2017 Daily Drinker

Gongfu’d

This is my current cup/ shou yixing pot. I looked outside and saw 2-3 inches of snow on the road. I know I had this last night, but it was so pleasant, I wanted to have more to warm up with.

The shou brews up dark right out the gate. There’s a sweet, earthy, chocolate note lingering on the tongue. The mouthfeel is full and a coating is left behind. I want to keep sipping it. I want to brew it endlessly right now. I weighed the remaining bit of the cake and I only have 80g left. I may try to conquer for the next week.

Side note: last night, I noted 13 steeps before throwing it in the waste pile.

Edit: I’m not sure if this is the shou version or not. I forgot that there’s a sheng version, too.

Drank again today. Great looking material! Pretty standard young sheng profile but lacking any pizazz as far as bite or sweetness goes. Feels muted and brews out quick.

I tried it as a sample. The operative words for this tea are smooth and inoffensive. Way to many young puerhs that I had tried were acid-like in their astringency and sourness and required the unfailing precision in their steeping time and temperature to be enjoyed. This Daily Drinker is the opposite: it is smooth and very forgiving.

The tasting profile is actually pretty typical for young shengs and not complicated at all -floral, cranberry, some honeyed sweetness – with the commendable long aftertaste.

Now, for the bad part: this tea tastes very generic and fairly boring and does not produce many steeps. It is not going to turn anybody off but it will not wow anyone either. There are simply way to many puerhs that actually have some character and that’s why I will never return to Daily Drinker.