I’ve been chiseling around on a fairly obscure puerh cake my Father-in-law gave me for a few months now. I’ve been wondering what my next everyday, “workhorse” tea would be. I think I’ve found it!! This little Tou-Cha has all the characteristics of a quality and comfortable puer.
After having a hot bath, everyone in the house is greeted with a fairly concentrated and heavy aroma of leather and moss. My first drinking infusion (after two 30sec rinses) is only 3-4 seconds, producing a caramel colored liquor that is bursting with assertive flavors. This tea penetrates my palate on a couple different levels even on the first infusion. Strong woodsy flavor in the front turns to velvety sweetness on the back of the tongue. Overall a warm comfortable aura envelops me when I’m holding a small cup of this shu.
Second, third and forth infusions:
Because of the short infusions (still mere seconds), this tea builds different, complicated flavors on top of each other. I know they are there because I can taste them. Unfortunately, my palate is not so discriminating as to adequately describe them. They start fairly wild and end exceeding sweet and smooth.
Nostalgia is playing a part in my very favorable review of this tea. A couple of years ago my wife’s Father (who is a fairly well know actor in Malaysia) took us all to a very popular Bak Kut Teh restaurant in a suburb of Kuala Lumpur. BKT is a herbal soupy stew that is both delicious and touted as being very nutritious. In a culture where “food is medicine”, an outstanding (and probably expensive) puerh was served with the meal. After commenting on the quality of the tea, I got “the look” from my Father-in-law. The look of recognition that I had finally, after so many years, developed a discerning palate.
This Puerh reminds me a lot of that meal. It begins strong and assertive. After a couple of infusions, a full-bodied mellowing leads into a complex melding of flavor and aroma. Mushroom and leather are the predominate inclinations with hints of cinnamon, and coriander. This tea has amazing endurance, and better yet, it doesn’t get bitter or astringent. However, please remember that I kept all infusions to the bare minimum. Even after 6-7 infusions, they were only 10secs.
This is a quality tea which I highly recommend. I purchased this tea from Pure Puer. The customer service from Mr. Chin was unbeatable and a pleasure. I look forward to dealing with them in the future.
