I’m not sure what possessed past me to buy a 2oz bag of puerh tuo chas, when I don’t even really like unblended puerh. But I did, and now I have to drink through that fact…
It’s still raining here, so at least it seems appropriate for the weather. I placed one tuo cha to steep in 350ml of 205F water, and just left it there for about ten minutes before straining.
There is a strong leather aroma from the steeped tea that is quite pleasant — I’ve been working on a project in our local special archives collection, the Idaho and Pacific Northwest History Room, and it reminds me of that old book smell, though smokier, and with a bit of a peppery spice.
Tastes pretty good, too! The earthiness is rich and deep rather than the dirt/potting soil taste I usually get. There is a bit of a wet rock/plant taste, but again, it’s very smooth and not that “swampy/marshy” sort of taste. And the leather/smoke/pepper flavor is so strong that it really gives it some dimension.
Pretty impressive for cheap tuos.
Flavors: Earth, Leather, Pepper, Smoke, Smooth, Spices, Wet Moss, Wet Rocks
Preparation
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Book smell :) (inhaling imaginary scent)
I love book smell! Being a librarian fits me. :-)
Playing in the archives sounds like fun! I am the unlikely custodian (it has absolutely nothing to do with my job description) of a history of our school district originally written longhand by a sweet octogenarian retired history teacher. I helped transcribe his work back in the ‘90s (he researched us clear back to the 1890’s) and have managed to keep the electronic files viable, but with too many more Windows mutations, I’m afraid we’ll lose them, so I’m in the process of actually printing out hard copies and sharing them with some other staff members so that they aren’t lost once I’m no longer there.
Oh good, a puerh you like! See, I feel like puerh is usually an acquired taste for most. I also love to drink puerh on rainy days and old book smell. :D
I seem to get most of the really gritty/dirty/marshy tasting ones. Whenever I don’t, I tend to like it just fine. Our rain is persisting (very unusual weather for this area!) so I’ve been drinking a lot of pu’erh and houjicha.
Book smell :) (inhaling imaginary scent)
I love book smell! Being a librarian fits me. :-)
Playing in the archives sounds like fun! I am the unlikely custodian (it has absolutely nothing to do with my job description) of a history of our school district originally written longhand by a sweet octogenarian retired history teacher. I helped transcribe his work back in the ‘90s (he researched us clear back to the 1890’s) and have managed to keep the electronic files viable, but with too many more Windows mutations, I’m afraid we’ll lose them, so I’m in the process of actually printing out hard copies and sharing them with some other staff members so that they aren’t lost once I’m no longer there.
Oh good, a puerh you like! See, I feel like puerh is usually an acquired taste for most. I also love to drink puerh on rainy days and old book smell. :D
I seem to get most of the really gritty/dirty/marshy tasting ones. Whenever I don’t, I tend to like it just fine. Our rain is persisting (very unusual weather for this area!) so I’ve been drinking a lot of pu’erh and houjicha.