Today I “broke open” a new cake – the cake compression is heavy so I struggled to get it started. I ended up with tiny, tiny chunks and a bit of tea dust. Taste is rather smooth with no real astringency. Flavor not that distinctive – think I might have overleafed this time. Plan to turn these next few infusions into iced tea to drink in a day or two. Another time I’ll try breaking off another chunk from the cake and start over with the gaiwan so I’ll save my rating for later.
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You need a tea pick for one of these. They are really compacted so tight this is a must or a fine point screwdriver will work too. Did you give this tea a “rinse” to re-hydrate it before brewing? The first brew is always really light. The flavor will increase with the longer subsequent steeps. be sure to use really hot water as this really gets the tea going.
I would answer each question affirmatively. I used a pick; I did rinse; water was boiling; four different brews. What I meant by stating “flavor not that distinctive” was that I could not distinguish anything specific. There was flavor (it was not weak tea) but it was very blah-quite mediocre. I’ve not given up on it but I need a restart. I may actually dump these same leaves into my glass tumbler where I can add more water and sip on it for awhile later today. If that doesn’t work then I’ll work on another chumk one day next week.
Got ya! Pu-erh can be tricky sometimes and +1 on the restart. I do this sometimes myself and hope to get it right. I remember the first time I tried to get one of these disc teas apart, ended up with a stuck hand! Lol.
You need a tea pick for one of these. They are really compacted so tight this is a must or a fine point screwdriver will work too. Did you give this tea a “rinse” to re-hydrate it before brewing? The first brew is always really light. The flavor will increase with the longer subsequent steeps. be sure to use really hot water as this really gets the tea going.
I would answer each question affirmatively. I used a pick; I did rinse; water was boiling; four different brews. What I meant by stating “flavor not that distinctive” was that I could not distinguish anything specific. There was flavor (it was not weak tea) but it was very blah-quite mediocre. I’ve not given up on it but I need a restart. I may actually dump these same leaves into my glass tumbler where I can add more water and sip on it for awhile later today. If that doesn’t work then I’ll work on another chumk one day next week.
Got ya! Pu-erh can be tricky sometimes and +1 on the restart. I do this sometimes myself and hope to get it right. I remember the first time I tried to get one of these disc teas apart, ended up with a stuck hand! Lol.