Current count of yet to be tasted and written about teas in cupboard:
Pu erh: 11
Oolong: 22
And a bunch of pu erh samples, including this one.
I got a sample of this from Essence of Tea when I ordered some yixing pots from them a while back.
The next step in my pu erh adventure is to develop a more discerning palate. Right now I honestly have no idea how to judge the quality of a pu erh, be it sheng or shu.
Thoughts?
In the packet, the sample smells like hay/grass/straw. All of the pasture elements are represented.
I rinsed and set this aside in the gaiwan for more than 15 minutes. Then I steeped at boiling for 5/5/7/7/10/10/20/30/40/60
The first steep was very, almost deceptively mild. I really couldn’t develop much of an impression of the tea after the first steep. It was sort of like my experience with some white teas. I can sense that the tea is there, but I can’t say that I really know what I’m tasting.
Subsequent steeps brought out the flavor, and a darker liquor that varied in shade from a lighter to a darker butter yellow with a tinge of brown at its darkest.
In aroma and flavor, this one spanned the gamut of things I’ve tasted in the other shengs I’ve tried recently. The second steep had a slight bitterness, but most of the steeps were the cocoa-toffee-coffee-white chocolate-butter melange I’ve come to quite enjoy. The fourth steep had some of the linen aspect that I noticed in my early forays, and was also, surprisingly, lightly floral.
The sixth steep made me notice a tingling on the tongue.
The seventh seemed sweeter than the others.
Can someone explain to me what qi is and how I know when I encounter it?
Flavors: Butter, Cocoa, Coffee, Floral, Grass, Hay, Straw, Toffee, White Chocolate
Preparation
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Different for each person. Could be alertness, calming, relaxing or sweating. Just a couple but I think mental alertness is the one I get most. Any kind of body feeling.
You are getting into puerh! Just sayin……. ;P
Hmm. I don’t really notice anything different yet. I’ll have to start paying more attention to the feelings as distinct from the taste.
I’m for sure enjoying my stay in pu erh land!
Sometimes a tea will give you an experience and sometimes not. I think being enjoyable to drink is the main thing that I like to find in a tea.
Different for each person. Could be alertness, calming, relaxing or sweating. Just a couple but I think mental alertness is the one I get most. Any kind of body feeling.
You are getting into puerh! Just sayin……. ;P
Hmm. I don’t really notice anything different yet. I’ll have to start paying more attention to the feelings as distinct from the taste.
I’m for sure enjoying my stay in pu erh land!
Sometimes a tea will give you an experience and sometimes not. I think being enjoyable to drink is the main thing that I like to find in a tea.