Pugs & Pigs

Usually my shou consumption tapers off a little in the Spring and Summer as the weather gets nicer, but this week I was hit with such a strong craving for shou seemingly out of nowhere. This is such a smooth and naturally fruity tasting tea with lots of earthier notes of potting soil and petrichor to go alongside dense, gentle flavours like date cookies, figs, and carob. Though it’s surprisingly quite clean tasting for a tea with a moniker like Worm Hands, there is something nostalgic to the muddy leaning earth notes that makes me think of making dirt pies or “potions” while playing outside as a kid growing up – particularly after a heavy Summer rainfall.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C69f_9GO2mM/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_k48nwUNTM

Gongfu!

Paired this with some near perfect tamarillos!! I wasn’t sure at first how I was going to pair these funky little fruits; they have a taste that’s somewhere between the sweet flavour of a guava and the umami packed taste of a really juicy, ripe tomato. Eventually I decided to pair it with a really dark and earthy shou with a lot of deep and camphorous elements that would essentially pull down and ground the umami and more tomato-like elements of the fruit and making them seem richer and more forceful and heavy, leaving the more tangy tropical notes to spring to life and dance across the top notes. The overall effect is this really dynamic and high contrast duality of mouthwatering brightness followed by such a densely flavoured, rich savory broth. It’s non-stop, high impact flavour and the whiplash of the two opposed elements only makes them hit harder as you revisit the combo with each sip and steep!

Not gonna lie, I wasn’t sure how this would play out but I think it’s my favourite tea pairing in quite some time!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp77cDhuh9t/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDN4qCyYQCU

Gongfu!

The liquor starts off so immensely thick and syrupy with really, really dark notes of wet potting soil, petrichor, and decaying wood. Just so earthy and camphorous with a playful bitterness; totally up my alley in every way. Slowly but surely the woodiness pulls back to reveal sweeter notes of raisins and carob. Though the fruitiness is a great contrast to the earthy profile, it still remains quite dark in nature – as if the raisins have been glazed or tossed in molasses. I can think of no better summary of the tea session than to call it overwhelming “brown tasting”. With that said, even an entirely brown painting can be beautifully expressive if the shades used are different enough!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj0Zfz0uKJO/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMw4DZPNKg8

Grandpa Style!

This was a free sample from a teaware order I placed not too terribly long ago, though it’s a tea I actually already owned from Pugs and Pigs (just hadn’t tried it yet). While it does feel a little blasphemous to grandpa brew a 16 year old pu’erh the sample didn’t really have enough leaf for a proper gongfu session so that’s what I did…

This deeply camphorous pu’erh is saturated with notes of rain soaked garden soil, spices, and dark cacao – it’s super thick and grounding with a very clean finish and good body feeling! I really liked it a lot and I can see how with proper leafing it would make for a really exceptional gongfu session. The kind that leaves you feeling/knowing that in this world you are so, so small but still significant. I don’t know if that makes sense. Good tea, though…

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CUqJ90qlo8W/

Sipdown (1541)!

I’m not sure why but I decided to finish this off Western style instead of Gongfu. It’s honestly just not as good brewed Western, although it wasn’t bad either. Just a little more flat in terms of tasting notes – astringent in a way that reminded me of dry red wine or walnut skins (without being “nutty” per say) coupled with a more woody tasting oolong and some red fruit notes. Good mug, but just much much more interesting gongfu…

Gonfu!

This was from an outdoor session a few nights ago. This sherry barrel aged Qi Lan Xiang is really interesting – most infusions are a beautifully intertwined mix of sweet grenadine and other light but juicy red fruits (such as cranberries) along with a pleasantly astringent woodiness and soft nutty undertones. A bit like raw walnut, with the drier skins still on it. I wasn’t sure I love it at first – the dry red fruit notes started off unappealing to me. However, I quickly changed my mind once I got a couple more steeps in; the nuance and range of flavours shifted from purely interesting to simply just enjoyable!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CTzl5vwg33z/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNNnDXd3VxM

Gongfu Sipdown (1533)!

This past Monday I hit 5K followers on instagram, which is incredibly cool and a little bit unbelievable. This is the tea that I was drinking when I realized that had happened. First steeps are syrupy and sweet with an almost effervescent fruity and boozy element before settling into a gentle fruity character intertwined with creamy delicate white floral notes. It’s really nice and calm, perfect for a winding down evening!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVv10eqrtEc/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDWku9rqWRM&ab_channel=EmmettKai-Topic

Gongfu!

