2007 CNNP "8891 Red Label" Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake

First infusion i thing less than 10 seconds gave me an amazing experience. I thought that sheng can give u nothing but punch in the face either with its overwhelming richness or pungent astringency. This one was different. Rich yes, but not overwhelming, rather like soft pillow that surrounds your face when going to bed in tent during summer trip. Very sweet, i have found that sweetness similar to Heart of the old tree from Mandala Tea, its awesome tasting experience – especialy when u wait and see what happens on your tongue a while after drinking it. For me – pure raisins in carmel. Guess i might give up all the sweets and just drink that tea instead. Further infusions brough another dimmensions to the tea, rising the astringency – the longer brewing time, the more punchy it becomes.
It smells and tastes wonderfull, so nicely that i made full 1/2 liter cup of tea by mixing half of every infusion i was making (another half i was drinking to taste it) and got it by my bed so i could sip it whenever i wanted (didnt lasted long tho :)). Very nice sheng.

It has been two years since I had this last. In that time, I’ve had it in dry storage. I read my previous tasting notes, and it is still much the same. If you brew it quickly, it will yield some nice mellow fermented flavors and sweetness. If you push it 15-20 seconds, it will begin to show its raw pu’er taste and bitterness. This cake is 500gr and as such it is pretty dang inexpensive for a 12 year old cake. It’ll be interesting to try this one again in a few more years when it has lost nearly all of its greenness. I saw John’s review of this and visited his website, and in response to his statement about cloves, I have never detected any clove in this. Maybe my senses just aren’t refined enough. This is a bargain cake. For that reason, I recommend it.

I’ve recommended this tea several times already. It’s simply a great buy. Very affordable and lots of depth of flavor. I don’t know if you are going to find a better deal out there, particularly if you are looking for tea with some age on it.

I noticed some Menghai characteristics in its flavor profile, notably some sharp and spicy herbal notes that, with age, have developed into some wonderful tobacco and fruit notes. The dry storage has preserved some youthful herbal notes that work wonderfully well with the aged flavors. Great personality on this one.

There is a lot of depth here. Great balance of flavors. And it’s $40 for 500g! Pick one up before I buy all the rest!
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Dry leaf: sweet pipe tobacco, stable, rich prune and dried dark fruit. In preheated vessel – some tart raspberry and spice notes arrive.

Smell: pipe tobacco, stable, rich prune and dried dark fruit, dried green herbal (sassafras, parsley), cola

Taste: pipe tobacco, stable, herbal (sassafras, parsley), prune, clove, allspice, raisin, lemongrass, coriander

Dry leaves smell of prunes and something spicy
Wet, the leaves smell heavily of sweet tobacco with a spicy/fruity backnote.

Steep/Time: Note
1/10s: Forgot this was a sheng. Should have started at 5-7 seconds. Man, that’s good! Sweet, smoky.. this is a hard one to describe. Maybe I’m just out of practice, LOL! Perhaps, hay or straw, with some mintiness on the tongue and perhaps a note of melon in the background. Awesome huigan too! Not much astringency noted in this steep.

2/10s: Much thicker body, very sweet, great huigan. Same flavor profile, just bigger, more open. Really, really good tea. Another that makes me dread going to look for price and availability, because I know I’d happily buy a full cake or three.

3/15s: What a remarkable tea. Seems to have some nice qi building.

4/15s: Consistent flavor profile. Very relaxing qi. :) Sort of relaxed

5/17s: Same.

6/??s: Got distracted by work and probably let this steep at least 5 minutes. Gave it a taste just to see if there was any bitterness or astringency if pushed too far. There is. LOL!
Cut with 80-90mL of water. Back to the usual profile, though a bit more crips in the finish. The cha qi is pretty damn strong now though. It’ll be interesting to see how I feel at the end of 300mL or so. Wow! The cha qi has my head light and slightly swimming, but my focus is on sharp!

Ok, this tea was legitimately so good that I stopped taking notes and drank like I was a true tea addict. I have to have hit at least 15 – 17 steepings and then I added a few grams of TeJi Shou pour and got a few more pots of something even more amazing in that the sweets of the previous leaves that develops in the latter steeps blending beautifully with a touch of shou. Not only that, but the cha qi just kept going! Awesome! Someone should buy this as a birthday gift for me, LOL!

I let this sit out in the open air for two days after receiving. Just threw 6 grams in a gaiwan and wow! This is a really great tea. This is like a nectar. it reminds me of a 1985 Krug champagne that I had once. Beautiful crystal clear spring honey colored soup. Deep and complex notes of dried tropical fruits and exotic spice. Sweetness is there but not too sweet. The flavors are complex but harmonious, balanced and elegant. I am so excited that I bought this cake. I know it will just keep getting better as it acclimates to my house and continues to age. I will add another review or two on this one in the future. I will also be buying another one for sure because I won’t be able to stay out of this one.