Today I feeling no small amount of gratitude for James and Denny's continuing videos, which this week steered me right into the purchase of my first large cake at 400 grams. I watch a lot of their videos, but rarely have I been so quickly moved to try out a tea myself. I loved the way they drank and talked about this session more than anything else they have discussed. It was an evolving conversation, and after the 15 minute video which can be found
here.
I just went ahead and bought the cake from the
Yunnan Sourcing site. Scott has some of these cakes in the states so it arrived within three days of ordering it. Did I wait and let it 'rest'? No, I did not. Put 5.5grams into a 100ml gaiwan( using maybe 90 ml's of water) , rinsed twice (following James' lead on the video) and dug right in. It was a good first session. And the timing for me to try and deeply explore a Puerh that has some strong camphor, and truly 'medicinal' flavors is perfect at this point of my tea journey. I am transported back to the 1980's when I found my first Chinese apothecary/acupuncture shop, and the little packets of medicinal teas Dr Woo made for me, which though bitter and horrible were somehow still delicious! This tea is not, of course, like those medicines the Dr. put together for me, but the smell of the wet leaves certainly brings back that time when those packets of herbal medicines, roots sticks and all, were magical to me.
Back in those days when I was in my twenties, suddenly on my own, no health insurance, working in theatre and needing medical care. Thankfully in Austin Texas there was Dr. Woo and his herbs, which I believe set the tone for the Pu lover I am becoming today.
From YS site:
This was produced by a small tea factory in the Mengku area from Spring 2005 tea leaves from Xiao Hu Sai area of Mengku county in Lincang. The tea was stone pressed and compression is medium to light. The leaves are tippy first pluck of spring and their integrity has been well preserved thanks to the stone compression.
The tea has been stored in Guangdong in a relatively dry storage condition and as such the complexity of the tea has been respectfully transformed. Nice floral, fruit and camphor tones in this thick well aged tea!
"The age itself is having an influence on the flavor profile" Denny of Tea DB.
