Jinglong Tea Factory - Puerh Tea Mini Tea Cakes (25 Pcs) Ripe Mini Tuocha (4.4 Ounce)

1st Time trying this JingLong Tea Factory, Puerh Ripe Shou Mini Tea Cakes. Using a 16oz Clear Glass Beer Mug, with One Mini-Tea Cake (weighing 6 grams on my Digital Gram Scale), and +212F water. The Pressed Tea Puck easily came apart without any help, and after 12 minutes, I got a Translucent Reddish Brown Soup, but No Aroma, and Light Mild Taste, so I let it continue to Brew for 4 hours more, by which time it had cooled down, and had a Darker Soup, with a Stronger Smooth Taste, but still No Aroma and No Bold Flavor. After 8 hours, the Soup was Very Much Darker Brown, and the typical Puerh Tea's Earthy Taste finally began to Emerge, but still No Aroma, so I let it sit overnight 12 hours, and by that time, Soup was Very Very Dark, Strong Earthy Taste, too much for me, so I divided it in Half to a 2nd 16oz Clear Glass Beer Mug, and added more +212F Water to both Mugs, then let it sit for another hour. Now, it was about what I liked, not too Strong, but still Earthy, Dark Brown Soup, and a Very SMOOTH Taste. It NEVER EVER was BITTER, nor had any Trace of FISH or CHEMICALS, ever. It's a CLEAN, Well Processed and Stored Shou Puerh Tea, so for the Price, it's actually quite well processed, pressed, wrapped, packed, and shipped out. However, it was still much too strong for me (everyone is different), so, I started diluting with more +212F Boiling Hot Water, FOUR MORE TIMES, witjh the Earthy Flavor and SMOOTH Taste continued Emerging from the Tea Leafs, which have now sunk all at the Bottom. Finally, it has become the way I like it. So, this is a VERY Bold and Strong Tea, and next time, I'm going to try making it in a Half-Gallon Glass BALL Container, starting with 32oz of Boiling Hot Water, and going from there. So for now, let's just say this is still, "A Work in Progress", and I'll be UPDATING as things progress. In Summary, I'm VERY PLEASED with this JingLong Very Clean, Smooth, Dark Brown, Earthy Tasting, Convenient Mini Shou Puerh Tea Cake that NEVER becomes Bitter, and will be buying more soon. 5-STARS, and recommend you try it too.

I have drank bad tea for almost 40 years.... time for a change.... The first cake was enjoyable and does not taste like any tea you have had before. 1 cake made a full days and evening pot in my new tea system. ( 1.5 liters) ( iced it was really good.) ( invest in a kettle with an infuser and a heat pad that keeps it warm---iacook) The pot the next day had a slightly earthy- fishy taste. not unpleasant.... Then I learned why people drink this... I was in a completely different mindset--- working with clients and clear and intoxicated on tea!!!! No wonder the English and the Tibetans went crazy for this stuff. Makes getting out of bed on a cold morning so worth it !!! Lets go wrestle a few yaks!! Make an empire before lunch! so I cut back for a few days, alternating with other black and green teas. ( I like kingdom of heaven green tea). so I am back and bought a package of fifty. I bought a brick of 8 year aged.... and I like this better. the brick is messy to pick off of, and theses buttons are just the right size for a large pot. took it camping and its the best. helpful u tube videos tea the story of a leaf. tea road to the skies. I have drunk this for a few years now. I mix with some brick. use heavy milk a sugar cube. its very good for my stomach. most batches are really good. I really love it. great for travel and camping. For travel I take a metal water bottle, $ store gauze pouch. brew in water bottle. pour off and add travel milk and sugar. works like a dream. no more bad tea.

Each mini cake makes an entire pot (three large mugs) of tea. The aroma isn't particularly pleasant while brewing (it smells a bit like fish to me), but it dissipates after a few minutes. The flavor is very good, though — and even better with the addition of half-and-half and stevia. I'm increasingly enjoying it the more I drink of it, and I've already used up half the bag after just a couple weeks. (I drink a lot of tea, of various kinds.) New info: Well, I followed some advice I read to rinse the mini cake before brewing. I poured boiling water over the mini cake while holding it in a basket infuser over the sink. Then I put the infuser in my teapot and filled it with hot water. Guess what? No fishy smell! And an even better experience drinking this tea! So, rinse first!!!

UPDATE: 9/1/22 My original review was 1-star and complained of a 'nasty chemical cleaner odor'. It smelled exactly like it had been stored near scented laundry detergent. I've since learned that some puerh teas actually naturally smell this way and that several of my tea buddies confirmed that Jinglong is a reputable tea company. So my apologies to Jinglong and the seller (I think it was Asiaseller) for the poor review due to my ignorance. It's just I had drunk a lot of puerh tea over 10 years and had never smelled anything like this before. I have a bit of a trigger to scented laundry detergent, so perhaps my brain was making an association that simply isn't there. The tea itself is actually decent. Earthy, dark. Not much character beyond that, but for the price for a ripe puerh, that's normal. But there's no sign of actually bad poor like mold or fishy odor/taste. Leaving the bag open for several months seems to have greatly reduced the "laundry detergent odor" though it also has probably dried the tea out, further reducing it's character. I will try re-hydrating the tea with some 69% humidity packs in their own bag and see if that improves the character/depth of flavor. The seller was very kind in refunding the price of the tea when I complained about the bad smell. Now that I know it's not actually bad tea, I will probably make another purchase of perhaps one of their cakes to give it a try. Usually cakes are made with higher quality tea than the smaller mini-tuos (this product).