I’ve been waiting to break into this ever since I received my order a week or so ago. Lately I’ve been really intrigued by the pu’erhs and oolongs (regular oolongs, milk oolongst and aged oolongs) and my appetite is only increasing. There is simply such a range of flavours and aromas in these teas, it’s truly remarkable.
Today is also a perfect day to stay home and try a brand new hot tea. It’s -20C outside and with wind chill is less than -30C. My daughter is home with a cold, watching teletoons on TV and I’m hoping my body will be strong enough to refuse her cold virus. After all, I’m taking my vitamin D religiously but lately I have not been getting enough sleep so I’m a tad worried.. but only a tad.
On to this tea…. The dry leaves smell slightly vegetal, more like a forest floor with little mushroom thrown here and there.
I break away 5 grams of the tea ( I love doing this!) from the piece of brick that was sent to me, I rinse the leaves twice over the boiling water and then steep the tea for 2 minutes.
The result is beautiful reddish brown, clear liquid that smells musty, woody, like a forest after the rain. I take a sip and…. ahhhh… this is smooth… so smooth! It tastes just like what I think good shu should taste like: full body, sweet and earthy and it instantly transports me into an enchanted forest… Delish…
I steep it again this time for 3 min. The colour of the liquid is now darker brown. I taste everything I already tasted in the original steep but maybe a little more intense. There is a slight tingle that has developed at the back of my tongue towards the end of the sip.
Overall very yummy… I’ll continue steeping to see where it takes me.
