Cornfields Shu Tuocha

Holy sweet buttery corn! This is exactly what I need right now! More later swoon! Mmm and its a really nice shu to boot! On my sixth infusion and it still has the lovely sweet corn notes but its becoming more rounded.

For anyone unfamiliar with this tea, it is not “flavored” rather it has picked up the essence of the cornfields the tea grows next to. Another reason pu’erh is awesome!

Ooo vanilla is making an appearance in this seventh infusion with some tart berry notes, these later steeps are reminding me of some of my favorite shu, squee! On nine and this is like a whole other delicious tea (reminds me most of Peacock Village Shu), two amazing teas in one!

Presented the husband with a tiny cup of the first infusion, he sniffed it “Smells like the sticky rice”. He took a sip and said “Hmm not bad. How much do you have of this?” Five more tuochas… “I might actually drink this, like in the fall”. This may seem small, but the amount of dismissing my husband does, especially for a 3 second steep like this, its pretty big :)

Just had black japonica rice with saffron, chickpeas and home made tomato chutney with tofu strips. Finishing with a large cup of Cornfields Shu.
The sweet and smooth finish of this tea makes me think of my aunt’s dairy farm, all the smells of hay, linen, wild flowers, barn. Lovely.

I am sorry to say that I have not enjoyed this Touchas (small Pu-erh) tea rolls. Because when growing Diyi Cornfields, farmers plant rows of corn between the tea to protect it, as this imparts flavors of corn and butter that new to pu-erh tea drinkers are supposed to enjoy.

I find I prefer no butter with my pu-erh. Nor the smelling of corn; tasting nachos, or tortilla chips both of which I do not like.

I am sorry, this could be an enjoyable tea if one could hold their nostrils or clip it so as not to smell the butter or corn smelling to be found in the cup. I do like corn chowder but this is not it. I tend to dislike all things smelling like butter; a touch is nice but not runny or swimming in it.

I am at a loss for the spearmint to be found in the cup as well (but not) which would make it even worse. I mean I could not discern any spearmint, just corn and butter…yellow imagery but not in color since it is a dark amber.

Since I’m generally not huge on pu-erhs, this is a great middle ground for me. One of my favorites as far as pu-erhs.

We are finally getting rain! There are about 8 fires right now about an hour from my parents home in Minnesota. It was so dry fires were being started from weird things, like lawn mowers. After this rain dumping it should be much better! Tonight we may even get 1-3 inches of snow!! (happy dance) We didn’t get much snow last year. If its going to be cold, may as well have snow to make it fun!

I’m glad I waited for a chilly rainy day to try this. It is perfect for my mood! It is absolutely delicious!
I can’t believe how much corn I taste in this. It is savory, woodsy, brothy, and leaves a tingly aftertaste. This is only the third puerh I’ve ever tasted, and so far it’s my favorite!

I highly recommend this tea to puerh newbies like myself. As far away from fishy as you can get, and not really earthy either.

Note: rinsed twice according to Verdants instructions.

The tea is packaged as shown in the photo. Very cute little packets that are shaped into the form of a small nest. The dry tea smells like straw. It isn’t, however, offensive and barn-like as some other pu erhs tend to be.

I rinsed for a few seconds prior to steeping and was surprised by the amount of small pieces of tea that were washed away. After a relatively short steep, this tea does indeed smell like buttered popcorn. The taste is somewhat different. It’s somewhat earthy, yet with a little kick to it. I don’t think I would consider it a spearmint flavor as the description mentions, but there’s something wildly unmatched to the scent coming out. It’s as if the tea peaks mid sip then lingers a bit on the tongue.

I resteeped this twice. The second steep was too strong. I let it stay in the water for 45 seconds and the liquor was dark brown and a bit straw like in flavor. I didn’t care too much for it. The third steep produced a much more muted flavor. With the overwhelming scent diminished, the flavor is easier to detect. It is earthy, but not in a musty, dirty way as with other pu erhs. Instead, it was pretty good, all things considered.

I was really excited to find the Steepster Select package in my mailbox today. I hadn’t expected it until tomorrow.

As I am not particularly as fond of Pu-erh as I am other tea types, I am surprised that I chose to try this first. I think it may have something to do with the fact that it’s from Verdant, and they haven’t disappointed me yet.

This tea is full of surprises! Yes, it tastes like corn! It smells like corn too. It is a very light textured Pu-erh – it feels very light and smooth over the palate. Silky. Hints of spice in the background. Earthy, yes, but not overwhelmingly so. One of the lighter earthy tastes (and aromas) that I’ve noticed from a Shu.

I’m liking this.

Got this awhile ago and finally had time to take a swing at it. So here is how it went.

Dry smell: Corn

Wet Smell: Wet corn or corn that has that weird fungus on it.

