2021-05-30 14:16
It’s been a while since I’ve had a Fangmingyuan sheng, but I came across a sample of their 2010 0812 while digging through my pumidor the other day. As it’s been sitting fo… Read More
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fangmingyuan
Straight to the point tea reviews from a tea lover.
2021-05-23 16:28
Today I am going to do something I don’t usually do – write a review for a tea you can’t buy! In case missed it, White2Tea dropped their first batch of 2021 puerhs last wee… Read More
2021-05-15 13:49
Today I am dipping into my 2020 dragon ball samples from Bitterleaf Teas and giving out their Bonbon raw puerh a try. This sheng is interesting to me as they say it’s their closest 202… Read More
2021-04-25 13:09
For the last few years the, White2Teas has sent out a “Hype” cake for their June tea club. Provided this year follows the same trend, you’ve got a few weeks to sign up if y… Read More
2021-04-24 13:21
Every now and again I find myself browsing a couple different websites that sell factory cakes, as it’s something I haven’t really gotten into. I have tried out more than I have… Read More
2021-04-18 05:03
Good morning! Today I am drinking Crimson Lotus Tea’s 2020 Baby Dragon sheng puerh. This tea is made with the same base material as their Slumbering Dragon puerh, but instead of being… Read More
2021-04-17 15:37
Hi there! Long time no talk! Many times over the last year(ish) I have started writing up a “whats going on in my life and why are there no new reviews” post, but they have all e… Read More
2020-10-25 14:23
Oh hey there! Long time no see! It feels a bit weird just jumping right into a brand new review after six months of silence, but I don’t want to take up space here, so I’ll addre… Read More
2020-03-22 15:43
Tea Joint has a sale on right now, so I figured it would be a good time to try out another one of their puerhs. Today I am drinking their 2014 Ba Da Shan! As with the last Tea Joint review I… Read More
2020-03-21 17:12
Zheng Si Long’s 2018 Yi Shan Mo is a sheng puerh made from material from the Mansa region, which Tiago at Tea Encounter describes as being quite sweet, with a sticky-caramel type of vi… Read More
2020-03-14 17:30
Crimson Lotus Tea’s 2019 Radio KXQM is a sheng puerh made from small arbour material that comes from a garden near the top of Kunlu Shan. In my limited experience, I have loved all the… Read More
2020-03-07 15:29
This post is coming a little bit late – I did this tasting on February 29th, but was wanting to get my ‘first year of blogging’ post up last week, so I figured I would push… Read More
2020-02-29 19:47
This upcoming week marks one year of The Weekend Sessions, so I would like to take some time to give myself a proper introduction, reflect a bit on the last year, and give a bit of a preview… Read More
2020-02-29 15:18
Bitterleaf Tea’s 2019 Don’t Be Sad is a new huang pian brick made out of Hekai material, some of which is huang pian from their Big Old Ass Tree production. Generally speaking I… Read More
2020-02-17 17:06
Recently I came across a new vendor on Instagram called Tea Joint who seemed to be mostly focused on sheng puerh and based out of Canada. Naturally, this caught my interest so I gave them a… Read More
2020-02-16 17:58
I’ve been wanting to try out XiaGuan’s 2013 “Gei Tai Hao“, or LOVE FOREVER sheng puerh for a good while now, and Valentine’s seemed like an appropriate time to… Read More
2020-02-09 18:19
Crimson Lotus Tea’s 2018 Daydream is a multi-year blend raw puerh that I’ve been wanting to try for a while now. I was chatting with Nicole from Tea For Me Please maybe six month… Read More
2020-02-08 18:18
Tea Side’s 2013 Unicorn is a sheng puerh-style tea made from old growth trees from Thailand. I should note (as I have in the past) that as the material doesn’t come from Yunnan t… Read More
2020-02-03 17:42
A sample of Fangmingyuan’s 2008 Nannuo came to me as a free sample last year from Tiago over at Tea Encounter. I hadn’t heard of Fangmingyuan before checking out the Tea Encounte… Read More
2020-02-02 17:50
