Autumn Hearth

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Autumn Hearth drank Cornfields Shu Tuocha by Verdant Tea

Holy sweet buttery corn! This is exactly what I need right now! More later swoon! Mmm and its a really nice shu to boot! On my sixth infusion and it still has the lovely sweet corn notes but its becoming more rounded.

For anyone unfamiliar with this tea, it is not “flavored” rather it has picked up the essence of the cornfields the tea grows next to. Another reason pu’erh is awesome!

Ooo vanilla is making an appearance in this seventh infusion with some tart berry notes, these later steeps are reminding me of some of my favorite shu, squee! On nine and this is like a whole other delicious tea (reminds me most of Peacock Village Shu), two amazing teas in one!

Presented the husband with a tiny cup of the first infusion, he sniffed it “Smells like the sticky rice”. He took a sip and said “Hmm not bad. How much do you have of this?” Five more tuochas… “I might actually drink this, like in the fall”. This may seem small, but the amount of dismissing my husband does, especially for a 3 second steep like this, its pretty big :)

2012-08-17 19:41:33 -0400

205 °F / 96 °C

0 min 15 sec

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Alex_Allen 2012-08-18 16:42:08 -0400

Wow! Nine steepings?! Did you get through all that in a day or half a day? My poor stomach couldn’t take it. I usually prefer a good oolong, green, white, or black over a pu’er, but with all these rave reviews, I’ll have to try some myself!

Autumn Hearth 2012-08-18 17:40:07 -0400

It was in a four hour period actually and after a sheng no less! The only thing that stopped me from continuing was that it was after midnight and time to go to bed. I wouldn’t normally do more than one pu’er in a day but shrug what can I say. I may try to revive it this evening but today I’ve stuck to a cold brewed white and a green. If you would like to do a swap sometime I would be glad to send you five or six of my favorite pu’er.

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Druid, artist, poet, mum, lover of tea, ritual and myth. I grew up on Celestial Seasons herbals but fell in love with straight loose leaf tea working at my local Teavana for a year. I am grateful for the introduction and the experience, but have moved on.

I see tea as an experience for the senses, I like to imagine tasting the land and the weather as well as the effect of sun, air, fire and the human hand. I have a soft spot for shu pu’er, yabao, scented oolongs, wuyi oolongs, taiwanese tea as well as smooth naturally sweet blacks, creamy greens and surprisingly complex whites.

I began ordering lots of samples from Upton to educate myself on different varieties of tea we didn’t have at work and have fallen head over heels for the unique offerings from Verdant Tea. I am learning things I like: buttery mouthfeel, surprising sweet or spice notes, woodiness, mineral notes, depth and complexity and things I don’t: astringency, dry and sour notes.

I collect tea tins and am in danger of collecting pots, though I am trying to restrain the urge due to current lack of space. I brew mostly in a glass infuser mug or a tea maker, only using cast-iron for company now (still need to get a gaiwan) and tend not to sweeten my teas unless they are British or fruity and iced, which is not often.

As far as ratings, I lack a definite system and haven’t been assigning numbers lately, wanting to spend multiple sessions with a tea first. I usually only log a tea once, unless it is a new harvest or I have significantly different observations, but will go back and edit or comment if I find something interesting or new.