2 Tasting Notes
I keep seeing people describing this tea as vegetal and piny. Strangely, I cannot sense any of that. Instead I get strong fruity, citric notes.
9 grams in 120ml and leaving water to cool off a minute or two before pouring. Short steeps gradually increasing. The thick syrup of this tea tricks me that if I go too hot or too long I will get a very sour drink. It’s because the first steeps taste like lemonade. Or more like lemon tea. Not the lemon tea you get from the tea bags at the supermarket, but the drink you get when you boil a lemon whole in water. The aftertaste of the early steeps are also very zesty and a bit floral. I also taste white grapes but then the tea is leaving you with a strong dry throat sensation. You’re not getting away easily from this tea. If you oversteep, it bites. If you run away, the dryness drags you back.
Whatever you might feel about this tea, it will definitely leave you with a strong impression. Everytime I return to it I get anxious and tend to stay away from it. Not my daily drinker but a curiosity that I’d like to have around.
After the 5th steep I reheat the water and this time I’m using pouring off the boiling point and keep the steeps for over 25 seconds. The liquor is as viscous as ever, the color and texture reminding me of grape must. It’s less sour and more sweet, with a bit of bitterness creeping in. Instead of lemon, I get grapes, pears and apricots. The lingering dry throat sensation is growing stronger now. I’m stopping after 12-14 steeps since the tea became too bitter without much else.
Not much age showing in this one but with the price you won’t find it hard to visit it again later on, given it will still be in stock.Preparation
A gentle giant. That’s how I’d describe this tea.
It’s because when you see it for the first time it looks so big and imposing: for 250 grams this tuo is huge; I wasn’t even sure if I got the right tea when I opened the box it came in. And then, the overwhelming minty and woody smell. You’d think man, this bad boy will give a rough time even to the experienced drinker.
But then you drink it. And realize how mellow and kind it is. It’s a tea you’d constantly want to push in order to get an even brew and rise the brew time exponentially. If you challenge this tea, it’s a fight you’ll always win. Definitely a tea for people who want to try puerh but feel overwhelmed by it. Not to be underestimated though as the mid steeps have some potency. These infusions are characterized by thick, whiskey, dark wood and even coffee-like notes. It’s just that it gives up a little too fast, leaving you with a sweet leathery taste.
After having several sessions with it it’d say this tea could use just a few more years of aging in order to become great rather than good. On the surface the tuo is very easy to break loose but the more you get to the center the harder it gets and the tea seems “younger” overall. The teenager on the wrapper is very fitting for the tea: intimidating, temperamental but not that scary once you get to know it. A hothead, just like I’d imagine Kunio-kun would be in real life.
For all intends and purposes, this tea should be called Very Often.
Recommended soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WC4bzUhDwQ&list=PL068985D7A912F97A
This is an interesting tea for sure. I may need to revisit this one again soon.