Alright, time for another check in on Bitterleaf Teas’ 2019 Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good! This is my ninth write-up on this tea, so if you’d like to read my past reviews you can d… Read More
2020-01-26 19:47
When I started getting into tea I remember laughing when I saw people say “Just found this in my pumidor, bought five years ago then totally forgot I had it!” Well… I&rsqu&hell…Read More
2020-01-19 18:40
Crimson Lotus Tea’s 2019 Low Rider is another new sheng puerh blend for 2019, made with the intent of being unique and in Crimson Lotus’ own style. Their description says the tea… Read More
2020-01-18 20:38
It feels like forever since my last post, but I’m back! If you don’t follow me on Instagram, I had a terrible flu for while that made it impossible to critically drink any tea. I… Read More
2020-01-04 16:52
Time for my last check in on Bitterleaf Teas’ Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good of the decade! If you’re a regular, you know the drill here. If you’re finding this for the first… Read More
2019-12-29 20:02
Have you ever thought to yourself “hmm… I wonder what would happen if I took some shou and aged it in rum cask?” No? Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about it be… Read More
2019-12-28 18:50
Yuanjiutang’s 2003 Ban Zhang is a sheng puerh made from material that’s… well… probably not from Ban Zhang. This tea came to me from Tea Encounter, and on their sit… Read More
2019-12-24 15:31
Continuing on with trying to get into factory puerhs, I wanted to try a couple of the popular Dayi recipes with a bit of age, so I ordered a few samples from King Tea Mall from 2006 and 2007… Read More
2019-12-16 19:35
Well, I think it’s about time to get back on the Lao Man E train and give Bitterleaf Teas’ 2019 The Bitter End a shot. The Bitter End is made with the “sweet” varieta… Read More
2019-12-15 16:05
I picked up samples from White2Tea right when the fresh cakes dropped this year, but despite being one of the first to get their cakes to the market, for some reason White2Tea’s puerhs… Read More
2019-12-11 16:32
Last year I heard lots of hype around Crimson Lotus Tea’s Wildwood sheng puerh, but it was one of those teas that for one reason or another I kept meaning to try out then getting side… Read More
2019-12-08 15:59
Today I am drinking Zheng Si Long’s 2016 Ge Deng sheng puerh, which came to me as a free sample from Tea Encounter. I really like what Tiago has written for the product description ove… Read More
2019-12-05 16:30
This months review of Bitterleaf Teas’ 2019 Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good is coming in a bit late because it has required a bit of investigating on my part. What do you do when a tea you… Read More
2019-11-30 21:58
Yunnan Sourcing’s 2013 Nan Po Zhai is a puerh I know next to nothing about. It’s not a cake that I’ve seen much buzz about, I haven’t heard of the area (other than th… Read More
2019-11-25 17:30
Crimson Lotus Tea’s 2019 Altered State is a new sheng puerh that has been blended for maximum Cha Qi. For those unaware of what “Cha Qi” is, simply put it is the “ene… Read More
2019-11-17 15:46
Snoozefest is a limited run sheng puer from White2Tea that has been put out as a Black Friday special the last couple years. I did a review on this cake back in April, and said I would do an… Read More
2019-11-16 16:48
When you are trying to get into a new type of tea, the amount of options out there can be overwhelming and it might be best to reach out to somebody more knowledgeable for advice. I wanted t… Read More
2019-11-11 13:27
Bitterleaf Teas’ 2019 Big Old Ass Tree is a new sheng puerh made from teas in Hekai ranging from 100-800 years of age. I haven’t tried any puerhs from this region before and don… Read More
2019-11-10 17:20
Yiwu Mountain Tea’s 2005 Yiwu Gushu Huangpian is a blended sheng puerh made from 2005 huangpian material from several Yiwu villages. Instead of offering a cake, this material has been… Read More
2019-11-03 22:13
Crimson Lotus Tea’s Slumbering Dragon is a tea I’ve been curious about since getting into puerh, but for one reason or another never pulled the trigger on. When the new 2019 vers… Read More
2019-10-27 19:23
