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“Goodbye weird tea! SIPDOWN 72 I took the rest and just brewed it grandpa. And it is still same, refreshing, light, slightly creamy, fresh air, little remininding petrichor. A wee of vegetal and...” Read full tasting note
“This is what I consider to be one of the strangest steepable things in my cupboard, behind the insect tea-poop tea from Liquid Proust (which I haven’t worked up the nerve yet to try). Crab legs...” Read full tasting note
“Had this Grandpa style on Monday… Y’know when people saying something like “Oh, this just tastes like tea” as if all tea tastes the same!? That drives me crazy, and yet I do simultaneously kind of...” Read full tasting note
Our recent addition to the Bitterleaf “weird” collection is not actually tea, but rather a parasitic plant that uses the tea trees of Jing Mai as its source of power. Bearing resemblance to the crustacean of the same name, Crab Legs are treasured in traditional Chinese medicine, but also make for an enjoyable drink all on their own.
Brewing crab legs is as easy as boiling 2-4 grams in a large kettle for several minutes, and then adding more water to re-brew as you go. They produce a tangy-sweet soup with an herbal quality. Additionally, there is quite a nice huigan that lasts in the throat.
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Goodbye weird tea! SIPDOWN 72
I took the rest and just brewed it grandpa. And it is still same, refreshing, light, slightly creamy, fresh air, little remininding petrichor.
A wee of vegetal and green notes and lightly mineral. Good for evenings.
Flavors: Creamy, Green, Mineral, Petrichor, Vegetal
This is what I consider to be one of the strangest steepable things in my cupboard, behind the insect tea-poop tea from Liquid Proust (which I haven’t worked up the nerve yet to try). Crab legs are parasitic plants that grow on puerh trees and seem to either grow only in the Jingmai region or are collected only from there, based on some cursory internetting. They really are shaped like segmented crab legs. Little paddles.
I received this from White Antlers and sent most of it out and about into the world, reserving only 5 grams for myself. That 5 grams ended up in my liter teapot tonight, steeped with boiling water and left to brew while I did stuff around the house, maybe 30 minutes.
It brewed a sparkling clear yellow golden color with an orange tint and smells of clean high-mountain air. The taste is mild and pristine! Mineral tingles, very slightly sweet and tart with an almost nutmilky finish and a lingering light sweetness in the back of the mouth. It also produces an herbal cooling sensation in the mouth and I can feel my chest opening. It is incredibly refreshing now that I’m drinking it lukewarm. My housemate chugged two mugs in a row and the biggest smile spread across her face. She loves it!
This is what I imagine as the antithesis to insect tea-poop tea. So clean and pristine. It’s fascinating, really.
I just thought about brewing this one several times, but I wondered if it contains any caffeine (seems it does). So I decided always I need something caffeine-free in the evening when I thought, or something caffeine-strong in the mornings.
Glad it is tasty and I think I will try French press that to my family instead drinking it alone.
This article is about traditional medical uses: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jphp.12837
Yep, only in JingMai does this plant grow. I have read about it and probably need to try some one day.
derk thank you for sharing the box of Swedish Death Purge Tea. I no longer have many people in my life due to death, estrangement and distance, but now I can feel like, on some level, people are having a cup of tea with me. : )
This looks really unique and interesting! And I understand your reluctance to try insect-poop tea.
I served the Chong Shi Cha at one of our tea parties telling the guests to guess what it is, lol :D
The theme was that of “unusual” teas, so they should have been prepared for weird stuff. We didn’t have any crab legs though!
So cool!! Is insect poop tea made out of actual insect poop? I did a quick google, but I am in disbelief. Glad someone else can be the guinea pig on that one!
Togo, I’d love to hear how your guests reacted when they found that out! I’m also interested to know how much insect poop is actually in this tea.
It’s pure poo produced by worms that ingest herbs and tea leaves. Chawangshop has a particularly good description: https://www.chawangshop.com/1980s-guangxi-chong-shi-cha-10g.html
I, too, am curious of the poop tea reactions.
Martin, according to the paper I linked, the caffeine content of crab legs is “quite low.” I didn’t notice any caffeine effects and I’m sensitive.
mrmopar, I see Dragon Tea House sells an amount as low as 50g.
White Antlers, your pleasure is my pleasure and many others’.
derk: yep, I have noticed it contains caffeine, but indeed very low amount, especially compared to green tea they have tested as well. So, let’s call it caffeine-free blend then :D
Derk, that description from Chawangshop is … interesting. For something that’s supposed to settle your stomach, I think it would do the opposite! :D
Had this Grandpa style on Monday…
Y’know when people saying something like “Oh, this just tastes like tea” as if all tea tastes the same!? That drives me crazy, and yet I do simultaneously kind of feel like I know exactly what they’re talking about. The sort of generic taste of maybe something like a Red Rose Orange Pekoe/English Breakfast type generic grocery store bagged thing.
Well, I bring it up because I feel like I had the same kind of moment when drinking this but my frustrating/vague summary was more in the vein of “Oh, this just tastes like herbal tea”. I’m sure if I was more consciously drinking the tea, I’d have at least some flavour breakdown but since it was just something I was slurping while working I had the generic kind of flavour impression…
