date brewed for these notes: 060621.
dry leaf: dark green with some silvery tips. few stems included in the bing. they are under medium compression -- not terribly difficult to separate. the aroma of the dry leaf is very faint.
tea-to-water proportions: 4.5 g to 4 oz.
brewing vessel: porcelain cebei, decanted into tasting cups
brief rinse followed by 2-minute rest, then five infusions, to wit:
INF1: 15 seconds, 190F.
color: bright gold
infused leaf: expanded and separated almost immediately. broken leaf, pale green, some brown. leaf edges are serrated.
faint aroma, very mild flavor, reminiscent almost of an oolong. virtually no astringency.
INF2: 10 sec, 190F.
color: brighter gold
more pronounced 'puer' aroma here. even after a mere 10 sec, a bitter note begins to emerge in the liquor.
INF3: 15 sec, 190F.
a faint green glow to the liquor. less bitter now. still only minimal astringency. a touch of smoke, faint and delicious.
INF4: 20 sec, 190F.
a slightly paler gold, even at 20 sec. the smoky note evidences itself in the nose. more prominent than before on the tongue. otherwise a clean and distinguished flavor. the leaf continues to expand, indeed to swell, almost filling the tiny cebei.
INF5: 25 sec, 190F.
very much as with INF4.
#2: puer gu zhuang tuo cha, 2005 harvest.
date brewed for these notes: 060621.
dry leaf: dark green, some stems, light aromatics.
tea-to-water proportions: 4 g to 3.5 oz.
brewing vessel: porcelain cebei, decanted into tasting cups
brief rinse followed by 2-minute rest, then five infusions, to wit:
INF1: 15 seconds, 190F.
color: greenish yellow.
liquor aroma: faint.
infused leaf: somewhat lighter green, much unfurled. serrated edges!
leaf aroma: faint, fresh
taste: strong sheng puer flavor -- a 'clean' flavor with overtones of earth, smoke. low astringency, though a bit more noticeable in the aftertaste.
INF2: 10 sec, 190F.
color: same
a bit more bitterness emerging now. a *lot* more in fact.
INF3: 15 sec, 190F.
color: darker
the liquor is darker. predominant taste note: not bitter but SOUR. more astringency in the finish.
INF4: 20 sec, 190F.
color: about like INF2; perhaps somewhat richer, darker
much milder despite the longer infusion time. a bit more astringent too though.
INF5: 25 sec, 190F.
color: about like INF2.
taste: the most pleasant yet. no trace of sweetness -- indeed some bitterness in the aftertaste -- but the *tea* flavor re-emerges in that unmistakable way that says 'sheng puer' -- apart from any other flavors [smoke, earth, etc] that we typically associate with it.
#3: puer zhuan cha [brick], 2005 harvest.
date brewed for these notes: 060622.
dry leaf: dark green with some much lighter leaves interspersed. the zhuan is extraordinarily solid and tightly compressed -- very hard. the aroma is dry, very faintly smoky.
tea-to-water proportions: 4 g to 4 oz.
brewing vessel: porcelain cebei, decanted into tasting cups
brief rinse followed by 2-minute rest, then five infusions, to wit:
INF1: 15 seconds, 190F.
color: dull greenish yellow.
aroma: almost nil -- almost less than the dry leaf.
infused leaf: olive green, still not entirely separated after the first infusion. looks chopped; some stem shows up in the mix. leaf edges are serrated. leaf aroma is fresh/vegetal; almost like lu cha. no smokiness in evidence here.
a mild elegant flavor, no smoke, not pondy or earthy; mildly astringent.
INF2: 10 sec, 190F.
color: brighter yellow; less green. taste is clear, refined, restrained; little astringency.
infused leaf is, amazingly, still not all unfurled or even entirely separated yet.
a clear 'puer' flavor without any earthiness -- which is a big plus for me. but also virtually no smoke, which is a flavor i do like [in subtle quantity].
INF3: 15 sec, 190F.
color: same as INF2. aroma is more pronounced now. the liquor is a bit darker.
the taste includes, for the first time, a bitter note. also the earth notes begin to emerge now. did i infuse too long? i will *not* increase the brewing time on INF4, and see what that does.
INF4: 15 sec [again], 190F.
only now are the leaves fully separated/unfurled. i can see that, whole, they would be good-sized. very definitely serrated edges!
color a bit paler, but also more russet this time. aroma nil. taste: again, elegant puer. the earth and bitterness are gone. but also no sweetness emerging. still somewhat astringent.
INF5: 20 sec, 190F.
color as before. very like INF4; perhaps a bit more astringent.
IN SUM: all three of these are good teas; all three of them both give evidence of their current youthfulness and show promise for aging. of the three, i think my favorite was the bing cha. [based on prior anecdote i had expected to favor the tuo cha, so this surprised me. perhaps i brewed the latter too strong. it deserves another chance.] despite the astringency, i was intrigued by the zhuan. could this be a good candidate for simmering, as the chinese did with their compressed teas in days of yore?
my thanks, in any case, to my esteemed colleague geraldo, who supplied the samples for these tasting notes, having purchased them from teaspring.com.
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