First of all, a huge thank you to Angel at Teavivre for this free sample!! I am finally getting around to trying it. Today is a grey, kind of dull looking day here, so I wanted a tea that will give me some happy cha qi, so hopefully this hits the spot!!
I am brewing this in my gaiwan, and I don’t really know what parameters to use. I covered the bottom of my gaiwan (probably a few grams of tea? I don’t know) and did a 15s rinse with boiling water, then did a 15s steeping for the first one. Oh, the dry smell is quite green and nice, with that honey-hay note that I find in some white teas, particularly aged white tea cakes. The steeped aroma is quite light for the first one, a slight honey note and some fresh green scent.
As for the flavor, it is starting out quite light. Very much like an aged white to me, there is a bit of grassiness, a chewy hay-like note, and yes, a lingering sweetness. Mostly hay so far.
I made the second steep and when I opened the gaiwan, this amazing honey scent wafted out. I absolutely love that smell, it reminds me of the first aged white tea I had, sooo good. So after a 20s steep, the flavor is becoming more pronounced and green. There is a fresh, almost cooling sensation near the end of the sip. The honey aftertaste is still there, but I am having a tougher time tasting it due to the fact I am eating lunch with it haha (leftover vietnamese, actually goes quite well with this tea, but mutes some of the sweetness).
Overall, I am enjoying this tea so far. It is an inoffensive raw pu’erh, not too crazy, not many crazy flavors that some sheng can have, just enjoyable. Not a whole lot of that fuzzy tea drunk feeling (yet haha) but more of a slightly energizing, sinus opening experience. This one feels great for my allergies so far! One of the best ones yet! I feel a warm sense of energy, but am still relaxed. Kind of weird, but I’ll roll with it haha. My mood is also improving, and the sun is starting to come out, so it’s a good combo for feeling cheerier. I plan to drink a few more steeps of this tea, then toddle down to the nearby DavidsTea and try to snag some winter blends. Hoping the lineups aren’t horrendous, my mom has already asked me to get a tin of Cocomint Cream for her (her all time favorite tea, she has been looking for a substitue for ages lol). So this tea should provide some energy to tackle that today, as well as laundry haha, as long as it doesn’t make me too tea drunk ;). Thanks again Teavivre for the opportunity to sample this lovely raw pu’erh!!
Flavors: Grass, Hay, Honey, Sweet, Warm Grass
