Where to start! First off this was two days ago! This was my first puerh and my first experience using a gaiwan (no spellcheck, I don’t mean Taiwan). It was amazing, even though I’m quite sure I did a lot wrong. :) It felt great to just set aside some time to really drink tea and enjoy it. Not that I don’t enjoy tea normally, but I usually just make it and then grab the cup and go do something else (like write about it on Steepster!). Anywho…
I did a quick rinse of the tea and then moved into the first infusion. This tea is nice a smokey (I love a smokey tea). The leaves smelled very smokey after the first infusion, but this lessened as the session went by. I have some awesome pictures I’ll link to later! So back to the first infusion, smokey and earthy, very smooth and maybe a bit creamy (not sure if this is the right word). The liquor was a really pretty deep straw color. I got about 10 infusions out of this but I don’t think I did the increments right, not long enough. However, I only used a bit of my sample, so I will try again tomorrow!
Also, I’ve been reading about “cha qi/chi” and I think that it may have occurred/the tea may have it? (Or it’s all in my head! :P) I’m not sure what the proper way to use the word is, but the Tea Masters blog says it nicely:
“You may feel the Chi because your whole body feels warm and you start to sweat. And/or your mouth will be secreting saliva because it tells you it wants more of that tea. And/or your mind will feel crystal clear, as if you had breathed very pure and fresh air.” (http://preview.tinyurl.com/d5mtomu)
I’m a little hesitant to rate this, only because I have no other puerh experience to really compare it too! However, I really enjoyed it so a high rating it gets. :)
