Fengqing Ripened Tribute Pu-erh Cake Tea 2013

Thanks again for the samples, Teavivre! Always appreciated! I’m always willing to try another ripened pu-erh, especially from Teavivre. They would definitely be my source for pu-erh.

Steep #1 // 8 minutes after boiling // 1 1/2 minute steep after a rinse
I used an entire sample package of leaves. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to. The steep parameters say 10 grams, the sample size for sale on the site says 10 grams, but that could be for the 17 ounces they mention and not my 10 ounce mug. It looks like plenty of leaves: two big pieces and then some loose in the package. The cup doesn’t taste overdone anyway! The dry leaves look like a Yunnan with hints of yellow leaves in this pu-erh cake… that’s because it is a Yunnan. The flavor is nice, but probably not my favorite pu-erh from Teavivre. This deep red cup has a HINT of cedar flavor, even though I usually expect that from the raw pu-erhs. It’s very sweet though! But it’s still better than raw pu-erh in my opinion. It’s tough to explain what a pu-erh tastes like!

Steep #2 // 3 minutes after boiling // 2 min steep
This cup is much darker – it has lost the red color of the cup because it’s almost black. The flavor is the same, yet deeper as the leaves unravel. I really love Teavivre’s ‘Fengqing Zhuan Cha Ripened Pu-erh Brick Tea 2006’ and I’m considering buying a brick with my eventual next order. I can’t really remember why I liked that one SLIGHTLY more… but I don’t think it has that cedar flavor at all.

Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min
Just like the second steep! The more I drink pu-erh (even three big mugs in a day) the more I WANT to drink in the same day! Such a value with pu-erh leaves too… since I never get that “oversteeped” flavor with them… the third cup it’s just getting more delicious. I love pu-erh because it has the ability to be super dark and robust yet still have a mellowness to it, that doesn’t seem to ever get astringent. It’s a nice change from black teas. I’m not sure why so many people are scared of pu-erh: they deserve a chance.. give at least one ripened and one raw pu-erh a try… Teavivre is the perfect place to start sampling them.

The Leaf: densely compressed with marbled black, dark brown, and light brown leaves. All leaves are somewhat similar in size and well degraded. The scent is light but earthy like potting soil, but not musty.

The Brew: The color is ruby red to brown in hue, but crystal clear with no murkiness. The scent is light but the same as the leaf, earthy and rich. The flavor is medium strength, but clean leaving only a slight dryness on the tongue. Most of the flavor is felt on the back of the tongue, earthy, dark, soil-like with a slight bitterness and a slight sourness on the sides of the tongue.

I drink all of my teas cold.

I started today with my usual green tea powder frap and then a breathing treatment. I sound like Darth Vader when they broke him at the end of Episode IV. I guess that is better than the gasping martians of yesterday but not great. Called the clinic to find out what happened to one of my prescriptions – turns out someone forgot to hit send. Drove to town. Wife went in to pick it up for me. Now I am steeping this up thinking it is probably a good idea to mix puerh with antibiotics. We’ll see.

20 second steep. This one is another very nice tea. The wet leaf scent is kind of strong but there is nothing off in the cup. Kind of dusty with a light bite and plenty of old leather and loam or a woodsy taste. There is also a fruity or floral note way in the back. It becomes very smooth if you add just a bit of sweetener.

I am not good at describing the subtle differences between various similar puerhs. I do know what I like when I taste it, and this, I like.

Yep, definitely been struck down by one of Apollo’s plague arrows, not sure if this is just the worst cold ever or the flu, but I am stuck in bed with an all cold liquid diet. I guess it is really good that I love ginger ale and sherbet, fruit smoothies, and soup. Now I will take a break between dopey cold medicine hazes to update my blog, but don’t be too surprised if I am a bit silent over the weekend.

Today is the last of the Teavivre Spotlight Week (business week of course) and it is Fengqing Ripened Tribute Pu-erh Cake Tea 2013 a Shu Pu-erh made from tea plucked from 50-100 year old large leaf arbor trees in 2006. Lovingly ripened until 2013 in Fengqing, Yunnan. The aroma of this tea is leather and very earthy, like wet loam and a touch gamy. There is a sharp finish like pine needles, the leaves certainly have a strong aroma, though not an unpleasant one.

Once the leaves have been rinsed and quickly steeped the aroma is richly piney and mildly earthy, the leather and gamy quality from the dry leaves has been replaced with fresh pine wood and sweet sap and honey. The liquid has a faintly floral quality and strong notes of pine wood which gives it an underlying sweetness.

The first steep is quite delicate, blending aged orchid (if I was an exceptionally skilled cultivator of orchids I could pick out the specific orchid it reminds me of) that has been flowering for at least a day. It fades to loam and finishes with a slightly bready quality.

The aroma of the second steep is a blend of loam and pine wood with the barest touch of cocoa. The taste is rich and loamy with a bitterness reminiscent of autumn leaves and oak galls. It is the bitterness of earthiness and not astringent, unripe fruit. The aftertaste is mildly sweet.

For the third steeping the aroma is mostly loam with just a hint of pine wood, the aroma reminds me specifically of oak leaves, but I might have spent way too much of my life sniffing forest floors, it is part of mushroom hunting. The taste is a bit more mild than the previous steep blending leather and loam with only a hint of the previous steep’s bitterness, as before there was a sweet aftertaste.

The fourth and final (at least for me) steep has the aroma of loam and that is all. The taste is all loam and leather with strong earthy undertones. The sweetness of the previous steeps is gone and you are left with a forest floor. This is certainly a Pu-erh I would recommend to someone who wants a bold, earthy Pu-erh. This is probably not my favorite type of Pu-erh, but it well crafted and enjoyable.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/02/teavivre-fengqing-ripened-tribute-pu.html