Samples continue
Sample 3, the bag says. One big chunk. Nothing too notable about the chunk. I threw it all in after breaking it up a little.
Brews darker than I expected. Then again, maybe the amount of tea (a lot) was a little much…
Tea is somewhat darkish tasting, bitter, but not too bad, a bit sweet, sort of nice. It’s pleasant enough, although, now that I think about it, given the massive amounts of leaves, it is probably slightly underwhelming.
But then again, it’s hard to say. I was told that this is actually the 2003 Henry HK “serious formula” cake. For $80 it’s a little steep, but then, it’s not that bad of a tea.
Sorry, the tasting notes must seem slim, but there isn’t a whole lot to say about this tea….. or, now that I think about it, many of these youngish puerhs. They all taste very roughly similar, especially to someone like me who doesn’t do a very good job of describing flavours (which, at any rate, are rather subjective and difficult to make much sense of).
So I will just let the pictures talk, although my hands are a little shaky these days it seems under poor lighting condition. I really ought to buy a tripod
3 responses so far ↓
iwii // April 7, 2008 at 3:24 am |
Well the only reason I sent you this sample is that this tea has been reviewed a couple of times on various places already, and I didn’t feel like it was deserving the bad press it got at the time. So for me your notes are clear enough in that respect.
I am a bit puzzled by the color of the brew though, it seems to be really dark. Mine appears to be more reddish. That one was dry-stored, and I have got a sample of a slightly wet-stored one (HK-stored let’s say) that brews ruby-like, but not quite brown… maybe one of the numerous water effects?
Also I haven’t found this tea to be underwhelming when brewed a bit lighter, but no wonder you found it bitter with that amount… that chunk should have weighted something like 12~14g. I know it is not enough for two plain sessions, but it sounds a bit extreme for just one.
I would have sent more it I had been able to, but this was the remaining part of a (big) sample I got, and I haven’t bought the cake.
And yes the price is a bit ridiculous, almost the one of the real red Dayi if I am still up to date… and as Hobbes pointed out, it has that really absurd name…
Anonymous // April 7, 2008 at 1:08 pm |
Speaking of pu-erh, in an earlier post you mentioned the fact that some pu-erhs had a nasty knock you out kind of strength.
Past couple of times I’ve had puerh, i’ve passed out.
Things went like this:
“Hmm…lets have some tea”
“What do I want to have….?”
“I know! Pu-erh”
*commence making puerh*
*eyes closed, fallen asleep*
I’ve never been completely knocked out when drinking puerh before. What brings this about? Too much leaf?
Thanks for your comments! This has been really puzzling me lately.
~Daniel
MarshalN // April 8, 2008 at 12:15 pm |
Hey Daniel,
I don’t know what to say to your question, because in my experience… the “knock you out” includes feeling dizzy and uncomfortable, but not sleepy….