87

For the full review and pictures, see: www.southern-sips.blogspot.com

There was plenty for me to learn concerning this tea, most importantly of it potency. This was my first Xiaguan tea, and I guess they are known for their strength. No words could describe or indicate the pungency and bitterness from this tea. I prepared it with the same amount of leaves as my other puerhs and oolongs – enough to cover most of the bottom of the gaiwan. This I found out was not such a great idea! My mouth was insulted with its bitterness and my stomach began to speak to me as well, because of this dreadful brew. After trying several infusions, there was no found “mellowed/sweet tea”, again promised by the retailer. This almost discouraged me altogether pursuing this tea at this time, maybe more time is needed to allow this sheng to age.

I must say that the owner of the online shop, was most helpful and willing to guide me to this tea’s sweetness and mellowed taste. It only took me a couple more settings with this tea to finally get what was desired. The trick all came down to lessening the amount of tea used. It really only took about 1/4 the leaves of what I normally use and shortening my steep to 5 seconds instead of 15, to bring out the best from this Tibetan brick. There really is a sweetness and very nice savoriness to this tea, once all the right conditions are met. I’m glad that I now do not have to wait a few more years to try this one again – it will certainly not last that long now!

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec
Charles Thomas Draper

I’m drinking a Xiguan as I’m reading this and loving it. Why do I always smell the gum that came with baseball cards with most Sheng? Weird

Tommy Toadman

I have one similar to this,Very Nice :)

TeaBrat

Did you try it with yak butter? :)

Tommy Toadman

Goat milk butter ;)

K S

I am impressed you sought out what you were doing wrong rather than just saying this is nasty and moving on.

Pureleaf

Amy oh & Tommy the Toad – You guys need to share the info behind this yak vs goat milk! What am I missing here? lol

KS – that’s the only way. Some teas demand more attempts and time to master developing the best taste from its leaves.

Charles Thomas Draper – that’s a great observation! I think you may be right and I have know idea. Now you got me anxious to taste some more and search for this taste. :)

Pureleaf

I have no idea why I typed “know” instead of “no”. lol

Tommy Toadman

lol, I make Butter tea with this type of tea sometimes, I was just replying to Amy Oh that I use Goat Milk Butter cuz We don’t have any Yaks on our “farm” lol I think I got a post about Butter Tea here on Steepster somewhere. :)

mrmopar

like ks said great job on further exploration till you found the comfort zone. tommy gave me a butter tea recipie that i can’t wait to try!

ashmanra

In Tibet, they add salt and yak butter to their puerh! I understand the salt helps replace minerals lost sweating as they climb about the Himalayas, and the butter provides much needed calories and fat to keep warm in the brutal environment.

Tommy Toadman

Yep, In Tibet they have to do it that way, thats exactly what I read about on the internet, thats how I ended up stumbling upon Butter Tea recipe lol I’m sure ours tastes way different from real Tibetan tea but I try :) I guess I could have explained what it was was, Thanks Ashmanra! Sorry Pureleaf didn’t mean to jack your thread ;)

Bonnie

I have a butter recipe and tried it before and like it very much. Nice on a wintry day with snow outside. Comforting like a broth. I was talking to a friend in California, an older woman almost 70 who went to Mongolia this year and drank a bowl of yak butter tea. She was offered another bowl but said the bowls were so big, she couldn’t drink two. I think she had guts! She spends all her time helping the poor, visiting the sick, doing without frills in her own life for the good of others.

meliorate

This sounds fascinating… Inspires me to try butter tea myself!

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Comments

Charles Thomas Draper

I’m drinking a Xiguan as I’m reading this and loving it. Why do I always smell the gum that came with baseball cards with most Sheng? Weird

Tommy Toadman

I have one similar to this,Very Nice :)

TeaBrat

Did you try it with yak butter? :)

Tommy Toadman

Goat milk butter ;)

K S

I am impressed you sought out what you were doing wrong rather than just saying this is nasty and moving on.

Pureleaf

Amy oh & Tommy the Toad – You guys need to share the info behind this yak vs goat milk! What am I missing here? lol

KS – that’s the only way. Some teas demand more attempts and time to master developing the best taste from its leaves.

Charles Thomas Draper – that’s a great observation! I think you may be right and I have know idea. Now you got me anxious to taste some more and search for this taste. :)

Pureleaf

I have no idea why I typed “know” instead of “no”. lol

Tommy Toadman

lol, I make Butter tea with this type of tea sometimes, I was just replying to Amy Oh that I use Goat Milk Butter cuz We don’t have any Yaks on our “farm” lol I think I got a post about Butter Tea here on Steepster somewhere. :)

mrmopar

like ks said great job on further exploration till you found the comfort zone. tommy gave me a butter tea recipie that i can’t wait to try!

ashmanra

In Tibet, they add salt and yak butter to their puerh! I understand the salt helps replace minerals lost sweating as they climb about the Himalayas, and the butter provides much needed calories and fat to keep warm in the brutal environment.

Tommy Toadman

Yep, In Tibet they have to do it that way, thats exactly what I read about on the internet, thats how I ended up stumbling upon Butter Tea recipe lol I’m sure ours tastes way different from real Tibetan tea but I try :) I guess I could have explained what it was was, Thanks Ashmanra! Sorry Pureleaf didn’t mean to jack your thread ;)

Bonnie

I have a butter recipe and tried it before and like it very much. Nice on a wintry day with snow outside. Comforting like a broth. I was talking to a friend in California, an older woman almost 70 who went to Mongolia this year and drank a bowl of yak butter tea. She was offered another bowl but said the bowls were so big, she couldn’t drink two. I think she had guts! She spends all her time helping the poor, visiting the sick, doing without frills in her own life for the good of others.

meliorate

This sounds fascinating… Inspires me to try butter tea myself!

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Bio

I’m a southern boy that that continues to have an intense love for high quality loose leaf tea! This is no doubt, a passion I intend to enjoy and pursue for the rest of my life! I love the art of tea, and the expression of it’s culture in each cup.

You can also follow me here:

Blog:

http://southern-sips.blogspot.com/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/southernsips

Typically, I’m a straight tea and loose-leaf type of drinker. Black teas (especially Taiwanese blacks), Greener Oolong and Sheng Pu-erhs are top on my list!

Don’t get me wrong though, I do like me some darker, roasted oolongs, shu puerhs, greens and whites are a must as well!

Location

Middle Tennessee

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