I’m pretty scared of pu’erh in general, but as my throat is still sore this morning I decided I could probably risk giving this one a go. If I don’t like it, at least I can hope I missed some of the finer nuances! This is the first plain pu-erh I’ve ever tried, so I’m a little apprehensive. I haven’t been overawed with the flavoured versions I’ve tried so far — in general, the base is just too much for me.
Anyway, I put aside my reservations and gave this one 2 minutes in boiling water. I stopped at two because of the colour the liquor had already turned — black, basically — and because the smell coming of it was fairly pungent. I might have lost my nerve if I’d gone the extra minute.
First sip was actually okay. I tried not to focus on the scent so much, because that inevitably puts me off. It does remind me of mucking out stables when I used to keep a horse as a teenager. Fortunately, there’s not too much of that present in the taste, although there’s a tinge of it in the initial flavour. Mostly, I get a musty, damp flavour with a certain something that reminds me of wet, freshly turned earth. It does put me in mind of caves or a forest after a rain shower. It’s more palatable than I thought it would be, although I suspect this kind of tea will never be a favourite. It’s just too pungent for my tastes. I will admit to enjoying this as a morning cup, though. The strength alone helped to wake me up! Definitely a valuable experience to have had, even if it’s only really cemented the fact that my journey into pu-erh will probably end soon.
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A lot of us, especially western drinkers, steep puerh until it is inky black but really if you cut the steep down to 15-20 seconds the brew will be more of a ruby red (or lighter) and easier on the senses.
I’ll try that this afternoon! I have one of these left :)
A lot of us, especially western drinkers, steep puerh until it is inky black but really if you cut the steep down to 15-20 seconds the brew will be more of a ruby red (or lighter) and easier on the senses.
I’ll try that this afternoon! I have one of these left :)