1989 Suncha Blend

Broke this out to brew tonight. The dry leaf in my nose seems to be of cantaloupe or honey dew melon. It is very nice and not with any off notes.
I gave it a very quick rinse and off we go. To be honest this is my second day on this tea. I was a little busy to post about it on the first day. I did make notes though. I really like this blend of sheng and shou. It gives a little sharp note of the sheng just for a moment and then the smooth and creamy shou comes in. It has a little of that wood and smoke and then a hit of the raisin and sweetness on the backnotes. This is very smooth and I think the balance is nice. Pine , sweet , oak and the nice sweet of a nice shou enter into this one. Nice and balanced . Sharp from the sheng for a moment and sweet from the shou after. Nice and wonderful blend.
Gong fu style in the yixing. Complex and wonderful.

admittedly i probably should have brewed this gong fu style but i just don’t have the patience today to do so. So i opted for stacy’s other recommendation for a longer steep.

Let me tell you, courtney should stay away from this one. lol while the other stacy tea i had was fruity, this came out of the bag and i was like WOOD! SMOKE! WOOD! forest? lol It has a VERY strong smell but to me, it’s the sort of smell that evokes memories of being up in the mountains, cross country skiing and coming back to the lodge….or camping in the fall. i love it! I also want more. I prefer this one to stacy’s 2009 Banchang that i also tried, though i did enjoy that one. This just screams winter, maple, relaxing in the sun as the day grows longer to me.

This is not an overly in your face tea though. It’s very smooth and mild in it’s deliciousness. I’m not sure i’d call the after taste sweet, but there is no bitterness here or jarring notes to interrupt the flow of this one. i think stephanie’s tastnig note really captures the essence of this tea and i’m looking forward to buying more and having a few gong fu sessions with it…but western brewed? so doable and really a great start to my day. thank you for finding this one Stacy!

Bear with me guys, this will be a long tasting note!

I was lucky enough to be one of the first to try this fine new puerh offering from Butiki. Not sure I’ve ever had a blend of sheng/shu before! Also this tea is from when I was 8 years old. WOW!

I took time today to steep it gongfu style, and took notes on each steeping! Puerhs can be so subjective, really, so take my notes with a grain of salt. 1 tablespoon of tea, 4oz gaiwan.

Steep 1- Only about 15 second steep. I didn’t rinse it, this puerh is so old and precious I didn’t want to waste a drop! The wet leaves immediately smelled a tiny bit smokey, with faint damp earth, pine and cedar notes. I can tell there is some sheng in here.

Steep 2- 20 seconds. The smoke is already almost completely gone. It is richer, and almost creamy now. The shu elements are starting to emerge and take over.

Steep 3- 20 seconds. The leaves are really “opening up” now. There is a distinct pleasant woody flavor. Maybe like if tea could be made from a freshly carved branch of oak? The taste is round, and very open. Mild and gentle sweetness.

Steep 3- 1 min. This very much makes me think about the forest, but there is zero dirt or moss. It is like the essence of a tree. I’m drinking a tree! :D

Steep 4- I think the leaves are getting tired, but there is a wonderful energy about this tea and I don’t want it to quit. I think after this steep I’ll leave them in some boiling water for several minutes and walk away and see if anything happens, haha…

Anyway, to sum up- This is wonderfully woody! Not a single off flavor or dirty vibe. Very sweet and good! I’d consider purchasing more for special occasions.