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I enjoy this tea and its formerly bitter flavor has mellowed considerably over the years. There is a floral bamboo fragrance to the tea with hints of olive, and orange. There are also some foresty flavors as well. Kind of light bodied, it is nevertheless complex and flavorful. I see that Yunnan Sourcing has a 2019 version as of this writing.

In early 2020 this tea is lovely. Earthy, but with a mineral kick, it is quite mellow, and pleasant. No off odors or flavors, it just tastes good, and has a pleasant feel to it. The epitome of an “everyday” tea in the good sense that it is pleasant, enjoyable, easy, and does not require much of you other than enjoyment. Wish I had more.

This is a young sheng at this point (8/2015), and has fairly typical flavors, and although light, it is complex at the same time. It has a touch of bitterness which coexists with a hint of sweetness, and has an astringent mouthfeel that I think will mellow with time. I like this tea and will be interested in tracking it over time.

This is not a powerhouse tea, but one of subtlety and presence. It has a gentle fruitiness I associate with Yiwu, lovely large leaves, and is relaxing and contemplative. I am enjoying it.

Reasonably loosely compressed, attractive dark purple leaves, the tea brews a bit more copper colored than typical young shengs, and has an enjoyable smooth quality (in comparison to other purple leaf sheng I’ve had). Quite flavorful and an enjoyable cup.

Quite a lovely sheng. It brews a light orange color at this point (Jan. 2015), and has quite a fruity overtone of apricots/peaches. Later steeping reveal a touch of bitterness which turns to sweetness and a nice salivating effect. I like the tea.

This is an interesting tea! It has some camphor aromas that cleared up my nose, some black tea elements in the flavors, a touch of green bitterness which gives me an awakening sensation, and a touch of tannin to pucker my mouth. I can’t say it is delightful, but it certainly is interesting.

A really lovely ripe pu-erh. Nothing is out of place, the flavors are deep and clean, and the impression for me is of a cake that was well made from good materials. Very pleasant tea.

For the last three days I have been having the Crimson Lotus tea’s 2007 Qiao Jun “Huang Zhi” shou pu-erh. The website states: “This puerh brews very light even with longer steepings. This will brew very smooth with a pronounced mellow sweetness. It’s moist in the throat with a pleasant aftertaste.” I completely agree with this note. The tea is simply pleasant, has a certain lightness to it, and has a hint of chocolate in its finish during early steepings. I found it grew on me over the three days it took to go through 10 steepings. Seems like a pretty good bargain for a pleasant everyday drinker at $22 for a 250 ml brick (also available in 25 gram sample size). More info available at http://crimsonlotustea.com/products/2007-qiao-jun-huang-zhi-250g-shou-ripe-puerh-brick. My tea was from a sample purchased last month.
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This cake is progressing nicely. Color is now mid orange, the intense alfalfa like grassiness is faded a bit and replaced with a camphor like and lighter grass flavor with hints of olive, a still slightly astringent mouthfeel, and a pronounced salivary effect. Quite a nice experience overall.