So I am opening this tea sample as I have been explaining chaqi to my friend and we want to see if this sheng will show us some! This is also my first sheng, so I am pretty excited to taste this!
The dry smell is pleasantly of wood, a nice musty smell. The leaves are in beautifully pried off sheets, very nice job! I did two rinses, the first at 25 s and the next at 15. Then I poured boiling water into my gongfu pot and poured it out as quick as I could, probably around 6-7 seconds. The steeped smell is woody, with some kind of creaminess that I associated with scotch! A very pleasant smell, and no fishiness at all, I wonder if it is because it is a sheng, either way, I am very pleased with the scent!
The taste is very nice and mild, a woody musty taste with a bready mouthfeel, thick and satisfying. I am picturing a cellar stuffed with aged meats and fresh loaves, and barrels of wine. My friend says it reminds her of smoked meat, which I definitely can get from the smell and taste as well. There is a nice sparkling aftertaste as well, which I am enjoying. And yes, I feel a bit of the chaqi, maybe because I haven’t eaten dinner, but it’s an interesting feeling. Might also be that it’s a new tea and I’m excited about it!
Overall, I am very impressed with this tea. Maybe sheng pu’erh is the tea for me rather than shu. I will resteep this after I eat lol. Happy this was a success!!
ETA – This tea is really tasty and I have been enjoying a few more steeps today! Added rating as this has been my favorite pu’erh so far :)
