I have been watching Teahouse Ghost videos and then boring my dear husband to tears with lots of tea talk. He mentioned that he couldn’t remember what sheng pu’er tastes like, and I told him that was probably because I never made him any. I didn’t think he would like it much. He was mildly affronted, or pretended to be, so I set up the tea tray for a gong fu session tonight.
After warming the gaiwan, I put in the leaves to rest and release their aroma. Peaches with ginger, heavy on the ginger!
My husband says his reviews are usually, “It was hot and had tea-like qualities.” This time he got creative, saying it smelled like wet hair – probably a good assessment since I use organic herbal shampoo bars. Then he said maybe what he really meant was earthy. Also not a bad descriptor for this tea, as there is a hint of distant smoke. He said it “had a wang”. When I told him that I tasted camphor, he said he definitely agreed and that was what he was calling the wang, but I think the astringency contributed to the wang. Ha! So sheng pu is what drew him out of his shell to attempt a real description of a tea!
Now for mine….I found this to have a lot of peach/apricot aroma with ginger, a little more ginger than I care for in the early steeps. We did many. The camphor I already mentioned, and the briskness reminded me of darjeeling.
The liquor grew smoother and sweeter as we steeped. I used 200F rather than boiling. The color was light gold, fading with later steeps.
I am left with a warm glow and feel very sleepy and so peaceful, which I really needed tonight. I may check back in on this in a year, but I don’t know. I own very little sheng and I want to start getting to know sheng better.
Perhaps I will hit up mrmopar for some recommendations since he first recommended this one to me.
I am very excited that I used my gaiwan and didn’t burn myself! Ha ha! I have hardly ever used it, and have not felt very successful with it, but it is coming a little more naturally to me now and I really enjoyed it. I see more gaiwans in my future…
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Glad to help if you need it.
Thank you!
Your hubby and my hubby evidently share the same refined tea palate and flavor vocabulary.
This was the first sheng I tried. It made such a big impression in taste and feels that I branched out from there. Talking about it that way and knowing how your husband described it makes me feel filthy. So cool you can share tea with him <3
Ha ha! Derk, this guy literally graduated from eating nothing but fries, potato chips, and Easy Cheese when we met to being a veggie monster and enjoying tea – even though he says he can’t detect the notes and nuances. He tends to love the expensive stuff even without ever knowing the price. (We don’t discuss the cost of tea but one dragonwell led him to venture, “I like this. It’s expensive, isn’t it?” Of course, it was. Of course, I ordered some.
Glad to help if you need it.
Thank you!
Your hubby and my hubby evidently share the same refined tea palate and flavor vocabulary.
This was the first sheng I tried. It made such a big impression in taste and feels that I branched out from there. Talking about it that way and knowing how your husband described it makes me feel filthy. So cool you can share tea with him <3
Ha ha! Derk, this guy literally graduated from eating nothing but fries, potato chips, and Easy Cheese when we met to being a veggie monster and enjoying tea – even though he says he can’t detect the notes and nuances. He tends to love the expensive stuff even without ever knowing the price. (We don’t discuss the cost of tea but one dragonwell led him to venture, “I like this. It’s expensive, isn’t it?” Of course, it was. Of course, I ordered some.