2009 Jin Mai Green Puer Tea Mini Tuocha 8g

This is from Amy Oh! Thank you, Amy!

Too much fatty food and not enough steamed or raw veggies make ashmanra a dull girl. First there was the frenzy of cooking for Thanksgiving. Then leftovers, but I kept eating turkey and gravy and gravy, and dressing and gravy, and mashed potatoes and gravy, and turkey sandwiches. Finally I ended the leftovers with turkey divan, and talk about fatty food. Oof. So I feel like a slug, and then made it worse by eating two fatty meals today and having leftover Halloween candy for a snack. My tummy is NOT happy with me. I should be in bed, but I am giving my tummy some puerh as an apology for the way I have been treating it.

I didn’t look up the instructions on this and it has been a long time since I had it. I rinsed it for thirty seconds and then gave it a thirty second steep. Hey, don’t beat me! I LOVE most shu puerh at three minutes or more! Ad it wasn’t bad at all. As they said, a little bitter, a little hay-like. Nice and light, though, and I am counting on its ability to soothe a digestive tract.

Second steep was forty seconds, still good, not much different from the first. Now I read the instructions and see it was supposed to be a three second first steep. Seriously? Oh well. But I see Amy’s comment about lowering the temp and steeping longer so I try that.

Now the brew is twice as dark. We have achieved dark oolong color, nice and light caramel color, and the bitterness has increased a little. But there are more layers playing about now. THEREIS also a powerful aftertaste that is so sweet and unexpected! I would love to see how it ages.

I think so far I prefer shu puerh. Do the two types of puerh carry the same benefits?

I found that if I steeped this at a lower temperature for a longer period of time it takes on some different characteristics and this really brings out the sweetness, while retaining a woodsy almost spicy quality.

Quick Notes Thanks and apologies to AmyOh . I though I had logged this one, nope. LOL

This is another beautiful mini ‘tuo’/brick. THe leaf look amazing and tender, I almost feel bad about steeping it. The dry scent is sweet and mellow honey and somewhat faint fruits. When wet, it has a stronger and sweeter presence and yet a bittersweet to bitter tone with fruity notes.

The liquor is light yellow/light golden color. The taste is mellow and sweet with slight fruit notes on the first two steeps. As the leaf opens the later steeps get more complex with the bitter notes (desirable) that seem fruity, yet somehow floral. The tea is slightly refreshing but mostly sweet in the aftertaste.

Final Notes
Thanks again Amy, really good one. The ‘spent’ leaf is beautiful when fully opened, looks young and lively. I bought the ripe menghai square. When we do the next swap I’ll send it to you to try.