1st steep – just as recommended – pre-warmed the cup, rinsed the leaves with the boiling water (maybe 5 seconds?) then dumped that out and infused for 30 seconds in 6 oz boiling water.
It’s a lovely golden yellow color, with just the right amount of jasmine – the jasmine is a whiff of perfume in scent, not a gulp of it down the mouth! The pu-erh gives it a bit of earthy body – more than the other jasmine green teas I’ve had. But there’s no “off” tastes or any of the scary things I was afraid of… I would say this was probably the perfect intro pu-erh for me! I am so glad I took Chicago Tea up on their free sample offer (two touchas!) and and strongly considering ordering the wild orange pu-erh because I am SO intrigued by it!
2nd infusion – 30 sec – I think it’s actually a tad bit darker this time. Scent same. A bit more astringent. The tuocha broke apart completely on this steep.
3rd – 45 sec; used slightly cooler water – less astringent, which allowed the gentle jasmine to come through more. Almost as dark as ever, and not at all “watery” tasting.
4th infusion – 1 min – still a beautiful coppery yellow; but the astringency (though not terrible) is masking the jasmine this time (my water may have been hotter than on #3)
This was a lovely experience which greatly exceeded my expectations! (not to say they were low – more like I was very trepidatious both of pu’erh and of resteeping). Thank you Chicago Tea Garden for a wonderful tea, and such informative steeping/resteeping parameters.
