So! Infomercial begins:
Hello there! Are you like me? New to tea, want to have transcendent experiences? Open to new tastes and staying in the moment, even if some of those moments are astringent, confusing, murky or taste like hot leather from an old barn? Then you have come to the right blog! I know little about Puerh aside from what I have read online the past few months since my interest began. I am also quite dull-witted most of the time when it comes to remembering new information so don't ask this newbie if it's 'Shou' or 'Sheng', because I can never remember what they mean.
I have had Puerhs in the last couple months that were so offensive I was sure I would never try a Puerh again, and all sorts of experiences in between since. And then yesterday a box arrived with some samples from SMACHA, and out of the five I decided to try the Jing Mai Old Tree Ripe Puerh 2011. Why this tea when it was 103 degrees? I wanted something to take me out of the boredom of being stuck in the house due to the oppressive heat, something to wake me up physically and mentally and I think my instincts were right on. I was so bored I was up to yet another overwhelming ripe Puerh even if I barely made it through half a dozen steeps and moved on to cleanse my palate with some Jade Earrings! But I never did move on, I just kept going and going with the tea.
SMACHA Tea tells me that this tea is from 2,000m, is a Yunnan green tea, post-fermented made from 100 year old trees growing wild on the slopes of the famous, protected Jing Mai mountains. The description says 'it offers steamed rice aromas, and pleasant mellow flavors with notes of plum and a smooth sweet finish'.
Having only had a couple of ripe Puerhs, and those on the side of terrifying, I cannot judge the above claims but for me from the first rinse it was all baked goods, grains and 'brown'. Can 'brown' be a tasting note? It was smooth and while I couldn't say 'sweet' was the finish, it certainly wasn't unpleasant and not a hint of bitterness. Or hot leather in old barn!
I don't eat plums and did not pick up any fruitiness whatsoever, but after two rinses, the steeps began to taste of a mellow unsweetened baking chocolate and I adored it.
Had to take the new puppy out in the shadeless and nasty sun to urge her to eliminate. Took the tea.
Two hours later a cool shower, with the tea by my side.
Would leave it for some hours, come back to it, wake it up like a lover, and start again.
First thing this morning, six am, on a Sunday, wake up the tea. (Keep in mind, I don't have to get up, I just wake up and think about the tea awaiting me!)
This tea also took me out of my sugar-binge mode which had been going on for at least a few days. I don't know how or why but once I started on this Puerh I stopped with the 'Trader Joe's Sea Salt Brownie Petites', they just didn't taste good once I started with the steeps. In fact I am sending the whole box of them with my husband to his office tomorrow so he can share them with his co-workers, I don't even want them now, I have the TEA! And frankly, that is just damned odd. I love those little chunks of chocolate.
Back to basics.
My brewing parameters were nothing special, I used my 4 ounce gaiwan for the first six steeps at just under boiling. Later I moved the sleepy and cooled leaves into my Puerh pot and left them there overnight to start again in the morning. Whether or not that was a smart move I don't know but the taste of the tea seemed mellowed after its over-night break, and perhaps the Yixing kept a little of the teas strength to itself as it is a new and thirsty little Xisha. I wanted my new Puerh pot to get some of this action too! Didn't want to be greedy. It wasn't really necessary as the sample SMACHA sent is quite ample for at least four more days of experimenting with this wonderful Puerh and that is what I intend to do. Not before bed though because it really buzzed me up that first hour! I was talking to tea friends online during the first steepings and I am pretty sure I was ranting. Something about the perfection of this tea paired with puppy breath, and my ears ringing and being sweaty even though the house was a chilly 72 degrees! Aside from the intense caffeine high, or Chi or whatever it was, there was no follow-up stomach weirdness and no lingering negative effects, I was even able to take a long afternoon nap in between steeps.
That's the end of the infomercial. I really feel my future in Puerh after the past two days thanks to this tea and have even been looking around at buying a bing of something, my first bing! I think I have turned a corner and my deep bow of gratitude goes out to Andrew and Jason of SMACHA for putting me upon the path. Whatever this is? MORE PLEASE!
