Damn this heat wave. Early October and it’s 97 degrees today. Not exactly hot-tea-with-breakfast weather, but oh well. I seem to straddle the line between tea elitist and tea junky. Either way I’m OK with it.
Up for today is the 1st steeping of the Nannuo Shan Shou Pu-erh 2001 harvest I bought the last time I was in the City and could drop in to the good folks at Red Blossom Tea Company in Chinatown.
This is a straight up, damn good, full flavor, big and bold Pu-erh. Nothing special, no added flavors or spices, none of that unneeded crap. Just straight up great leaves.
I felt like the first time I brewed this tea a few weeks ago I steeping it a bit too long, so first the first steeping, after the rinse, of course, I steeped this for the short end of the recommended time, only 1 minute. Perfect.
In that short steeping time it still came out a deep, dark, amber, reddish black color, with a strong, sweet aroma containing hints of malt and fruit.
The taste is simply incredible. It has so much delicate sweetness, while still kicking forth a big, dark, malty taste. Even the finish is dry and clean.
I do recommend the much shorter steeping time, there is so much flavor, anything over 1:30 would ruin the delicate balance between sweet and dark malt.
Flavors: Malt, Sweet
