2017 Sloppy Jimbo

Beautiful rose gold liquid color. Fishy dry aroma. First steepings at 20 seconds reveals fish and earth. Mainly fish. I love fish. But not in my tea. Started a transcription and forgot about it for 3 minutes. Dark amber now. No fish but very earthy. Like licking a lacquered bed stand, in a forest, when it’s raining. Each session brings out interesting earthy notes. The mouthfeel is thick. Almost syrupy.

the smell from the dry leaves in the cake is like bakers chocolate with a hint of stewed fruit like cherry.. the leaves in the gaiwan when wet are an intense bakers chocolate with cheeries and slight earthiness. the first infusion after rinses are red unless you let it steep for a while after that it quickly turns to that classic dark characteristic. there is no cloudyness to it. some people say this has a fishy characteristics which i dont detect all. the site says it doenst reall have sweetness but to me the sweetness isquite prominent on the tip and sides of the tongue. it is like putting sugar on your tongue for a few seconds. to me this is one of the finest shou’s you can get the flavor is light but the consistency can be syrupy. this is a perfect all day drinker or a once in a while treat. to me i get like brownies with very light earthiness its more sweet than i had figured it would he unless im just hallucinating the sweetness haha. anyways this is a must try and must have if your a shou lover or love hei cha in general. this one is my personal favorite and im going to buy a few more cakes of it soon. i do flash steepings and that seems to work. brew to your standards and im sure it will come out perfect

A ripe puerh I’d heard was an easy drinker. After a rinse, I started steeping at 10 seconds with 5 second intervals. However, any of my steeps longer than 20 seconds made the liquor too astringent/bitter for my liking.

The liquor is very thick and very dark. Even the rinse was darker than my other samples. I found notes of bread, molasses and earth throughout. I found it pretty uniform, with astringency/bitterness on the finish. There is a very heavy emphasis on the molasses; it’s uncanny how present it is. Luckily, there is no hint of the low-quality or ‘young’ ripe puerh aroma (fishiness).

After 5 or so steeps, it eases up pretty quickly, both in colour and flavour. Again, if steeped briefly, it’s intensity is less obvious and is rather manageable.

I’d say I enjoyed it overall. For those who like dark puerhs high in earthy sweet notes, you’ll enjoy Sloppy Jimbo. I wouldn’t quite grandpa-style brew it as suggested, but it can be easy drinking.

Grandpa Style!

This was one of the first teas I bought a full cake of when I was first really getting into pu’erh and it’s been really interesting revisiting it over the last five years. Today’s infusion was like a big, warm hug with very dark and smooth notes of molasses, oats, Medjool dates, brown sugar, and sweet earthiness. Overall super clean with a thick, round mouthfeel. There was a period where this shou had a bit of a funk to it still and was more assertively woody, but I love how it’s come into itself with time!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CjJH1Xqusy6/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSlCUtNekA8

The first thought I get pouring this into my cup before taking a sip is the almost Soy Sauce aroma off the gaiwan. An aromatic umami right at the front that is paired with a bready aroma. Reminds me of a large brick of 10 yr old Xingmai grade 7 I’ve been enjoying minus the camphor from age.

As per the company description, this is a medium (to light) bodied shu that leans to the earthier side. No wet pile funk/fishiness detected. It is an inoffensive, if somewhat boring, shu puer. But that’s what I expected, as that is how it’s marketed. A passable daily drinker that you don’t really need to focus on. At $0.75 for the 8 gram Mini Jimbo coin, I think it is a safe add on. I’ll probably buy a few more on my next order just to throw in my backpack as it makes a great option for Grandpa style on the go.

Made a Christmas Day purchase of most of the white2tea’s 2017 shus. This is the second on the block for me, after loving and doubling down my order of Lumber Slut. As that would imply I have a bias to woodier and sweeter shus.