Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: varied greens and browns, compressed
Ingredients: puerh tea
Steep time: 30 seconds
Water Temperature: 212 degrees
Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan
Liquor: gold
I find myself craving puerh more and more lately, mostly because I just don’t have as much time to indulge in it as I used to. There’s a few regions in Yunnan that I would call favorites. Yiwu is one of them and Naka would be another. It’s nice to see a company not making outrageous claims about the age of the trees that their tea comes from. There’s nothing wrong with 30 year old trees and I really appreciate Jalam Teas’ honesty when it comes to that. This particular tea packed a bit of a punch. It was harvested in Autumn of 2013 so it has had some time to settle down. Although it was a fairly astringent and somewhat drying, I never found it unpleasant. I have a fairly high tolerance for that sort of thing so if you’re more sensitive, I’d suggest going for shorter brew times and less leaf (I used 8g). The initial bite of the first few infusions gave way to really nice floral and mineral notes. Peaches and honey even made brief appearances from time to time, especially if I inhaled through my mouth after taking a sip. I made it through at least ten consecutive infusions before throwing in the towel. One of the important marks of a good tea is when it lingers in my palate for a long time after I’ve finished drinking it. This one was still with me while I took a short walk to visit my mom. That’s always a good sign. My friend Jo J gifted me a beautiful puerh storage bag that she purchased on her trip to Taiwan. I’ve stowed the rest of this cake in it for aging and will look forward to trying it again in the future.
Naka Unfermented Puerh provided by Jalam Teas.
