Thanks again to Cameron B! One tuocha to sample, so this is a sipdown! This is one of the tiniest tuochas I have ever seen. And judging by the flavor, I don’t think I have had this one before, including from another tea shop. The wrapper is plain white tissue paper and looks like a bird nest. 1999 is quite an old tuocha! The earthy richness is apparent even before the water hits the tuocha, which is why I had to double check the label on the tea to see if it was ripe or raw when the first brew was so so light. Really, the only flavor was a slight BBQ smoke and the tuocha in the infuser was barely different in appearance, no unraveling. The second steep takes off and the flavor might be the DIRTiest puerh I have ever had. (That’s a good thing IMO. ) The third steep was even richer, but then the fourth had kind of weakened, even with a 10 minute steep. Overall, happy to have tried such an old one! But the size of the tuocha doesn’t really lead to as many steeps and as much complexity in flavor as I would like, never really escaping that full dirt flavor. I’m honored this tuocha waited around for me though. :D
Steep #1 // 20 minutes after boiling // 3-4 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 5 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 5 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 10 min
2023 sipdowns: 77
Flavors: Dirt, Earthy, Smoke
