So this tea came as something of a shock to me. Having only really gotten into puer a couple of months ago I’ve been sampling widely the selection of reputable vendors. Most of what I’ve had is fairly young stuff, so a necessary caveat emptor for this review is that I don’t have a lot of experience with aged teas. (Other than the White Whale under review here I’ve had some Mid 90’s CNNP Red Mark and a tea whose name or producer I don’t know, from 2001).

Anyway, this is aged tea and it’s very reasonably priced (I would say its downright cheap, but that sounds so derogatory). That calls for skepticism. I guess the reason for the pricing must be the lack of wrappers, for in terms of quality this really is a very good tea. It is earthly and deep, with a pleasant aftertaste. I didn’t find it all that complex, but it’s very smooth and it really has a lot of endurance (in terms of how many steeps you get out of it). This latter point surprised me the most, as I found myself really liking the first few brews I thought this might be one of those teas that dies before you’ve reached double digits. But no, this one delivers. I actually kept it in the gaiwan overnight and continued next day (something I normally don’t do) just to see how it would fare. Not bad at all! For reference I brew gongfu style with a good amount of leaves, not the most economical way (but at these prices, who cares?)

To repeat myself, I don’t have a whole lot experience with aged teas, and I certainly don’t know much about the differences between “dry stored” and “traditional stored” (or even wet stored) other than what I’ve read … But this really is a fine tea, justifying the name.

Knut B. Jacobsen Send Message

Rated 5 Teas

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