This tea is no longer available on the vendor's site. The 2006 Pu Qing is a ripe puerh, and the only raw is the 2007. Also, the note that came with this sample says it came from a 200g cake. The available Pu Qings available now are both 357g. Clearly there is no description of what to expect from this particular batch. However, the two available are quite helpful, in retrospect. I plan to revisit this tea before long.
2006 Pu Qing Hao "Plum Blossom" Ripe cake - Like a fine wine, this ripe pu-erh masterfully fermented using high grade Yunnan varietal teas from Menghai produces a deep red brown liquor with a creamy and earthy flavor.
2007 Pu Qing Hao 7542 Raw cake 357 grams - This tea is pressed by the Guoyan tea factory and bears their sub-label "Pu Qing Hao". Ms. Dong Guoyan a master tea blender who worked for the famous Menghai tea factory for more than 8 years blended this cake according to the famous 7542 recipe. The brewed liquor is thick in the mouth, sweet in the throat. A great tea for aging, alot of interesting textures!
2006 Pu Qing Hao "Plum blossom", raw cake -- my first real Pu'er.
Tea: 4.2g in 120ml Gaiwan.
Infusions: 2 rinses, 12s, 10s, 13s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 30s, 35s, 38s, ~40s, 48s
Water: Bottled spring water, just off boiling (I made sure this time)
I'll be brief. Honestly, The entire experience was a bit overwhelming and I was going to work a bit from then (thus the late post in stead of shortly after experiencing the tea). It was m first 'real' pu. I didn't know exactly what to expect, and perhaps I allowed myself to be rushed a bit. I do not have a thorough detail of nuances. However, the entire experience was unforgettable.
The first rinse yielded tinted water. The second? Significantly darker. The first infusion yielded a nice, dark tea. Its flavor was earthy and a bit woody, of that could be a flavor. The aftertaste lingered longer than it took to prepare the second infusion, which was shorter, but the soup was thicker and much darker. The aroma was swelling from the teapot by that time, whenever the lid was removed. The flavor was much more pronounced. The tea was thick and smooth. And very pleasant. The aftertaste was better, still -- almost like the tea was still unswallowed.
Image: First infusion on the left. Second on the right.
As usual, I wanted to infuse this at least one time too many. The eighth infusion was noticeably lighter than previous takes, and had much less flavor. I thought perhaps it was time to stop. Perhaps that is a good time to stop with this puerh. So I went two more.
Earlier infusions were visibly dark, even in the stream of tea pouring into the vessel. This last infusion, the stream looked almost clear. The aroma is still earthy and rich, but it is light. The color of the liquor is very much muted.
The wet leaves? I did not examine them, due to a lack of time. But here they are for your viewing pleasure!
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