You guys, I went to put away the Basics Set and grab something else from my latest White2Tea purchase to try. I looked at the white whale and thought, “yeah, maybe that one”. And then I looked a little closer and saw that in the plastic ziplock along with it was a puer pick! Woohoo, I have a puer pick now! What a thoughtful add-on! (my order must have had “newbie” written all over it) Anyhow, it was definitely necessary, because this brick is tightly compressed. So yay, I was able to chip off 6g for my gaiwan, did two rinses (one quick, one longer, hoping to get the tea chunks to open up a bit), then started with a 5-10sec steep. I found this one actually got intense and a little bitter quite quickly, so I ended up doing a bunch of 20sec steeps in a row rather than going longer with each one, which seemed to help. I might go with less tea next time.

This is a nice aged sheng, with lots of musty and earthy flavours and a cooling bitterness in the late sip / aftertaste that I presume is the camphor. It’s kind of like… taking a walk in the woods after a rainfall… while chewing on pine needles. But in a good way. ;) It’s also fairly smooth, full-bodied, and it mellows out into a bit of sweetness in later steeps. I’m writing this from memory for a tea I mostly drank yesterday, so this review is a bit lacking in detail. I’m glad I have a brick of it, and look forward to giving it another try!

But… how do I store this? The packaging doesn’t really lend itself to rewrapping as well as the cakes do. I currently have it semi-rewrapped and sealed up in the ziplock it arrived in, but I’m pretty sure that’s not a respectful way to store aged sheng. So Steepster, help me out, what should I do? :)

mrmopar

Leave the bag open and store it away from odors and sunlight. Not in the kitchen!
Gong Fu this at some time. The quick steeps do keep the bitterness down. If you build a pumidor later I will help with that.

boychik

It’s not big so grab some kind ceramic jar. Until you ready for pumidor as mrM suggests

MzPriss

But beware – mr mo will have you building a pumidor soon. He is an awesome good/bad influence

Lindsay

THIS is the reason I was trying to stay away from puer. Everyone I know already thinks my tea obsession is a bit crazy, but puer drinkers take it to a whole other level! No pumidors for me, at least for now. :)

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mrmopar

Leave the bag open and store it away from odors and sunlight. Not in the kitchen!
Gong Fu this at some time. The quick steeps do keep the bitterness down. If you build a pumidor later I will help with that.

boychik

It’s not big so grab some kind ceramic jar. Until you ready for pumidor as mrM suggests

MzPriss

But beware – mr mo will have you building a pumidor soon. He is an awesome good/bad influence

Lindsay

THIS is the reason I was trying to stay away from puer. Everyone I know already thinks my tea obsession is a bit crazy, but puer drinkers take it to a whole other level! No pumidors for me, at least for now. :)

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Well it has been over a year and everyone I know thinks my tea obsession is a bit out of hand, so… I guess I’m not a total newbie anymore. :)

I’m drinking a lot more pure tea these days, though I still love a good flavoured blend too. Current favourites: Chinese and Taiwanese blacks, fresh Chinese greens, oolongs both green and roasted, sheng puer.

I really love companies that buy directly from tea farmers, and have an emphasis on quality and sustainability. Favourites: Verdant, Whispering Pines, Eco Cha, White 2 Tea. I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere, so I buy almost all my tea online.

For hot tea, I’m usually brewing in either a 100ml gaiwan, or a 10oz mug with a steeping basket. For cold tea, I cold brew overnight in 500ml mason jars.

My cupboard on Steepster doesn’t include small samples, just the ones I have at least 15g of. So if you see something you’re interested in, I probably have enough to share. :)

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Northwestern Ontario, Canada

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