I got my gaiwan in the mail today, hooray! I’ve been waiting on it to try all of my puerh and some oolong samples gong fu style. I chose this one to try first because the flavors sounded the best to me – vanilla, cocoa, dried fruit? Count me in! My sample is pretty much one giant chunk with a few loose pieces. I decided to use half of the sample for my session since my gaiwan is 4 ounces and the instructions said 4-8 ounces. The leaves themselves look small and they are a variety of browns in color, from golden to chocolate. Dry scent is both sweet and savory, with cocoa and that slightly fishy/pond smell. I did a 15 second rinse and I’ve done three steeps so far (30, 45, and 60s) and I plan to continue, but they’ve been very similar so I figured I could write the note now. :)
The brewed aroma is only the teeniest bit fishy. Mostly it smells sweet and haylike, with both chocolate and vanilla. Oh my goodness, I am in love with this tea! I was expecting it to be very strong and heavy, but it’s not like that at all! It almost reminds me of a very delicious white tea in a lot of ways. It’s very creamy and grainy, reminding me of lovely sweet bread, like brioche or challah. It’s also quite woody, but in a mild and pleasant way. I do get both chocolate and vanilla from this one, and the chocolate is more of a sweet milk chocolate than a bitter dark. The bottom notes are mild leather and a slight earthiness, and I do get a little bit of a dried fruitiness. Overall, this tea is amazingly creamy, grainy, and delicious. Love the vanilla!
Thanks so much to Mandala for offering this amazing $5 ripe puerh sampler. I can’t wait to try the others! :D
Flavors: Baked Bread, Chocolate, Creamy, Dried Fruit, Earth, Grain, Hay, Honey, Leather, Sweet, Vanilla, Wood
