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Yoinked this sample out for an easy grandpa while gaming tonight. The syrupy sweetness is underpinned by a thick handful of autumn leaf, grabbed from the bottom of a month-old pile. It’s mature and roasty and duffy in a way that not every shou mei achieves. An enjoyable and easygoing cuppa, for sure.

The first puerh in a minute to inspire a note. There’s a smokiness that is, just for an instant, a whiff of old cigarette… and in the time it takes to think, “That actually… doesn’t seem appealing, does it?”… it’s gone. Replaced by fresh tobacco and lovely huigan. Full mouthfeel, yes saliva. Many steeps, handle it!

I probably bought this for the promise of smoke and an elevated experience, which is properly what I got. I couldn’t really justify $300 for any cake, but I do understand the appeal and, reluctant though I am to admit it, the price point.

Never before would I have imagined where acetone and cocoa could overlap, but here we are. Strange but compelling.

I’ve been wrestling a bit with tea sessioning. I’m not sure if it’s the lack of moisture in the air up here, or if it’s me still trying to ground, but I’ve been chugging puerh like a champ and coming up with, “Yep… that’s puerh, all right.”

Been drinking some samples from Puerh Junky that I had been reserving as too-precious… guess I’ll get past that block by driving full-speed at it. I’m enjoying everything I’m brewing up, but very rarely being floored.

Is okay. Drink on.

Incredibly smooth in the mouth. Savory tobacco. Nice study companion.

I have two similarly hand-labeled envelopes of what I assume are both this same tea, likely hookup samples. Solid little black Darjeeling, withlinalool that made me realize I’ve developed a taste for linalool… and made me absolutely crave that potato-chip Darjeeling from What-Cha that I finished months ago. Sigh.

derrrrrk. Thank you for this.

The mountain air is getting chilly and the leaves are dropping in fits… I love having seasons again. I opened up my drawer of magical powdered things in anticipation of some kind of cozy-thick latte thing… ended up with a lukewarm cup of summer in front of the fire.

I maybe leaned a little light on my powder-to-water ratio here, so the faint reminiscence of Theraflu is totally on me. I always think of gooseberry as a kind of nondescript flavor, so rightly expected the passionfruit to be the leading layer…. but hot damn, if the scent of summer in the backyard - drying grass and sweaty bodies and sun-hot gooseberries - weren’t exactly what my brain found when it went digging.

I’ll save the rest of this for next summer, I think. Dreamy.

Ah, she woke up over five months. I was relieved at that first sip, as I’ve been struggling with my crock humidity since moving up the mountain. I feel like Sisyphus, incessantly fighting my way up from 60%.

Anyway. Zisha pot. Clean barnyard in the first steep; candied orange peel in the bottom of the cup. Absolutely some smoky tobacco in the wet leaves, with an incense-herbaceousness like burning sage or rosemary. Cigarette, clove… but not a clove cigarette. Camphor, tang, deep tobacco notes. Mildly strappy. Qi/caffeine made me restless and hungry.