Since I had good luck drinking shu with youngest, I decided it was time to try sheng on her! Hubby joined us.
I used about five grams in my small gong fu pot. The water was boiling, but since we bring it to the table with us, it is cooling all the while. From that five grams of leaf we got two liters, that’s right, TWO LITERS, of tea!
I didn’t read the directions last night when I had this and oversteeped it on the second or third steep, which made it very brisk but also increased the sweet aftertaste quite a bit. The oversteep led to a very lemony taste for a little while before it settled back down.
Tonight I gave it a 20 second rinse, then several 10 second steeps, then several 20 second ones. The steeped tea keeps its deep golden color through many steeps. Steeps 2 through 4 are probably the most brisk, with 5 onward being more mellow. There is a drying affect for the tongue but the throat stays wet. It will be interesting to see what happens as this one ages.
I think this had a moderate chi. I wasn’t dancing on the ceiling, but last night we had introduced youngest to some 20’s music that was new to her – she is a big 40’s fan – so tonight we went to the 70’s with Jefferson Starship and America, and then took her to the 80’s with Al Stewart et al. It was loads of fun, and now how will we ever get to sleep?
