2 Tasting Notes
So, here’s my story. Over the past few years I’ve been broadening my horizons in the world of tea. Like most I’ve taken the leap from bagged teas to loose leaf teas and I’ve tried just about every tea that I could get my hands on…except for puer.
The other day I got my first paycheck from my new job, so I decided to pick up 3 Verdant Tea samplers (shu, sheng and oolong). Now, as a puer novice I’ve heard how harsh puers (especially shus) can be. With that being said, this shu was gentle beyond words. Being a newbie, this throws off everything I’ve heard about puer teas.
Thinking that I must have made a mistake I tried adding less water, some more leaves and even hotter water, but this shu stayed cooler than a hindu cow. Like other reviewers have noted, this tea is quite evocative of a library. A quick wiff of the leaves reminds me of the aged paper of an old dictionary that has never been sullied by words like “unfriend”.
I’m blown away by how mellow this tea is. Frankly, I would rather choose to not rate this tea, but since that isn’t an option, I’m going to rate it highly because this was a hell of a treat.
Just an FYI, it’s possible to write a tasting note without rating the tea. Just click the “Add Tasting Note” button and then write your note without touching the rating slider. It will post your note without a rating.
Glad to see you’re setting out on the pu’er adventure. And what a place to start! I consider this tea is one of the finest representatives of it’s type. With time and more experience you may revisit your encounter with this Xingyang pu’er and find that it was among the very best, if not your pinnacle, of pu’er tea.
Happy drinking!
Great Review, and welcome to the best pu’er on the planet! Part of me is happy that your first experience with pu’er is this, because 99% of what’s out there IS rubbish. The problem now is not being continually disappointed by your future experiences with pu’er. Like Geoffrey said, you may very well come back in the future and find this one to be the pinnacle. Keep searching and drinking…I’m excited to see where your journey through pu’ers takes you.