Puerh and I have not yet become friends, so I jumped at the chance to try a number of good quality puerhs in Mandala’s new sampler. I thought the sampler might help me get a better understanding of ripe puerhs, and see if there are any I might truly enjoy. Thanks, Garret, for offering this sampler!
I wasn’t sure which one to try first. It might be helpful if the note that comes with the sampler also indicated which puerhs were good for beginners to start with. I decided to start with this one, since it was listed first. Logical, eh?
I don’t have a gaiwan yet, so I used a small teacup and covered it with a saucer for steepings, a Pyrex measuring cup for a pitcher, and one of my cute cherry blossom teacups for sipping. Verdict? I think I need a gaiwan. ;)
I followed the recommended brewing procedure and here’s what I got:
Overall aroma – sweet, milk chocolate, vanilla. Yay!
30-second steep: leather, earthy, smooth, maybe some cocoa in aftertaste, maybe some cedar.
45 seconds: silkier, similar in notes to previous steeping, more cocoa coming out at end of sip. Yay!
1 minute: I think the note I used to think as leather is really a cedar note. More cedar than cocoa this round.
1min15sec: less cedar, more balanced.
1min30sec: generically sweet, honey.
1min45sec: same as previous.
2min30sec: sweet, weak. I think I’m done now. ;)
Favorite steep: second one, because more cocoa!
Side effect: serious caffeine effect…very jittery. Guess I should watch that.
Overall, I wouldn’t mind if this passed my way again, but I probably wouldn’t seek it out. I’m definitely looking forward to the other samples!
Question: Do you reheat your kettle for all steepings? Mine cooled significantly between steepings.
In other news, I made my first kale smoothie today, with mango and banana, and it turned out pretty good! This has been a “try new things” day!
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I used to reheat my kettle, then I started keeping the water in a thermos so I don’t have to keep going to the kitchen.
That’s a great idea, Marzipan! Will try that next time.
Is the hold temp. function of the Bonavita helpful for this purpose?
Ya, I thought of that, but didn’t do it…I lacked follow-through! Haha!
Marzipan that is brilliant
My tea kettle has a hold temp function but I’m too zen (lazy) when doing gong fu to run back and forth to the kitchen. My mom had this Gevalia carafe thing she got with their membership that she gave me and it works great.
I used to reheat my kettle, then I started keeping the water in a thermos so I don’t have to keep going to the kitchen.
That’s a great idea, Marzipan! Will try that next time.
Is the hold temp. function of the Bonavita helpful for this purpose?
Ya, I thought of that, but didn’t do it…I lacked follow-through! Haha!
Marzipan that is brilliant
My tea kettle has a hold temp function but I’m too zen (lazy) when doing gong fu to run back and forth to the kitchen. My mom had this Gevalia carafe thing she got with their membership that she gave me and it works great.