5/9/14
OK,,instantly addicted to Puerh now!!!! This is my first cake and I love this little one!! I am aging this cake but decided to brew the loose leaves and chisel off a few more for one gong fu session. I got a puerh pick so I could keep the leaves whole and intact.
The cake is from Jing Gu county of Simao, Yang Ta village, China.
The dry leaves are dark brownish-forest green with whitish creamy colored ones mixed in.
Not gonna rate this tea because I am still learning about puerh and will be coming back to this one from time to time and drinking a bit more as it ages. But it tastes interesting and good so that’s all I need to know!!!!
I used 200F water and 3 tsp leaves in my little 4 ounce pot.
1. 20 seconds – rinse
2. 20 seconds- subtle smoke, smooth; liquor is champagne pearl color
3. 20 seconds- wet leaves smell like slightly sweet tobacco as does the liquor. There is a blue poppy seed flavor with smoke and a touch of cream.
4. 20 seconds- the leaves are really open and expanded now. They are very large leaves and then there are buds like silver needle in with them. This cake is made from the varietal Camellia Taliensis and the leaves are white tippy and very large. This is my favorite steeping,, it has subtle smoke with white tea cream qualities, the blue poppy seed, a hint of tobacco.
5. 25 seconds- smoky white tea cream flavor with a tiny tiny bit of astringency coming out now and a tiny tiny bit of bitter.
I live in the desert so I have been reading about storage for puerh a lot. I definitely have low humidity covered but I hope my cake has enough humidity for the organisms to live. There is humidity in the desert, just not tons,,so I think I should be fine.
I will check back here from time to time and date my entries so I can see the tea’s progression :)
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5/17/14
Had some more of this today. 200F 15" rinse then 3 more 15" steeps,,,(last two were at about 180F). Caught a bit of vanilla today, a tangy note like a white raspberry, mulberry, and the sweet tobacco is still coming thru. Lots of layered flavor. Once the leaves open up after about 5 steepings, there is a bit of astringency to cleanse your palette.
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7/1/14
Broke off a bit more today to try. I need to leave this alone to age bc it keeps getting better but I keep drinking it lol.
195F 4 oz gong fu porcelain pot
10" rinse
15"
25"
Flavors are smoky cream with a touch of honey and a touch of tamarind bitter.
There are lots of buds and young leaves in this cake. Giving off a touch of Se Wei but it is mellowing out each time I try it.
Flavors: Berries, Tobacco, Vanilla