Dear tea lovers,
This season we are going to introduce puerh teas.
Puerh tea is a very special tea only from Yunnan, China. If you have never had a puerh tea before, the taste might be a little surprising, it tastes quite different from other teas. In general speaking, puerh tea is quite earthy, but it can still taste quite different depending if it’s shou (ripe) puerh or sheng (raw) puerh, young or aged. Most people think of puerh tea as very dark fermented tea, that is the shou (ripe) puerh. Sheng (raw) puerh looks pretty close to green tea when it is young, and it becomes darker over time as it ages.
1998 Shou puerh
Shou (ripe) puerh goes through a fermentation process so it is dark to begin with even when it is young. We always look for a clean taste in tea, especially in shou puerh, which means we prefer shou puerh that doesn’t have unpleasant smell or taste due to poor handling during process or tea storage. This mellow, smooth shou (ripe) puerh has been aged for more than two decades. Wonderfully rich and thick in the cup, this tea tastes of sticky rice, roots, and dried fruits. Each cup has a warm and gentle feeling, perfect for colder weather. This has been one of our favorite shou puerh.
2007 Harmony Raw Puerh
This raw puerh is a blend of 12 mountains, a very well-crafted blend that creates a very harmonized tea. This tea is very dense, complex, and smooth. At first we taste baked apple, slightly smoky and leathery. As we steep more, we can taste some darker fruits, camphor and slightly bitter, but the bitterness is quite pleasant and smooth due to its age. Everything seems to balance itself quite well, and we enjoy the weight and warmth of this tea in our stomach. Our shoulders start to relax more after a few cups of this tea. This 2007 Harmony Raw Puerh is great to enjoy now or age more.
2017 Yiwu Raw Puerh
In the past, people usually didn't enjoy young raw puerh until it was more aged. Younger raw puerh can be a little more aggressive and quite bitter. It usually becomes smoother as it ages. This 2017 Yiwu Raw Puerh is still quite young, which you can taste some floral and stone fruits but a lot more bitter and astringency. We would like to compare this tea with the more aged raw puerh to see how the bitterness is different between them. It is also interesting to come back to the same young raw puerh from time to time to see how it changes throughout time.
As Always,
Happy Drinking
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