This is a 7536 recipe produced by Fu Hai Tea Factory. This 2006 raw pu erh, is already 11 years old and this tea had been stored in Singapore for about 10 years. The information slip in the tea stated that the pu erh is harvested from the Menghai region. Pu erh tea drinkers would be familiar with the Menghai region as many vintage and classical old cakes were traditionally made from this region.
This tea had aged well over the 10 years in Singapore. The tea when brewed is mellow and sweet. Notice the pleasant dark gold color of the tea. Surprisingly, I found the tea paired nicely with fresh fruits (apples, pear and peaches). I felt, that sipping the tea after having these fruits, the tea tasted sweeter. Overall the tea has a nice pleasant sweet aftertaste and a nice floral-herbal complexity In the tea. I recommend that this tea should be brewed on the stronger side....by adding an extra gram of tea to your standard brew.
But I digress. Making your tea on the stronger side......adding more tea leaves or a longer infusion? Don't you get a strong tea from both methods? Yes, but there are 2 main differences.
a) using more leaves can get you more infusions in your tea session. If you let your tea infuse for a longer time after every pour, you would get lesser rounds of tea.
b) there is a difference in taste and aroma. The chi or energy from the tea is more pronounced with adding more leaves.
I would try to get an ideal brew when I opened a pu er tea cake. Yes, its a personal preference in terms of strength. It would normally take a few brews for me to determine whether I should use more/less leaves and the infusion times for the brew. It may take 3-4 tea sessions before I settle down and conclude the brewing parameters for the tea. How do you, my reader, determine your brewing parameters for your tea, please share with me your methods. Thank you.
2 comments:
Hello Wilson,
I have read that this is Fuhai's "flagship" blend, and their rival to Dayi 7542. Donyou think this is a valid comparison. I note that older vintages of this tea (90's) are very expensive.
Thank you Peter for your comments. I was also told that this is Fuhai version of the 7542. Yes, there are similarities in the taste and aroma profile in the tea. As this tea is also from the Menghai region, many tea drinkers can enjoy this tea and make comparisons with the famous 7542 blend. Yes older vintages are expensive as the prices reflect the scarcity of the older tea, time and storage of the tea.
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