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“Another first for me! Well, a couple in fact. I’ve not tried any compressed tea yet, or anything remotely close to a Pu-erh. The compressed tea is in the form of an acorn cup, complete with little...” Read full tasting note
Country of Origin: China
Region: Yunnan Province
Grade: Mini Toucha
Altitude: 5500 ft. above sea level
Manufacture Type: Compressed tea
Infusion: A lightish tea
Cup Characteristics: Full bodied with a hint of oak.
Ingredients: Luxury green tea.
Simply put, mini Toucha is the smaller sibling of the large Toucha pods. This ancient variety of tea is made from a Yunnan large leaf variety, Camelia Assamica, and is actually a variety of Pu-erh. The pods themselves are made by taking the processed green leaves, steaming them, and then pressing them into small bowl-shaped forms. The process is quite laborious as each pod must be pressed by hand.
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Another first for me! Well, a couple in fact. I’ve not tried any compressed tea yet, or anything remotely close to a Pu-erh. The compressed tea is in the form of an acorn cup, complete with little dimple on the end. I’m not sure if this is intentional or because of machine production?
The liquor produced is a light brown, and it smells of earthyness with a hint of wood. The taste is quite refrshing, very light with no real after taste. I can just taste something sweeter in the background. I’m wondering if it will come out in later steeps? I will find out!
Update: Second steep produced a liquor which was slightly redder (not sure if that was to be expected). The smell changed quite a bit. There was a definite sweetness to it, not floral at all but fruity. Reminds me of raisins quite a bit.
The taste wasn’t as sweet though. I could sense it in the background when taking in the tea, but it wasn’t in the body. There were some more hints of it when the taste was going. The taste was still earthy, but there wasn’t as much wood to it this time. Still very pleasant, and did leave my mouth feeling quite refreshed. Easily got another two steeps from this one toucha!
Third steeping! This time the taste reflects the sweetness in the aroma. A nice blend of fruit and earth. I can see why some discard a number of steepings to suit their palette as the taste changes dramatically. Personally, I have enjoyed it all so far.
