Le Salon Enchanthé

Gongfu!

This was a gift shortly after I moved out to Montreal, and one of the older sheng pu’erh that I have in my stash. Twenty five years, in fact!! It’s highly aromatic with such an intensely deep, nuanced profile that I just fully melted right into from the first sips of the session. I get all sorts of earthy notes like petrichor, oak, decaying wood, rain-soaked soil, and earth caked garden beets as well as an almost numbing mix of spices like clove, allspice, vanilla with a punchy finish of camphor and sandalwood. However, absolute favourite notes of the session is this really fleshed out, anchoring flavour of antique, leather-bound books balanced out by whispy, fleeting tastes of smoke and incense. It makes me feel like I’ve retreated deep into some old parlor room or study on a dark, stormy day just lost in a good book!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DHmKuzcy-9X/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1u_hL11auM&ab_channel=HozierVEVO

Drinking this one at work, but I’m not overly impressed with it. The aroma of the dry leaf had a really enticing creamy, buttery and floral bouquet to it and that’s what initially drew me in to trying it out – but the leaf is REALLY broken up and small, and the flavour is sort of watery, though does still have a nice soft floral element to it and a little bit of a creamy/nutty undertone. It’s just not as nice a profile as I’ve experienced from other Si Ji Chun teas – and I thought it would be fresher and sweeter based on the dry aroma.