2004 Shu Tuo

Thank you to the good tea friend who sent this sample. Couldn’t find this one in the catalog so I added it. I hope I didn’t put in a duplicate in. This tea was really good. As to fermentation flavor there was none at all, not even a trace. There were some initial notes of spice. There was a little bit of wet storage taste or wet wood but not very much. I would venture to say notes of chocolate in there too. I ended up giving this ten steeps. Would have gone for more but I was at my caffeine limit. The insomnia that keeps me from drinking tea in the evening is most annoying. This is definitely going on my list of teas to buy. It reminds me a little of the 1998 White Tuo by White2Tea.

I steeped this tea ten times in a 120ml gaiwan with 12g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min. I’m sure I could have gotten another five or six steeps out of it judging by the tea color in the tenth steep.