Breaking in another beautiful gaiwan from Arbee Ceramics this afternoon with a lunchtime tea session of this Chardonnay barrel-aged oolong tea!! I definitely found the soft green grape flavour of the Chardonnay had a lighter touch in the overall composition & was also essentially absent by the third steep, but this was just such a lovely session overall. Those silky and buttery notes of the grassier and orchid-like Si Ji Chun are so delightfully comforting, and I loved the slight nutty toastiness and woodier undertones that came out with longer late session steeps!!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CSuoR1rLnA_/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DJ2ito_Z3w

Gongfu Sipdown (1421)!

I was on a really good sipdown streak yesterday so I’m continued it with this gongfu session. I don’t gravitate strongly towards bamboo aged & scented teas since they’re very hit or miss for me, but this piqued my interest – I don’t believe I’ve ever crossed paths with a bamboo aged yancha before. It’s pretty pleasant with a smooth and very silky mouthfeel. The bamboo actually comes through surprisingly strongly, and it compliments the notes of roasted barley, woody soft cinnamon, and minerality quite well! I don’t think this is something I would reach for often, but my expectations were definitely exceeded with this session & it’s a pretty relaxing end to the work day!

I steeped out the session, which was something impressive like nine steeps – most of them tinged with that creamy soft vegetal bamboo flavor.

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CRpW6kjhipJ/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H59w_BWqMnA

Gongfu Sipdown (1408)!

Also, cramming this delicious session of twenty year old sheng into an hour long video meeting was a bit of a mistake because I was feeling SUPER tea drunk and buzzed about a half hour after my meeting, and I still had an hour of work left. Focus was… hard.

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CP1LWsVAA5O/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltB76E3AEF8&ab_channel=TheMagicGangTheMagicGang

Gongfu Sipdown (1402)!

So I finished this off and immediately wished I had bought more than just the one sample – this tea was left in a Chardonnay seasoned oak barrel for about a year and it really comes across! From the first steep, the liquor was coating and flavourful w/ bordering on juicy notes of white grapes, green melon and pomelo with undertones of honeysuckle and linden blossom honey – all while still maintaining the delicate, softly sweet nature of the shou mei!! I’ve definitely tried a solid handful of teas that have undergone similar “treatments” in comparable alcohol soaked barrels – some of the better have been port aged – but this stands out to me as the one that best reflected what it was aged with while still being VERY delicious!!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CN8a9f4AYQ0/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXMAHzE20JE&ab_channel=DavidDeanBurkhart

Gongfu Sipdown (1357)!

Sipped on this one yesterday evening! Early steeps are thick and syrupy with apricot jam top and body notes and a backbone of spicy Cocobolo wood and forest undergrowth. It’s progressed further away from syrupy fruit notes with each steep, leaning more into those forest flavours of various woods & tree barks, damp earth, and spices/light camphor – with a soft astringency throughout and a fleeting pleasant medicinal bitterness followed by a sweep of sweetness that crawls down the throat – almost like buckwheat honey, but not so dark and molasses-y. The soup is a gorgeous, dark amber!! I want to sip through more of the other tea samples I ordered last month first, but this is something I would definitely order again!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNiqlRyhXFQ/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUbgob2eFTA&ab_channel=RolandFaunte

Gongfu Sipdown (1371)!

I spent a portion of Sunday talking to VariaTEA and a few other IG tea nerd friends about tasting notes/descriptions and I think this tea is such a great example of one of those teas that evoke a specific feeling/memory. It’s so thick and burly with camphorous notes of potting soil, petrichor, syrupy raisins, and wet decaying wood but as I sip on these early infusions the thing my mind keeps wandering back to is helping my grandma in her garden as a small child on summer vacation – hands and knees caked with wet dirt after summer storms as we planted flowers or harvested sugar snaps! It’s a very powerful and nostalgic memory and flavour association! Kudos to whoever named the tea because, frankly, they nailed it!

(Also – steeps for SUCH a long time! Ten+ infusions easy on this beauty!)

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CMsitYvBw0g/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eruW1KHcxc&ab_channel=SylvanEssoVEVO