Open mike: Pu Erh or other smashing Chinese black tea!

[Robin Garr]

I'm awash in Pu Erh! On Tuesday afternoon I ordered several different types from both Ten Ren Tea Co. and Upton Tea, and both shipments arrived today, just three days later, in the regular postal mail delivery, neatly boxed and sent by Priority Mail. Great service from both companies, and the shipping rates were fair ($3.80 from Upton, $5.70 from Ten Ren!

I'm looking forward to trying these and will post TTNs when I do.

<b>From Ten Ren:</b>

Thousand Year Laocong Pu-Erh Tea (50g long leaves in a vacuum bag in a cylindrical box, $11)

Yunnan Tuo Pu-Erh Tea (100g compressed "bowl," $2)

Ten Year Aged Puerh Cake (10g sample for $2.85 ... the 109g full cake costs $40!)

<B>From Upton:</b>

China Pu-Erh Tuo Cha (125g packet, $6.80)

Organic Ancient Pu-Erh Maiden (125g packet, $14.40)

[Robin Garr]

<B>Ten Year Aged Puerh Cake</B>

This is an interesting tea! It required only 1 minute of steeping, by which point it had already become quite dark and full-flavored. It's an attractive color, clear reddish-brown, and the aromas are more subtle than in-your-face. There's a distinct earthy-smoky-tarry scent that reminds me a bit of Lapsang Souchong but not nearly as strong, and a distinctly earthy flavor (really, more of a scent that rises through your palate and is sensed as a smell) that's reminiscent of clean, dark, loamy topsoil. No manure here, sorry Otto ... it strikes me as being very much in the same family with traditional Chinese black restaurant tea, but that extreme earthiness is, I presume, all Pu Erh, and it's very intriguing indeed. It really does, in a strange way, remind me very much of an excellent aged Burgundy. This was from a tiny $2.85 sampler, just enough for three cups. At $40 for a whole round cake, I don't think I'll be buying it by the brick, although in fairness, the cake would be enough for about 35 cups, or just over a buck per cup, which isn't a whole lot more than I pay for espresso. Maybe if I get addicted ...

Here's some material on this particular tea from the Ten Ren Website:

Puerh Tribute consists of Puerh tea leaves which have been compressed into a circular disc about 5.5 inches (15 cm.) in diameter and about 0.7 inches (1.5 cm)in thickness. After it has been formed into a disc or flat cake, the tea is aged for 10 years. The special discus shape helps to prevent breakage over time. Some tea connoisseurs enjoy Puerh tea which has been aged since it is thought that the aging process enhances the flavor and potency. After being brewed, one can enjoy the Puerh Tribute's mildly earthy aroma and view it's true brown color. It's drinking experience is highlighted by it's slight ting of sweetness followed by an earthy roasted flavor and it's sharp and clean aftertaste.

To enjoy, break off a small piece from the Puerh Tribute tea and carefully crumble it into a cup of teapot. Boiling water at approximately 200-212°F/95-100°C should be used for steeping. Use 0.1-0.2 ounces (3-6 grams) of loose Pu-Erh tea of every 1-1.5 cups (150-300ml) of water. Steep for about 2-3 minutes or until desired concentration is used. Available in approximately 10.9 ounces (308 gram)discs. Shipping weight is 0.69 lbs.

[Robin Garr]

<b>Organic Ancient Pu-Erh Maiden</b>

How many cups of tea can I drink before caffeine overdosage sets in? Anyone? ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!!!

Okay, seriously: This tea from Upton is good, but not as complex as the previously reported Ten Year Aged Puerh Cake from Ten Ren. It comes in loose leaves in a high-tech vacuum bag of heavy foil apparently lined with a clear (inert?) plastic, resealable with a zip-loc type seal. The leaves are long, dry and brittle and, smelled straight from the pouch, have a predominant aroma of smoke. Upton's online instructions (see below) call for a 6- to 7-minute steep, but I noticed that the tea was becoming very dark and strong after only a minute or two, so - conscious of the <i>gong fu</i> method reported in a recent NYT article, decided to halt the process and pour it then. Good decision, I think, as it's fine like this. It pours with a surprising reddish color but, in the full cup, shows more of a dark mahogany, almost black in the center. The smokiness of the dry leaves has shifted to something more like tar and pitch in the aroma. It's much more earthy in flavor, with a "palate aroma" that's reminiscent of moist clay and smoothly astringent tannins. I'm finding that with tea more than wine - maybe because it's served hot - I seem to perceive flavors as a sort of internal scent that rises up and fills my nose rather than a true flavor on the taste buds, where the predominant character is mostly drying tannin. Does this make any sense?

