Free sample from my last YS order.
Today I woke myself up at six in the morning, packed my gear into the car, and drove out about fourty five minutes northwest to Clermont, which is sort of the Mecca of longboarders and cyclists in Central/South Florida. While most of Florida south of Gainesville is pretty darn flat, Clermont and the surrounding areas have big, rolling hills a bit like Kentucky, but well… bigger. The fastest I’d ever gone before was about 30 mph, today I made it up to 45, and man that felt great.
I spent most of the day riding down said hills and then walking back up them, which is, as far as I’m concerned, what they do up in heaven (When they’re not drinking tea, of course.) By noon I was completely exhausted and pretty much swimming in my own sweat. So, I headed back towards Orlando and (after a nice cold shower) decided to wind down with a nice session of tea, and was especially craving some sheng :)
This is just the second “fairly old” sheng that I’ve tried, and I really enjoyed both. Even with two quick rinses, the taste started out pretty mulchy and musty, but by the third steep it was much cleaner and delicious. Raisin, clove, and walnut were the main flavors I picked up on. A bit of bitter, but not enough to be off-putting. Despite it’s flavors not really being “fresh” ones, it still has the refreshing qualities of younger sheng. I got lot’s of relaxing, stimulating feelings drinking this, and by the time the leaves puttered out I was about as tea drunk as I’ve ever been.
Between the endorphins from exercise and the qi from this tea I’m feeling pretty darn good right now. I’ll probably make something for dinner and then head to bed early. Today was a pretty great day (albeit slightly hermitic), and exactly what I needed in a weekend.
