Rinsed the leaves at 208F for 15 seconds, then a second brief rinse with slightly cooler water. Used about 7g of nuggets.
First infusion (205F/4min):
Smells a bit earthy. Tastes a bit like dirt. In spite of what I thought was over-steeping, I don’t think it suffered for that extra minute. In fact, I think it could stand to be stronger.
Second infusion (205F/3min):
Less dirt flavour, more sweetness? Still not getting any of the flavours that other people have.
Third infusion (205F/4min):
Again a bit less dirt flavour, a bit more sweetness.
Hmm, ok. This is my first straight pu’er (other than the one from my roommate), and I’m not sure what exactly I think. Wondering if I put enough tea in – my scale may have messed up a bit; it was a nugget plus a couple partials. Or maybe my rinse(s) weren’t done correctly. It wasn’t bad, but wasn’t particularly impressive either, in my opinion. Maybe pu’ers just aren’t for me? Either way, I’ve ordered the sampler from Verdant, as well as 1oz. of another one, so I will know soon if pu’er is my thing or not.
Reserving a rating until I’ve tried this one again.
Preparation
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I find pu-erh can be amazing or terrible. If it has a tippy yunnan base, bleh! otherwise, I love it… Ahhh, I should have brought you a sample! DOH!!!!
Short steeps I think are what bring for the sweet cakeyness. I did the quickest of rinses and steeped for less than 10 secs. Of course I have found that not everyone can appreciate short steeps. He thinks that anything I gongfu just tastes like brewed rocks, be it yabao, shu, oolong or green. I on the other hand find then to be sweet and mineral and in this case cakey, especially on the second and third steep. Shrug.
Are you brewing western? I did and I did two rinses at 15 seconds each and then brewed with 205 water for 3 minutes increasing each by 30 seconds. I have a 12 oz mug, if that helps. If you’re using a teaball for this one I would strongly suggest you find a different way. The nuggets have a lot of sediment in them and rinsing them is what breaks them up, but they can’t fully break and can remain clumped in the tight space of a teaball, which is probably what is preventing you from getting the cakey flavor. I would recommend brewing in another mug and then pouring the liquid into another cup via a strainer to drink. That will allow plenty of room for the leaves to unclump.
I agree that your infusions might be too long. I would also try this in a gaiwan if you have it.
oo yeah, are you using the teaball? Why not try just leaving a nugget in the bottom of a mug, and pouring/straining into another cup. Might be kind of messy, but honestly it’ll be worth it for the taste.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I can’t imagine that 10 seconds would have any flavour at all though; I’m really questioning my accurate measurement of the tea. But, I do have enough to try multiple things!
I feel like I should explain something – I do actually have two infusing baskets (one from DavidsTea and another that essentially acts as a cup holding the water and leaves with a strainer in the bottom that opens up to let the tea flow through when I push a button. Bad description. Anyways, I try to use the latter for straight teas, or sometimes the former, but am now avoiding the teaball for anything but flavoured teas (or Banana Oolong, but that’s a special circumstance). So this one was essentially brewed in-mug :) However , I am now wondering if I should have broken up the nuggets before infusion – they are still very much in nuggety form in the basket. And that’s after a total of 11 minutes of infusing, plus the two rinses.
I find pu-erh can be amazing or terrible. If it has a tippy yunnan base, bleh! otherwise, I love it… Ahhh, I should have brought you a sample! DOH!!!!
Short steeps I think are what bring for the sweet cakeyness. I did the quickest of rinses and steeped for less than 10 secs. Of course I have found that not everyone can appreciate short steeps. He thinks that anything I gongfu just tastes like brewed rocks, be it yabao, shu, oolong or green. I on the other hand find then to be sweet and mineral and in this case cakey, especially on the second and third steep. Shrug.
Are you brewing western? I did and I did two rinses at 15 seconds each and then brewed with 205 water for 3 minutes increasing each by 30 seconds. I have a 12 oz mug, if that helps. If you’re using a teaball for this one I would strongly suggest you find a different way. The nuggets have a lot of sediment in them and rinsing them is what breaks them up, but they can’t fully break and can remain clumped in the tight space of a teaball, which is probably what is preventing you from getting the cakey flavor. I would recommend brewing in another mug and then pouring the liquid into another cup via a strainer to drink. That will allow plenty of room for the leaves to unclump.
I agree that your infusions might be too long. I would also try this in a gaiwan if you have it.
oo yeah, are you using the teaball? Why not try just leaving a nugget in the bottom of a mug, and pouring/straining into another cup. Might be kind of messy, but honestly it’ll be worth it for the taste.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I can’t imagine that 10 seconds would have any flavour at all though; I’m really questioning my accurate measurement of the tea. But, I do have enough to try multiple things!
I feel like I should explain something – I do actually have two infusing baskets (one from DavidsTea and another that essentially acts as a cup holding the water and leaves with a strainer in the bottom that opens up to let the tea flow through when I push a button. Bad description. Anyways, I try to use the latter for straight teas, or sometimes the former, but am now avoiding the teaball for anything but flavoured teas (or Banana Oolong, but that’s a special circumstance). So this one was essentially brewed in-mug :) However , I am now wondering if I should have broken up the nuggets before infusion – they are still very much in nuggety form in the basket. And that’s after a total of 11 minutes of infusing, plus the two rinses.