The other day I drank another tea from the Puerh TTB. This one was 2016 Gu Zu Qin from a company called Western Yunnan – I think they’re on Ali or Taobao. The dry leaf had a grassy, sweet straw aroma. After a rinse, it was slightly smokey and salty as well.
The tea seemed like it was still very green, especially in the first couple steeps, which were some of the grassiest infusions of sheng puerh I’ve ever tasted. By the third steep, it had transitioned more to an alfalfa/hay flavor, but still pretty green in character. The tea had a slight thickness.
Around steep number four, the tea took on a more vegetal characteristic, with some bittersweet asparagus notes. During the next 4-5 steeps, I also tasted the occasional fruity sweet note in the finish, barely detectable. I took the tea through around 12 steeps. It may have been able to go a few more, but I wasn’t really feeling it. This one would probably be a bit more impressive in a few years, but I only had one session’s worth, so oh well!
