2008 yr Aged Yunnan Golden Buds Puerh

Sipdown (135)!

Well, I’ve got a few tasting notes to get through that have built up; it was kind of a busy week for me…

I wrote my exams for Tea 106 and got 98% on the written one. Though I will have to wait for the presentations to see how I did and those two. I’m feeling pretty good about it though! And last night was my boyfriend Kyle’s 19th birthday, so I planned his party for him and then we took him out to the bar. It was a really lovely night, and selfishly I’m kind of glad that he’s finally legal drinking age so he can accompany us to the bar regularly and I can spend more time with him.

I drank this tea with my roommate Cathryn while we were cleaning house and getting drinks and what not ready for people to come over: I think the sample was from VariaTEA? Thank you to whoever provided it, though!

One thing about drinking tea with my roommates/non tea drinking people is that I find more often than not I’m just enjoying the experience of sharing tea with someone who otherwise wouldn’t be drinking it, so I’m not paying very close attention to the flavour I’m actually experiencing. Personally, I think that’s more than acceptable as a trade off: as much as I love good tea and exploring the nuances of the flavour of good tea there’s something to be said for the experience of taking tea too.

We drank this Gong Fu though; I did a quick rinse and then we had probably around six or seven infusions? I think we could have extended the session farther but it was getting quite close to party time so we cut it short. I was hesitant about sharing this one with Cathryn ‘cause it’s a Pu and typically people react so extremely to Pu’erh. She actually really liked it though!

So, since I was more focused on the experience/conversation than the specifics of the tea I can tell you that this had notes of: Earth, Mud, Baker’s Chocolate (not overly sweet, a little bitter but in a good way), Roasted Nuts, Char, Wood, Malt, and maybe even mushrooms a little bit? Definitely can’t tell you which infusions in particular focused on which notes or how the flavours evolved and changed and worked with one another. Those are just the flavours I distinctly remember experiencing at one point or another.

The liquor was nice and velvety though; a really rich mouthfeel and viscosity. It wasn’t all that aggressive, but it was bold and fairly sweet. I definitely enjoyed the session! Actually, I sort of wish I had more of this just to go back and make more astute observations: but I’m happy with being able to say I just really enjoyed this one, and the company I was sharing it with.

I’ve had this one a couple times now but haven’t sat down to write a note. I’ve been working my way through it this morning and figured i should write something down. Let me start by saying this is a pretty bold tea right off the bat. First rinse was earthy and not too bad, but the first 30 sec infusion was REALLY strong…almost smokey earth but just a little too much for me.
(more to ocome)

MMMMmmmmmm shou…….
5g 140ml 95C flash rinsed twice
30 sec – that was a little too long – was a little in your face aggressive, but I don’t mind bold pu’erh so did another 30 sec steep and dumped them together. Yummy. It has a little fermentation taste to it but nice and smooth. It’s rich, it’s a little malty, but it’s all shou.
Backed down the steeps a little did 20 and 25 sec – this is getting a little chocolaty, a little woody, there is some fresh forest mustiness to it.
30 and 45 – this is just getting better and better.
I don’t think it’s as good as the other StreetShop88 shou that I have
http://steepster.com/teas/streetshop88/55915-2014-top-yunnan-yellow-dragon-golden-needle-puerh-ripe-cake
but it’s really tasty. That one is more of a cross between black tea and pu’erh. This one is all shou – and I don’t mind that at all. I would be very happy to have a cake of this in my house for those nights that you just want a big bold shou with no nasty….
Thank you so much Sil for sharing this – really happy you got some and shared it. :)
https://instagram.com/p/0bHILPuE23/?taken-by=dex3657
https://instagram.com/p/0bHTjxuE3U/?taken-by=dex3657

Edit: OMG steeps 9 and 10 – I’m in LOVE…..