Notes on this tea from the Upton Website:

Description:
Made with select leaves from over 1,000 year old tea trees, this grade is rarely offered in the U.S. market. Notable for its full body, rich earthy flavor and silky sweet finish. The long, wiry leaves have a rich, deep brown color. The complex aroma is an experience for connoisseurs and novices alike.

Steeping Suggestions: -
Leaf Quantity: 2Πg/cup
Water Temp: 212° (boiling)
Steep Time: 6-7 min. (see note above)

Robin,

Thanks for the great reports! I've got bad news: I was unable to get the brick from Finland. I'll have to try from abroad. Apparently espressos are much more expensive here (2,5€) so I've thought the c.40€ that an aged brick costs a veritable bargain!

[Robin Garr]

Apparently espressos are much more expensive here (2,5€) so I've thought the c.40€ that an aged brick costs a veritable bargain!

Otto, I may have miscommunicated though! At a coffee shop, an espresso here is about the same as you pay ... I was talking about the cost of single-serving espresso "pods" from Illy for making espresso at home.

[Robin Garr]

This is it, no more tea or coffee or caffeinated drinks for me today - I'm starting to vibrate. This is fun, though ...

<b>China Pu-Erh Tuo Cha, Size 1</b>

In its unsteeped form, this is one of the most interesting of the Pu Erhs in my shipment - it comes as a small cup-shaped half-sphere of pressed tea leaves about the size of a hazelnut, neatly wrapped in white cloth. I debated whether to drop it in the hot water whole or break it up, but decided to go the latter route, wrapping it in paper towels and banging it a few times with a wine bottle until it fell into bits. Then I steeped it, again choosing to ignore Upton's directions and steep just until the infusion was a rich color. It came out a reddish-purple bronze, not as black as the Organic Ancient Pu-Erh Maiden. While it's quite good, I find it less characteristically earthy than the others I've tried, with floral and hay-like fragrances more evident than the very subtle loamy earth that appears more on the palate than the nose. It's quite tannic and reminds me of good quality Chinese restaurant black tea, but jut not very Pu Ehry. I'll try it again and experiment with steeping longer and also steeping the un-broken cup ... there must be 50 of them in the bag, so I've got plenty to experiment with. But NOT TODAY!

Upton Website Description:
With a weight of approximately two grams per cake (small tuo cha), this is an ideal size for one or two cups. Multiple infusions are often made. The liquor is dense and black.

Steeping Suggestions: -
Leaf Quantity: 2Πg/cup
Water Temp: 212º (boiling)
Steep Time: 6-7 mins.

Robin,

You seem to have developed quite a liking for Pu Erh! My job is done, I guess: one more convert! I might be able to get some very, very new cake: 2005. We'll see.

[Robin Garr]

<B>Thousand Year Laocong Pu-Erh Tea</B>
(50g long leaves in a vacuum bag in a cylindrical box, $11)

This one is really earthy! Not 'barnyard' but that interesting "loamy" character that I've picked up in a couple of the others. In the cup it's fairly dark, with the distinct reddish-purple bronze color that I've noted in several of the Pu Erh teas. At first it seemed almost too subtle, and I wasn't picking up much aroma, but after a little longer steeping than the others required (four or five minutes) the earthy character started showing up along with slightly floral aromas. I don't get any of the smoky and tarry aromas that were manifest in some of the others, but there's just a lot of clean, black "topsoil" in the flavor, particularly in the "aroma aftertaste" that lingers with silken tannins in a very long finish. It sounds funny to put it this way, but it's both earthy and refined.