Welcome to my fifth monthly check in on Bitterleaf Teas’ Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good! This cake was pressed on May 2, so it has now passed the six month mark of life. Through my last f… Read More
2019-10-26 17:11
Farmerleaf’s Spring 2019 Bulang Shan is a sheng puerh made of material from younger trees in a left-to-grow garden in Bulang. This puerh is a fairly budget friendly one, coming in at j… Read More
2019-10-19 18:16
Fangmingyuan’s 2008 Bama Gushu is a raw puerh made from Bama material, which is in the Nannuo region. I still haven’t had too many teas from this region but have been really fond… Read More
2019-10-12 18:46
This year I grabbed samples of the full lineup of 2019 Bitterleaf Teas’ sheng puerhs, but as they were pressed a bit later in the year I’ve been holding off on doing reviews so t… Read More
2019-10-05 17:36
This year I wanted to go all out trying bitter teas, but after trying my first Lao Man E, I started to second guess my life choices a little bit. After giving my taste buds a couple months t… Read More
2019-09-29 15:42
Another month in the bag means it’s time to check in on Bitterleaf Teas‘ Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good! If you’re reading this for the first time, I am doing monthly tastings… Read More
2019-09-28 13:03
With my last tea review being of an autumn Naka, it seemed appropriate to keep going with that theme and jump over to White2Tea‘s 2019 Dangerfield. TwoDog (of White2Tea) says he blende… Read More
2019-09-22 14:46
King Tea Mall included a sample of their 2018 Autumn Na Ka Gu Shu puerh with my last order and I was quite excited to give it a try. I have heard many people praise Naka teas but they are us… Read More
2019-09-21 15:12
Recently I had an online tea friend coming through town, so we decided to meet up and do a tea swap. As I was looking at their list of teas, I saw they had some Whispering Pines shou puerh … Read More
2019-09-14 15:04
The factory puerh world is one that I’ve been meaning to explore for some time now, but there is so much out there that it’s a bit hard to know where to begin. To get things goin… Read More
2019-09-07 17:15
Camellia Sinensis‘ 2003 Orange Label is in new territory for me, being an aged CNNP shou cake. I’ve had another ripe puerh that was supposedly around this age, but, it was of que… Read More
2019-09-02 15:35
Crimson Lotus Tea‘s Dark Depths is a shou puerh that was pressed last year but released earlier in this year. When it was released, I was chatting with Char from Oolong Owl and she was… Read More
2019-09-01 15:33
Time for another look at Bitterleaf Teas‘ Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good raw puerh! If you’re just coming across this for the first time now, I will be posting updated reviews on th… Read More
2019-08-31 15:30
Lord of the Forest from Tea Side is a sheng puerh-esque tea made from ancient trees from Myanmar. The reason I say “puerh-esque” is because technically puerh has to be produced i… Read More
2019-08-18 18:33
Camellia Sinensis is a new-to-me vendor for puerh, and it’s one that I’m very excited to try. There are a couple tea vendors in Canada selling puerh, but as far as I can tell Cam… Read More
2019-08-17 16:31
Today’s review is of a tea that I’m extremely excited about – White2Tea’s Very Old Huangpian. I was interested in this tea since first seeing it up on the shop and fr… Read More
2019-07-28 14:26
It’s the last weekend of the month so you know what that means… time for an update on Bitterleaf Teas‘ Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good raw puerh! In case you are just coming a… Read More
2019-07-27 15:03
Today’s review is one of a puerh that I have been looking forward to for a little bit now: Fangmingyuan’s 2013 Nannuo sheng puerh. Trying out new teas is always fun and this one… Read More
2019-07-21 13:52
Alright, it’s time to break into a cake that I have been fearfully looking forward to for some time – Bitterleaf Tea’s 2019 Bitter End Xtra Bitter. This is my first time tr… Read More
2019-07-20 15:52
Farmerleaf’s Jingmai Miyun is a blended cake made from several natural tea gardens close to the village where Farmerleaf is located. This blend has been made for the last few years and… Read More
