Peacock Village 2004 Shu

Really good, ridiculously clean shu. Thanks Autumn Hearth!

So… Apparently there was bit of scandal going around a while back about this being a cheap, low quality shu. I can’t answer for the first accusation, but as for quality all I have to say is that it was delicious.

Putting that behind us…

Early steeps: The tea brews extremely clear with a nice red color. Thick, chewy bread flavors and notes of portobello, vanilla, and something berry-like.

Middle steeps: Lightly oakey, reminds me of the camping on a cold night. Tastes of dark, rich soil. It becomes lighter with mineral, almost sparkling qualities. Clean like sheng.

Later steeps: Dry fall leaves, cedar, and pine. The mouthfeel is sort of meaty, and though its not fishy at all, I’m picturing a nice plank-cooked salmon. (I’m not crazy!) :P The flavors start to get weak around the 8th infusion.

I left the leaves on a gaiwan saucer by the window to dry, and what I found where some nice, big healthy leaves. And these things:

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Not really sure what they are, young tea flower buds?

Had 2 large cups with this tea combined with some salty snacks. Mmmm … salty snacks

MOMENTOUS OCCASION!
This is my first ever pu-erh! EVER! I’m excited, needless to say. This is also my first sample out of the box that LiberTEAS sent me. I was feeling daring, so I decided to make this now that I have time to make more than one infusion!

So, I decided that it would be fairly easy for me to make this in my mug (I need a gaiwan so bad!), so that is what I did. However, I messed up my rinses. First of all, I didn’t boil enough water to make a cup after the rinses. Second of all, I didn’t do the rinses for NEARLY long enough. Third of all, I went to actually brew it and after a minute or so decided that that infusion wasn’t right……… I’m new to this, okay!

Anyways, on to the first (second?) infusion. This definitely smells very earthy, but in kind of a good way… The taste, surprisingly, isn’t very earthy. It’s kind of got a unique flavor to it that I can’t really pinpoint… It’s very smooth and interesting…..

Second infusion-This one smells and tastes bit earthier. It is a bit lighter than the first infusion (even though I brewed for four minutes….). I’m still looking for that sweetness that others have talked about….

Third infusion-I think this is it for this tea. The sweetness has come out a lot! It still smells earthy but the sweetness in the taste has come out a lot. It’s still running a little underneath the base earthiness, but it is way more present. This is my favorite steep!

For my first pu-erh, this is pretty good! I’m looking forward to exploring more kinds (including some of the flavored ones Bonnie sent me) and learning more about them!

So I have had this tea a few times now, and still have one more sample tasting thanks to David. I am still a newbie when it comes to pu’er, so this is one that is inviting unlike a few other pu’ers I have tasted. Very clean and smooth. I did not take it passed 3 steeps,like I knew I should but I was tea tasting….

I like it, but not enough for for me buy it. Still Verdant has some great pu’er and educates newbies like me on them for sure.

My first time trying this. I thought I nearly forgot to include it in the tea I brought home with me for break—perish the thought!

This had a less earthy smell dry, but all of that changed once I rinsed the leaves. Mmm. It’s like walking along a forest path.

I didn’t take notes for individual steepings—I’m a little less fastidious about documenting my tea consumption at home, maybe because it might make my parents think I’m odd as fish. Like they don’t already. But I digress. Onto the tea.

This is unbelievably smooth. I think my words were “this is niiiice…”
Foresty, very very creamy, and sweet in an earthy way. It also develops into a crispness at the end that is really refreshing. In later steepings I got something slightly spicy like cinnamon bark. Pu’erh is a pretty fascinating universe, and I’m excited to explore this more! It’s delicious.

I really want to have some more today, but I’ve just come down with a light cold, so it would be a shame to have such a beautiful tea when I can’t taste the difference between oatmeal and tabouli. This’ll be one for later. Much later, actually, because in two days I’m headed to Costa Rica for the rest of January. Tally ho!

I got this in a sample from Verdant and sadly it will be my only steeping, so I’m planning to steep it all night (maybe even overnight and see what happens). I’ve had a number of shu teas but I’ve never had one that is so light and direct in its flavors. In the first steep it tastes a little like seawater mixed with caramel. There is very little earthiness in this tea unlike other shu teas, instead there is a sweet grainy taste, I can taste the buckwheat like the description says. I did a one minute steep for the first cup, after an initial rinse. 2nd steep was for two minutes. The tea is a lot thicker with a strong shiitake taste. It isn’t as murky as other shu teas and still has a brightness even with a longer steep. Very nice shu pu erh.

Thank goodness.

After two previous experiences with rotten, fishy-smelling shu, this one is a welcome change. I’ve been re-steeping and sipping on this for more or less twelve hours, and it’s pretty much just mildly tea-flavored water at this point, but it is so so soothing, and has been good company to cut through all these jelly-covered breads I’ve been nibbling all day.

See, I went to a farmer’s market the other day and met this really nice guy selling homemade jellies. He treated me to samples— several heaping spoonfuls of the freshest and most flavorful jellies my tongue has ever enjoyed, and I left with four jars. Now I am spreading it on anything and everything, and sometimes the fruity-sweetness gets to be a bit much. But luckily, I have this this tea, dark and and savory and a perfect balance to the syrupy-sweetness.

I am going to seriously gain ten pounds. Off of jelly. And it will be totally worth it.

SIP DOWN!!!

Another sample pack is gond; well there is 2 grams left, but I am not counting it.

This is a nice pu-er. It didn’t have that salty fish smell that some shu can have. Also after lots of infusions, lets say 10, the 5g piece that I put in my teapot was only slightly broken apart. Also man can this tea steep. After tons of gonfu infusions, I did a 1 minuet western style brew and it was still full of flavor.

As for the flavor, it wasn’t a mondo amount of earthy flavor. It was kinda like a mix of black tea with a hint of pu-er earthiness to let you know it is a pu-er. The earlier steepings were more musty spice but the later ones had nice ceder wood flavor and tingle.

Overall I would recommend this tea to people who are on the fence about pu-er or are new to it.

Specifics

Pot: porcelain
Water: 4-5oz & one 8oz steep
leaf: 5g
sweetener: no
Gonfu Infusions between 6-10 seconds

This is just Tian di ren factory ripe tea — it’s pretty average. Rather drink something from Menghai

THIS TEA. It’s so good!!! Ahhh I hardly know how to describe it…creamy, soft, a bit of citrus, some wood, a slight almost scotch aftertaste….this is pretty tasty indeed. Getting caramel notes in a pu’erh too, that hasn’t happened much for me yet! I even brewed this up Western style and it’s amazing. The ounce of tea is in a huge chunk too, so I’ll have to figure out a better method of breaking off a piece for the next steepings than just breaking it with my hands lol. But it’s so tasty! A different shu than anything I have had before.

Sorry for the short note, without much form or my usual style, this is just very delicious and I want to just drink it and enjoy it. I’ll try to elaborate more on flavors later :)