The "thousand year" doesn't mean that the tea leaves are ancient, but the tea trees are (parallel to "old vines" in wine?). Here's some explanation from the Ten Ren Website:

Thousand Year Laocong Pu-Erh Tea

Pu-erh tea drinkers value Pu-erh tea which has been aged for a long time. The Thousand Year Laocong Pu-erh Tea has a different aspect of aged Pu-erh tea. Instead of the finished tea leaves being aged, Thousand Year Laocong Puerh uses tea leaves harvested from aged and ancient tea trees. The tea plant, Camellia Sinensis, are usually cultivated and pruned to the size of a bush. However in the wild, the Camellia Sinensis tea plant can grow into a tree and some of these trees can live over a thousand years.

Thousand Year Laocong Puerh tea is produced from tea leaves harvest from these aged and ancient tea trees. Laocong means ancient tree in Chinese. The finished tea leaves and the taste of the tea is different from the typical Pu-erh. When brewed, Thousand Year Old Laocong Pu-Erh Tea produces a dark tan soup with a strong earthy aroma. The taste is moderately earthy that continues into a mildly astringent aftertaste.

The water used to steep this tea should be at the boiling point, 212°F (100°C). Use about 2 teaspoons (3 grams) of tea leaves for about every 5 ounces (150 milliliters) of water. A steeping time of about 3-5 minutes is recommended with more or less time depending on the desired concentration. Net tea weight 1.76 ounces (50 g) and shipping weight 0.4 lb.

[Robin Garr]

You seem to have developed quite a liking for Pu Erh! My job is done, I guess: one more convert! I might be able to get some very, very new cake: 2005. We'll see.

You did it all right, Otto ... I think I'm getting addicted to these intriguing earthy flavors. I can't say I've found one yet that's really $#!++y in the way that some bretty wines are - it's more like clean earth than manure - but it's still very interesting, in very much the same way as rocky wines are interesting.

My local options are a little limited, although as I found last week, some of our Asian stores have at least the basic Ten Ren pu erhs. But I'm glad I finally had the incentive to try buying direct from Upton and Ten Ren. For delivery within the US, at least, I'm thoroughly satisfied and would recommend either one.

I ordered a packet of Pu Erh 1992, in loose leaves, not a cake, from EastTeas in England. They have excellent service and excellent teas.

The 1992 is lovely. I brewed it at just under boiling point for about 3 mins. The nose is more earthy than shitty, I agree. It smells like a forest in fall. The palate is rather smooth, I still don't find them very tannic, but balanced and with a teasing touch of sweetness to it. Lovely!

[Robin Garr]

Lovely!

Otto, thanks for resurrecting the Pu Erh thread! I finally broke open the one I had in cake form, took a few photos, enjoyed the tea, but neglected to post. I'll make another cup soon and offer a proper TTN. It was pretty much as you describe, though ... that "forest floor" character in Pu Erh is lovely indeed. Pu Erh rocks!

Although I've not posted any notes, you did inspire me to a trip to a local tea/coffee supplier and I came away with a selection (this about a month ago).
Big surprise for me was that I didn't like the Lapsong Souchong (sp?). This was the one tea I really liked when I dabbled briefly in my youth. Subtle hints of smokiness I could accept, but this was overpowering and frankly unpleasant. I suspect it would be more acceptable if I made a weaker blend, but I don't think it would take away what I felt was an imbalance. I also tried it with milk and whilst milk did blunt some of the extremity (also showing I guess how milk can be the enemy of tea), it still wasn't enjoyable.

I got a pu erh and that was interesting and better balanced, but that was tasted a while ago, so recollections are weak. Still got a couple in vacuum sealed bags, so will have to report back properly on them sometime.

regards

Ian

Ok, you guys have me at it now!!!!!! We have a good store around here, on my way! Do I use a tea-pot and a strainer? Robin was banging his tea bag?

Bob
Yes, teapot and strainer for us, though the strainer we use is one that was designed for use inside the cup (it does the job fine though). I'd recommend getting the smallest possible amount for each tea, which allows you to sample more widely.
regards
Ian

[Robin Garr]

Robin was banging his tea bag?

Not I, Bob! I don't care for tea bags, although I've seen a line of very expensive teas that come in a white nylon mesh bag - they have fresh, long tea leaves inside, not leaf dust and floor sweepings, and I think they're fine for tea room sipping.

At home, though, I usually use a tea strainer for regular teas, and for very special teas like aged Pu Erh, I simply let the leaves drop to the bottom of the teapot and then pour off the top.