Xiaguan(puerhshop.com)

Uncomplicated but really comforting smoky woody semi-aged raw. Clearly mellowed out with age but still has some pleasant tannic astringency that is like licking an oak barrel. The flavors integrate together well into a general “cigar humidor” profile.

This is the first raw puerh I ever bought, and I just busted it out for the first time in months. It’s really quite good actually. The leaves aren’t as chopped up as they are in many tuos, in fact I saw a few pretty whole leaves in there. The aroma from the leaves smells like a fine, sweet cigar, but not too many of the tobacco or smoky notes translated into the flavor of the brew. It started out with maybe a leathery flavor, but that went away after a steep or two. This tea got quite sweet. It was mostly a fruity sweetness, but I don’t think I could tell you what kind of fruity it was. It wasn’t citric or tropical…the closest thing I could think of was like an Asian Pear – so kind of like a cross between an apple and a pear? Maybe. Could also just be general fruitiness. I think there might have also been some honey sweetness to it. The liquor was a nice orangey color, not yet brown.

The body was pretty good – decently thick for sure, more creamy than oily or anything. Around the tenth steep or s-…what was that? There! Around the corner. See it? Look closely. Drink a bit more…yes!

It’s the qi ninja! Sneaking up on me with his energy. I didn’t feel much of any qi for most of this session, then suddenly I felt it kind of coursing through my body starting from my chest and into my arms, and belly. That’s neat.

Having had more experience with raw puerh, I think I definitely consider this one a winner. I was bummed to see What-cha was out of it, but I found another seller who had a few on ebay. Nobody buy them before I get more, please ;) This seems to be higher quality than most other tuos that I’ve gotten, as evidenced by the larger leaf pieces and just the flavor and power of the tea.

My first raw Puerh, so not sure how accurate what I’m picking up is. The leaves appear to be pretty chopped up in this one. Early steeps are powerfully bitter, with some fruity flavors underneath. In the first steep, I picked up a pretty distinct spiciness, which lingered in the mouth for a while after I finished drinking it. This was mostly gone by the second steep. As I went on sessioning this tea, the bitterness slowly dropped off to a rounder sweetness, with fruity undertones throughout. The liquor was thick and soupy after the first steep and until the last couple. Also detect some woody flavors, and what may have been a tobacco flavor many talk about, though I don’t know that I actually know what tobacco tastes like. An interesting and fun tea to drink, and I look forward to getting to know raw puerh more.