Dry Leaf – Creamy, sweet, earthy.
Wet Leaf – Thick, creamy, bitter-chocolate, dates/raisins.
Liquor – Dark Bronze to coffee bronze (looks black).
Gong Fu in 4oz Yixing Gaiwan / 6-7g * 8 seconds wash
1st 20secs – Creamy, slightly sweet, earthy, bitter-chocolate and slightly leathery up front. As it washes down it is thick, earthy and creamy with stronger bitter-chocolate and leather notes. The aftertaste is creamy, sweet and refreshing.
2nd 8secs – (cake piece opened) Creamy, bitter-chocolate, earthy (slight leathery notes) and light sweetness. As it washes down it is thick, earthy with stronger leather notes and bitter-chocolate notes. The aftertaste is, earthy creamy and sweet.
3rd 7secs – Thick, earthy/leathery, bitter-chocolate and smooth up front. As it washes down the bitter-chocolate notes become more apparent as do the leathery ones. The aftertaste is thick, slightly earthy with bitter-chocolate notes and sweetness.
4th 7secs – Thick, earthy/leathery, bitter-chocolate notes, creamy and slightly sweet up front. As it washes down the bitterness is more apparent and last through the aftertaste. The aftertaste is is thick, leathery and sweet.
INTERMISSION All the steeps from the second to the seventh are incredibly strong and dark even though the times were kept under 11 seconds. The liquor resembled dark coffee until this point. Later steeps where a dark brown hue.
8th 20secs – Creamy, slightly leathery, chocolate notes and sweet up front. Washing down it is a bit ‘cleaner’ by comparison, the bitter-notes are bit ‘fruitier’ but still slightly resemble chocolate and have a slight leathery hint. The aftertaste starts slightly earthy and thick and turns sweet.
Final Notes
This is not my favorite brick. I like ‘cleaner’ tasting ripes, this still have some earthy that I usually find in some slightly younger ripes. If you love THICK, almost smoky tasting ripes this is for you. After the cake opens up the liquor resembles coffee and it has a strong mouth feel. What I did like about it is the aftertaste. Even though the steep is mostly bitter-sweet the aftertaste slowly becomes sweeter but once it turns sweet it is really apparent.
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sounds delightful
It is. Usually ripes become ‘spent’ faster. This one held up well. Not my favorite but the aftertaste is lasting and sweet. Good ‘Cha Qi’ or mouth feel upfront.
You have interesting steeping rules. I’m more of a pioneer woman, puerh lunatic. I stab at my leaves, steep longer (20-30 seconds for most shu) and at 5 steeps I sometimes combine two steeps together.
Those sound like traditional steeps. Which I love for the Tibetan Brick, CNNP 2003 from Lincang and others. But I don’t like it on Shou that has smoky/bitter notes (it resembles coffee in taste) which I’m not crazy about. I might as well drink coffee for that.
I guess the difference is the liquor, the ‘cleaner’ ones (burgundy to brown but you can still see inside a glass pitcher) vs the ones that have more ‘dust’ in it and the liquor is murky?
sounds delightful
It is. Usually ripes become ‘spent’ faster. This one held up well. Not my favorite but the aftertaste is lasting and sweet. Good ‘Cha Qi’ or mouth feel upfront.
You have interesting steeping rules. I’m more of a pioneer woman, puerh lunatic. I stab at my leaves, steep longer (20-30 seconds for most shu) and at 5 steeps I sometimes combine two steeps together.
Those sound like traditional steeps. Which I love for the Tibetan Brick, CNNP 2003 from Lincang and others. But I don’t like it on Shou that has smoky/bitter notes (it resembles coffee in taste) which I’m not crazy about. I might as well drink coffee for that.
I guess the difference is the liquor, the ‘cleaner’ ones (burgundy to brown but you can still see inside a glass pitcher) vs the ones that have more ‘dust’ in it and the liquor is murky?