2007 Yunhe Banzhang King Ripe Puerh Tea

From Michelle a while ago now!  Thanks very much!  I MAY have overleafed this one a bit, but that never hurt me when it’s regarding ripe puerh.  It’s awesome flavored all around.  A slow unraveler.  Nothing negative about it.  Rich and biscuity.  A little bit of wine and mushrooms.  Four fantastic steeps.   I wish I had more to say about this excellent ripe.  It must be aging amazingly!

A little intermezzo between Advent teas.
I was craving for puerh. I assume because the weather outside. So I did. Picked one I received from Michelle and she got it from Rich and it was just random.

Honestly not sure what was wrong, but, this tea certainly did not amazed me at all, and I do not notice anything of “good notes” in this tea from 2007. It was just classic shu notes, mushroomy and woody, quite earthy as well. But nothing distinctive, rather quite heavy in taste and a little sourness in the end of each sip.

Probably not what I was looking for. But that is fate of teas which were chosen random.

Not even a hint of pickle … not that I would have expected that except for a reviewer’s comments. This is the largest 250gm cake I’ve ever seen. Very thick cake. Just brewed up 7gm in small yixing gaiwan… about 100gm of water or less, 15 seconds. It’s dark red in color, very smooth but much more savory than sweet. A bit of spice around the edges. I then brewed the next steep in about 10-12 oz of water for about 30 seconds. Very dark, opaque, smooth and soothing but without any particular distinctive flavor sticking out. My experience with shou of this age is that it takes time for the cake to air out and sometimes the flavors open up a bit in subsequent sessions as more of the cake is picked apart. I wouldn’t recommend or not recommend this one. I’ll enjoy this cake but won’t replace it. Would like to try it after a heavy meal. I can picture it as a soothing end to a fine meal.

Rich gave me a sample of this and either he was trolling, something went wrong with the sample, or this tea is not meant to be drank.
I brewed this for 10 second with 100c and it taste like someone strained a pickle in maybe a drop of puer. One of the most sour drinks I have drank before and it is not appealing at all. There is no way I can finish drinking this or provide a positive remark unless you’re making candy with this somehow.

This is one of the top ripes I’ve tasted from Puershop. It started off a little bitter, but that faded and it became quite smooth. It has a velvety thick texture and very good flavor. Moderately earthy and dark, but not too much. Kind of safe tasting and a pleasure to drink. As is typical with ripes from Puershop, it is very reasonably priced.