I finally recieved my beautiful gaiwan tea set from Teavivre yesterday. This morning when I woke up I knew exactly what I was feeling ready for, a pu-erh. Now I haven’t really tried much pu-erh yet so keep that in mind.
I spent lots of time last night pouring with my gaiwan and getting a feel for brewing this style. I feel so important and involved with this process.
I’m not really sure how to review pu-erh tea. I’m not really familiar with the termonology I see other people using to describe pu-erh but I’m going to wing it here. I’m using the suggested gaiwan brewing times from Teavivre.
The first steep is curious. Not as overwhelmingly strange tasting as I was expecting it to be. It’s an interesting flavor, something I’ve never really experienced before. Maybe a tiny bit fishy? But it’s actually not offputting….very weird…
Wow. The second steep looks like a completely different tea. It’s so much darker than the first! The wet leaves smell a little smokey. This steep tastes like the first one, but with a little more oomph.
After a third steep the wet leaves are starting to smell leathery. Now I understand what people mean when they use “leathery” as a description. This steep is surprsingly sweet in a way. Much different than the previous steeps.
By the fourth steep I’m starting to get stuck on the fish smell for some reason. It doesn’t really taste fishy, but it smells just fishy enough to be getting a little weird. I’m having trouble focusing on anything else. One thing I am noticing though is that my tummy is feeling much better than it did when I woke up this morning. It could just be in my head but either way it’s a plus.
I think I’m going to have to stop here. I know I could continue steeping but I think I’ll have to dive into a few more pu-erhs before I take this one all the way. I’m going to hold off on a rating for now.
And I almost forgot to thank LiberTEAS for sending me some of this! What an interesting start to the day =) Oh, I forgot to add I haven’t burnt my fingers once yet! Woohoo!
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How fun to have a new set! I don’t know how long your steeps are but maybe too long? They should be 20-30 seconds in a gaiwan and you should have rinsed once first for that long too (which you probably did). I find that this helps. But, there are lots of milder pu-erhs out there too. Some like vanilla, some like bread, some like cedar wood or mushrooms. I wouldn’t stop trying.
I used the suggested times on Teavivre’s website which were : rinse(10s),10s,15s,20s,25s,30s, etc.
I’ve got quite a few more pu-erh samples around here that I have been saving to try so I’m looking forward to how the next one will compare. It’s not that I didn’t like it….just that I’m not sure what to make of it yet. Who knew tea could be so complex?
Brewing this way is so interesting and relaxing to me. It’s so much different than putting the tea in my Breville and letting it do all the work for me. Yeah, I’m definitely enjoying this tea set!
Bonnie, can you recall one that was especially cedar-like? I’m looking to find one – since cedar is one of my favorites :)
WP 2 that are carried by Mandala are 357 gram 2007 Menghai Jade Luster and 357 gram 2008 Menghai Dayi Hong (I reviewed both). Both have nice cedar. The Menghai Dayi 8592 2009 has nice Vanilla.
Mmmm the Dayi Hong sounds delicious!
Thanks for the tea suggestions Bonnie!
How fun to have a new set! I don’t know how long your steeps are but maybe too long? They should be 20-30 seconds in a gaiwan and you should have rinsed once first for that long too (which you probably did). I find that this helps. But, there are lots of milder pu-erhs out there too. Some like vanilla, some like bread, some like cedar wood or mushrooms. I wouldn’t stop trying.
I used the suggested times on Teavivre’s website which were : rinse(10s),10s,15s,20s,25s,30s, etc.
I’ve got quite a few more pu-erh samples around here that I have been saving to try so I’m looking forward to how the next one will compare. It’s not that I didn’t like it….just that I’m not sure what to make of it yet. Who knew tea could be so complex?
Brewing this way is so interesting and relaxing to me. It’s so much different than putting the tea in my Breville and letting it do all the work for me. Yeah, I’m definitely enjoying this tea set!
Bonnie, can you recall one that was especially cedar-like? I’m looking to find one – since cedar is one of my favorites :)
WP 2 that are carried by Mandala are 357 gram 2007 Menghai Jade Luster and 357 gram 2008 Menghai Dayi Hong (I reviewed both). Both have nice cedar. The Menghai Dayi 8592 2009 has nice Vanilla.
Mmmm the Dayi Hong sounds delicious!
Thanks for the tea suggestions Bonnie!