Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: small, varied shades of green
Ingredients: puerh tea
Steep time: 10 seconds
Water Temperature: 212 degrees
Preparation Method: glass gaiwan
Liquor: gold
I just had to try this tea after reading the description on Crimson Lotus Tea’s website. It’s a tea that the farmers in Yunnan keep for themselves because the leaves are not considered pretty enough for the Chinese tea market. You can read more about Huang Pian on their blog. I decided to live dangerously and make this in a glass gaiwan even though the water was at a full boil. Surprisingly, I only burned myself once this tea session. The taste was bitter but smooth at the same time. It was somewhat more like a green tea than a puerh but not quite as sweet. I bumped up my infusion time a bit with each infusion. A really pleasant floral character started coming out once leaves had a chance to open up. I must say that after a few rounds, the leaves looked much prettier than they did before I started. This tea is nice reminder that ugly teas are often still quite tasty. Only a small amount of this tea was available so it is now sold out but I would definitely order this if it is offered again.
Spring 2014 Kunlu Shan ‘Huang Pian’ Sheng Puerh purchased from Crimson Lotus Tea.