Oh boy. I’m not even sure where to begin with this one. It came in the mail to me through Golden Moon Tea’s Single Leaf Club (like a tea of the month club… I’m trying to broaden my horizons); however, when I enter the secret link to read more about it, the link doesn’t work.
So, kind of excited as I’ve never tried pu-erh before, I open the container and sniff. Now, if I were a farmer, perhaps this would have invoked a different reaction, however, the barnyard/dirt fragrance really turned me off. Would I actually try this? I had to question myself. Well, this morning I took the plunge.
I followed the directions almost exactly, but added a rinse first, hoping to shake some of that scent. 180/1.5 minutes…
Sniff… ack! Nope, now it’s wet barnyard that I smell. And something like feet. Seriously, this is getting worse and worse. But, I’m thinking to myself, I lived in France for years. Some of the cheeses that could condemn a home on odor alone were some of the best I’ve ever tasted. Besides, the color of the tea is very light yellow and pretty. So, I throw caution to the wind and take a sip.
I’m not a mathematician, but I’ve come up with an equation:
(scent of cheese:taste) ≠ (scent of Sticky Rice Pu-erh:taste)
I’m pretty proud of that and I have no words to describe this that wouldn’t fall into my mom’s “if-you-don’t-have-anything-nice-to-say, then-don’t-say-anything-at-all” category.