tough time getting my mind around, could it be passionfruit this time? My wife was a bit overwhelmed by the strength of this infusion, thought she loved how it faded after thirty seconds or so. It was a bit funny to watch them as they sat around initially discussing the flavors as the tea faded and then all trying to talk at the same time as they were calling out things like 'lawn clippings in the afternoon heat', 'falling into a pile of maple leave', 'pomegranate juice'. Their conversation got faster and faster and my daughter's friend could not sit still for more than a couple of seconds. My daughter then suggested we all go play Super Smash Brothers Melee on the Gamecube, cuz she loves to beat my Link-butt with Princess Peach. I managed to get them to go play and I just watched as I continued to infuse the leaves. They abstained from this infusion forward since they were plenty buzzed from the caffeine, and they acknowledged that tea was a better stimulation than coffee because it felt much better. Not just jittery, but also oddly euphoric (not their words). | |
| 4th Steep | Twenty seconds steeping revealed a wide-awake infusion that continued in the same vein as previously, with a solid autumnal front end wich faded into honey. Along the way there was a potent wave of polyphenols that was very tough to get ahold of again, but my notes gave pomegranate this time. I suspect it is such a strong astringent note that fades so quickly into something else that the whole taste system gets a bit confused and grabs onto something at some point to prevent gustatory madness. | |
| Subsequent Steeps | I took this bad boy out to eleven infusions, with each one openning the same way and always being followed by that flash of polyphenol weirdness. I ended the last infusion at two and a half minutes, and it still had that flash, but it was starting to become muted so I called it quits. The pooled infusions made a mug that was much more mellow, with the autumnal notes more dominant and the astringency being very balanced throughout the mouthfull. No real flash, just good body that peaked out after about fifteen seconds, then faded into honey and woodiness for another minute or so. | |
| Conclusion | This is a gorgeous tea from beginning to end-the dry leaves were varied and pungent, the infusions were full bodied and challenging, and the wet leaves were mesmerizing in their complexity. I would definetly recommend this as a drink it now sheng, provided the person were familiar with the astonishing astringency that sheng teas can produce. I would also recommend it as a storage cake with the caveat that I have only managed to succesfully age precisely one cake so my knowledge on this front is not from experience. The cake I aged was a 2000 menghai Yi-Wu Zheng cake that has developed into a scrumptious vanilla-toned cup. Outside of this tea (which was my first pu-erh purchase), I have drank every one of the cakes I have purchased before 2005. I have a voluminous tea craving and a limited budget, but I have begun to store quite a few cakes now. Well, that was a bit off-topic, but in returning to the cake in hand I will just conclude with the observation that this tea can provided the careful brewer with a powerful ally. Get some now. | |
| Sorry, no Photos | ||