Ten Li Tea Store - Fountain Valley

After noticing 4.5 star rating on Yelp I could not help myself but visit this place. Ten Li Tea is located in the city of Fountain Valley on Magnolia St. here in Southern California. The store is not very big but their collection of teapots and teaware is very impressive. This place is run by a very passionate Taiwanese lady, by passionate I mean very very passionate , passionate enough that she claims that the best Oolong tea comes only from Taiwan.

There is a place in the center of the store where you can sample some of her teas brewed by her in Gong-Fu style and she was very kind to us and brewed some high mountain green oolong Gong-Fu style. While I was there I noticed three cakes of pu'er tea (images below)...

The cost of the above cakes is around $55. Apart from these cakes they also have sheng and shu pu'er but they are in unmarked bamboo cases. It would be nice if someone can identify the above cakes.

The teaware and tea is on the higher side for me because the green oolong that I sampled is aroung $90 per lb.

Anxi Benshan Green Oolong

I procured this sample from EnjoyingTea.com, purveyors of gourmet tea and teaware. The tea sample arrived in a cute little tin (image below) and I was charged only for shipping which is $3.98.



This oolong comes from the Fujian Province,China. It brews into a golden color soup with hints of nuts ending with a smooth almost sweet after taste and there is a notable mouth drying effect.

I started with a 20sec infusion and thereby increased every subsequent brew by 10sec, the first 3 brews were sweet and nutty maintaining the vibrant golden liquor color, around 4th infusion the color started to turn pale therefore I increased the steeping duration to little over a minute well to be exact 70sec though the color was golden the flavor flattened out and weakened.

In my opinion this a very nice oolong to be enjoyed early in the morning.

Moonlight White Silver Tip Pu'er

This is a non-fermented pu'er produced in Xishuangbana prefecture, Yunnan province.
This was a part of seven samples the I procured from Bana Tea Company.

Tasting notes

Just boiled water, flash rinse twice.

1. 10s - pale yellow liquor very aromatic has sweet aftertaste with slight mouth drying effect.
2. 20s - little intense sweetness.
3. 30s - same as previous brew but the liquor was a bit darker.
4. 40s - the sweetness was more intense.
5. 50s - same sweetness as previous.
6. 60s - flavor and aroma flattened out a bit.
7. 2 mins -lighter color and very flat flavor and aroma.

Overall a very good pu'er very aromatic left my tongue feeling sweet and tingly.

Denong Wild Brick (Ripe) Pu'er

This is my first full fledged pu'er experience as I have been drinking various oolongs and greens for last 8 years. I have always been curious about Pu'er tea and wanted to start savoring all the wonderful flavors and aromas.

I Googled a lot to learn about this complex variety of tea and ended up with Denong Wild Brick (Ripe) Pu'er tea from Bana Tea Company. My sincere thanks to Linda Louie the owner and purveyor of Bana Tea Company located here in Southern California. Linda has answered all my questions regarding this Pu'er as well as Pu'er teas in general.

I procured a 100 grams brick of this tea and my first experience has been great, I followed the instructions provided by Linda.

Tasting Notes

Water at 212 F ,flash rinse twice followed by 20 sec, 30 sec,40 sec,50 sec,60 sec,120 sec, 180 sec, 240 sec , 300sec ,360 sec.

The initial few steepings were dark red just like in the picture below, there was sweet aroma and felt very smooth as the steeping time increased the smoothness increased.

This ripe pu'er had a good bit of "cha qi" that I felt, it was calming and relaxed me. My tongue felt well hydrated and comforted then I felt a subtle sweetness.

I would drink more of this pu'er and would buy again.

Please share your experiences with this wild raw pu'er.