Overall it tastes and smells mostly like corn. There is a bit of buttery-ness to it but for the most part it is like corn, corn, corn. I like how smooth it is and the color is nice but I want it to be more dynamic somehow. Oh, well overall enjoyable.

Thank you, Bonnie, for this tea sample! I don’t know where you were yesterday, but I missed seeing your postings! Of course, we all have lives away from Steepster!

I was thinking I’d drink a series of Puerhs this morning, & compare them, like people do with wine. Now I’m thinking maybe that wasn’t the best idea. There are flavors that overlap, & my tongue still feels ‘full’ from the first puehr I drank today. Oh well, next time I’ll drink some other tea in between…

This is a very interesting tea! It definitely tastes like Corn! There is also the sensation of butter on my soft palate, & a tingle in the center of my tongue. I’m on the 4th steeping now. I added a drop of stevia to my cup & swirled, just to see what would happen, & carmel hints come forward, but I think I like it better plain. It’s very smooth, not bitter at all, but still grounding & soothing.

I like Puehr! Now I’m sitting here, with 2 cups, one of cornfields & one of Teaspot’s, sipping back & forth. They are both tasty, one buttery corny goodness & the other deep with a hint of chocolate. Looks like my taste experiment is a success after all!

Yuck.

First impression, anyway.

What to say about this one? I ordered it some weeks back from Verdant, along with an oolong, and received a sample of Yunnan Golden buds with my order and a nice note from David. Of the three, the only one I have tried (but sadly not reviewed yet) is the Yunnan, which blew me away with sheer awesomeness. After that, I had high, high hopes for this one, as I’m new to pu-erh and I wanted this to be the great introduction to pu-erh it supposedly is. Plus, I absolutely love corn on the cob – it is just about my favourite food in the entire world.

Even though this is one I would have normally brewed in a gaiwan, I chose to steep it Western style in my Perfect Mug; mainly because my family is taking up the kitchen and I couldn’t be in and out heating small amounts of water at a time. I also put a small amount of sugar in it, because I’m a chicken. I suspect both were tragic mistakes.

First off, the wet smell is incredibly intense. People say this smells like buttered popcorn. I guess I can see how most would say that, but to me the only association I was initially making was baking bread. It’s strong and earthy. That was completely okay with me, a very, very pleasant smell.

Then I got close to the cup and sniffed again. And very suddenly, a very different, totally unexpected and completely unwelcome scent association took over.

You see…when I was little, I wanted to work at the zoo. There were a few people working at our local zoo who sort of recognized me as a bright, curious kid with some learning issues (rather obviously ADD), and they tried to encourage me as much as they could. At some risk to their jobs, they snuck me into back areas only staff and researchers were supposed to see, they let me feed all sorts of animals (including hippos and alligators), and they eventually let me take over some snake demos in the Reptile House.

The Reptile House was my favourite, and I wanted to work there when I grew up. I was obsessed with it, and my father spent the summer I was nine obligingly taking me to the zoo every week where I spent hours in the Reptile House alone. I spent much of my time there running around, butting in on families before my father could catch me and excitedly lecturing the other visitors about the reptiles, as well as impulsively pre-empting the actual staff trying to give demonstrations… Until they finally just wrapped a snake around my body and let me temporarily take over the live snake lectures/demos in the house. (“Yes, you can touch him. Don’t worry, he’s not a dangerous variety. No, he’s not slimy! Feel, he’s dry and leathery. See? Look, if you stroke his underbelly, he’s very soft and ticklish.”) I don’t think they even are allowed to do that anymore, to protect the creatures.

But yes, the zoo. The smell of the zoo! I loved it. The straw, the dung, and especially the smell of the Reptile House – hot and muggy and musty.

At the time. At the time, I loved it.

But I don’t want to smell straw, dung and reptile swampwater in tea, and suddenly I did. Still can. It flips my stomach every time I bring the cup to my mouth, and I only wish I had just kept smelling bread.

The taste. Well, I don’t know. It’s quite light. I didn’t taste corn at all at first. As the cup cooled, I finally started to taste something quite similar to corn. Although it certainly isn’t overwhelmingly corn-y. I don’t eat grocery store corn, mind you, I wait all year for the juicy stuff brought straight from the fields that day. So I’m sure my expectations for a corn taste were way, way too high. Beneath that is an earthy taste I’m sure is the tea itself. I’m not sure what sort of tastes I might have killed by fearfully adding sugar; although I will also point out that since I only eat corn rolled in butter, pepper and seasoning salt, I added a pinch of both salt and pepper to the latter half of this cup and that certainly made for an interesting profile which is maybe even closer to corn on the cob in my mind.

I don’t know. I’m not at all sure how I feel about this. I think I need to try it a few more times, as well as in a gaiwan and clear before I will feel comfortable giving it a tentative rating.