Something else I picked up at the tea festival… I think I got these because I liked the shape – lol. The squares come in a little box and of course, the tea, the paper and the box are all biodegradable which is right up my alley. No plastic – whoop! Pu-erh has a definite advantage in that regard.
I cut this square in half because I wasn’t sure I was up for a strong sheng experience. Then I steeped it for about 1 minute. This tea is very interesting because the top notes are light, sweet and woodsy with some green apple but the bottom notes are slightly sour and bitter. Steeping for shorter periods will definitely help to keep the bitterness under control.
After steeping you can see the leaves start to unfurl which is a definite sign these are not made with leftover crud from the factory floor. For a young sheng it’s nice but I would not recommend steeping this for more than 30 seconds. My second steep at 30 was a bit more palatable…