2012 Autumn Naka Bamboo Tea

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I brewed this last night (10g/200 ml) after work. I’ve not been able to sleep anymore, so I have started working out and drinking a variety of sheng (which helps me relax) to slow my mind down.

At first, it was a bit bitter, but from my experiences with Naka, that’s how it goes with most of them…After a few steeps in, the bitterness vanished and there was a nice smooth ‘sheng’ (leathery) note….However, I hadn’t realized that the tea was taking hold of me, and allowing my mind/body soar in the state of relaxation/sleepiness. Upon drinking more and stopping momentarily to allow the kettle to boil back to the temperature needed, I was asleep.

So, in conclusion….this is pretty good stuff.

I feel like I should be writing more reviews. I realize I’ve been only doing teas that I feel obligated to review (TTB donations) or teas that affected me strongly one way or another. My dashboard on steepster has been sparse lately, so I suspect many others are drifting into the same mode of operation.

This is a nice average sheng. The only thing that stands out is the fairly strong cha qi. I was feeling it in my shoulders after drinking about one ounce. I took a break after my second cup so can’t fully estimate its power, but it’s pretty strong. For me the feeling is more physical than mental. The tea has a pleasant toasted straw flavor, with some bitterness at the beginning of the finish and some tropical fruit that comes out from behind the bitterness late in the finish. I was going to recommend the tea as an inexpensive tea drunk, but see that it is now out of stock. Another opportunity missed.

Mildly funky and nutty. Relaxing qi. I might add this to an order from Chawangshop.

I got this in my latest order. I bought 100 grams in hopes I could age it similar to the 2007.
I got 10 grams out to brew and gave a rinse. I let this sit about 2 hours since it was highly compressed.
After rinsing this tea gave off a very sweet aroma. The sweetness of the bamboo is present here. The color is a nice golden brew.
The initial brew is slightly sweet and then gets the light buttery punch in it. It is a thick brew that coats the mouth. Good feeling with this one. It starts to give the cha qui head sweat after drinking the cup. The aftertaste lingers in the mouth for a while.
Very enjoyable and I am glad they got this from the bamboo before shipping it.

Thank you Marcus Reed for this sample. This is excellent puerh. It is sweet with little bitterness. Perhaps more than any other sheng I remember I got a note of apricots with this tea. I was surprised to have to add it to the catalog as I did get it in a swap. There is a little bit of astringency to this tea but not much. It has an overriding sweetness and I may just have to buy it the next time I order from Chawangshop. If I had tried this before ordering no doubt I would have bought it. I did not feel the famous Naka effect some have reported from Naka teas but it did seem to have a relaxing qi. I used my 60ml gaiwan and steeped this tea thirteen times. I think I would get a few more out of it if I wasn’t always watching my caffeine.

I steeped this thirteen times in a 60ml gaiwan with 4g leaf and 200 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, 2 min, and 2.5 min.