This tea is a gift from a very special person in my life and I am thrilled to dive into that sample for many reasons.
As you might now, I rarely drink shou puerh. Hence, this is a good opportunity to check in with the “dark(er) side” of puerh. For me, I really love the directness of a fresh sheng puerh, however, today I am also really looking for these calm and sweet notes that a shou usually has to offer. Those perfectly match winter times and the inward focus. Lets see if my expectations hold true for that shou, or if my memory is too rusty because I did not drink that sort of tea for too long.
There it is! The typical “fishy” fragrance of a good ol’ shou puerh. For folks that are not too much into the puerh world: This is totally fine. The smell will not transition to your cup - at least not for the good teas.
After rinsing this 2018 old shou fellow I notice some mild and sweet notes of a slumbering shou. After the next steepings I sense some more earthy and minerally notes - typical for shous and as ever pleasant. But now the tea really starts to show its complex profile coming up with notes from dried fruits, some tobacco and the noble bitterness of almonds. Some cups later there is also the tendency to some woody and herbal character. And even some astringency and grassiness that I usually seek in my beloved Shengs. The tea offers a long lingering taste
What a great tea! I only drink shou puerh rarely - and in general I don’t drink much apart from sheng puerh - but this definitely motivated me to occasionally peek into these other tea categories more frequently for a better understanding of tea in general.
What I liked in particular about this tea is the phasing out of the tea during the last ~5 steepings. Usually these steepings are not my favorites due to the taste wearing off and fading out. But for this tea it rather feels like a more natural transition: Every journey comes to an end, birth & death - you get it. These last steepings somehow resemble the beginning of the session, but still with a very different profile. Not as strong, but still more complex. This description is maybe a little too philosophical, but this is how it felt and of course philosophy and tea go well together anyways! :-)
Rating
Tasting Diagram
Statistics & Reference
- Brewing time: 10-15 seconds; later up to a minute
- Vendor & Link