89

It’s done, it’s done! I have tasted and written a note about all of the teas in my Steepster cupboard! Huzzah!

And I’m still on track to make my sipdown stretch goal for February. Now, of course, I do have about 16 pu erh samples left to taste and maybe one or two random others. But when I started this taste-everything-in-the-cupboard adventure, it seemed incredibly daunting. And now it’s done.

And this tea is an interesting note to end on. I didn’t have it listed in the cupboard until last weekend when I discovered I hadn’t put it in there. And there is precious little information available about it online.

I had thought it was a sheng because of the “greencake” reference, but then when I opened up the cake, I found a Menghai Tea Factory description of Yunnan Chitsu Pingcha inside. When I Googled that, I was pretty sure it was a shu.

The cake itself didn’t give away much when I sniffed it. It was sort of that chocolate tree thing, but not clearly so — and it could have been earthy mushroom just as easily. If I was more of a sophisticate with pu ehr, I probably would have gotten clued in through the leaves, which were big and broad and flaked off the cake easily.

But after rinsing at boiling and letting the leaves rest 15 minutes, I went ahead and did the first steep as a shu, at 10 seconds.

It was then pretty easy to figure out this was a sheng. Lighter colored liquor than the espresso color of shu, rather an orange-gold (apricot? amber?) color, and a definite rich, buttery, caramel-espresso note in the aroma.

The first steep was pretty intense because it was 10 seconds rather than 5. Thereafter, I backtracked, and did 5/5/7/7/10/20/30/40/60 in the gaiwan.

And now I believe I am experiencing what it is like to be a little tea-drunk. Tipsy, really. I’m a little light headed after 20 steeps of sheng between this and the last. A weird, but pleasant feeling.

This is a tasty tea — actually I find it very similar to the last one I had today in terms of flavor, but without the fruity note. It is also less astringent, and has a really nice sweet aftertaste, which is what the note inside the wrapping said it would have.

I think I’ve become a pu erh convert, though honestly, I think I am far less likely to be forgiving of a pu erh I don’t like than any other sort of tea. The ones I’ve enjoyed are really enjoyable. The ones I haven’t are…. well, among the worst tea experiences I have had.

Flavors: Butter, Caramel, Earth, Espresso, Mushrooms, Smoke, White Chocolate

tea-sipper

CONGRATS now you can revisit your favorite teas. :D

__Morgana__

Thank you! I can’t believe it’s done. LOL.

Kawaii433

What a nice relief, great job!

Evol Ving Ness

Well done, Morgana!

Kittenna

Amazing! That’s not a goal I have any hope of achieving anytime soon, but it hopefully really puts things into perspective :)

mrmopar

Awesome! I doubt I will ever hit that level..

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Comments

tea-sipper

CONGRATS now you can revisit your favorite teas. :D

__Morgana__

Thank you! I can’t believe it’s done. LOL.

Kawaii433

What a nice relief, great job!

Evol Ving Ness

Well done, Morgana!

Kittenna

Amazing! That’s not a goal I have any hope of achieving anytime soon, but it hopefully really puts things into perspective :)

mrmopar

Awesome! I doubt I will ever hit that level..

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Bio

I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes

Location

Bay Area, California

Website

http://www.jjroth.net

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