(I should mention that it’s a 2007 (2006 harvest), 7572 recipe 357g bingcha from Menghai chachang – authenticity unknown. It won’t let me edit the info above because I’m new here)
Right, I’m still undecided on this tea.
It’s my first real Pu’er. It’s fairly cheap (NZ$40/357g – the cheapest of all my good teas).
I’ve had a bit of trouble getting it right. The first time I tried it, I didn’t use enough. It was weak, but bitter.
The second time, I used way too much. It was overwhelmingly bitter.
This, the third time, I think I got almost the right amount.
Yet still, it’s bitter. So I think I need to bring the water temperature down a bit.
It’s not all bad though: it’s very smooth and quite sweet, and the earthy flavours linger in the mouth for quite a while.
It smells fantastic – it’s like sitting under a pine tree in the summer. Earthy, organic, humus…
That sorta thing.
The first steep today (after rinsing) was quite bitter, but not unpleasant. Second and third were the same, but with bitterness diminishing. By the fourth, it was perfect – probably because I’d understeeped it (think I used too much again, but by this point it was losing strength).
After the fourth steeping, the flavour dropped away rapidly.
The sixth steeping I left in for about two minutes (compared to 30-45 secs at the start) but it came out weak.
That’s the end of that.
Next time I’ll try using a tiny bit less, and not quite boiling the water.
But in the meantime, I feel like some wulong!
