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“Adventaggedon Day Seventeen – 2/6 Gongfu! Like Cameron, I found this tea didn’t quite live up to my expectations for it. It wasn’t unpleasant (and I think I would have been okay with it even if it...” Read full tasting note
“The Tea Practitioner Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 17 Sheng puerh again! I steeped this gongfu style in an adorable little grey ceramic houhin with mountains on the lid. If I’m honest, I felt like I...” Read full tasting note
Zijuan Purple Pu’erh is a long, twisted leaf, with an interesting background. Purple Tea is not its own category of tea, like green or oolong. Instead, it’s a genetic mutation on old camellia sinensis plants. These mutations will happen on the youngest few leaves of the plant, leaving the rest of the plant green.
These younger purple leaves and buds have loads of anthocyanin producing their distinctive purple colour. These leaves are picked and processed into “Sheng”, or “Raw” pu’erh, and produces a woody, caramel flavour with a slight astringent bite. Its liquor is a unique light brown colour with a slight purple undertone.
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Gongfu!
Like Cameron, I found this tea didn’t quite live up to my expectations for it. It wasn’t unpleasant (and I think I would have been okay with it even if it was – I’m a little pu’erh starved right now) but I thought the flavour was a bit dull/flat. The mouthfeel was really nice though – thick liquor was a really even light to medium level of astringency throughout the whole session. I picked up woodier tree bark notes, some minerals, definitely more of a vegetal quality – it reminded me a little bit of eating kale in a forest. But, like, sad kale. I’ve had some really good purple sheng before though, so there was a lot this tea was competing against and it just… didn’t quite get there.
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmSPlmfOy2m/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6xn_4zrFmA
The Tea Practitioner Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 17
Sheng puerh again! I steeped this gongfu style in an adorable little grey ceramic houhin with mountains on the lid.
If I’m honest, I felt like I was missing something with this one. Not to say it didn’t taste pleasant, but I didn’t find a lot of complexity in it and that flavor didn’t change much for me over the course of the session. It reminded me of a combination of aged white and Chinese green tea – with cozy woody and lightly musty straw notes, hints of stonefruit, and a slightly astringent finish. I enjoyed sipping on it, but I guess I was expecting more? Then again, I don’t have much experience with sheng heh…
Flavors: Apricot, Astringent, Autumn Leaf Pile, Drying, Earthy, Hay, Musty, Stonefruit, Straw, Woody
I’m glad it wasn’t just me! :P