I just got finished drinking my sample of the Noble Mark loose tea and now I am moving on to the cake sample that Garret sent me. I am kind of curious to see if there are any differences.
1st steep-15 sec
Still a gentleman’s pu’er. It’s not overwhelming even on the first steep. It’s very gentle. Like it’s holding the door open for you. Tee hee. Slightly roasty notes like a cup of blonde roast. Creamy. Almost a pastry type of sweetness. It tastes like a napoleon.
2nd Steep-20 seconds
The pastry aspects really come out. It tastes like walking into an old school bakery smells. It’s like being hit in the face with all those lovely smells of baking. Kind of sweet but in a breadlike kind of way.
3rd Steep-30 seconds
Still sweet and breadlike. A little honey coming through.
4th Steep-35 seconds
Same as before. Sweet like pastry with honey and some new nutty notes. Kind of like baklava.
5th Steep-40 seconds
Still a bit nutty with honey notes.
6th to 12th Steep-Up to 2 minutes
Varying levels of vanilla. Sometimes with nutty notes, sometimes with fruity notes and one very interesting time with a basil note. Tea is losing a bit.
13th Steep-5 minutes
Figs and honey. Almost can’t give up on this tea now because figs!
14th Steep-45 minutes
I forgot it. I don’t even have a good excuse but it didn’t turn out bad at all. Very light even with the long steep time. The figs are gone sadly and replaced by an almost anise like sweetness.
15th Steep-1 hour 30 minutes
I figured why not. It’s very very light. Still sweet but it’s hitting the floral side of fade which means it’s time for me to move on.
I did notice that when I started steeping this one, I was in a terrible mood. Like Eeyore meets Grumpy Cat meets Archie Bunker. Mainly because my team’s superstar decided to bail on a 15 year deal. Once I started sipping Noble Mark, the mood lifted and I was all cheerful again. Could be a coincidence but considering how much of a bad mood I was in. I doubt it.
I really did love this in cake form more than I did loose. I don’t know why. The flavor seemed much deeper and I didn’t mind spending almost 5 days with it at all. I have a feeling this would be one of those teas that taste different every time you steep it.
Preparation
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thought you might like this!! Interesting that the cake is now really starting to excel in complexity over the loose. Not the case for the first few months after pressing. I learn this with every pressing that I do. It always takes 6 months to a year after pressing a ripe tea for it to begin to open up and rock. Within 2 to 3 more years, this one is going to be one of the best tasting ripe cakes available. Why do you think I pressed so many of them.
The loose is delicious and is the 1st tea I drink every morning and have for over 5 months. My personal stash of the loose is in the neighborhood of 200 lbs. Of course I can sell it to our tea shop as the shop runs out of its current stash :)
We had the entire lot tested, too, and it is ZERO parts per million of anything other than tea. You know me, I like to source from super clean growing areas and from growers that are using organic and biodynamic ways of growing. This tea is as pure as it can get, sister!!
So happy that you are enjoying it. Remember, too, when you get your new Phatty Cake 2 this week that it was pressed on 4/25… still a few months before it opens up more and rocks out, but the reviews from the handful of people who have tried it so far are very favorable. Even made it here in the shop for someone who has never enjoyed ripe tea and they bought a cake!
Rock on, Archie Bunker!
This tea was something special. I felt almost guilty tossing the leaves so I made iced tea—-just about the only way I can trick my family into drinking pu’er. I don’t know if this’ll become an everyday tea—because I’m going to want to hoard it. I think I’ll stick with Phatty Cake Prime for that.
200 lb!!! That sounds like…heaven. Better than heaven. Tea heaven. You’re very generous to consider selling it…because I’d hoard it like an angry goblin.
I can’t wait to try the Phatty Cake sequel. I am going to try my hardest to curb my kid on Christmas morning tendencies and wait a couple of months. I do have to finish my Phatty Cake Prime so it shouldn’t be too difficult.
I also just got my mug this afternoon. It’s adorable. I’m already in love with it and I haven’t even used it yet. I may have to break out the Year of the Dragon pu’er to break it in.
Archie Bunker is my spirit animal. Along with Peg Bundy and Balki Bartokomous.
i foresee possibly sending cakes to my parents place so they can be in a less humid place for the summer….or buying some sort of tea humidor for my apartment?
