2017 Lumber Slut

So… uh… hi

Not gonna try and apologize for my absence other than to say the pandemic has just about killed me. Not in a COVID-way mind you, but my mental health has been so dang bad that it takes all my energy to make a K-Cup let alone have actual tea.

BUT! Today I decided to say “To heck with it” and gong fu. First time since 2019. And the tea I picked was from that lovely care package that’s been sitting in my drawer for a year now. I wanted to have something “Real” and when I dug through it, I found THIS!

First impression – Good golly this is drying. No really, it’s licking sawdust levels of dry, especially early in the session. As the session continues, the dryness eases up, but those first 6 or so pours, JEEBUS.

Second, with this called “Lumber Slut” I honestly expected it to be like eating a toothpick. However, I am happy to share it’s nothing like that. Oh, it’s woody, for certain. But the flavor is very complex. The first thing I thought was it tastes like copal incense smells, if that makes sense. It’s got a rich sweetness to it without being sugary. Then, as I explored, I noticed notes of leather and maple syrup (that got stronger as I progressed) with a strong tone of earthy and damp wood. Yes, there is wood here, not going to lie. There’s a LOT of wood in this. But like I said, it’s not “Chewing a toothpick” type of wood. The wood is tempered with a broad palate of other flavors that makes this absolutely delicious.

I will warn you, the hotter this is, the better. If you let it start to cool down it does taste like toothpicks. So I recommend having a relatively quick session. At least that’s what I found. I don’t have a proper kettle (just a glass Tea-Maker) and the water cools off fast. Also, from what I experienced, this isn’t the longest lasting tea you’ll find. About 16 or so pours and it was getting pretty weak, even with extended time.

But, for what I got from it, this was so dang good. For anyone out there who still has this particular version, I am extremely envious. I wish I could get more of this it was just so wonderful. So complex and rich.

Great stuff.

2 quick rinses…

Dry aroma. – very latex and rubber forward. Reminds me of going to get new shoes, the way new shoes smell.

1st steep – much like the aroma, rubber latex forward, tea still opening up…smooth.

2nd – yep. Its taste reminds me of payless shoes, or how the ball pit at McDonald’s use to smell…very rubber forward , mineral and iodine notes.

3rd – brews a clear, coffee, and ruby brown. Very pretty. I smell more of a malt base coming through. Taste is still heavy on the new Nike air forces. New shoes. No wood for me yet. I mean it may be there but the rubber latex is pretty upfront. For how dark, it is the tea is very much a medium, in the mouthfeel department. Nothing out of the ordinary for the style. As it cools there is some sweetness poking through. Almost prune.

4th – it gave up a little bit of color here. Ruby brown and clear. Almost no rubber plastic, new shoes aroma. Very traditional aroma. Sweetness has shown up to the party. A brown sugar /vanilla. cream. Very nice. Splenda. With a cooling on the exhale, as well as a little new shoes flavor. Haha. This is actually kinda fun.

5th – less sweetness, I guess in the brown sugar realm, more of a just splenda flavor. It’s like a hollow sweetness. Some rubber, new shoes, but it has taken a back seat at least. Some energy from the tea showing up, still subdued. Calming. Splenda is kind taking over where new shoes was leaving off. Very sweet. Rounding out as it cools.

6th – 8th lightening up. Splenda, sugar cane sweetness. Turbinado sugar. Very enjoyable. Like sweetened black tea, some back bone to it, not quite malt but it’s there. Continues with the sweetness. With what I can only say what is like a macadamia nut cookie like taste, nutty, vanilla, and a browning note. I love that flavor. Drinking like desert. Pleasant surprise. Some chocolate note, and honeydew melon.

Idk it has the burnt edge flavor of like a corner brownie, or a nice browned cookie bottom. That mallard reaction thing. Very good. All in all a good session. Surprising as it progressed. Idk if I’d buy it though, just unfortunate that the rubber latex sticks around like it does, as upfront as it is. Solid tea nonetheless.

I guess I’m not reviewing teas though. Only the experience I’m having with them really…

come watch my session with this tea! https://www.twitch.tv/videos/456931325

This just might be my favorite shou so far!

Yes. I’m into it. Originally bought a 25g sample for novelty’s sake, and liked it so much I ended up ordering two 200g cakes so I don’t run out anytime soon. It tastes like home, home being the thousands of acres of swampy hemlock-and-spruce forest backing my parents’ farm in rural Nova Scotia.

