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__Morgana__ drank Wild Arbor Pu-Erh Beeng Cake by Art of Tea

2036 tasting notes

Adventures in pu erh: Morgie vs. sheng cake.

The cake smells like chocolate, which is awesome.

See how in the picture, there is a piece of paper on the cake, and tea is over it? This made things more difficult than they needed to be.

The cake was packed really tightly and I found it very hard to loosen any part of it. So I went for the little indentation in the middle, and managed to break on through to the other side, but the result was I hit the paper without realizing it. So there were little bits of paper among the tea.

Also, the tea was pretty dusty because I am sure I broke some of the leaves trying to pry it apart.

Any suggestions on how to do better next time?

Somehow I managed to pry enough off to get about 2.7g of tea. I got most of the paper out before I rinsed, and another couple of bits out after. But I suspect there was still some in there…

Gaiwan. Boiling. 5/5/7/7/10/10/20/30/40/60

Because of the dust, the liquor was cloudier than I’d ever seen with a sheng. It was the color of a lemon cough drop in the first few steeps. Later, it became gold, with a copper tinge and clearer.

I didn’t notice much change from steep to steep. For the most part, I got that buttery, white chocolate aroma and flavor that I have discovered is pretty standard for me and sheng.

Around steep 4, something happened though. The tea got sweeter, and also seemed to be more vibrant in flavor.

And around steep 6, it developed a crispness and a brightness I hadn’t observed before.

I liked it quite a lot, though I am not sure it’s the best I’ve had so far.

Flavors: Chocolate, White Chocolate

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3 comments

Kittenna
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For some reason, this is inspiring me to pull out some of my puerh and try it tonight… hopefully paperless, though. Haha.

hawkband1
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Try going in from the side in two spots – in kind of a triangle. Then use the knife to pry in the middle of the two spots. Hopefully that should loosen a chunk, without too much dust. ;)

__Morgana__
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Great, thanks! I’ll try it!

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Comments

Kittenna
Delete

For some reason, this is inspiring me to pull out some of my puerh and try it tonight… hopefully paperless, though. Haha.

hawkband1
Delete

Try going in from the side in two spots – in kind of a triangle. Then use the knife to pry in the middle of the two spots. Hopefully that should loosen a chunk, without too much dust. ;)

__Morgana__
Delete

Great, thanks! I’ll try it!

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Bio

I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes