Saturday, January 28, 2012

2006 Yuan Rui Chang Ripe Pu erh





I had included this 2006 ripe pu erh in my latest order from Yunnan Sourcing last month.  This inexpensive cake was described as "Made from medium to coarse grade leaves from Menghai area fermented material.  2005 fermentation material, and pressed in 2006.  Stored in Kunming for more than 5 years already.  Similar to a 8592 blend except without the smattering of tippy leaves on the face of the cake.  Nice burgundy liquor both bright and clear!  Taste is clean, sweet and smooth, with a camphor aroma."


This 357g cake was very aromatic when I unwrap the tea cake.  The cake looked darker than most ripe cakes I had recently consumed and the compression was not too high, in that I could break the tea cake apart, with my hands, for storing the tea in a container.  I like such lighter compression tea cakes/bricks as it does not result in lots of tea dust when the cake is broken up.  


I have to disagree with the description on the cake provided by Yunnan Sourcing.  I found a strong aromatic boiled beans scent and did not detect any camphor scent on the cake.  This boiled beans scent is quite pleasant and I found that the tea tasted better when you brew with less leaves.  I normally use about 8-10g for a 200ml teapot but this tea tasted better with 6-7g.  There is a mildly sweet aftertaste as well.  For those ripe tea drinkers who are looking for that boiled beans aroma.......this is a good candidate for your consideration.  Inexpensive too.

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