Sil… i think for short-term storage, you don’t really have to worry too much about all this. Most importantly, keep the tea away from strong smells and covered in an (odor-free) cardboard box so that it does not get cold or hot air blowing on it. If you are not going to be drinking the tea within 6 months or so, then there are other things you can do. And we can cover that later, if need be.
Grace… Archie Bunker, love him! So happy you are digging the new infuser mug. They have been flying out of the shop already and the reviews are good so far!
You have some of the Bulang Gong Ting, right? We have a bunch of customers who are serving that tea iced and really loving it!
I love my little mug. I’ve named it Stuart and somehow tea tastes better when drinking from it. Sounds crazy but it’s true.
I love my Bulang Gong Ting. I have 5 ounces that I am hoarding. I’m not that big a fan of iced tea but I’ll give it a go because my family loved the Noble Mark iced tea.
Sil—I keep my pu’er in cardboard boxes on my bookshelves. The room is air conditioned though. I am not sure how good that is for the tea but 100 degree heat is not something I can tolerate…at all.
thought you might like this!! Interesting that the cake is now really starting to excel in complexity over the loose. Not the case for the first few months after pressing. I learn this with every pressing that I do. It always takes 6 months to a year after pressing a ripe tea for it to begin to open up and rock. Within 2 to 3 more years, this one is going to be one of the best tasting ripe cakes available. Why do you think I pressed so many of them.
The loose is delicious and is the 1st tea I drink every morning and have for over 5 months. My personal stash of the loose is in the neighborhood of 200 lbs. Of course I can sell it to our tea shop as the shop runs out of its current stash :)
We had the entire lot tested, too, and it is ZERO parts per million of anything other than tea. You know me, I like to source from super clean growing areas and from growers that are using organic and biodynamic ways of growing. This tea is as pure as it can get, sister!!
So happy that you are enjoying it. Remember, too, when you get your new Phatty Cake 2 this week that it was pressed on 4/25… still a few months before it opens up more and rocks out, but the reviews from the handful of people who have tried it so far are very favorable. Even made it here in the shop for someone who has never enjoyed ripe tea and they bought a cake!
Rock on, Archie Bunker!
This tea was something special. I felt almost guilty tossing the leaves so I made iced tea—-just about the only way I can trick my family into drinking pu’er. I don’t know if this’ll become an everyday tea—because I’m going to want to hoard it. I think I’ll stick with Phatty Cake Prime for that.
200 lb!!! That sounds like…heaven. Better than heaven. Tea heaven. You’re very generous to consider selling it…because I’d hoard it like an angry goblin.
I can’t wait to try the Phatty Cake sequel. I am going to try my hardest to curb my kid on Christmas morning tendencies and wait a couple of months. I do have to finish my Phatty Cake Prime so it shouldn’t be too difficult.
I also just got my mug this afternoon. It’s adorable. I’m already in love with it and I haven’t even used it yet. I may have to break out the Year of the Dragon pu’er to break it in.
Archie Bunker is my spirit animal. Along with Peg Bundy and Balki Bartokomous.
i foresee possibly sending cakes to my parents place so they can be in a less humid place for the summer….or buying some sort of tea humidor for my apartment?
Sil… i think for short-term storage, you don’t really have to worry too much about all this. Most importantly, keep the tea away from strong smells and covered in an (odor-free) cardboard box so that it does not get cold or hot air blowing on it. If you are not going to be drinking the tea within 6 months or so, then there are other things you can do. And we can cover that later, if need be.
Grace… Archie Bunker, love him! So happy you are digging the new infuser mug. They have been flying out of the shop already and the reviews are good so far!
You have some of the Bulang Gong Ting, right? We have a bunch of customers who are serving that tea iced and really loving it!
I love my little mug. I’ve named it Stuart and somehow tea tastes better when drinking from it. Sounds crazy but it’s true.
I love my Bulang Gong Ting. I have 5 ounces that I am hoarding. I’m not that big a fan of iced tea but I’ll give it a go because my family loved the Noble Mark iced tea.
Sil—I keep my pu’er in cardboard boxes on my bookshelves. The room is air conditioned though. I am not sure how good that is for the tea but 100 degree heat is not something I can tolerate…at all.