Thank you to Gabriele and nannuoshan for this sample. It’s such a generous one!
Gabriele sent eight teas to sample over the course of the next week and I am starting the day off with this one. Packed with the teas and all of my beautiful teaware was a typed note filled with personalized steeping recommendations for each of the teas I requested. For this particular one, it was recommended that I use the entire package in my gaiwan. This will be my first time ever to use a gaiwan so I have to admit that I’ve been nervous about it all morning. I’m so worried that my inexperience will somehow negatively influence the taste of this beautiful tea. I did watch a couple of videos earlier today and Gabriele directed me to some photos on Facebook that took me through the process. It seems so involved but also so much more of an experience.
The dry leaves of this tea are almost too pretty to take any further. They are long and lovely and smell so sweet! Most are dark like fresh-tilled earth; some are white and fuzzy with a coat like a Jack Russell terrier. Still others are bordering on shades of nude or wheat. They twist and curl at the ends like unmade corkscrews.
I told a friend last night that we had bought a gaiwan and he jokingly asked if that was the method where you just pour tea all over everything. I wasn’t sure what he meant but now I think I understand. I poured water over the leaves and immediately tipped the first infusion out over all of the pieces to warm them. I made a terrible mess, of course, but the tea tray seems to be well prepared for such a thing. The leaves are starting to unfurl and now have more of a savory aroma, something like spinach or turnip greens.
For my first true steep, I could not seem to get the water in fast enough to empty the gaiwan. By the time the water filled the vessel, the timer in my head was already at six seconds and I was rushing to get it into the pitcher before the bitterness set in. The color of the tea liquid is reminiscent of the flesh of a yellow peach. The sweetness has returned in both flavor and fragrance, but there is a trace of bitterness there which I know is my doing. I can also taste an underlying fruitiness, but the specific fruit is set on evading me. I’ve slowly been adding caffeine back into my diet (but only in the form of tea) and I can feel the effects here. It’s almost that feeling of having one cocktail too many, a wooziness in the head.
I completed five infusions total with each one gentler than the last. It was amazing to see the tea start as thin twists and over time open into full leaves. Toward the end, the leaves still carried their vegetal aroma. The liquid was also bitter through each steep, but not excessively so. Once I become accustomed to using the gaiwan I would like to try this one again. I think there is so much there that I was unable to tap into.
Infusions
4 ounces water + 212 degrees + 6 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 15 sec
Flavors: Fruity, Spinach, Sweet, Vegetal
Preparation
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Good job getting used to the gaiwan! I still only have easy gaiwans, but I’m looking forward to my first genuine gaiwan to come soon! I recommend doing several 5-second steeps of this one at first. Also, it’s good to rinse it a couple of times before brewing it.
Thank you! It was actually really fun once I got used to doing it. I’m looking forward to seeing the one you ordered. I hope you’ll post some pictures!
Thank you for the tip – I will definitely try the 5-second steeps when I order again. I’m going to have to move a little bit faster next time. :) So do you rinse in cool water? I’m guessing you would still have to do that first infusion afterward to warm the cups? (I’m going off the notes that Gabriele sent that say that the first infusion is for just a few seconds and is not for drinking but can be used to rinse/warm the pitcher and cups.)
Actually, the first infusion to warm the cups is actually a rinse with the hot water. I only did 5-second rinses…so you have to be quick! Two rinses are usually recommended for raw puerh. Then drink the next infusion, but then I still recommend a few 5-second infusions to start off. Take a look at my note on this tea. :) Oh, and I will definitely post pics!
Gotcha! Your note is so helpful. I think we may have gotten a few of the same teas so I will read the others you posted before my next attempt. Thank you!
Good job getting used to the gaiwan! I still only have easy gaiwans, but I’m looking forward to my first genuine gaiwan to come soon! I recommend doing several 5-second steeps of this one at first. Also, it’s good to rinse it a couple of times before brewing it.
Thank you! It was actually really fun once I got used to doing it. I’m looking forward to seeing the one you ordered. I hope you’ll post some pictures!
Thank you for the tip – I will definitely try the 5-second steeps when I order again. I’m going to have to move a little bit faster next time. :) So do you rinse in cool water? I’m guessing you would still have to do that first infusion afterward to warm the cups? (I’m going off the notes that Gabriele sent that say that the first infusion is for just a few seconds and is not for drinking but can be used to rinse/warm the pitcher and cups.)
Actually, the first infusion to warm the cups is actually a rinse with the hot water. I only did 5-second rinses…so you have to be quick! Two rinses are usually recommended for raw puerh. Then drink the next infusion, but then I still recommend a few 5-second infusions to start off. Take a look at my note on this tea. :) Oh, and I will definitely post pics!
Gotcha! Your note is so helpful. I think we may have gotten a few of the same teas so I will read the others you posted before my next attempt. Thank you!