Review: The Dark Planet - Crimson Lotus Tea

Type: Pu'erh (Shou)
Producer: Crimson Lotus Tea
Origin: Menghai, Yunnan; 2013
Brewing Parameters: 6-9 g; 100°C; 5s up in Gongfu style
Appearance: Small, compressed ball with light to dark brown leaves
Rating: B | 83/100
# of Brews: 6

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
So, I was given Crimson Lotus Tea's Puerh Yunniverse tasting set for Christmas this year, which means that we're doing another set of themed reviews! Although I'm usually not a puerh drinker (and a shou puerh drinker at that), I love these little single serving tea balls. I don't know why– it's probably just the convenience or the fact that I never actually drink puerh that often. Anyway, I'm excited to try this. I'm following CLT's suggested brewing style, with a couple of rinses before to open the ball up.

Surprisingly, this tea didn't take that much work to open up. It kind of fell apart after the first wash. As a whole, the leaves are relatively small, but not broken up. The tea has a smell– sort of musty, fishy (shrimp or crab), and like old books. The color is a very nice dark amber, similar to unrefined apple juice.

For the first brew, the taste was relatively weak (probably because I only brewed for 5 seconds). It had an earthy and mineral sweetness, with a very light fruity/citrusy aftertaste. It's not bitter at all– something I didn't expect– and had very little astringency; in fact, the mouthfeel was generally smooth.

As it went on, the brew became more orange-red and clear. I increased the brewing time by 5 seconds each subsequent brew, and it worked out pretty well. The flavor became a bit more sour and the mineral flavor was much more pronounced (you know how water tastes when it has a bit too much calcium in it? yeah, that's how this tea is). Over the six brews, the flavor stayed relatively constant, which makes me think that I could keep drinking this throughout the day.

Overall, this is one of the better shou puerhs I've had. I'm still not a fan of shou puerhs in general (probably because I have so little experience with them), but this could be the occasional pick me up or something to change up your daily drink. I might change my mind on this tea by the end of the Puerh Yunniverse tastings, but I think it's just alright.


Other Notes

Today's album was De La Soul's And the Anonymous Nobody. I heard some bad things about this album from my friends, but I actually liked it quite a bit– there's a wide variety of featuring artists and the lyrics are pretty good (Here in After is my jam).

Hopefully, I'll be publishing a review or post almost every day for the rest of break. It's been too long since I last posted, and I actually now have a backlog of teas I need to go through and review (which is a first). Here's the plan for the Yunniverse teas, though:
Today: Dark Planet
12/31: Planet Bangwei
1/1: Planet Jingmai (no review since I've already done one, and I think that drinking the first sheng puerh I ever tasted is a good way to start the new year)
1/2: Planet Yiwu
1/3: Planet Baiying
1/4: Space Girl (I might hold off on this one because it's a small brick/cake instead of the usual tea-ball)
After that, I'll be reviewing some random teas in no particular order: Stormy Night by David's Tea, Earl Grey by Tea of Life, Soleil Levant by Lupicia, Peppermint Herbal Tea by Stash Premium, Soothing Chamomile by Ambiance, and Teh Halia by Lipton. (Most of these teas are actually just free teabags I got as samples or from hotels/law firms/etc.).

As for what's happening today– I'm going to finish writing my college applications and hopefully submit by the end of the day! I don't know where I'll go in the end, but we'll see and I'll update you guys when I get my acceptances.