Tea Urchin Pu Er Review (Yiwu Charity Cake)
I recently got a bunch of teas in the mail from Tea Urchin.
I’ve grown to really love and trust their teas.
In fact, I gave a review of their budget BuLang and their Lao Man E Pu Er tea cakes already.
Today I’ll be reviewing another one of their Pu Er cakes I’ve wanted to try for years now:
So join me as I finally break into and make some sense of it.
I’ll go over:
What teas with Yiwu character taste like
A little bit about Tea Urchin
My experience with tasting this tea
And my thoughts on this tea and the mission behind it.
Grab a cup and sip along.
Thoughts on Tea
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how tea colors other parts of my life.
How does it align with:
What I believe in
How I act
What I do for a living
I keep coming to the same question:
How does drinking tea benefit others and not just me?
One thing that I think a lot of tea drinkers often forget:
Their tea is picked by real people in real places.
Usually quite far away.
It’s sometimes hard to know what the process means to them.
Or what their lives might be like.
To me, one of the most beautiful things about tea is this connection.
The transfer of information through the leaves.
You can learn so much about others through the tea they make. And for a brief moment, you can share the same space.
Places and Spaces
While thinking about these places where tea is grown and made…
It’s impossible to ignore that poverty is still affecting rural populations in these regions.
Some areas or villages have amassed a good amount of wealth from tea production.
But not all have reaped the benefits.
That’s why I’m always drawn to supporting tea producers who go out of their way to help.
The ones who support the tea-growing regions they source from.
I find a lot of value in knowing that tea can help others in more direct ways.
This is what interests me the most about Tea Urchin’s YiWu Charity cake.
Before we talk more about the tea.
A little background information about the growing region is helpful to know.
If you don’t know much about Pu Er, no worries at all.
You’ll still be able to follow along.
But if you want to know more, it’s worth reading our article What Is Chinese Pu Er Tea.
Yi Wu and Yunnan
Pu Er grows in southwest China in Yunnan Province.
This area borders Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar.
Teas characterized as “Yi Wu” come from a township in Mengla County.
The eastern-most county in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture.
Before we talk more about the tea, a little background information about the growing region is helpful to know.
If you don’t know much about PuEr, no worries at all.
You’ll still be able to follow along.
Also worth reading our Beginner’s Guide to PuEr here.
Yunnan has some of the oldest known tea trees in the world. Which makes their tea extra special.
The province of Yunnan is quite large.
Which yields natural differences in tea plant varietal and taste.
Some mountains produce teas that are bitter and aggressive. While others are sweeter, lighter, and more floral.
Yi Wu area teas tend to be the latter.
Guo Jia Shan
The greater Yi Wu Area has a few famous tea-growing villages, such as Gua Feng Zhai.
These villages have become famous.
So they enjoy prosperity as their teas sell for high prices.
There’s a lot of Pu Er tea history in the greater YiWu area
From well-known old tea factories to ancient trees…
And the teas grown there are known to age well.
This combination has made YiWu tea quite popular amongst tea connoisseurs.
And it has helped the economy of the local villages.
Getting to Know Tea Urchin
I’ve been drinking Pu Er for about 6 years.
But I only recently got around to trying teas from Tea Urchin.
When I was first looking for places to buy Pu Er from, I was totally overwhelmed.
I couldn’t figure out:
Who was selling good quality tea?
What was affordable?
Or who I should trust?
I looked at A LOT of companies.
And what stood out to me almost instantly about Tea Urchin was their honesty and passion.
Many of my tea friends swore by Tea Urchin’s tea because of:
The quality
The tasting experience
The people behind the business
I’d always wanted to drink their teas.
But time flew by.
And I somehow just recently ordered some teas from them.
Let’s just say I’ve been more than impressed!
I’m super happy to have their teas in my collection.
YiWu Charity Cake
This cake was probably one of the first Tea Urchin teas that caught my eye.
The wrapper is by New York artist, Elaine Su-hui Chew.
It’s a lino-cut that’s been hand-printed on handmade paper.
A really beautiful print.
Wrapper art is probably one of my favorite parts about collecting Pu Er from smaller producers.
I find the entire tea drinking experience to be elevated when the tea has a unique wrapper.
I can appreciate it while drinking the tea it holds.
The wrapper got my attention.
But the mission tied to it was equally as intriguing.
I was struck by what was written in the description.
Seeing that it was a “charity” cake.
And reading about the village where the tea came from…
All this really got me thinking about my role as a tea drinker.
And about how I could possibly help out a little.
A lot of tea-producing villages have (luckily) been able to make some decent money through Pu Er production.
So it’s uncommon to come across poor villages in areas surrounding higher selling tea-producing villages.
But that’s not always the case.
The description of the YiWu charity cakes states:
“The tea comes from a village called Guo Jia Shan (过甲山). We were shocked there’s still such a poor village in Yiwu area, many of the kids are bare feet and lacking clothes. They don’t have any ancient tea trees, only 30-year-old trees which were planted by the Government to help them out of poverty.”
The folks at Tea Urchin wanted to purchase and sell this tea as a way of helping out.
Additionally, the description of the tea is super honest:
“The tea is young & fresh, with notes of bright rock sugar, barley, fresh grass, tobacco smoke. It doesn’t have great endurance but is very clean & pure tasting.”
Honesty as a Tea Drinker
This honesty means a lot to me as a tea drinker.
