Shou and I are not exactly on the best of terms. It’s too earthy. It’s too fishy. I hear people say they like it, that it’s so rich, but when I make it, the results just leave me….flat.
I gotta admit, when I took the tea out of the bag to measure it and start steeping, it looked… dubious. The nuggets were small, matte, dark brown, and just in general highly suggestive of some other type of substance.
I took 5.25 grams of these nuggets and made sure to give them a good, thorough rinsing before drinking: two rinses of 30 seconds each with just-boiled water.
After that, I did a first steep of 20 seconds. The resulting liquid was a deep reddish-brown, like beef broth. The flavour was light, but overall it was earthy, slightly fishy, somewhat salty and savoury. Kinda like soup broth.
The second, third and fourth steeps were all for 30 seconds, and they were pretty similar in taste to the first, if only a bit more intense in colour and flavour. The smell was savoury, brothy, and earthy, with notes of spices like cinnamon, star anise and clove. The mouthfeel here was also pretty thick, like soup broth.
Over time, I also noticed grainy notes that reminded me of popcorn. However, I’m not getting the chocolate or caramel notes the description above promised. Where is my chocolate, White2Tea??
On the fourth steep, I started to notice a cool sensation creeping across my mouth and throat, like menthol or camphor. My lips also started tingling.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh steeps were 40-50 seconds long. The flavour still hadn’t developed those chocolate notes I was told to expect but when I smelled the lid of the gaiwan after the sixth steep, I noticed scents of tobacco and a sweetness that reminded me of red bean past. The second steep was a bit lighter in colour, but by that point I had pretty much used up the water in the teapot so I wasn’t interested in drinking anymore.
At least I didn’t get any caffeine rush this time.
What’s amazing is that even after seven or so steeps, these nuggets still hadn’t unfurled. They were still compact, dark, and tightly packed.
Full review at: http://booksandtea.ca/2016/02/lao-cha-tou-ripe-puerh-white2tea/
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I feel that way about shou too. At one time I liked it a little bit. Then I had sheng and I never looked at shou the same way anymore. Maybe that will change with time.
ive been enjoying aged shou a lot more than young shou. The ones that are about 10+ years seem to be nicer to my palette. Fresh just isnt for me – but then I should be aging those, right? A whole new world lol
With Lao Cha Tou I’ll start prepping it the night before. Usually use three 30 second rinses with water at a rolling boil as much as an hour apart. Then I let it sit overnight before steeping it. That usually helps open the compacted nuggets and allows me to taste the tea. I developed this general approach based upon notes by mrmopar some time ago.
I use more almost double the usual weight. It is chocolate and spicy and yum to me. I can steep it the whole day
Good point boychik, up-dosing the “leaf” definitely helps with this type of tea.
That is a really interesting steeping method, TeaExplorer – should I apply that to shou in general, or just nuggets like this?
Just the lao cha is used by me. Regular shou isn’t as hard to get steeped.
Just Lao Cha Tou nuggets I think. The ones ive got are like rocks
Yes, I only use this steep method for Lao Cha Tou nuggets.
I feel that way about shou too. At one time I liked it a little bit. Then I had sheng and I never looked at shou the same way anymore. Maybe that will change with time.
ive been enjoying aged shou a lot more than young shou. The ones that are about 10+ years seem to be nicer to my palette. Fresh just isnt for me – but then I should be aging those, right? A whole new world lol
With Lao Cha Tou I’ll start prepping it the night before. Usually use three 30 second rinses with water at a rolling boil as much as an hour apart. Then I let it sit overnight before steeping it. That usually helps open the compacted nuggets and allows me to taste the tea. I developed this general approach based upon notes by mrmopar some time ago.
I use more almost double the usual weight. It is chocolate and spicy and yum to me. I can steep it the whole day
Good point boychik, up-dosing the “leaf” definitely helps with this type of tea.
That is a really interesting steeping method, TeaExplorer – should I apply that to shou in general, or just nuggets like this?
Just the lao cha is used by me. Regular shou isn’t as hard to get steeped.
Just Lao Cha Tou nuggets I think. The ones ive got are like rocks
Yes, I only use this steep method for Lao Cha Tou nuggets.