I’m back! Camping was excellent. We picked the perfect weekend to go hiking in Indiana as the trees are just about at peak color here. It did get VERY cold last night though. We woke up with red noses and frost on the outside of the tents!! BBRRRRR!
Anyway, I got a sample of this with my most recent order. I’m very excited to try my 2nd Sheng! I only have Mandala’s Wild Monk to compare this to. My husband and I have been sharing the sample faux gongfu style. I set up the kettle to hold at the right temperature, and the leaves are sitting in a David’s Tea perfect steeper basket, and we will take turns each filling our little vintage pyrex cups halfway full of water, since they hold exactly 8oz each. The first couple of steeps are a little smokey, but not as smokey as Wild Monk. If Wild Monk is a light pine wood flavor, these purple buds are a richer darker oak or maybe apple wood. As the infusions continue the lingering fruitiness begins to build at the end of each sip. I thought of the Wild Monk as a tangy apricot, but this is a sour cherry/plummy/prune type fruit. Very rich and thick. There is a mushroomy note, but not an unpleasant one. I’m excited to see how many steeps we get total this afternoon. I think we are up to a dozen right now. YAY! I’m really getting to be fond of puerh!
Thanks Stacy!
