I feel like I’ve had this one in my cupboard for a long time; and I feel bad that I just haven’t gotten around to trying it. In fact, I probably would have continued to take ages trying it were it not for the fact that I let my little sister pick my final tea out for the night.
This was obviously what she picked; I think it’s the first time ever she’s gone for a tea that wasn’t flavoured. I’m almost 100% positive the deciding factor was the smoking monkey on the packaging. Now, I probably would have preferred to try this one Gong Fu but it’s just too late at night now to get into a Gong Fu session/commit to that much tea consumption. Plus, like I said, I’ve put off trying this one for so long now that even if it IS Western style, at least I’m finally trying this one!
So, here are my jot notes from the cup:
- I did forget to do a rinse; I’m just not in the habit of doing one with Western teas…
- Lighter in flavour than expected and very fragrant
- Thick mouthfeel and medium bodied flavour
- Body notes: apricot, peach skins, raisins, fresh clipped grass, and peat/moss
- It’s surprisingly sweet and bright!
- Top notes: raisins or craisins? Something sort of in that vein…
- Finish reminds me of lemon peel/zest; just a HINT pithy
- Also a bit herbeceous, especially in the aftertaste: almost a thyme like flavour?
- And then overall there’s just a very mineral/wet rock kind of undertone
I don’t know that it would be fair to say that I really enjoyed this one; but it was a lot better than I’d kind of expected it to be. To be completely fair, Raw Pu’erh just generally isn’t my thing – I much prefer ripe. I’ve noticed though that Yiwu pu’erh is probably as close an exception to that rule as I’ve gotten though: they’re generally fruitier and I can handle that kind of profile much better than I can other sort of Shengs.
I will try this one Gong Fu – but it may take a while for that to happen. At least, in the mean time, I can say that I have at least tried it in general.
Try this trick for young puehr. Place a bit in a travel mug. Pour in hot water and seal up the mug leave it for a while. You should get something dark like coffee but with a lot of flavour. It blends those fishy notes and brings out fruit notes.