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.

UPDATE: 9/1/22My 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).

I took a few pictures of my first experience.You can see the bag they come in, an unwrapped cake next to a standard 2 liter bottle top, the cake after I broke it up, the cake after being steeped four times after an initial rinse, and finally the end result.I followed the directions for my initial cake using water at around 210F. I rinsed it for 10 seconds and disposed the rinse. Then I had four sessions of steeping, 6oz each, for 2 minutes each. I mixed all four together in my 24oz tumbler and poured by first cup.It has a very pronounced earthy flavor. I didn't detect any foul taste or bitterness during the sip nor in the aftertaste. That being said, the flavor was not as complex as I am used to, but 20oz of the tea I typically use would cost me $200.... this was 9 times cheaper. While I like my other tea more, my wallet likes this one.I drink 24oz of tea each day, it's how I start every morning. Even though this is not my favorite, it is acceptable, and a good value if you drink a lot of tea.