Silver Needle Raw Puer 2001

30s(rinse)/4s/4s/4s/4s/4s/5s/5s/6s/6s/6s/8s

Dry leaves are loose and delicately small. Dry nose is a little … acidic. It smells like its going to need to be brewed swiftly to avoid bitter notes. I feel like you all know what I mean but maybe its just me? Once rinsed, the aroma is a mix between wet old whiskey barrels and straw (but mostly in a good way haha). Once brewed, you can tell that the leaves include bits of twigs and the leaves were fairly broken up. Looks mechanically processed. Upon further steeping, flavor becomes spicy with hints of clove and leather and definitely can be over-brewed. I had a hard time brewing quickly enough and the flavor danced on the edge of bitter but it pairs with a really lovely smooth tea high. Broth is a deep amber with red undertones (syrupy). The acrid tones soften in later infusions and is replaced by a sweet finish that pairs with a lighter honey toned broth losing some of its red tones.

Steeped in 80ml porcelain gaiwan

From the 2016 Sheng Olympiad.

I have a new year’s resolution that I’m trying to start early. In order to drink up all my samples, I’m going to sit down and have a formal session, with tasting notes and Steepster entry every single day. Lately I’ve been just grabbing something to drink while I work or watch TV so don’t really focus on the tea. Since I’m not paying enough attention to the tea, I tend to drink average-quality teas that I own a lot of, and leave the samples alone (all ~200!). So, let’s see how long it takes me to drink down all my samples – longer than I think: I have samples on the way from Farmer-Leaf teas, and intend to order the 2017 Sheng Olympiad (and probably everything else the Liquid Proust puts together).

So, after this long introduction, what about the tea? My first sip was very bitter. Usually I don’t like bitter tea, but this was also deep and rich with overtones of tar and fruit that I found enjoyable. The second steep lost some of the fruit, though it was still there.A short steep didn’t reduce the bitterness, so I decided to embrace it: think of this as the espresso of teas!.

Around the 5th steep, sweetness began to challenge the bitterness for dominance, but the finish stayed bitter. The interesting flavors faded along with the bitterness. An interesting tea, but not one I would purchase.

2016 Sheng Olympics

Are Dexter and I the only ones to try this tea yet? It looks like it.

I picked this tea yesterday because it was a silver needle puerh. I love the white tea pureh cakes. I didn’t see the age of the tea right away… Then I smelled the dry and it smelled faintly of that darned cow dung again. I figured “oh well, it’s pretty faint this time. Give it a chance.”

I gave it 3 rinses just to be sure and did a quick infusion after that. What a surprise! It was like floral fruit. I know that really doesn’t make sense but I kept thinking floral even though I wasn’t getting a floral aroma. We think of floral as a scent and fruit as a taste. At least I do but this was just like floral fruit to me. Next couple of infusions were the same. I took a break from the tea drinking and went back to it later. Somehow it wasn’t quite the same after sitting even though I did a quick rinse.

This was a pretty amazing tea and if I didn’t have too much tea already, I would buy a cake.

2016 Sheng Olympics

I took the little bit that I had left of this and just tossed it into an infuser/mug – did a quick rinse – and then did about a 15 second steep (80C)

I’m not sure what I did last time – but this is much better for my tastes with the less leaf – more water – lower temp and just a quick steep.
Last time I thought it tasted old and musty. This time it was pretty sweet, with a little hay, and a touch of fruity.
I wish I had done this the first time. Really prefer this tea today.