Time can only enhance the taste and aroma of Puer Shu (cooked) Organic Palace Grade tea. Palace Grade has a distinctive earthy and vegetal aroma, with an intense wine-red color. The real strength is the enveloping and smooth taste, with no trace of bitterness. This organic tea comes from Mt. Jingmai, in the famous Puer Autonomous Province, Yunnan.
Tasting - Sight and Smell
The leaves of puer shu Organic Palace Grade tea are very small and delicately rolled, with various shades of brown, rusty tips and matte surface. As soon as infused, they release enveloping and sweet aromas of grape must, underbrush, leather and sweet pipe tobacco. The color in the cup is a very dark red tending to mahogany with ruby highlights, an appearance reminiscent of the color of a good wine.
Tasting Notes
GONG FU CHA
The first infusion of Palace Grade Organic puer shu tea has notes of damp wood and undergrowth, with hints of wet earth and very faint hints of mushrooms, closing with an intense leather flavor. With the second infusion, this tea really takes us into the thick of the woods: hints of moss and bark emerge, while the sweetness increases and the body becomes increasingly enveloping and velvety on the palate. Notes of grape must can also be discerned, adding a slight acidity to the basic sweetness. The third and several subsequent infusions have a character that is always very woody, with notes of damp wood and underbrush well present to which is added a hint of coffee and on the finish a hint of licorice wood.
TO THE WEST
The first sip of Palace Grade Organic puer shu tea brings with it the typical hints of underbrush: damp earth, wet wood, moss. The taste is sweet and notes of worked leather and licorice also appear in the second, which then evolve into more complex hints of barrel wood and red wine must. A note of bitter cocoa is evident on the finish. The body is dense and enveloping, and the persistence proves sweet and long, characterized by notes of damp wood and underbrush.
Location of Origin
Yunnan, China
Production
After harvesting, the leaves of Palace Grade Organic puer shu tea are left to wither in the sun for a certain amount of time depending on the producer before going through the "green killing" stage, which is purportedly similar to that used to produce green tea. The special feature, in this case, lies in not heating the leaves as much as is done for a green tea so that certain enzymes capable of changing flavors over time are preserved. Once cooked, the leaves are taken in large quantities and stacked to form large piles. The plant mass arranged in this way is then moistened and covered with cloths so that heat can be retained and the fermentation process can begin.
Here the producer will have to skillfully move the leaves around and wet them lightly as he goes so that fermentation advances steadily and is distributed as evenly as possible. Once this process is finished, which can last from 20 to 70 days, the leaves are expanded and left in contact with the air so that the microorganisms responsible for fermentation dry out and die, leaving the finished product. Once there, one can (eventually) proceed to press the puer so as to give it the best conditions to be transported and aged.
Preparation
We strongly recommend infusing the Palace Grade Organic puer shu tea in the traditional Chinese method (gong fu cha) to best enjoy these leaves. Following this preparation, 3 grams of leaves (about 2 teaspoons) can be used in a gaiwan of about 100 ml to make several infusions with different tastes. After a quick rinse of the leaves in water at 95°C, a first infusion of 30 seconds can be made, and after that, keeping the water at the same temperature, the time can be increased each time by 5 seconds from the previous infusion (15 - 20 - 25...).
This tea has a longevity of about 7 infusions.
For a classic preparation according to the Western style, we recommend 3 grams of leaves (about 2 teaspoons) in a 150 ml cup with water at 95°C for an infusion time of one and a half minutes.
The tea can be filtered for ease when tasting and also the infusion times given above here are meant to be purely indicative so you can also adjust according to your personal taste.
We recommend storing in a cool and dry place away from direct sunlight.
