A Sheng AND a Shou and a Whoop-Dee-Do!!!!

Oh my word I am high as a kite. What kind of over-indulgent moron has both a intensely good shou and an astoundingly intense sheng in the same afternoon? And after the sheng session was done, (twelve steeps so far) I went back to the shou, for that was the taste I wanted lingering on my palate for the remainder of the afternoon.
Tea-high report as follows: There is a mixture of a mellowing sense of self-satisfaction with a bit of a Cheshire cat grin (I sense it in my 'soul,' rather smug and a bit ugly, but there it is) and part just even more than my usual animation and enthusiasm for everything, especially the things I loathe and judge, so there are tangents galore. It's hard to not be a clown when you're an old lady in a friggin' muumuu with a horrible limp who can't stop talking. God bless my family. Really. I hope there is a god for how can these people not kill me when I get like this? Folks. I went on a vegetarian tirade, pro-vegetarian, you understand, while eating an enormous plate of lasagna and meatballs of beef and veal. Yes, I did. That was the sheng talking. The shou on the other-hand, makes me philosophical and overly contemplative. Its at that point when ego kicks in, so I have to seriously watch it with the shou. I feel SO connected to the world when I drink an old shou like this. One that whispers hints of ancient buried roots, of peat moss, and gardening sheds, and stables and old leather. Fire and old-man socks and decay and the glorious simplicity of each of these things on their own somehow individually shining through the brew.
Uh-Oh, here I go again.
Ok, I will simply share the teas I had. No further elaboration on their qualities will be offered for what do I know? Bubkes, that's what.

( That is steep 1, after an initial rinse there on the left, and steep 2, believe it or not, seconds later, on the right! Both 'flash-brewed at 210f.)

The Shou is 'Iron Egg' from The Jade Leaf. It was a sample gifted to me and although I was sampling the 1998 which is not for sale the 2008 is available and I am told it is lovely. It can be found here.


The Sheng is 'Jing Mai Ancient Tree Raw Puerh' and came from Smacha. It came in gorgeous chunks that I swear had personalities of their own, reminding me, as in this photo of a meeting of generals preparing an attack on a castle.

                                            (Game Of Thrones watch much?)

Both of these teas were to-die-for wonderful and I spent my entire Saturday with them, I'd steep a few steeps, then back away and then come back for more. Once the Sheng was exhausted, the Shou was returned to, and so forth. If and when either of them gives up the ghost, I'll let you know!

(The gorgeous chunks say 'bye-bye!)