This tea was over 7 years when I tasted it, and it was mature. Kunming storage allowed it to become rounder and mellower.
This tea comes from Ning’er county in Yunnan. Actually, I had not heard about this area before. Ning’er is home to Hani and Yi Minorities and it is an Autonomous County of Pu'er City. When I searched Ning’er pu-erh online, I only found some well known tea traders selling black teas from Ning’er. Perhaps, it is one of the areas which is not yet famous hence prices are still affordable.
I bought this tea online from a tea house based in Kunming and they told me that this was the first tea they produced independently. It was hand-picked, sun dried and manually-compressed (if it is a word). Actually, sun drying is a precondition for pu-erh to qualify as ‘pu-erh’ according to the Standard Counting and Measuring Bureau of Yunnan: “Puer tea is made of large-leaf tea leaves that have been dried in the sun.” Well, I’d not take anything granted as I tasted some ‘pu-erhs’ with great regret. I can say that this was a decent tea offering a good value for money.
Tea Profile:
Type: Pu-erh (Dark Tea)
Origin: Ning'er, Pu-erh, Yunnan
Harvest time: Spring 2013
Leaf colour: Tones of green and brown with some golden tips
Liquor colour: Bright yellow
Tea aroma: Floral
Tea taste: Mellow with a good balance of delicate floral and earthy notes
Steeping/brewing: Place 5 g of this tea in a teapot or gaiwan and add about 100-120 ml water at around 100°C. Rinse after 5 sec. Steep for 15 seconds for the second time and increase the consecutive steeping time by 10 seconds each time. You can steep this tea several times.
Shelf life: Can be aged up to 30 years or so.
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