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From the Puerh TTB #3

One of the benefits of organizing the TTB is that I get first crack at the promotional teas. Two days ago I received a huge box from Paul at White2Tea, which was really exciting, but then I found that I already owned about 80% of the teas, so won’t be taking samples. This was one of the few I hadn’t tried.

I also want to set an example in writing reviews, so I’m posting this right away. I’m afraid the review may be a bit confusing as I’m kind of emotionallly involved with the tea. When I made my purchase for the moving day sale I went back and forth between this and the If you are reading this… and went with the latter. Then I started reading all sorts of reviews of how good pound cake was and was filled with regrets. Now I don’t know whether I’m doing a sour grapes thing (oh I bought the right tea) .

So, on to the tea. I wasn’t as excited as some of the other reviewers. I think part of the reason for this is that there is a vegetive/weedy element to the taste that while not unpleasant doesn’t add to my enjoyment. I’m mostly a black tea drinker and I think a green tea drinker would find this more appealing.

The tea is structurally sound: good nose, reasonably strong taste that blends smoothly into a good finish. Early steeps have a weedy straw flavor to a more woody style that has a lot of acidity but not much bitterness. Moderate cha qi. Not a lot of complexity in any given steep.

I have an unusual steeping style: 2 grams in 50 ml for 10, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60 s. Usually the flavor peaks at the 3rd steep, but this one kept going and I found myself liking the 4th steep better than the 3rd and the 5th better than the 4th. There is an appealing richness, and I’m noticing more complexity.