1989 Suncha Blend

A rare Butiki sample from Michelle!  THANKS SO MUCH.  I don’t think I ever had the chance to try this one… would probably have appreciated it more now than then anyway.  I would have ruined it with my disastrous steeping parameters back then.  I was a little worried this is a ripe mixed with a raw puerh and what that might do with already shaky, temperamental sheng. But I shouldn’t have worried! The leaves are quite large and some of them twiggy, so I wasn’t really expecting a rich, dark puerh.  The first and second steeps taste like smoky BBQ spices.  There is a very clear, mineral quality that somehow also tastes like autumn leaves.  The brew color reminds me of autumn leaves as well. The third steep is very smooth.  A light, unique puerh.  I was expecting it to get bitter quickly because of that bit of sheng, but it really didn’t get to that point. Even that fourth steep wasn’t at all bitter, but lost some of the BBQ.  I really appreciate being able to try another Butiki tea well past Butiki’s time!  (Still sobbing over Butiki — there will never be another.)
Steep #1 // 1 1/3 teaspoons in a full mug // 26 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 20 minutes after boiling // 1 min
Steep #3 // 10 min after boiling // 1 min
Steep #4 //  2 min after boiling // 3-4 min

Realised the seal on this one was broken while I was going through my stash and it burst open, so scooped up all the fallen tea (it went on the table, not the ground) and used it to brew up a cup. Can’t have any precious Butiki tea going to waste! It’s probably a little bit underleafed, and I definitely used water that was a little too cool, but it’s still a nice full-bodied cup of tea to start my morning with. Smoky, woody and a little camphorous at the end of the sip. My brain keeps wanting to call this a ‘meaty’ tea for some reason, I hope that makes sense and doesn’t put anyone off! It doesn’t taste like meat, it just has a meaty body, you know? I’m sorry, I know ‘meaty body’ made it worse.

Anyway, this is nice.

I guess this is the first time I’m finally getting around to reviewing this tea?
Although I would normally gongfu it, today I went with Ms Stacy’s suggested brewing, mainly because I am suppose to be working on a project. Tomorrow evening I’m going into the recording studio with a local songwriter to add some harp tracks to one of his songs, and hence I’m going with the easier (less time consuming) brewing parameters, and just stopping by here to say that it makes for a decent cup! It doesn’t really seem all that smokey to me in the taste or aroma, however it does leave a certain smokey sensation behind in the palate & sinuses, and that’s interesting! It has a rich comforting qaality, a certain tanginess, and flavorwise, it’s very woodsy, and I can picture myself on a cool fall day, with a crackling fire, wrapped up in a blanky, wearing homemade wool sox, sipping comfort.
Now I’d better get back to work!

I almost got called (texted?) into work today. I said no due to the want of trying the few teas in my stash that I haven’t gotten to and in the hope of sipping some of said stash down.

The dry leaf smells a bit like camp, like a mix between the scent of a campfire and the sauna. But there is something else on top of that smell that I cannot place. I am likely doing this tea a disservice by using a gravity steeper when the directions indicate to “Gonfu brew for best results.” The only thing I get from the first few sips is smoke. It feels almost heavy in my mouth, in a nice way. It is growing on me and I think this would be great for a cooler fall day.

https://instagram.com/p/7Dh_MUpnkyeo_3E4fEGEyAhAaWSKpB_5teITo0/?taken-by=kkpeltzer

My best friend came over tonight which means I drank about 30 cups of liquid. Tonight was a top contestant hard cider from 2013 that got a 98 rating during the World Beer Championship (even though it’s not a beer) and then we moved onto some 2015 dragonwell, 1989 suncha, and 2009 Meghai Dayi; suffice to say, I treat my bestfriend with the best of the best because I love her for discussing all the nasty stuff about life that I contemplate- that is kind of misleading as I enjoy her for being herself, as I do with everyone being true to who they are.

I mistakenly went into this without reading about it :/
All I knew was that this is a pu’erh blend from 1989, I had no idea of the smoky content or else I would of used it on another day as we just drank some rather sweet cider.
This is a complex tea! I only steeped it 14 times, but I can say that it starts out by making a camp fire in your mouth and slowly the night beats the fire down until there is just a wind that blows by with hints of the aftermath to remind you of what you just experienced. Megan claims that this taste like expensive smokey sea salt from the store but without the salt… I told her to shut up because that sounds unappealing; to that I got a laugh and not hearing it being compared to a seasoning salt.

I will need to try this again sometime with nothing else drank or ate within an hour because there is a lot to pick up and notice within this tea. I will admit I prefer the latter steeps to the earlier, but this is true with all pu’erh I have came across because I like my mellow and sweet notes :)

p.s. this is my first sheng/shou blend which made me happy to finally try!

My tea of the morning, steeped western style.

Earthy, sweet and a bit camphorous. I’ll need to pay closer attention next time.

From the Sheng and Shou TTB.

Brewed gongfu style in a ceramic gaiwan. 5 second rinse. Steeping times: 15, 30, 45, 60, 120.

If you need something to drink in 10 degree and snowy weather, this is one to have. The dry leaf smells of sod and loam, and wet leaf aroma of smoke, raisins, and freshly baked bread. The liquor changes throughout the session, beginning with tangy and smoke taste, a thin texture, and a slightly cloudy appearance. The second infusion, still tangy and cloudy, is creamy and tastes of pine, no longer smoky. The third – the height of the session – has become completely clear, the texture even creamier. The tang is replaced by a rich sweetness. The fourth and fifth infusions have deciduous wood notes.

This tea provides visual and tactile imagery and well as gustatory and olfactory: a cabin in the woods, a fireplace, a pan of homemade bread just out of the oven.

I got this tea in my Butiki mystery box. I pulled it out this morning thinking it was a green tea. Wasn’t quite sure what to make of the “1989” but some oolongs have been aged and what do I know anyway? lol. Then I noted the “boiling water” instruction, and thought, well thats odd, what kinda green tea is this?? :o :o But I carry on with the brewing and the aroma of something familiar fills the air. "Heeey, wait a second! I know that smell. Its, its, yes I know it, its PUERH! how tricksy of them, calling it “suncha” and confusing me."

It has the aroma of a Sheng puerh. Me and Sheng, we’ve had a troubled relationship. We keep trying to make it work, but it never does. So, naturally, I was hesitant to even taste this tea, and contemplated brewing something else right away. But then I remembered how I will soon have no more bags labelled with “Butiki” in my cupboard and decided it would be a tragedy to let any go to waste.

And you know what funky sheng/shu puerh? you aren’t so bad after all. The aroma throws me off just a bit, but you’re quite tasty. Its a shame this will nonetheless have to be a short-term relationship :(

Uh oh, it’s a pu-erh. Thanks for the sample, Stacy! This will be quite the adventure for me since I’m normally not a fan.

Although I’m still not a fan, I’d say it was the best one I’ve had to date (with the exception of Chicago Garden’s Sticky Rice Pu-erh). This smells heavier on the camphor than it actually tastes. Granted, I didn’t steep it for long so that probably played a huge role in that.

It’s something I would never buy but it’s nice to revisit this type of flavour profile to check on my tastes in tea.

Yay. I managed another actual sipdown today – 212!
I tried this because Sil was interested in it and it made more sense to buy a ton of things and split them and try all the teas, then to try and decide WHICH Butiki teas to get. :P

It tastes very earthy, like a Puerh, like you would expect. I’m also getting Smoke and wood. Hmmmm. Interesting.