2011 Menghai Dayi " Old Tea Nubs"

moving this up a notch. the flavors really come out in the later infusions. it keeps getting better and better. i purchased a 2006 7572 cake at the same time as this one,but this is hands down the winner in my book and i am off to ebay to get another.

I teach piano and voice lessons in my home, and my students find out about my tea obsession pretty quickly. There are two Bellocq tins sitting on the piano and the dog treats for them to bribe my Sam are in a Mariage Feres tin, so it would be pretty hard to miss.

Today, an adorable little boy who has been coming for lessons for about a year asked if he could have a cup of tea. He was getting an extra long lesson because his sibling is at camp. I told him he was welcome to have a cup from my tetsubin…it was this. A ripe pu.

His mother does not drink tea at all, and from what he tells me his father drinks herbals and green tea.

Would you believe he loved it? With no milk or sugar, too. He told me he likes really, really STRONG tea, sweetened please, but I gave him this plain (there was sugar on the table) but he drank it just as it was and exclaimed that it was delicious.

I am out now, so these nuggets are getting resteeped plenty today and tomorrow.

This is one of the sweeter and milder ripe puerh teas I have had. It has great body and is so easy to drink…a child could do it.

I am getting really frustrated with myself when it comes to this puerh stuff. I have some of the best stuff out there thanks to a wonderful tea benefactor and I can’t seem to appreciate it. I’ve finally made it past the “no thank you” stage and I am at the “if I must” stage.

Some tea people I trust are encouraging and swear they felt the same at the beginning and now they love it but man, how long does it take? I’ve been trying on and off for MONTHS.

But since we are talking about THIS particular one here, I am on my third steep, 1 minute western style for each steeps, plus a rinse at the beginning. The first two steeps the cake remained quite packed, it only now broke apart into what I recognize as loose tea (as opposed to a block). It is still very very dark, I am quite curious as to how long this is going to last. I’m going to keep at it until I taste chocolate, or something other than musty barnyard clothes.

Previous note says the flavour came out in later steeps. I hope so because right now it just sort of tastes like I’m sucking on a snow-soaked wool mitten. I must say it does not taste fishy which is an improvement but it still smells so. Last night I jokingly “offered” my cup to the dog we’re dogsitting, holding in out for her to sniff. No word of a lie, she turned her head and curled her lip. And she usually reacts quite differently when offered things from out cups and plates. :)

PS. this does not pair well with avocado which I happened to have a small amount of since I’m chopping it. I’m sure this morsel of info will be helpful to so many :)