Gong Ting Pu-erh

I sampled the first of the mini pu-erh tea cakes this week. This was one of the 8 varieties of pu-erh which came in a container of 40 mini cakes. 

Pu-erh is one of the 6 tea types (white, yellow, green, oolong, black, pu-erh). It is produced exclusively in Yunnan Province and has been since ancient times.  Its popularity spread when Mongol horsemen carried this tea across Asia under Kublai Khan during the 13th Century.


This tea is named after Pu-er county which used to be a trading post for this tea during Imperial China.

What makes this tea unique is its secondary (or post) fermentation process it undergoes. (Those The exact nature of the process is a carefully guarded Chinese state secret. What is known is that a bacterium is applied to the tea which allows the tea to age in a way no other tea does. Thus, the tea improves with age and it value increases. Some pu-erh tea cakes are over 100 years old and are worth thousands of dollars each. Pu-erh tea is often compressed into bricks or cakes, whilst some is left as loose leaf. 

There are two main types of Pu-erh tea, cooked (shou):

... and raw (sheng):

The shou type refers to those varieties that have gone through an accelerated post-fermentation process,while the sheng types are those in the process of gradual darkening through exposure to the environmental elements.

Pu-erh develops very strong, unique qualities, with an aroma of rich garden soil or an autumn leaf pile. The flavours are earthy, smooth and roasted.

Using trusty Google translator, I could ascertain that the Pu-erh tea I sampled...

...is Gong Ting (which translates as Imperial Court). This is a popular Pu-erh title and does not in itself reveal that much about this particular tea.  The other information provided for this tea is that it is a 2003 vintage, is manufactured by the Ancient Tea Industry and that it is a cooked (shou) tea (as are all the pu-erh teas in this package)...

Our tea in question is formed in a 'tuocha' style, meaning bowl tea, referring to the form into which it is compressed:

Weighing around 5 grams, I placed the entire mini-tea cake into the gaiwan, added freshly boiled water (Pu-erh tea needs water at as close to 100 degrees Celsius as possible to draw out its deep levels of flavours) and allowed to steep for a bit under 2 minutes.

By this time the cake had mostly broken up, but the leaves had only begun to reveal the depth of their character.

The aroma was classic cooked pu-erh earthiness - fresh topsoil and forest floor.  The flavour was remarkably rich - reminding me of the roasted nature of a stout.  Again, the earthy character is obvious in the flavour, but there was no mustiness.  The mouth-feel is very creamy - one of the signs of a well-aged pu-erh.

By the third infusion, the leaves were revealing how much depth of flavour they contained.  (The second and subsequent infusions were short - 40-50 seconds each).

After seven infusions, this pu-erh tea showed no signs of letting up, with a deep coffee-coloured liquor still being produced.

I was very pleased with this tea.  I did not have high expectations of this tea to be honest, as the 'gift pack/assortments' products can sometimes be a way of selling off products that otherwise wouldn't sell very well.  It was evident from the earthy yet smooth aroma and flavour of this tea, and particularly creamy mouth-feel that this is a fine pu-erh which has benefited well from nearly 10 years of aging.  I think I will keep a few of the mini toucha cakes aside to see what a few more years will add to the flavour profile of this tea.


One variety down, seven to go.  Will keep you posted on the other seven at some stage.  But must write a post or two first about some of the other teas in the Dragon Tea House order, including a fabulous Ba Xian (Eight Immortals) Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong.