2010 Longchang Puer Brick 100g

Bad Shu

I came across to a several Shu pu-erh samples and because I have not so many experiences with Shu, I decided to broaden my horizons and also "calibrate" my rating stars. Buying tea is always based on trust between the merchant and the buyer. The stable range of suppliers for your tea will get you most goods of a certain standard and quality. To be able to distinguish what is good and what is bad, you should know also these limits.
So I decided to look around in the completely different circles and that's how a I got this tea. A friend of a friend brought this 100g shu puerh brick from China as an inappropriate gift.

The packaging does not look bad. It is brown recycled paper. There is also quality logo QS "Food safety certification". Unfortunately I know how they treat such logos in China and it does not increase my trust. There is even a web address of Longchang Tea Co. on the box. But as you can see on attached photo the page is definitely not about a tea. I have a bad feeling about this tea… but I am not giving up and searching information about TF on Google. I found only one link, it is not a good either. The site is praising TF with many tea rewords they have received, but the web site is not gaining my confidence as well. So let’s put cattle on and taste the tea.

The infusion has reddish brown color after flush. Immediately after opening gaiwan’s lid there is a sour, musty, strange smell. The brew itself also smells musty. One advice regarding experiencing tea says:

„If, when smelling tea there is any strange or unpleasant smell, one may well consider not proceeding further to tasting the tea as it will likely not be satisfactory“

I decided not to swallow the tea. The taste is bland. I would expect at least an earthy taste, but there is just no taste. I am pouring out the infusion.
The second infusion has a very intense brown to black color. Again there is almost no taste. Nothing spectacular, very light earthiness, maybe. The third infusion is almost black, again it smelled musty. I do not dare drink this. I'm done...

„life’s too short to be drinking bad tea“ as says tea addict MarshalN

Was this review helfule? Yes / No