Hummingbird 2013 Spring Jing Mai Ancient Tree Raw Puer

This one was unusual. Definitely green with a bit of the bitterness that I associate with a sheng, but a lot sweeter with the kind of sweet woodsiness you get from a clove cigar. It does not taste like clove exactly, but that’s one of the few things that I thought of. Definitely more approachable for a newbie with the sourness that you may or may not get from apricots (which could just be me). Interesting.

I’ve been very interested in this company. I’ve had their shou, but I’ve yet to try any of their sheng. Luckily, a small coin of this made it’s way over to me. The small puerh coin comes in a clever wrapper in a convenient 6g amount. I unwrapped the little treat and gave the tea a sniff. The small sheng chip had a nice spring grass scent with a perfume of light floral. I took in an undertone of sweet wood and possible iris. The disk was very aromatic. I warmed up my yixing and placed the coin inside, the fit was perfect (see photo). I let the tea open a little and lifted the lid to take a whiff. The scent was thick and sweet with a light woodiness. I took in some heady maple, nectar, and the same light floral brightness. I washed the coin with colder water once, then twice more with hotter water to open in up. Then, I poured myself a nice cup. The flavor was perfect! The taste begins extremely sweet and with a lasting flavor. I taste brown sugar at the forefront with confectioners sugar at the back. The tea carries a maple wood base the easily lifts these delectable flavors up and around the palette. The next steeping yields the same sweet liquor; however, the base has moved into an interesting sap and herb taste. This is surprisingly very good. I say surprisingly because I have doubts about any compressed puerh under 100g. The tea ended with some light bitterness with a lingering astringency. The qi was very slight but in the right way. This is what I consider a happy tea. I say this because it doesn’t give me that high energy, cooling sensation, fuzzy stomach, butterflies, or sweaty palms reaction, rather; this tea puts a smile on my face and makes the sun shine. I like these kinds of teas, and I usually only experience this with northern puerh and Nepalese blacks. I will hopefully be getting more.

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GCTTB

I wanted to try this one before i send out the box today/tomorrow so i’m working on sipping through this one now. I vastly prefer shou to sheng, but i’m always open to trying new teas in case i find that hidden gem that i love.
woke the tea up and then let it sit for a bit – these tiny bricks are fairly compressed.

Initial steepings of this one are quite nice. This is, so far, a milder sort of sheng – light on the vegetal sort of taste i don’t love – smooth and there’s a hint of sweetness starting to poke through. interesting to see how this plays out this morning