So, I have been trying a lot of new teas lately, and though some of them have been very good I am a little behind on tasting notes. Between work and family tea always seems to find its place but writing about it sometimes gets left behind. This tea however made me stop to get the computer so that I wouldn’t forget to make note of it.
I have been drinking tea for years now and up to this point I hadn’t found a shu pu erh that I had cared for. I have never been opposed to them, but with so much great tea out there to spend time on none of them ever grabbed my attention enough to make me want to pursue the style. I wouldn’t have bought one now but I received this tea as a sample with a recent order of a sheng from Bitterleaf Teas.
This tea is wonderful. It completely caught me by surprise. It brews very clean and the flavors that come forth are distinct and clear. To me it tastes like the smell of a clearing in a forest when the dew breaks late into the night. It reminds me so clearly of walking around sleepy campsites after long nights at the music festivals I went to when I was young, of the smoldering campfires and wet earth just as early morning light begins to break. It is sweet and deep and woody and wet. This flavor combination is crossing some wire in my amygdala that is deeply nostalgic and gives me a great sense of anticipation.
It is late and I have a suspicion this review may not be very clear when I read it in the morning, but I am sure that the emotional impact of this tea will stay with me. And now I am considering purchasing a kilo brick of a ripe pu erh…
Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Campfire, Earth, Wet Earth, Wet Rocks
If you do decide to buy that kilo, let me know. I’d be interested in helping pay and split a certain percentage of it with you!