March Sipdown Challenge Prompt – a tea that taught you something
The prompt is being fulfilled by puerh in general rather than this specific puerh. My first shu was purchased at A Southern Season and reeked of old shrimp. I steeped it with Sandy with some trepidation, and although the smell was bad the taste was good.
This is so different from that first experience. I love the scent of most shu. Barn, mushrooms, hay, yes manure but in a good clean farm sort of way, fall leaves underfoot, and so on.
I haven’t scratched the surface of all there is to learn about shu and sheng. I read about the Tea/Horse Road, tea with yak butter and salt, fermentation in caves and factories, the seven tea mountains, health benefits (which is why we are drinking it today as we had a fatty lunch and want to reduce the impact on our tummies), the presence of lovastatin naturally occurring due to the bacteria, and more. I watched videos of cakes being pressed and cakes being wrapped so skillfully and beautifully. I use puerh as my go-to tea when guests say they don’t like tea (they have never had the good stuff) and love coffee. They usually love it and request it in the future.
