Puerh Shop's 2013 Zenpuer 1306 Menghai Ripe Puerh

Puerh Shop's Description
A new ripe Pu-erh tea made by using pure Menghai raw materials, no off taste, rich enough tasting profile is the key for a long term storage and enjoyment. Ripe and expressive, with explosive pear and lychee flavors mingling harmoniously as they swoop into the polished finish.

My thoughts
While on my hunt for Black Friday sales, I stumbled across a new-to-me tea shop simply called Puerh Shop, located just a few hours from me in Troy, Michigan. They have a puerh selection rivaling Yunnan Sourcing and prices to match, so I figured I'd order a couple of the cakes they had on sale. This is a 250g cake, which cost me a whopping $10.

Dry leaves - It's a fairly average looking cake, nothing really standout about it. The aroma is one of a pungent earthy sweetness with a bit of spiciness to make it interesting.

Brewing parameters - 212F, 2 x 10s rinse, 5-15s per steep adding time as necessary. Pretty much standard for a puerh.

Tasting notes - Smooth, sweet, earthy, cedar, persimmon, spicy

First thing I notice is the complete lack of fermented taste. I mean, there is literally no flat or fishy off-taste from the fermentation whatsoever, which is unusual for a shou that's only 2 years old. Second, this shou is sweet! A wonderful sweet earthiness hits me right off the bat, and lingers long after the sip.

Steeps 2-4 are starting to bring out the individual flavors, though they're still a bit muddled. The sweetness is just amazing, and easily rivals Crimson Lotus' '08 Bulang in that area. A hint of fruitiness is beginning to rear its face behind the sweet earthiness, but it's too early to tell what it is just yet. A mild cedar spiciness is mingling with the flavors as well.

Steeps 5-8 are where this shou really shines. The fruitness has taken me a few cups to pin down what it is, because it's been quite a while since I've eaten one: persimmons! Spefically, Hachiya persimmons, the kind that need to be practically a liquid before you eat them. I don't really notice any pear or lychee like the description states, but the sweet honeyed flavor of the persimmon more than makes up for that. The earthiness has mellowed out and let the fruitiness take hold.

Steeps 9-12 keep a similar flavor profile to the previous bunch, but have mellowed out significantly. The liquid is still extremely smooth and sweet, and the persimmon flavor hasn't let up yet. Steeps 13+ struggle to keep the flavor going, but I'm not stopping until I've wrung every last bit of flavor from these leaves.

This one really did surprise me. For ten bucks, I expected a shou that tasted like ten bucks. This one tastes like it should cost 4-5 times more than what it actually does.

You can buy this tea from Puerh Shop here: http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_14&products_id=1898

Crimson Lotus Tea's 2008 Bulang Imperial Grade Shou Puerh

Crimson Lotus' Description
This dark puerh comes on strong quickly. It will brew thick and dark at the beginning but then mellow into a light sweetness. The leaves are all small buds and carry the name "Imperial Grade".

My thoughts
This was one of those teas where I heard nothing but stellar reviews no matter where I went. Everyone just raved about it, and any time I saw a "find me a good shou" question, this one was almost certainly mentioned. So contrary to my normal cautious attitude towards new shou, I skipped ordering a sample entirely and jumped in headfirst with a full brick. I don't regret it at all.

Dry leaves - The brick is fairly tightly compressed and takes some work to pry apart the leaves without breaking them too badly. You'll notice the leaves are quite small compared to most puerh leaves (gong ting/imperial grade), and are a bit more tippy than what I'm used to seeing. The aroma is fairly earthy and sweet, with just a hint of wood and camphor.

Brewing parameters - 212F, 2 x 10s rinse, then <5s steeps at first, increasing time as needed. These leaves impart a lot of flavor very quickly.

Tasting notes - Smooth, sweet, wet wood, leaves, earthy, cacao, wheat, cherry, thick mouthfeel

This shou immediately kicks it off with a very smooth, thick, sweet broth. There is no trace of mustiness or fermentation at all, making this an incredibly flavorful and enjoyable tea right off the bat. Early on, it's a mostly sweet earthy brew, reminiscent of a fresh forest floor. Notes of clean earth, peat, dry leaves, and wet wood all mingle together to make a fantastic, inky black soup. The slight bitterness is balanced perfectly with the thick sweetness.

Steeps 2-5 mellow out somewhat, yet still retain the wonderful earthiness of earlier, but with the addition of a mild woody spiciness. It definitely doesn't have the bite of say, something out of the Menghai tea factory, but there is a bit of a spicy tinge on the back of the tongue after the sip. A nice savory huigan is starting to take hold as well.

