89

I am still new to tea tasting; that’s my disclaimer for the following. I was really looking forward to this tea due to the Verdant description of “pound cake” and “whipped cream” as main flavors. But what I tasted was hands down medicinal. Something in this tastes how an acupuncturist treatment room smells. A kind of acrid and bitter underside to the tea, is it like moxa? Is that camphor? Menthol or wintergreen? It has a coolness about it and engages the nose a lot, as if there were volatiles being released. Chinese medicinal roots. Like chewing on a licorice root. This stood out in the aroma of the steeped leaves as well. Maybe, maybe in steep I tasted some whipped cream, but I also was wanting to taste that from the start, so maybe I was imagining. The texture is smooth and rich with some creaminess.

I have tasted less than 10 shu pu’er so far, and this one was different from all the others, so it was a good experience in showing me new possibilities. However, the upfront medicinal taste (and aftertaste) disqualifies this tea for me in terms of daily drinking. This is a tea I would recommend to taste with friends for a session comparing and contrasting different shu pu’er.

I will be curious to see what other reviews say.

Flavors: Herbs, Medicinal

Preparation
5 g 3 OZ / 75 ML

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I have a small tea tray next to me at work (a school), and desk drawers full of small jars and cakes of tea. It seems rather mysterious to many students, some of whom want to try the teas and learn to manage the gaiwan, which perhaps inspires a life-long tea odyssey.

Ratings:

95+ are teas I want to have on hand and buy again. I am willing to pay a higher price than my usual threshold.

90-94 are teas that I highly praise and recommend, and they are welcome additions to my collection. I could buy them again.

80-89 are teas that I am thankful for trying, but I would keep searching for other teas before buying again.

79 or less is indicative of a disappointing tea for me.

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