This feels like it was fermented longer ago than 2017, I imagine that’s just the year of pressing. I find it to be clean-tasting and perfectly drinkable right now. The tea has full body and is slightly on the savoury side, although very well balanced overall with noticeable sweetness and tartness. There are notes of dried fruit, dry wood, peat and roasted nuts. Later steeps display more of camphor notes too. The mouthfeel is smooth, oily and coating. It reminds me a lot of the Yong De cakes by Yunnan Sourcing. Just like those, it also doesn’t last a whole lot of infusions.

Fall is here and there’s no mistaking it. The days have been getting progressively shorter for some weeks now, and the sky is overcast and slate gray and gloomy. It’s been raining for days on end and you’ve almost gotten used to this somber weather… almost…

The week has finally trickled through. You wake up late on a Saturday laced with hopes for a few brief moments of sunshine. You look out the window and the sky is overcast still but it has this yellowish tinge to it and you can tell where the sun is, already high above the horizon. That’s good enough for you, you’re already planning your quick getaway in the nearby mountains. Put on your hiking pants and a warm sweater and pull on your favorite pair of merino wool socks, your well-worn trekking boots. Brew a kettle of shou and brew it strong – you need something to kick-start your systems. Grab one of the packets of dried fruit you keep stashed for when you crave some quick carbs. You really love those dried apricots and prunes. You put it in your backpack along with your thermos and a raincoat just in case. One foot out the door, almost as an afterthought you decide to fill one of your wind jacket pockets with the cacao beans you roasted just last night and left on your kitchen table to cool down overnight. Another thing to nibble on while you walk the trails.

You get out of the car and are immediately greeted with fresh forest air. It’s a beautiful forest, mostly broadleaves interspersed by small islands of evergreen conifers. You can spot beech and birch, ash and maple and oak, pine and spruce. The track is covered with fallen leaves, still wet from the rain. The scent of damp rich forest soil fills your nostrils. You savor each breath, every moment away form the noise of the city. You walk down the trail and slowly sip at your tea, it’s strength balancing perfectly with the sweet dried fruit and the bittersweet cacao beans. You feel both energized and peaceful, aware of your surrounding but oblivious to time. A ray of sunshine breaks through the canopy and is seeking you. The sun is out at last.

This tea charmed me right off the bat as soon as I opened a pouch with my sample. It has one of the best dry leaf aromas that I encountered with puerhs so far: a potent blend of wood, plums, apricot.

I prepared it gongfu (5g per 80g of the 212 degree water). My steeps were 15s, 5s, 10s, 15s, 25s, 40s, 60s, 90s, and 120s.

In the first steeps it came out very sweet, fruity and smooth, with just a hint of dry wood decay and camphor. The aftertaste is long and also comfortably sweet, full of camphor, apricot, peach, flowers, honey… All these flavors blend exceptionally well together and it was a lot of fun to sip and observe the interplay of various tastes. Around 4th-5th steep this shou started to lose some of its power and complexity but still remained cheerful, sweet and enjoyable.

All in all, it came out as an exceptional puerh for me, with every element of this tea -appearance, aroma, color, taste, aftertaste – having no flaws whatsoever. The tea’s character is confident, powerful and cheerful. I had it very early in the Monday morning at work before the arrival of most of my coworkers and ended up aimlessly wandering the office corridors, smiling and happily greeting everybody I met like a some sort of a resident office fool. A very enjoyable experience and an awesome way to kick off the workweek.

Update— camphor, pine, wood. Tastes old. Preffer it gong fu, it’s a lot of camphor for grandpa style, for me. That being said it does have a little bite and good energy. I fancy my self an old hong kong man drinking old tasting tea like this by the mug full. I’m not there yet. Will buy a cake for sure.

Afternoon Grandpa.

I was cautious about Grandpa-ing this tea as it’s got some “oomph” to it, so I did underleaf this a bit compared to how I would usually grandpa brew a shou – but it’s beenc oming out quite lovely. I’m on my third “top up” of water now, and people around the office keep coming around and steeling sips of it. This Slut is definitely a crowd pleaser. Just a very smooth, clean profile and end of the sip. No weird fermentation “funk” to be found – just a mix of vanilla, earth, petrichor, wood, and mineral goodness…

I actually ended up giving away most of what was left of this sample – I have enough left for a Gong Fu session in one of my smaller gaiwans. Though, I do still have the 2018 sample to crack into and I’m very excited to dig into that one!

Mmmm!

Threw in a cake of this with my last white2tea order as I found the description intriguing. There are notes of wood, forest, pine and so on but it is much smoother than expected. I expected (and wanted) more of a punch in the face but it’s still a nice tea.