Wu Liang Shan Pu Erh Review: Chrysanthemum Aroma?

In this post we’re going to review Puerhtea.eu’s raw pu erh tea cake from Wu Liang Mountain. In the realm of pu erh, it’s there’s always a greater surprise factor when you trying out a new pu erh. Due to the variation between raw and ripe pu erh, nuances in processing methods, storage conditions and origin, the range of flavours has always been amazing.

Without question, this raw pu erh has a truly unique flavour which we haven’t tasted before in any cake. Even though, we’ve tasted lots of pu erh! Now let’s start the review.

Appearance

Let’s first take a look at the appearance of this Wu Liang Shan cake. The colour of the leaves is what you can expect from a two year old raw cake. It’s very well compressed and consists of medium sized Da Ye Zhong cultivar leaves.

The leaves on the outer parts are easy to pry with a tea knife, yet not loose enough to loosen up with your hands. The center is somewhat tighter. In fact the tightness in the center is close to a tuocha. As a result, the aging of this cake may not be uniform, which could make it interesting to revisit after a few years.

Tasting

When steeping 5 grams of tea in a 150 ml Yixing teapot (Duan Ni clay) for 10 seconds, we get a beautiful yellow orange brew. The colour is somewhat darker compared to other cakes with 2 years of age. It looks more like a 3-4 years old raw pu erh.

The first and the second brew are very smooth . It has very little bitterness and astringency for such a young cake. The flavour is soft, thick and honey-ish.

Notes of Chrysanthemum

Starting from the third steep, the tea slowly becomes more floral and woody. The floral notes at first resembles orchid flowers. However, from the 4th steep onwards it slowly transitions into notes of Chrysanthemum. This Chrysanthemum flavour is something we’ve never experienced before in any pu erh so far. Without doubt, this is a truly distinguishing aspect of this Wu Liang Shan pu erh.

Honey & Rock Sugar

Besides the floral notes, the honey flavour of the first steep, slowly becomes lighter, and it reminds one of rock sugar. One can also clearly smell the sweetness of the tea in the bottom of the cup in the first 4 steeps.

Conclusion

All in all, this is a great choice for raw pu erh lovers, who like pu erh with little astringency, bitterness, medium to high sweetness. We also recommend this tea to those who generally love Tie Guan Yin oolong or Chrysanthemum flower tea. For those who love Chrysanthemum, this pu erh will be a truly surprising experience. It wouldn’t be strange to describe this tea as a slightly over-steeped Tie Guan Yin oolong + chrysanthemum flower blend.