Steeps 6-9 are really bringing out the complexity this tea has to offer. The earthiness is quite mellow now and the spiciness has disappeared, but notes of raw cacao, wheat, and even black cherries are beginning to appear. The liquor is a deep, crystal clear brown now, more akin to a dian hong color.

Steeps 10-onwards just take the complexity and run with it. The flavors have mellowed significantly, but the cacao and wheat are hand-in-hand with the earthiness now, just subtle notes of cherry and even tobacco peeking in with each sip.

This is really an incredible tea. I don't like to say "favorite", but this one is certainly high up on the list of ripe puerh. My only word of caution is this: if you are new to ripe puerh, don't start with this one. It's so good it will spoil you and other shou just won't measure up.

You can buy this tea from Crimson Lotus here: http://crimsonlotustea.com/collections/shou-ripe-puerh/products/2008-bulang-imperial-grade-shou-ripe-puerh

Yunnan Sourcing's 2007 CNNP 7581 Ripe Puerh Tea

Yunnan Sourcing's Description
The classic 7581 Ripe Puerh recipe from Kunming Tea Factory (aka CNNP). This is a 2007 production comprised entirely of fermented Menghai area large-leaf varietal puerh. The brewed tea is sweet and smooth. The color of the tea liquor is a deep red wine hue. A very enjoyable tea with just the right amount of aging.

My thoughts
It's taken me a while to really get into ripe puerh. The first couple I tried were just bleh, and they kind of put me off of the whole brand for a while. Luckily, got my hands on a couple much tastier varieties, and shou has quickly become one of my favorite kinds of tea. The Kunming and Menghai Tea Factories produce some of the best shou cha I've had so far.

At first I was confused what the numbers in the name meant, as all of CNNP's teas have a seemingly random 4-digit number. So I did a bit of digging and found the reasoning behind the numbers. The first two numbers represent the year that this specific recipe was created (1975). The third number is the grade or size of the leaves, smaller number means smaller leaves and buds. This brick is an 8, so it is made with larger leaves. The fourth and final number denoted the factory it was made in, 1 is for the Kunming Tea Factory, 2 is for Menghai TF. So the 7581 in the name tells us that this tea is produced with a larger-leaf variety from the Kunming Tea Factory, with a recipe started in 1975. Yup, I did all that to simply restate YS's description. But hey, I learned something, so it was worth it.

Dry leaves - The leaves have a nice smooth earthy camphorous scent. No trace of fishiness at all means this tea has lost most or all of it's post-fermentation funk that plagues very young shou. They are fairly tightly compressed, but do break apart easily with a bit of work.

Brewing parameters - 212F, 2 x 10s rinse, <10s steeps at first, adjust accordingly thereafter. Puerh is such a forgiving tea when it comes to brewing that you can steep it almost any way and it'll still taste good. I prefer to keep my steeps nice and short so I can get as many cups out of the leaves as I can.

Tasting notes - Smooth, camphorous, oak, pine, eucalyptus, woodsy

Steeps 1-4: This tea begins with a nice smooth, thick mouthfeel. It is earthy and somewhat camphorous, with definite tones of wood. Dry pine is the most prominent to me, but oak is present too. There is no detectable astringency or fermented taste, which is a huge plus in my book. These steeps were all under 10 seconds.

Steeps 5-8: Here's where it really begins to get tasty. The camphorous element has faded somewhat, and an earthy sweetness is starting to take over. The woodsy components are becoming somewhat muddled, but I can taste a hint of eucalyptus starting to show it's face. The mouthfeel is much less thick that the earlier steeps as well. These steeps were up to 20 seconds, erring on the shorter side.

Steeps 9-12: It almost primarily a sweet, earthy, woodsy brew now. Extremely smooth, very clear, and a very quick aftertaste. Just a hint of eucalyptus, then it's gone again. It doesn't have any of the mouth-coating thickness it had earlier. These steeps ranged from 30 seconds to 3 minutes.

Steeps 13-15: These leaves don't have much more to give, but I'll be damned if I throw them out before I've wrung every last bit of goodness from them. It's mostly a dark, clear sweet liquid at this point. Very little woodsiness is still present. These steeps were much longer, with #15 going for about half an hour.

This is a very good ripe puerh, and a great starting point for anyone looking to get into shou. The CNNP factories consistently make great puerh, and if you can get your hands on some bricks with a few years behind them, or age them yourself if you're more patient than me, you'll have a very solid tea. It is very affordable option as well, running $24-$26 for a full 250g cake.

You can buy this tea from Yunnan Sourcing's US site here, or from their international site here.