Royal Puer

I’ve had a sample of this and a bunch of other stuff from royalpuer sitting around for a while. Didn’t know what to brew, so I decided to give this one a shot since I enjoy a good Jingmai.

7g in an 80ml gaiwan. The leaf quality is not impressive; chop and stems, but is it the curse of the sample? Is the cake better? Who knows, my guess is not by a large margin.

Give it a quick rinse and let it rest. Leaf aroma is sweet/floral. First brew is weak and flat, tastes like huang pian (probably mostly what it consists of). I push the second steep ~30 seconds to see what happens. More astringent, slightly thicker mouthfeel, still not very interesting.

All in all, it’s a clean and approachable tea with some sweetness. I could serve to my mother, but it’s not representative of what the region has to offer. For $33/bing you could certainly find a worse tea, but I don’t believe this will improve with age and I’d rather buy a $12 huang pian cake from chawangshop.

With a unique flavour of moist earth reminiscent of undergrowth, this tea has become my favourite Pu-erh. It is the ideal afternoon brew and is best enjoyed during conversation with old friends , or simply on a lazy Sunday afternoon. If you’re a beginning tea enthousiast willing to try your first Pu-erh , this is what I’d recommend.