Backlog from last night.
…Sipdown?
I stumbled across a mystery ripe pu erh in an unmarked tin the other day, and from what I remember, this is the most logical choice for what it was.
I did this right after I had a very unsuccessful bai hao tasting (really, it wasn’t worth a tasting note it was so not-good.) Although I used the gaiwan, I wound up pouring all the steeps into the same cup together. Not a whole lot to say about it – it was enjoyably earthy, and the liquor was an absolutely gorgeous true red.
I let my dad try a bit of it, and he had an interesting reaction: “It’s almost nutty. It’s like when you open a hickory nut and eat it right out of the shell.” I have never had a pu erh and thought of it as nutty before – maybe that’s just how my tastebuds work, since I don’t think they’re very good with subtleties – so that was really interesting. Every time I let unsuspecting people try a ripened pu erh, I always think they’re going to be grossed out, but they end up really liking it!
EDIT: Wait… no! I just read that the Wild Purple Buds is a sheng? Is that right? So this isn’t the one I sipped down last night? Oh heck, I have no idea.