Backlog: I got a small amount of this tea on my last Mandala order. Some of the older raw Pu-erh’s have a good energy buzz and yesterday I needed that.
Dry it smelled really mushroomy . I had to let my cat Amber smell the bag to see if she would like it like Chairman does. No deal. She was not interested. Darn!
I used 10 grams with 8 oz. Two quick rinses. First brewing was really strong. Only 15 sec at 200F but it had a strong woodsy, mushroomy flavour. A bit of smoke. I could detect the stone fruit in there as well. A very robust cup. Not my favourite but okay.
2nd infusion was for 20 sec. Already the smoke was becoming less as well as the mushroom.
By the fourth infusion it was much more to my taste. The stone fruit coming through much stronger with only light mushroom notes and hardly any smoke left.
I had a cup this morning too and it keeps getting better.
This tea does have good Cha Qui. Yesterday it helped pick me up and keep me focused. I am finding the hearty shengs seem have the better Cha Qui although for each sheng the energy is different. I prefer not to stick a rating on this one right now as my tastes change over time and it could become a favourite. For now I am finding it a bit strong but next time I have it will use less tea.
Flavors: Earth, Mushrooms, Smoke, Stonefruit
