my first brush with puerh

[joelbct]

Well, what can I say... interesting!

I tried this Puerh from Imperial Tea Court. Arrived vacuum-sealed. Must be a shu, and loose, altho I think it was decent, for what it was... whatever that means.

2 teaspoons to abt 10 oz of water, rinsed for 30 seconds, first infusion 40 seconds, second infusion 2 minutes. The liquor was very dark and thick, almost like syrup.

Definite flavor of hay and slightly wood-ey, kind of camphor/menthol, but like camphor/menthol crossed with compost... really a bit too medicine-ish for my taste. The wet leaf looks like the rotting leaves on the bottom of the pile after you've raked them into a pile in your yard and then forgotten about it all winter, and the smell of the liquor was not pretty

I felt lightheaded after drinking this tea.... I think it is a mild intoxicant.

Anyway, another interesting phenomenon, on each infusion, after I'd drank about half the cup, I kept going to pour it out, but then going back to take another sip... and another... and another... actually drinking the liquor was a tad repulsive, but the taste was strangely compelling.

In any case, I think I prefer my Yunnan oxidized, but not aged... still I'm glad I tried it, and I may try a decent sheng at some point in the future.

[hop_goblin]

Thanks for the tasting notes.. It sounds like a nice shu pu-erh. I have never pu from this particular vendor.

[augie]

Well, what can I say... interesting!

and the smell of the liquor was not pretty

I felt lightheaded after drinking this tea.... I think it is a mild intoxicant.

... actually drinking the liquor was a tad repulsive, but the taste was strangely compelling.

This was my exact first experience! Thanks for taking the time to share this. My first Pu Ehr was loose from Red Blossom. In fact, I still have a little left. 1 year later I have my husband hooked too.

[Victoria]

The problem seems to be, at least for me, getting past the aroma.
I find the taste of most rather good, and as you say even compelling.

[hop_goblin]

The problem seems to be, at least for me, getting past the aroma.
I find the taste of most rather good, and as you say even compelling.

Victoria, the aroma of pu-erh should be: floral, woody, fruity at times, organic..etc. This is why many people are turned off from drinking pu-erh from the get go. People on their first attempt generally buy shupu or 'cooked' pu-erh from an internet vendor that claims it is "top quaility" and highy "sought after" when in fact, it is nothing more than sub-par to mediocre shupu of a generic type with no factory or area attached. They do so only because 1. the public can't tell the difference, 2. at times, the vendors themselves or uneducated. Sadly to say, just because they sell tea, does not mean that they know much about it. If fact, I am finding this to be increasingly the case.

Here are some tips

Try drinking aged sheng, brewed gongfu style. Infusion cup, pots, etc will not produce the best results.

Buy from a reputable vendor who can tell you the area(s) that the leaves came from; how it was stored (wet vs dry); can name the factory; and probably most importantly, drink pu-erh only from those factories who have been here a while like MengHai, XiaGuan, ChangTai, and the CNNP factories. If I could recommend a factory, I would recommend the MengHai Factory or DaYi brand which is made by the same factory. For the most part, they own their own pu-erh trees and therefore are very consistent. Not to mention the trees in MengHai produces a very nice florally pu-erh with nice fruit accents even when it is aged to some degree of course. Factories like XiaGuan generally recieve most of their pu-erh leaves from the LinCang area which typically are a bit more robust and to some extent have a smoky profile for various reasons.

I am not an expert by any means. I am getting comfortable with the knowledge that I have acquired over the last 3 years. STILL LOTS TO LEARN!! I hope this helps.

[joelbct]

The problem seems to be, at least for me, getting past the aroma.
I find the taste of most rather good, and as you say even compelling.

Victoria, the aroma of pu-erh should be: floral, woody, fruity at times, organic..etc. This is why many people are turned off from drinking pu-erh from the get go. People on their first attempt generally buy shupu or 'cooked' pu-erh from an internet vendor that claims it is "top quaility" and highy "sought after" when in fact, it is nothing more than sub-par to mediocre shupu of a generic type with no factory or area attached. They do so only because 1. the public can't tell the difference, 2. at times, the vendors themselves or uneducated. Sadly to say, just because they sell tea, does not mean that they know much about it. If fact, I am finding this to be increasingly the case.

Here are some tips

Try drinking aged sheng, brewed gongfu style. Infusion cup, pots, etc will not produce the best results.

Buy from a reputable vendor who can tell you the area(s) that the leaves came from; how it was stored (wet vs dry); can name the factory; and probably most importantly, drink pu-erh only from those factories who have been here a while like MengHai, XiaGuan, ChangTai, and the CNNP factories. If I could recommend a factory, I would recommend the MengHai Factory or DaYi brand which is made by the same factory. For the most part, they own their own pu-erh trees and therefore are very consistent. Not to mention the trees in MengHai produces a very nice florally pu-erh with nice fruit accents even when it is aged to some degree of course. Factories like XiaGuan generally recieve most of their pu-erh leaves from the LinCang area which typically are a bit more robust and to some extent have a smoky profile for various reasons.

Thanks Hop! A puerhshop.com at some point is still on the agenda for me.

[hop_goblin]

Just explore man.. just explore!