Diyi Cornfields Shu

From my giant order of Verdant puerh with OMGsrsly. Rinsed, with short 15 second steeps.

I’m normally not a puerh (shu or sheng) person so when I actually come across one I enjoy it’s amazing. Kind of like expecting rabbit poop but finding 24 carat adorned chocolate amazing.

This shu is on the simple side of awesome, which is cool because awesome comes in many different varieties. Smooth and creamy, it tastes of all things rice, and has that dark tangy-malt aspect that I associate with stouts and ports. Delicious.

All right, I’m powering through this Verdant puerh sampler even if I’m not that excited about it.

Unlike the Verdant shu I reviewed earlier today (which I did not like but much of Steepster loved), this one has more mixed reviews. I got this in the form of the flat 5 g disc, not the tuo. It’s tightly compressed, so I put it through about 5 5-7 second rinses to break up the leaves. (The pick remains at large.)

I noticed the fishy smell immediately after wetting the leaves, but once I finished rinsing and actually drank one of the steeps: I do think I sort of might possibly pick up hints of corn (But also I just ate a Greek salad with lots of red onion and drank an IPA, so I’m not sure I can be completely trusted.). I don’t taste fish or seaweed or sea water, so that’s a plus.

I think I like this a little better the the other Verdant shu I tried this morning. I don’t love it. I would not go out of my way to buy more of it, but by the time I started drinking it, I think I had steeped out the most offensive of the flavors. The brew I’m drinking is light amber. It’s a little corny, a little sweet, a little earthy. Yeah, it’s a bit bland, but it’s not terrible. I’ll add more if I notice anything once I get the beer and onion off my palate. So far, I don’t hate it. It doesn’t turn me against shu or anything. It’s just boring.

Started out using boiling water with this tea, but with super short steeps (5 seconds, 7 seconds, etc.).

And finally, I’m not getting hay from a shu. Yay for the absence of hay.

Added later: Everyone mentions this being a sticky rice shu, but nope… I may have a different year from what everyone else reviewed, but I definitely pick up more corn than rice.

This one left a lot of dryness in the mouth.

Around steep 5: This will go a lot longer, but I want to go to bed soon and I’m over it. In later steeps, the fishy smell goes away and is replaced by a toasted rice smell. It’s okay, but I’d prefer more toasted rice and less corn husk. And if complexity is determined by aftertaste, well, yes, this one lingers a lot more than the one I drank this morning. Also seems low in caffeine — didn’t really give me a caffeine buzz.

Note to self: In the future, no more than one shu in one day.

MIDNIGHT: All right, I went the distance, I drank at least 10 steeps. I lost count, but somewhere between 10 and 12. It would go longer, but it’s bedtime. All in all, I think I’d like to explore more of this toasted rice sort of shu. I like it. It’s pleasant. The flavor got more interesting — and less bland — after the first 5 steeps. I’ll be looking for something similar to this, but with a bit more flavor and a lower price point. Also, steeping method worked well on this one. I’ll have to reduce steep times when I start shus in the future.

Also, I am wide awake so maybe I did get a slight caffeine buzz.

If you have any rice-y shu recs, please let me know.

I brought these with me to Ottawa as well, since they do well with “gonfu” in a basket. I figure i can drink this every day as my afternoon working tea and have another tea sipped down by the time i get home, or shortly after :) This isn’t my favourite sticky rice sort of tuo but it’s a nice one and makes for a pleasant cup on this rainy day.

Ohhhhh this is good!

Smells like toasted basmati rice. Tastes like toasted basmati rice.

Om nom nom (I think I’m going to go put on a pot of rice to cook!).

(Flash steeping 3g in my teensy gaiwan that I haven’t measured yet.)

Edit: It started with a garnet hue, like pineapple pomegranate juice or wine, almost. It’s steeping out and is more of an amber colour now. So pretty. So tasty. I must be on steep 8 or 9.

A clean non-funky shou with a good rice flavor. I’m not detecting any corn. Not bad but has not replaced a different rice shou as my favorite! :)

Note – this was originally posted in the wrong spot. Verdant had another version of a cornfields shou in a bird nest shape. I deleted that and moved it here, to the correct place.

I’m a little bummed. All the reviews on this are amazeballs, but I really didn’t care for it. I don’t know that I got the same thing as previous stock. The pic shows little bird nests, but mine are a flat disc and the wrapper is different. The little discs were very tightly compacted and had a pretty heavy fermentation flavor.

I did a rinse and rest to let the cake expand, and I used very short steeps. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

No surprise, this is pretty darn yummy. In all honesty I don’t get much of a difference between this and sticky rice flavored shou. This is a bit silkier and more creamy, and it seems to be a much better quality with no dust in the cup like I often get with the cheapie mini tuos. But the flavor is pretty much the same. That’s fine by me as I absolutely love sticky rice flavor. I’m currently on the fourth steep and the flavor is still noticeable. Obviously not as strong but you certainly aren’t under the impression you’re drinking straight shu.

Any chance of a sheng version in the future? I bet it would be quite incredible.

Boiling with 2 quick rinses – 10s 10s (left overnight and rinsed again) 15s 15s 20s…

Seems this is my 150th review!