Essentially, tea from young trees in so so growing conditions isn’t the most desirable for a company that prides itself on quality.
But it says a lot about what they believe in
And about what they hope their customers believe in.
To me, that’s powerful.
They didn’t have to buy and sell this tea
But they chose to, for a good reason.
To support the people they saw struggling.
Additionally, they even offer to wave the shipping charges when you purchase this cake.
A ¨thank you¨ for helping out.
The Intersection of Tea and Art
As I sat down to drink this tea, I took some time to slow down.
Then I opened it to break off some tea.
I was quickly reminded of all the hands that went into making what I was about to drink.
The subtle, but noticeable marks of hand-printing on handmade paper helped bring me there.
As I prepared my teaware, I set out the cake of Pu Er.
And admired the beautiful wrapper.
This was one of my favorite parts of the experience.
The moment in which the tea and art intersect.
As I started to brew, I tried to think about all of this.
About all of the people.
And about how tea has helped me.
As I drank, I found some happiness in knowing that this humble tea had helped others.
The aroma of the dry leaf was pretty subtle.
Sweet, but earthy.
The aroma of the wet leaf was quite beautiful though.
Notes of wildflower, wet earth, deep honey.
The dry leaf was greenish-brown, typical of young Pu Er.
While the wet leaf was much greener, closer to yellow – making it easier to see its age.
This tea is humble.
There’s not much more to say.
But this is a good thing.
It’s subtle in many ways.
It’s not showy or overly powerful.
It’s a quiet tea.
Good for taking things slow.
It really makes you pay attention to the subtle differences in flavors, aromas, and feelings.
The first few steeps were light.
Sweet, slightly astringent, floral.
As I brewed longer and the tea opened up, the flavor intensified a little.
But not much.
It stayed pretty even and solid the entire time I was drinking it.
Even when I pushed it a little, brewing longer…
It never really seemed to stray too far from its simplicity.
Overall, I'm glad to have a tea like this around.
Something I can:
Hold onto
Slow down with
And notice subtle changes in as it ages
I always have room in my tea collection for humble teas.
Tea Recap - YiWu Charity Cake
Tea Name: YiWu Charity Cake
Producer: Tea Urchin
Price: $45 / 357g cake ($0.13 / gram or about $0.91 / standard session)
Year: 2016
Growing Location: Guo Jia Shan, Mengla County, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China
Tasting Parameters:
Gong Fu Brewing Method
7 grams of tea
110ml Gaiwan
Flash (or quick) steeps
Aroma:
Wildflower floral
Earthy/tobacco notes
Deep Honey Sweetness
Extra info: If you’re not so familiar with Gong Fu, it’s a Chinese brewing method which uses a small amount of water for a big amount of tea leaves. This method usually requires a Gaiwan teapot where the tea is steeped for a few seconds before being consumed.
Tasting Notes:
Early steeps 1-5:
Instantly sweet
Mild astringency
Nice floral notes that don’t linger too long
Later Steeps 6-15:
Sweetness blooms and lingers for a longer time
Floral elements become more apparent
Astringency is mild, even when brewed a little longer
The nice dry feeling from the tannins becomes more apparent
The flavor stays pretty consistent throughout the brewing
Overall Thoughts:
Overall the tea is pretty humble.
Nothing flashy, no crazy flavors or energy.
Just a solid tea to sit with and enjoy.
The tea definitely exhibits typical YiWu area character (sweet/floral notes).
But it’s much more subdued than other YiWu teas I drink on a regular basis.
This probably has a lot to do with the age of the tea trees used for this Pu Er.
As well as the growing terroir (micro-climate).
Younger tea trees tend to be a little less complex in flavor
Especially when compared to trees that are a few hundred years old…
Age of the Tea Cake
This tea is also about 4 years old.
So it’s reaching a stage in its aging cycle that’s sometimes hard for me to place with Pu Er:
Still pretty young (green/floral)
But also beginning to change into a deeper, earthier tea
It’ll be fun to try this tea along the way as it ages.
Final Thoughts
Overall I find this tea quite enjoyable.
Is it the best tea I’ve ever had?
Probably not.
But It’s a great tea for the price.
Plus, it comes with an awesome piece of art as a wrapper.
And supports a great cause.
Would I Repurchase it?
Hard to say.
Personally, I already have quite a few teas of similar taste and age in my collection.
I’m not sure I’d stock up on this one.
It doesn’t have great endurance (only a few steeps to give).
So I’ll probably be pulling this tea out less frequently, letting it age.
Thoughts on Charity
While buying and drinking tea isn’t the most direct way to help those in need…
The gesture is still a start.
Personally, it’s helped me remember all of the hands that go into making the teas we drink.
It’s got me thinking a lot about the ways to lift up those in need, even if that gesture is small.
Something especially important right now, as the world is going through so many shifts.
It’s got me thinking a lot about what charity means.
And what it means to voluntarily help others.
Thinking about and drinking this tea has brought a lot into focus for me.
It reminds me that beyond its taste or meditative attributes –
Tea has ways to help others in many profound ways.
For Our Tea Friends
Let’s talk about tea.
Come connect with other like-minded people through tea, art, and plant-based food.
We’ve got a Facebook group for that, called the Steepers Union.
Hope to see you there.
And if you tried the Tea Urchin charity cake, let me know what you thought in the comments section below.
