2015 Yunnan Sourcing Ku Zhu Shan Raw Pu-erh tea cake

I think I used a little too much leaf on this one, but it was still good. It had a fairly strong bitterness in the first few steeps. It slowly turned into more of a sweet note over twelve steeps. You might even argue apricots in this case but I am uncertain. It was though a very good tea. Next time I will try it with less leaf. I just kind of used what I happened to pry off. And although I was using a big gaiwan at 160ml, 12.8g was a little too much. For that gaiwan I think 9g or so would have been better. On the other hand I’m sure with this one I could go back for five or six more steeps if I wanted to. Overall I did like this tea.

I steeped this tea twelve times in a 160ml gaiwan with 12.8g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 min.

Better with 7g. Very intense flavor, especially on first few steeps. Oversteep by even a couple seconds and you’re getting punched in the face with some heavy bitterness. After a bit, the bitterness dies down and is replaced with a more mellow and sweet grassy/floral flavor. Even then, you can still taste a bit of pungent bitterness in this tea.