I’LL POST FULL TASTING NOTES WHEN I DIGITIZE THEM.
TLDR: My heart broke when I couldn’t buy a full sized cake. If you can get your hands on this shou, do it!
2006 Classic 66 Dayi from Liquid Proust
It’s a delightful Shou Pu’er from Yunnan.
8.17g per 150ml gaiwan, 195°F
Rinsed for 10 seconds and then I did a 10 second infusion with +5s on each consecutive infusion.
I’m currently on infusion 6 and I’ve been drinking it all day. I’ve felt energized, yet calm the entire time. I’m assuming it has a nice theanine to caffeine ratio given how it is affecting me.
Overall, it is woody, sweet, and smooth. In the beginning it had notes of licorice and dried herbs. Over the infusions that was replaced with a savory nature with strong wicker notes and a hint of grains. It had a light nutty (almond?) taste on the 3rd infusion. But as time has gone on, the tea has tasted brighter with a pleasant crispness. The astringency has been building, but it adds a nice mouthfeel.
I ate a few meals today with the tea.
I had a bacon, havarti, and salami sandwich on brioche with the second infusion. It brought out a mellow sweetness in the tea, which I enjoyed.
With the 5th infusion I ate a salad (walnut, apple, cranberry, blue cheese, chicken, with a sweet and creamy dressing). I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, but it was fantastic. The contrasting tones highlighted the sweetness of the fruit/cheese with the savory qualities of the tea. The smooth woody notes added a lovely touch that tied everything together.
I want to experiment more with food pairings that are more targeted towards the tea’s profile.
Either way, I’ll probably continue drinking this one for a while. I might save the leaves in the fridge to see how they do in later infusions. I bet I could get 8-10 decent infusions from these leaves (and I didn’t even use a tea knife to loosen the leaves) even though I broke some of them whilst removing them from the main cake.
-For picture:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTir_qeHlSp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Flavors: Almond, Grain, Hay, Herbs, Licorice, Nutty, Savory, Wood
