Review topics: ["taste","kick","sweetness","tea","color","drinker","cake","brew","steeps","water","difference","leaf"].
Reviews
Perfect tea to kickstart the day
"This tea was, far and away, my favorite among the 8 pu-erh teas included in Yunnan Sourcing's "Introduction to Pu-Erh Tea Sampler Set", and I ended up ordering a full cake. It has a unique, powerful taste that is unlike from any of the other raw Pu-erhs I have sampled to date and that lingers in the mouth for a very long time. The aptly named "Purple Kick" is the perfect tea to kickstart the day on a chilly fall morning."
— AJ H. (5/5)
pine wood wrapped in grape and plum skins
"There's a reason that this (purple) tea sells out every year. A very good reason. It's got a stellar combination of elements that make it such an incredible experience, whether you're new to pu'erh or a seasoned pro. I blind bought a whole cake and am extremely happy with that decision. I would have regretted buying just a sample. First off, what a visual beauty. Wow. I was immediately impressed right when I opened up the cake for the first time. Tons of "Zi Ya Bao" (god I wish I could type that in Chinese, I would feel so cool right now) in this year's pressing makes it such a beauty simply to look at. Compression on the cake is excellent, too. It's definitely on the looser side, but the cake still retains its wholesome integrity while being easy to pull apart without much effort and without breaking the leaves. Aroma of the leaf is dry, sweet pine, with some grape-skin like bitterness. I feel like the pungent nature of this tea creates a hui-gan if you just sit and sniff the cake for a couple minutes... the aromatic molecules work their way into your lungs and start to coat them before you even brew it up. This is really strong tea. I like to rinse around 150 for 3-5 seconds. I find the strong Ye Sheng "野生" (I totally copied and pasted that from Scott's description) nature of this tea explodes forward after a warm rinse. It's like the ox on the wrapper of this cake kicked me directly in the face. There's a tingling sensation on the nose with a soft sweetness that just doesn't come out if cold water is used... and hot/boiling water is a rookie move. This is tea time, not amateur hour! ;) In the cup, this tea retains its strength and composure exceptionally well across the 10-ish infusions I always get out of it. It progresses from cup to cup in such a way where the up-front bitterness and astringency is gradually tempered by a thick and viscous sweetness that creates a syrupy mouthfeel and imparts a very long-lasting aftertaste. It's not the most complex evolution of flavors, but the difference between the beginning and the end of the session is apparent and easy to appreciate for the pu'erh drinkers out there who like to keep steep times short and really peel back individual layers of flavor. You'll find some cool nuances over the years as you explore this cake ... if a cake even lasts that long. I doubt mine will. A solid daily drinker and an excellent weekend warrior, this cake is priced ridiculously well whatever the occasion. Don't miss out on this one."
— NN (5/5)
Very astringent
"Nice golden color, great aroma... but even after the 3-4 steeps it is very astringent and bitter, but it does advise this in the listing.... so getting and aging would personally be a must for me. I got this in a sample package."
— Terry T. (3/5)
Love raw purple tea. This
"Love raw purple tea. This one is just great."
— Jack A. (5/5)
Like the package
"Service steeps yield. Have yet to crack the cake and the aroma is enticing"
— Tim B. (5/5)
Вкус острый резкий аромат с
"Вкус острый резкий аромат с дымком. Он вас удивит если его пробуете первый раз, но выпитый в жаркий полдень он принесёт облегчение и заряд энергии. Этот чай прописался в листе постоянных ежегодных покупок начиная с 2014 года. Со временем вкус становится более мягким и спокойным."
— Игорь Х. (5/5)
Delicious, great deal
"This is a great tea. I've tried a few different purple teas now, including last year's Purple Planet (which is also awesome) and by comparison this one is a little bit sweeter and seems to go a little bit longer for me. Young as this tea is there is certainly some bitterness, but with these purple teas I really really enjoy the way it lingers and transforms. The finish lasts well after I've finished my session and moved onto other things. If you haven't tried one of these purple teas before get a sample first because it isn't really like other raw puer. If you've enjoyed some of the purple teas before you'll like this one."
— Matt C. (5/5)
Sweet purple kick
"Blind purchased a whole cake as I have last years purple planet which is also excellent and i enjoy greatly. This tea cake is really just as beautiful as it is in the pictures the bud heavy tea makes you almost not want to break into it... but I just had to drink it the dry tea smells great too with that fruity purple punch. I dislike bitterness in my tea so I brewed up 3.2g in my tiny 60ml solo gaiwan, at 85C and used flash steeps (around 5 secs each). This made the tea soup deliciously sweet and fruity. The fruitiness is definitely a kick much like other purple teas (purple voodoo and purple planet) but a bit stronger to begin with. I got a good solid 15 steeps out of the tea brewing this way and totaled 22 steeps with it starting to fade off at after the 15th and adjusted some of the steeping times to bump it back up a little."
— Tea D. (5/5)
Really interesting and colorful tea
"The dry tea is as vibrantly colorful in the hand as it is in the photos above. A+ for beauty. The brewed tea can be quite strong and bitter, as explained in the write-up above. Personally, I don't like particularly bitter tea. However, using a little less leaf and shorter brew times yielded something delicious. For me, the sweet spot was about 7 grams (I think the gaiwan is a bit more than 100ml) and the first 3-5 steepings were under 15 seconds. Even with the short brew times, the yield is rich and wakeful. The mouthfeel is extremely long-lasting; that thin, sweet taste, as well as aroma, lingers in the throat for hours. The wet leaves remain colorful. They are shiny, slippery, and smooth and reminded me, for some reason, of frog skin. I mean that in the best way, of course. It's a treat for the senses."
— YetAnotherScott (5/5)
