VINTAGE 97 Immortal Nectar "Pu-erh"

Yum, yum, yum! More please! A nice smooth earthy Pu-erh with a hint of honey to it, very good iced as well as hot.

Scent reminds me of a fish paste that we used in one of my undergrad food chemistry classes. I was the only one in class that actually liked the stuff.

I did a 10 second steep, dumped that water, then steeped for 5 minutes. Taste has an edge of that fish paste to it, but not in a bad way. It’s rich and thick, slighty vegetal and dirt-esque. Definitely umami. I think it’d be really good to brew some up and use it for the water to cook rice in, as a side to a real savory/spicy dish. Might have to try that sometime!

I think I have finally entered an acceptance with myself that I will never be a “proper” tea-drinker because I simply can’t find “enjoyment” in pu-erh; I never taste all the “nuances” one should taste in these expensive, fermented tea leaves, other than dirt or swamp water. Every. Single. Time. And I don’t enjoy either flavor note. Sue me. So after a week of not particularly looking forward to my morning cup of swamp water-flavored beverage (as that is the category this particular tea fell in for me; an earthy, yet marshy/vegetal taste, like something distinctly pond-scummy, which I taste very often in pu-erh) I have finally sipped this sample down (which I think came from Ost’s August 2018 cupboard sale, thanks for sharing!), and am quite pleased to have one less pu taking up space in my house.

The penultimate day of my Advent calendar from Sara.

I went out earlier today and had a fancy shou pu-erh. Came home and pulled out of my advent calendar… a fancy shou pu-erh. I guess it’s that kind of day. :)

The scent is very mild and earthy. I brewed it western style as I’m not set up for gong fu at home, and I’m so out of it that I forgot to do a wash first.

So far, I like this one better than the 9016 Shou Pu-erh I had earlier today. I taste fruit and honey and a little earthy tone, in a nice balance.

The second steep has an even better balance. You’re walking in the woods. There’s no one around, and your phone is dead. Out of the corner of your eye you spot a falling leaf. There are falling leaves everywhere! They fall to the ground, honey colored, and somehow honey scented, and there is a variety of fallen fruit on the ground.

There is a hint of malt this time too.

The third steep is similar to the second. I kept meaning to rake the leaves once they dried, but then it rained again. Finally I raked them up wet, and it smelled kind of like this.

I’m going to keep steeping this until the flavor is all spent. I’ll comment if it changes.