2014 Spring Dehong Ye Sheng White Wrapper Mini Pu-erh Tea Cake

This tea is a bit fiddly to brew. If I use my normal method, it’s not bad, but very mild; kind of unexceptional. Brewing it in duan ni improves it significantly; it really brings out the flavour. In porcelain this is a 40 – in clay, it’s a 65. The combination of better heat retention with the removal of a typically bitter edge helps showcase the subtler (and more delicious) tastes in the tea.

I took a lot of time studying this tea before reviewing. It was like riding a bronco. At first, I hated it, and was annoyed with how temperamental it can be ( I over steeped it many times). However, as time went on and I figured it out a little more I came to enjoy its complexity and energy. 175F for 4 minutes is the sweet spot for me. It is extremely astringent and bitter overall, heavily spicy, but with a mild body. The soup produced is a medium golden color. Tastes mostly of black pepper with a basil/cilantro aftertaste – there is a tinge of smokiness throughout but not the type of smoke you would experience in a Lapsang souchong. The energy of the tea is invigorating and refreshing; and of special note. I’m not sure I will order anytime soon, but I could see myself ordering it down the road as an evening tea. It was an interesting experience overall.

There’s something festive about this cake, so it seemed appropriate to submit a review now (December 2016). The spice, fruit, and sweet smokiness just remind me of over-the-top holiday seasonings and celebrations, a lot like the current microbrew holiday ales – rich, spicy, fruity, and awesome. It has a long-lived aftertaste that is warm, spicy, and fruity. What a great treat to sip in front of a fire.

I think it’s fair to say this tea is a bit over-the-top, but it absolutely works. It’s brimming with flavor and it delivers tastes I haven’t normally come across – Xiaguan smokiness comes close. Anyway, it’s a wonderful experience – and at 100g, it’s portioned and priced just right for those curious enough for a taste.
*
Dry leaf: SMOKE, SWEET, HERBAL (barbecue sauce, mesquite smoke, menthol, cilantro, Mexican hot chocolate, autumn leaves, dried cherries)

Smell: SMOKE, SWEET, SPICE (mesquite smoke, citrus, cherries, coriander, cilantro, spices – like exotic, don’t-really-know-the-name, pungent spices)

Taste: FRUIT, HERBAL, SPICE (orange peel, coriander, barbecue, mesquite smoke, menthol “coolness”, savory grassy-umami, cilantro, dried cherry, pine resin and pine needle, damp wood notes, peppercorn, and yummy hard-to-pin-down “exotic” spices)

This small cake has a good bit of compression, but I find that breaking chunks off works just fine and it opens up in the teapot quite readily. Prevalent pepper notes in the front give way to a fruity aftertaste. Unlike any other young sheng I have tried, likely won’t be for everyone. Am happy to finish up the cake, but at the same time I don’t know if I will be buying more.

Drinking this on a lazy friday afternoon. I got way tea drunk on this stuff, to the point where my sense of perspective is definitely a little funny. I’m still not the biggest fan of the flavor, but going in with an open mind and letting it air out helped. This time I’m picking up less smoke—it’s more a smoky mineral taste. Reminds me of rocks out in the Mojave, baked by the sun, and how they tend to get that earthy-smoky smell. A little vegetal as well, and not super sweet. Also steeps forever—I’ve actually run out of water in my kettle, and I started with 1.5 liters!

Anyway, I’m feeling pretty good at the moment thanks to this little tea. Nice pairing for a misty afternoon

I aired out this cake and gave it a chance to regain its moister. Overall it was very green tasting with a bitter undertone. I wasn’t a particular fan of this and the flavors weren’t very complex.

Also, it was very compressed and took some work to get enough leaf to do a session. I ended up wasting a lot of tea dust unfortunately.

A pretty good little cake. I brewed up about 6g in a 100ml gaiwan at 205-210f. I gave one rinse then started with a 5 second steep at 205f then decided to move up to 210f as the tea is pretty mellow. The wet leaf has a really nice smell of flowers and woodsy rain. There isn’t much sweetness to mention as the tea is mostly floral. There is a very slight hint of smoke but very light and is mostly on the nose. There are some nice purple leaves in this tea. All in all this is a pretty good young sheng that doesn’t have a lot of bitterness. Not that sweet or smoky but a very floral tea. Pretty aromatic nice tea.