Ripened Sticky Rice Scent Pu-erh Mini Tuocha

I was lacking more than one sticky rice option!  So I thought I’d try this. Four ounces of this tea is 15 tuochas in the case of my pouch.  These are fairly big disc shapes, with a line down the middle.  Possibly indicating you could cut it in half to save for later.  But Teavivre’s instructions say to use one piece for twelve ounces.  And I like my puerh thick, so I definitely went with a whole piece for a mug.   The sticky rice scent is definitely abundant here and it’s very quick to unravel!  I’d say the sticky rice flavor is so strong that it kind of overpowers the ripe puerh, even if the brew is dark.  But there is a lingering coffee flavor following the sticky rice.   There was plenty of sticky rice flavor throughout all the steeps.  The last one having like a creamy quality to it.  I think the focus here is more the sticky rice flavoring, as the puerh is quite mild, even with my standard mug size. Though the infuser is almost FULL of unraveled leaves.  I might like that long fourth steep the best with that creamier smooth quality.   I’m glad I have this in stock for the sticky rice craving, but I might not reach for it when I’m craving nuanced shou.
Steep #1 // 11 minutes after boiling //  1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 11 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #3 // 11 minutes after boiling // 4 minute steep
Steep #4 // just boiled // 16 minute steep

I’m a sucker for the sticky rice flavor of nuo mi xiang thrown into just about anything. These are cozy and creamy and sensuous; some herbal greenery pokes in here and there. Short steeps of 15-20 seconds keep the shou light and balanced with the herb (longer steeps get a little bitter and disjointed). I must be at 10-12 steeps as I write this, and the herb is persisting right along with the shou — perfection.

The ~6g disc looked very compressed coming out of the foil wrapper, but it bubbled and let water in during a 15sec rinse. After a patient 20 minutes, I opened my gaiwan and found a poofy pile of leaves waiting to make magic happen. :D

The handy little discs make me want to consider this for travel, but the need for babysitting short steeps ruins that dream. I am still turning over a plan for overseas steeping… I sure don’t want to have a vacation full of tea ‘meh’, but I also want to be reasonable with gear. I generally pack ultralight (<25L for 2-3 weeks), and absolutely don’t want to change that. A new field of study and research awaits…