This is my first Puerh that isn’t flavoured or a tuocha, and my first sheng.
I’m in-between refilling kettles to re-steep this right now, and the lingering taste is of a pungent fruity sweetness. It’s also woodsy. I’ve been slowly drinking this tea for the last hour. I enjoy it, although I haven’t built up a palate for puerh’s.
Ok, new cup ready to go! It reminded me of mushrooms in the first few steeps but it has now evolved into something quite citric and tart tasting. It actually reminds me of my intense yuzu tea with a heavy dose of citrus rinds. It’s pungent and drying, yet at the same time also vegetal and refreshing.
In Delta and Surrey, River Road is a bit of an industrial area; if you want to go to Richmond, Burnaby, or Vancouver you can drive across Alex Fraser Bridge which goes right over River Road. It’s an impressive bridge, especially when the sun sets and all the lights flicker on; then it’s like that bit on the Peter Pan ride in Disneyland. The only downside is the smell of sewage that sometimes drifts over from the treatment center on Annacis Island. When the wind is just right however, and the lumber and paper mills are running, that awful smell is replaced by something quite delightful- cedar so sharp and woodsy that clears out all the senses.
This tea has a little of that cedar quality, right down to the sweet and rough woody texture that lingers in the throat. I don’t think I would find myself drinking this all the time but it gets huge points for making me think of that and feel the need to write it down (sorry!). There’s some articles drifting around that say smell may be the biggest memory trigger? Neat!
I don’t know how many times I’ve steeped this, I must be near around ten, and new flavours are still coming out.
