Puerh tea from Thailand is getting more and more popular. Since Thailand is bordering Yunnan, the environment is very similar. The same goes for tea: Of course there is also good Gushu to find in Thailand! But only since a few years I see more and more concrete Bings from Thailand. Let’s try one today!
As most of the times I am trying a sheng puerh. Today is no exception - this also gives me the possibility to better judge if there are some differences between China and Thailand puerh specifically, since the other - more common - traits of a sheng puerh are known to me.
The first steepings start with a well rounded bitterness. Not so much sweetness - which is not a downside at all.
It offers some herbal notes. Also the typical astringent notes, which I personally love in sheng Puerh. The grassy flavor is also very intense.
My brewing device for this session is a 150ml Yxing clay pot. I used about 10g. The tea hits hard - even in my clay pot which usually rounds off the character of a hard hitting tea.
Hence, for beginners I would recommend a much lighter water/tea ratio.
For later steepings the tea develops nicely and stays strong. The tea leaves my mouth very watery and dry at the same time - I also notice a decent huigan. The tea also offers some flowery taste, mostly orchid aroma.
Being produced in 2013 this tea already has aged for 8 years as of writing this blog post. Even though you can definitely taste some of that age I probably would’ve estimated it younger blind tasting it. Also in terms of Qi it did not offer much - compared to other cakes with similar age.
While enjoying the tea, I totally forgot that the theme today was Thailand. But there you have it! Turns out that there is no big difference at all! Of course a good puerh is dependent on many factors - but for now I would say one of the least important ones is China vs. Thailand.
In general I am very excited to see what Thai puerh teas will be sourced in the next years. I think there is a lot of potential and it might soothe the puerh price explosion.
So in summary I will definitely try out more Thai puerhs in the future - stay tuned!
Rating
3.9