The good folks at Teavivre teas sent me some new samples recently, so one afternoon I decided to do a comparison of two different raw puerhs. First, I tried this
Fengqing Old Tree Raw Pu-erh Cake Tea 2013. The dry tea leaves had a scent I couldn't quite place, and the only scent I could compare it to was the earthy scent of a fresh produce stand!
Steeped, the tea leaves had a little of that creosote scent I associate with Lapsang Souchong tea, which I don't care for, so that worried me a tad. I steeped it for the full five minutes suggested in boiling water. When I sipped the tea, however, the puerh flavor was most pronounced and it didn't *taste* like Lapsang Souchong at all. Still, the hint of the scent means this tea would probably always make me a little nervous!
The second puerh I tried was this
Fengqing Ancient Tree Raw Pu-erh Cake 2014. The dry leaves were a bit more clumpy in appearance, and the scent was very different from the other puerh, more like a green tea than a puerh.
Steeped, the leaves had a nice vegetal scent, something akin to steamed spinach, and the taste was the classic, earthy puerh that I like. There was just a bit of astringency when I steeped this tea in boiling water for three minutes, so I tried it again for just two minutes and it was absolutely perfect. The 2014 puerh was definitely my favorite, and I'm grateful
Teavivre lets me have these impromptu tea tastings every now and again!
I like your description of the scent!
ReplyDeleteWe were just speaking of pu-erh last night---haven't had it often, but the restaurant at Monday's birthday celebration had an immense wooden ceremonial tea-preparation tray in a small sitting room off the lobby.
ReplyDeleteOn a cooking site I used to belong to, one member had the most magnificent pu-erh tray, all carved wood and the whorls accenting the wells and the spots for cups and pot. One of the most beautiful tea accoutrements I've ever seen. I'm going to go see if I can find it in the archives.
rachel
Oh, Angela!
ReplyDeleteThe neatest thing! I just went to that tea site (which I never visit any more) and immediately saw a Birthday Note from an old friend, posted only two hours ago, and since I NEVER check in, I don't know WHEN I'd have ever seen it. THANK YOU for the serendipitous chain of events.
Here is the beautiful buncha tea stuff owned by a friend---the tray is absolutely exquisite.
http://forums.egullet.org/topic/119295-lets-see-your-teaware/?p=1609256
Rachel
Yesterday I reviewed two Pu-erh's from Teavivre. One I liked and one not as much. Interesting! Do you have more to review?
ReplyDelete