2019-07-14 16:05
The time has come for my final tasting of the three one-of-a-kind shou puerhs – Crimson Lotus Tea‘s 2018 Spring Lao Man’E Gushu Shou Puerh. Lao Man’E is a new region… Read More
2019-07-13 14:40
Recently I tried White2Tea’s 2016 teadontlie and while I liked the general flavour profile of it, it was a bit too soft for my taste. I reached out to White2Tea’s TwoDog on Insta… Read More
2019-07-07 13:14
For part two of my three part tasting on Crimson Lotus Tea’s “one-of-a-kind shou” set, I opted to try out the Lao Ban Zhang. Of the three ripe puerhs this is the most price… Read More
2019-07-06 15:57
For my first Zheng Si Long review I tried their most “budget friendly” sheng, so I figured I would jump to the opposite side of the spectrum and try the most spendy sheng –… Read More
2019-06-30 14:24
Lately I have been hitting the shou pretty hard. I’ve only posted a few reviews so far, but in my non-critical-review-mode drinking time I have been gravitating towards shou for the la… Read More
2019-06-29 14:05
Bitterleaf Tea‘s 2019 Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good is a tea that’s made from Lincang tea leaves that are supposed to be similar to Xigui material. To quote Bitterleaf, this tea &l&hell…Read More
2019-06-28 19:06
Since getting into puerh I have been wanting to run a couple of experiments, but they required freshly pressed cakes so I have been patiently waiting for my favourite vendors to drop them. E… Read More
2019-06-23 00:53
Zheng Si Long’s 2017 Man Zhuan puerh is made out of spring gushu material from Man Zhuan. While I was looking through all the Zheng Si Long offerings on Tea Encounter’s website… Read More
2019-06-22 02:11
If you are reading around online for White2Tea recommendations, chances are teadontlie comes up. I frequently see it recommended on Reddit, from bloggers and among friends as one of the go-t… Read More
2019-06-16 13:52
Farmerleaf is a vendor that I have had my eye on for a while, but I have just recently placed my first order from them. Of all the puerh vendors I follow, they were the first to put up 2019… Read More
2019-06-15 13:48
Crimson Lotus Tea’s 2017 Nannuo Mini Mushrooms are something that I have been wanting to try out for a while, but for one reason or another I never got to ordering one. I have read man… Read More
2019-06-09 13:31
Today I am taking a look at a shou puerh from a new-to-me tea producer – 2016 Yiwu Gushu Shu from Zheng Si Long. I’ve been on a bit of a shou kick lately (more on that in a few w… Read More
2019-06-08 16:07
Bitterleaf Teas’ 2016 Windfall is a raw puerh made from Guafengzhai old tree autumn material. This is a very expensive region to source tea out of, so Bitterleaf is offering this cake… Read More
2019-06-02 12:22
Mountain Stream Teas is still a relatively new vendor, but one that I’ve been meaning to get to for a while. Recently I ordered the Matt’s Favourites Taster Set and I’ve be… Read More
2019-06-01 12:13
Yunnan Sourcing’s 2013 Yong De Blue Label is a ripe puerh made from (as Yunnan Sourcing says) high quality material from Yong De county. This cake is made with mostly small grade leave… Read More
2019-05-26 16:51
2012 Baotang from Essence of Tea is a bit of an online favourite from what I have seen. This $138 USD, 400 gram cake of Mensong material frequently comes up if you are searching around for … Read More
2019-05-20 22:45
Bitterleaf Teas’ 2018 WMD is an unblended raw puerh made of all gushu material from Mansa. The cake comes out to just under $1 USD per gram, so this is a good deal more pricey than the… Read More
2019-05-19 16:17
White2Tea’s 2015 Pin is a puerh that I have been interested in for a while. Right when I was getting into puerh, White2Tea had a sale on so I was asking on Reddit what was recommended… Read More
2019-05-18 16:14
Bitterleaf Teas’ 2017 Plum Beauty is an interesting tea, in that they offer it in three different grades – bronze, silver, and gold. All three of these puerhs are made from Menso… Read More
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