Equusfell tried to foist this sample onto me after she disastrously steeped it grandpa-style (i.e., leave it in the cup forever, no rinse) quite a while ago when she was just starting to get into tea. I was going to just drink it, and then I decided it would be perfect to use in one of our gongfu sessions to really introduce her to what puerh is all about. I’m not the biggest puerh fan, but I appreciate its subtleties and understand it as a tea, and I was really happy that the session turned out very well.
I think I probably should have done two rinses instead of one, since the first steep was still a little overbearing. It’s been a while since I’ve had a puerh, and I admit I enjoyed “walking in the woods” once again. My first thought was, tastes like a sheng. The earliest steeps had some woody notes and autumn leaves. Then suddenly some really juicy apricot with hints of vanilla came to the forefront. As steeps progressed, it became more minerally and more smokey, with hints of leather.
Overall a fun tea to have a session with, and I think it was a good introduction to the wild and crazy world of sheng.
