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2003 Longyuan Hao Pu-erh Tea Brick | ||
| Genre: Compressed Sheng/Green/Uncooked/Raw | ||
| Factory: Menghai Old Tea Mountain Factory | ||
| Vendor: PuerShop.com | ||
| Reviewed by El Jefito on 07/07/2007 | ||
| Background | Tea brick (average to light compression), produced from tea leaves from Yiwu Zheng Shan | |
| Dry Leaf Appearence: | The leaves had colors ranging from dark green to light green with some golden buds. The leaf sizes ranged between small and medium, mainly medium. | |
| Water to Leaf Ratio: | 10 gr of Leaf in 120 ml of water | |
| Brewing Method: | Gung Fu brewing style with purple clay Yixing tea pot, yixing tea pot holder, bamboo tea tray, bamboo tea tools, yixing washing bowl, yixing gaiwan for consumption, metal strainer, 200ml glass receptacle, Kamjove electric kettle for consistent water temperature of 101 degrees celsius. Textile mats to place lids during drinking or serving. | |
| Wet Leaf Appearence: | Wet leaves soaked up water well. The leaves separated well and revealed that the leaves were a combo of leaves with stems, cut up leaves, full leaves, whose sizes were of medium to small. Their colors were of olive green to reddish brown. | |
| 1st Steep | One 15 second wash and prime. 120ml 101 degree boiling water for all brews. 10 second brew. The color was dark golden yellow. The first taste was light with a smooth of silk feeling in the mouth only. The taste mainly stayed in the front of the mouth. The first overall taste was mellow. Not astringent. Very light non-aggressive jerky flavor. | |
| 2nd Steep | 20 second brew produced a golden light red to amber color. Also smooth silky feeling but stronger. I noticed a slight smokiness flavor returning from the top of the throat at the end of swallowing, but it was mellow. The taste was of a mellow far away jerky and smoky flavor that was not aggressive. | |
| 3rd Steep | 30 second brew produced an amber color soup. I did notice some cha chi which produced a small numbness in the top of the tongue but mainly towards the front of the tongue. Silky feeling was still present in the gums and continued throughout out all of the steeps. I did notice a weak astringent flavor that came and went originating from the rear of mouth and start of throat. | |
| 4th Steep | 45 second brew kept the amber color of liquor. The overall taste was still of a weak jerky and smoky flavor that was not unpleasant. Is the overall mellowness a sign of weakness???? | |
| Subsequent Steeps | 3 minute brew. I expected the color to be red but it remained amber in color. The strength of the tea remained just as the last brew???? The tastes and flavors were still the same except that a more unpleasant astringent flavor surfaced. | |
| Conclusion | This is a 2003 production. By 2007 only four years of fermentation have occurred. In my opinion this tea has mellowed out to much for its age. My particular brick should be sampled on yearly basis to see if any sweetness is developing. If sweet flavors begin to show then it should continue with aging. If with 4-6 years there is now sweet notes then it should just be consumed because it probably will not improve further. But like with all puerh I could be wrong and I have grossly misjudged this mellow fellow. | |
| Sorry, no Photos | ||