My first Fu tea. So perfect for cold weather like we’ve been lately (I know, it’s all relative but 23˚C is cold for Singapore!)
Even though this tea is sort of grouped with other post-fermented teas like pu er, I feel that the flavour doesn’t burst out of this as much (akin to very dry storage pu er). I find that I need 5-6g of this per 100ml (as opposed to pu er where I need 4-5g per 100ml)
Used 4.5g to 90ml today because I am leaving the house soon and won’t get many steeps out of this.
Warmed dry leaf smells floral (like chrysanthemums? I’m terrible with identifying flowers).
Rinsed once.
1st infusion (100˚C, 0:15)
- Wet leaf smells very sweet, floral and fruity––like ripe pears, or really sweet heavy-scented flowers like… (not rose, and not white florals––sweet vanilla orchids, or hyacinth? mimosa? magnolia? freesia?)
- Liquor tastes sweet like dried longans, hints of crunchy white fungus – reminds me a lot of the Singaporean dessert called cheng tng.
Rating: 85
2nd infusion (100˚C, 0:15):
- Wet leaf has a sweet, aged mustiness to it, like dried flowers kept in the yellowed pages of an old book.
- Liquor is slightly less sweet, but still has the nice rich floral + fruity “cheng tng” flavour
Rating: 84
3rd + 6th infusions: (gave 4 & 5 to my sis)
- Really nice for pairing with food like my yoghurt and granola. Still has sweetness and fruitiness coming through, reminds me a bit of an aged raw pu er or a medium-roasted oolong (like bai hao or dancong).
Rating: 85
Flavors: Chrysanthemum, Floral, Fruity, Musty, Pear, Sweet
You are so right! Some relatives from Minnesota visited when it was 20C here once. We stood outside with our teeth chattering and they wore short sleeves and rejoiced in the balmy weather. But we had been accustomed to temperatures around 34C, so very chilly to us and delightfully warm to them!
Haha yes I totally get it. That sounds like an adorable scene, ashmanra!