2006 CNNP 7542 Green Pu-erh Tea #1602
5.4g, 100 mL gaiwan, Brita filtered water, 200-212f, increased for later steepings
1x 5s rinse
dry: woody and slight medicinal.
wet leaves smell very smoky.
5s: a shou-like smell: grainy, mushroomy, dank. tastes lightly sweet and medicinal.
continued steepings of various times brought little progression. This tea was rather linear. The lightly sweet notes become more noticeable at the end as the medicinal woody notes fade. I’ve never had a sheng older than a couple years, so this was a sample I bought to see how it evolves, so to speak, and it tasted like a light shou, which I didn’t like before, but am growing to appreciate more (not enough to buy a cake, but I don’t dislike them in the same way I used to). Not much in common with shengs I’ve tried so far. Wouldn’t purchase a cake, but this was okay. Will probably drink through the rest of mine on lazy days where I just toss things in a mug to steep. Also perhaps of note is that I’ve never tried a CNNP tea before, so maybe this is expected?
One thing I didn’t expect was how thin the mouthfeel was. I read Jay’s review from his HK stored one, so I went in expecting a thickness to the brew, and that never happened. I know storage makes a difference through what I’ve read, but it’s not something I’ve experienced yet. We’ll see how the rest of the samples I bought turn out! Cautiously excited. Maybe some gems, or perhaps just tuition. :)
3/5 stars
Flavors: Grain, Medicinal, Mushrooms, Sweet, Wood
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storage has a lot to do with it. I have some Custom 8582’s that blow this one out of the water for me at least.
Interesting. 8582 recipe uses bigger leaves if I’m remembering correctly, but I don’t know much else about it. I ended up putting the used leaves from this into a thermos to steep overnight to see what’d happen and it’s thickened compared to the gongfu steepings. Not viscous like teas where it’d take a second to even go through the strainer, but compared to the thickness during the timed steepings, definitely thickened, with a taste that I can only describe as eerily similar to watered down canned 8 treasure porridge (convenience food oft-seen at Asian supermarkets).
I guess keeping that in mind, the question keeping me up at night is the bunch of puers that I just left sitting in a cardboard box at home desicating… Will have to think of a long term fix come June since I can’t attend to them for most of the year.
storage has a lot to do with it. I have some Custom 8582’s that blow this one out of the water for me at least.
Interesting. 8582 recipe uses bigger leaves if I’m remembering correctly, but I don’t know much else about it. I ended up putting the used leaves from this into a thermos to steep overnight to see what’d happen and it’s thickened compared to the gongfu steepings. Not viscous like teas where it’d take a second to even go through the strainer, but compared to the thickness during the timed steepings, definitely thickened, with a taste that I can only describe as eerily similar to watered down canned 8 treasure porridge (convenience food oft-seen at Asian supermarkets).
I guess keeping that in mind, the question keeping me up at night is the bunch of puers that I just left sitting in a cardboard box at home desicating… Will have to think of a long term fix come June since I can’t attend to them for most of the year.