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“One shu to rule them all!”

That’s what I was led to believe by reading a blog post on this shu from the prolific pu erh blogger, Hobbes. He said he thought this tea sets the standard by which good shu should be judged. Them is strong words.

This really is a super tea. The first 5 steeps were thick and dark. It has just enough to of that old bookcase flavor to make it interesting, yet not overpowering. This shu has huigan that you can really taste if you are looking out for it, minty and mentholy, but again, not overpowering. There are hints of chocolate and perfume. It is not sweet. Absolutely no fermentation flavor, it is quite smooth. Just a wonderful flavor.

I took this tea through perhaps a dozen steeps this morning, all for about 10 seconds or so. The first six were very thick, the second six were less so, but still had plenty of flavor. All of these steeps were dark as coffee. When my hand began to shake after reaching for the 12th steep, I called it quits for the time being. The stimulation, or qi, is very nice. I feel wide awake and aware, but it is also gentle.

I’m going to go after this some more later or tomorrow. I bet I’m less than halfway through. I bet I can get a lot more from this shu. This tea has power.

I wish I could afford a tong of this, but it is 139 euros for 250g. I’m really glad to have some of it, and they do have samples available. Keep in mind that this tea brews perhaps twice as much per gram as an average shu, so it is actually not as expensive as it seems. The proprietor was very generous, and threw in a free handmade teacup with my order! And not a cheap one, it was an expensive one that I absolutely love.

I wonder what this tasted like when it was young? I wonder if any of my shus will turn out like this when they are 20 years old?

Update
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So I went back for a second round, and it lost a lot of its punch. These later steeps were light, but still had some good flavor. So I wouldn’t say it yields twice as much tea, necessarily, though if you like those light steeps you could probably go on for quite a while.