Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance:
Ingredients: puerh tea
Steep time: 30 seconds
Water Temperature: 212 degrees
Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan
Liquor: dark gold
I usually have way too much tea but one of my guilty pleasures is my monthly shipment from +JalamTeas. I love the look of the stickers that they’ve put on the back of my recent selections but I hate ripping that beautiful tree to get to my tea. This cake was very timely because I had just finished reading Puerh Tea: Ancient Caravans and Urban Chic, an excellent book that discusses this region extensively. The leaves looked relatively normal but I was surprised at how dark the liquor was. The picture below still doesn’t really capture it. I tend to use a lot of leaf and longer infusions but the taste was still fairly mellow, especially for one so young. There were heady notes of straw with an almost menthol-like finish. That cooling affect will make this my go-to puerh when the summer nights start getting hotter.
Yiwu Unfermented Puerh received through Jalam Teas subscription.