This is a 375g brick of raw ancient arbor tea leaf puer from the Yiwu area. The leaf is somewhat broken with a fair amount of stem. It smells so sweet!
The first infusion has an already delightful amber color and a sweet, pungent aroma. After a very smooth entry I am pleased to report comforting dried fruits, a tingle on the sides of the tongue and a slippery, warming mouth-feel. The aroma quickly translates to aftertaste and is long-lasting and floral in nature. I was semi-impressed with this tea when I purchased it in 2006; now I am looking forward to enjoying its surprises for many years to come. All this after the first steep. I didn’t expect much, so it has surprised me.
The second steep brings with it a more forceful, yet still very pleasant entry. After a slippery passage onto the palate it shakes the sides of my tongue with a mighty tingle and then rest in the back of the throat with a pungent sweetness. Much more full-bodied than the first steep with a continued long-lasting aftertaste.
Haha, lost track of time staring at the characters on the package and way over-steeped the third infusion. It is a lovely color and QUITE a mouth-full. Though very strong (it is only 5yo) much of the character can still be distinguished. The tingling on the tongue is a bit overwhelming at this point, but I still like it. The aftertaste just keeps going with this much time behind the steep. It seems to like to linger in the upper-back area of the mouth, just above the throat. The throaty sweetness is immense and enjoyable.
3rd Steep
7th Steep
A little bitterness has reared its head in the fourth steep. I felt it creeping up earlier, but wasn’t sure if it was going to show. Luckily it has brought a company of flavor, fruits and camphor along for the ride, so ti is not unwelcome. The later steeps do have a lot to offer and might be overwhelming for the faint of heart. I am sure my 3rd steep didn’t help matters. It does reinforce my new-found belief that this tea will continue to develop complexity far down the road.
On the fifth steep the body is beginning to wane. The flavor is still at 95%, but small pieces of the complexity of just beginning to drop-off. The color is holding steady and it feels as if it will be fun to drink up until the 10th-12th steep. We shall see.
Steep 6 is slowly dwindling, yet still delicious and well flavored, though complexity is lacking.
Steeps 7-12 are worth-while for the subtle dwindling effect with retained flavor.
Steeped Out
Sooo…I know nothing about Taobao, but I found this tea on there and i thought I would share an case anyone knows how to use it
http://www.yingyang99.com/taobao/view.php?num_iid=1671733090
Aaron,
there was a thread on teaquestions.org, but it has gone offline for an unknown period of time (http://teaquestions.org/questions/how-to-shop-on-taobao/).
Bascially, you’ll most likely need to go through a ‘facilitator’ site if you don’t live in China and have a Chinese bank account (I’d recommend Taobao Focus.
You create an account with them, browse Taobao for the products you want, submit a link to the product page to Taobao Focus and then pay them via Paypal for the total of the order. After you make that first payment, they order all your items and take a picture of your complete order. If you are satisfied that everything is correct and complete, they’ll weigh the total and you’ll have to do the second payment (for shipping).
I take it you can read at least some Chinese, so one of the hurdles isn’t so high for you.
A word of caution, though. It is easy and free for anyone listing stuff on Taobao. So, there is a lot of junk around, be careful. Usually, sellers with a crown or one or more diamonds have had plenty good feedback, better stick with them.
BTW, the link to the proper Taobao auction for your brick is http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=1671733090 This would also be the URL you’d submit to Taobao Focus and the likes.
Hope this helps,
Jo
Thanks for the good info. I saw this on the TeaTrade forum, but it didn’t make much sense. I think I just need to see it a few times.
Oh, I’m just reading this. You did order your 14 AMAZING cakes on Taobao, didn’t you?
From my experience, it’ll take anywhere between 2 and 4 weeks for the tea to arrive.
Good luck!