2023 Prosbloom Mini

Afternoon tea session with 2023 Prosbloom from @white2tea, a free sample mini that came with my recent order. I prepared the leaves with a 10s rinse.

1st steep (10s) – pale orange liquor, almost roasty/charred flavour with a slight hint of sun-warmed earth in the tail of the sip
2nd steep (15s) – darker orange-brown liquor, increasing woody-earthiness, delicately sweet. Hints of black liquorice
3rd steep (20s) – liquor now red-brown, very pronounced woody-earthiness (not wet earth), roasty.
4th steep (25s) – still lots of woody earth/roast, but also a developing creaminess. Becoming sweeter.
5th steep (30s) – balanced earthy/creamy interplay
6th steep (35s) – ditto
7th steep (40s) – ditto
8th steep (45s) – ditto, but starting to fade. Very smooth.
9th steep (50s) – very smooth, sweet, creamy, only very mild underlying woody-earthiness.

On the whole I found this one a bit nondescript, just a typical low-budget shou sort of affair. Which is fine, because that’s what it is, but there are many others like it. The roastiness sets it apart a little, and it occurred to me whilst drinking that this would go really well with something like roast beef. I’m pleased to have tried it of course, and it’s a likeable, easy-drinking shou, but not one I would actively seek out again as there are others I greatly prefer at a similar price point.

Grandpa Style Sipdown (3082)!

It might not be a pound of minis, but I did pick up quite a few of the new shou pu’erh teas from W2T as part of this year’s Shulloween sale. More than enough to keep me well stocked all throughout this winter, that’s for sure. That said, it feels nice to be starting my exploration of this order with a sipdown. Specifically, all afternoon, I’ve been drinking this ripe pu’erh mini that was added to my order as a freebie. Grandpa style, as a perfect desk-side brew. It’s thick and smooth, with mellow notes of brown sugar as if drizzled overtop of a cozy foundation of rich top soil and freshly brewed coffee. Nice and grounding!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DRQO3WnEpcP/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkotW0pe55c

Charred wood, but not as woody as the Lumber Slut mini I tried yesterday. Brews darker than that one. Maybe some licorice. A little bit of dark chocolate. Some bitter edge, but not unpleasant. Some brown sugar sweetness. I find it most like a basic cup of coffee, flavor-wise. Reminds me of a Folgers brew or something like that. Nothing really pops. Smells like a pile of mildewed towels.

Shou is not my favorite type of tea, though, so don’t take my opinion too seriously on this. I do appreciate some of them. Sometimes a good change of pace for me.

This mini weighed in at 6.97 grams on my kitchen scale.

Winter has decided to creep in over the week. I drank this on Monday to ease into the cold and the tea had done the job. Thankfully, we were approved to work from home, and so flow of tea was endless!

Notes: Woody, not too much body/texture, and smooth. Not the typical heavy earthy nor cocoa notes with this one.