1990s Chong Shi Cha

One of many samples that was kindly shared with me by Togo this past week!

I actually got very close to ordering this for myself last year when LP first listed it because I was very curious about what this might taste like, and I think insect poop tea is one of those “bucket list” type of teas that everyone should try at least once. However, I wasn’t sure if I’d like it and because of that I couldn’t commit to ordering a bigger amount of it blindly. So, suffice to say I was stoked by the inclusion of this sample!

I steeped it up over my lunch break on one of the days I was in office this week. I had a few coworkers who tried it with me, and I really appreciated having someone else sharing in the experience with me – it was the sort of moral support I needed to drink poop tea. As i was steeping, I definitely had the realization that even five years ago this would have seemed revolting to me, as well as how lucky I am to be working with the type of people who are equally as curious and enthusiastic about tasting insect poop tea as I was. I think, even within my office at a tea company, were I to explain what this tea is to any of the coworkers outside the tea department, no one would get it.

All that said… I actually really enjoyed this.

I honestly have no clue if the age of this type of tea affects the taste in any sort of significant way – if anyone knows one way or the other, I would love to hear! I also expected the little CTC looking pellets to sort of “dissolve” (rather, suspend) similar to matcha but they really didn’t lose their shape at all.

Taste wise, I found this deeply earthy and smooth with pleasant camphorous cinnamon notes! Not really a “thick” liqour but somewhat coating, with a surprisingly clean finish to it. Also just a smidge sweet. I definitely definitely feel like this is one of those things that everyone should try at least once!

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CTAXRIcLXFU/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i_8FlBmJcQ&ab_channel=DavidDeanBurkhart