(Gongfu, 6g per 100mL, 100C).
I picked up the beeng from a local tea shop that carries puerh supplied through Bana Tea Company. I was intrigued by the dry leaf’s sweet and spicy scent—my nose almost tickles from the peppery smell!
The rinse’s nose is wet hay which conceals the up front flavor upon taking a sip: very herbaceous like both basil and mint with maybe a hint of anise, that delicious combination I’m sure we’ve all tasted in a delicious bowl of pho. The lasting taste is floral with less savory notes, and some minerality.
1-2: 10s Now we begin. Nose is extremely sweet, like a honey dipped apple. There’s some woody bitterness going down, but its pleasant. The finish is only ever so slightly sweet. This has some nice layers to it
3: 20s bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter—tastes like an IPA almost! But I don’t totally hate it unlike IPAs…I might kick the time back down on this one.
4: 10s. That’s better. Sweet going down, but lasting dryness in the front of my mouth and sweetness in the back of my mouth. IPA is a great way to describe this, this is almost hoppy. I’m now realizing this review is in complete and total contrast to ramblingbutterflythoughts’. I’m way less experienced in puerh so I might be in the wrong here, or maybe something has happened to the tea cake I have that makes it taste pleasantly bitter. Or maybe our perceptions are just very different!
5: 15s, this is still bitter but with a sweetness throughout. I’ve referred to this before as “grape skin” but I’m sure there’s a better term for it.
6: 20s The aroma is now like reeds and honeysuckle together, it reminds me of walking by a river. The bitterness has waned, its now letting the sweetness through! There is some earthiness present in the finish.
7: 25s. I’m noticing my cheeks are a little numb. I was struggling to write this grant I’m working on but now I’m typing away…none of it is any good of course, but the qi seems to have loosened me up just enough :). The reedy taste is now replaced with the taste of chewing on sugarcane, bringing me back to spending time with my grandmother in Mexico
8-10: I took a break for some lobster mac and bacon-onion halibut…the latter sort of fell flat so I’m glad to return to my pu after taking a couple hours of a break. It is mostly sweet and clean tasting now, reminds me of a very strong, mineral white tea. The longer I keep drinking, the drier my mouth gets. This is still a young sheng, after all
????: Honestly I lost track. I’m super full and the tea is getting sweeter and lighter. A great tea and I eventually wound down the session once I got to the minutes-long power steeps without much change in color of the liquor. I look forward to breaking into this cake over the years and seeing what happens with the early hoppiness.
Flavors: Anise, Bitter, Green Wood, Hay, Herbs, Hops, Mint, Pepper, Sweet
