2005 Xiaguan Jia Ji (1st Grade) Pu-erh

not as great as the iron cakes i have had lately, but fun enough :) !

good flavour

I got this tea at a grocery store in Chinatown for only a few dollars. I was told that elderly people like it, but I had no idea that it was pu-erh. It was hard as rock and sat forever in my cupboard, having eluded all my efforts to break it apart. One day, I decided to deal with it once and for all. I took it into the basement and struck it variously with a hammer and an axe. Chunks bounced off the walls. I reduced it to manageable pieces that I collected in a jar without losing too much. I began to drink it assiduously. It turned out to have a rich body and a good flavour, rather earthy in character, but in no manner musty. It suffers only in its impossible packaging, for which I docked 5 points.

I’m no sheng expert, but this one’s good. Slightly off yellow toward orange, so it definitely has matured a bit in 4 years. It definitely doesn’t have quite the bite of the few younger sheng I’ve drank.

Prepared gongfu style – about 6g of leaf in a 5.75 oz Yixing pot. One 10s rinse and rest, then steeps at around 15s for the first few and gradually increased.