2012 Yunnan Sourcing "Gu Hua Xiang" Raw Pu-erh

Gong-fu in a celadon gaiwan.

Took up an old habit of brewing sheng whenever i watch The big bang theory. :)
wash/wash/15/15/20/20/30/30 etc

First infusions were light and lemony. @ 30s the infusions started showing their strenght. Some astringancy and a fuller body. This is a mediocre quality sheng, good for every day use. Must do longer steepings to get good strong flavours that i like.

I have about 2 more brewings left of the generous 25g sample from YS, will give it another try next week :)

tried in my yixing… tastes were strong and mixed, couldn’t find any positive attributes, barely drinkable. Not for me.

Meh

I suppose this can be a polarizing tea, before looking it up I tried my sample to remove any biases price or otherwise related. I recognized xiang as smell didn’t make out the gu hua part until after. The smell was too muddled for me to get anyone thing out of it I would say complex but they all came at once and disappeared just as fast which made me think this was a blend. The sip was just as confusing I tasted a bunch of banna notes first it seemed like hekai sweetness then nanuo fruity/floral but ended with a sour strange taste that was off putting. Being puer I figured give it a chance maybe it will improve.

Long story short it didn’t as a tell tale sign (for me personally because I always feel wasteful and disrespectful to the producers if I don’t finish all the leaves have to give ) I dumped the session before hitting brew 6 or 7. Sure enough I looked it up it was a blend, also the name was in reference to osmanthus flower which I loathe anyhow so maybe I am not the best to judge this tea.

Not to be a snob but I am not partial to blends well to clarify leftover/scrapes blends which this maybe or maybe not be but the flavors/aroma were out of sync. instead of being layered. I do not underestimate the art or skill it takes to make a good puer blend, it’s far from your average english breakfast random hong cha tossed in willy nilly. Puer being so complex and multifaceted with endless variables. I mean no disrespect as I stated it must be near impossible to make a good blend for young sheng non-plantation tea.

Feels good to start running through my samples and find things I don’t like as my wallet is battered and it’s fresh tea season.

This sampling session is accompanied by Joao Choras O homem do Ribatejo. I enjoy Fado music. Anywho, I begin this sampling with 4.8 grams of dry leaf. Leaf appearence isn’t very impressive.. however, this may be due to the fact that the leaves I received are from the interior of the bing. The wet leaves produce an aroma that I can only describe as floral.. perhaps a grassy floral? The liquor is a light-medium amber colour… typical I suppose. The tea is well balanced with a clean, pure sweetness and pleasant mouthfeel. There is an immediate qi that flows into your body from the tea – something I detected immediately from my first sip. The hui gian and hui tian is apparent. In conclusion, I enjoyed this tea. I think an 80/100 is a fair grade.

Edit : In later steepings, a slight bitterness opens up.