#zichatea

[moshintheteagaiwan]

Tasting: Aged Zi Cha Purple Leaf Ripe Puerh

And now for the first of four Zi Cha purple leaf varietal tea we have this loose ripe puerh. The tea was harvested and wet piled in 2011 then stores until 2019. This is the first ripe purple leaf puerh I’ve tasted and I think is possibly the only I purchased. This tea also differs from the other puerh teas I purchased in that is was not pressed into a cake.

I found the dry leaf had a kind of mossy, antique kind of aroma which I have found it other tasty ripe puerh teas. Notes of wet earth, milk chocolate, a hint of molasses and a dried fruity note similar to dates. The wet leaf opened up these aromas a bit more, with the chocolate coming off sweeter and reminded me more of a wafer with coco. Still found the earthy and mossy aromas but found they were more mellow.

The brewed tea surprised me in just how mellow is was. Uncommon for most ripe puerh teas. The tea is soft with a thick creamy taste and feel, and completely lacks bitterness. I had difficulty find the fruity notes or and the chocolate didn’t come through so much in the flavor of chocolate, but more like the mouthfeel of creamy hot chocolate. With further infusions however, I did not find that the tea changed much in flavor. It did not present anything new nor lack in flavor.

This is a puerh that I would recommend to someone new to ripe puerh, who might be doubtful of the more deeper earthy, minerally, fermented aromas and flavors you usually find in a nice ripe puerh. As someone though, who loves ripe puerh It’s not really my thing. It has a nice light mellow flavor but didn’t quite hit all the right buttons. None the less, I give it a 3 out of 5 stars. As I said, not a bad in anyway, just not my thing.

https://yunnansourcing.com/products/jinggu-aged-zi-cha-purple-loose-leaf-ripe-pu-erh-tea