The other day I drank a tea out of the 2016 Pubertea Group Buy, labeled as 2004 Yang Pin Hao Kong Que Zhi Xiang (ripe). I don’t see this one on Steepster anywhere, and it looks like a struggle to add with that long name. I don’t generally gravitate to ripes, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good one every now and then. This is one of the better ones I’ve brewed up to date. The dry leaf had a very lightly damp woody scent to it – almost chocolatey as well. After a rinse (I double rinsed this one), it had a more dank aroma, kind of like a wet basement with some also wet logs stacked in a corner. It did not smell unpleasant or mildew-y though.
The first few steeps were pretty smooth, with a bit of that dampness coming through – this seemed more like storage dampness than fermentation funk to me. It had a little bit of a bite to the finish for the first 2-3 steeps, kind of bitter vegetal maybe, and it left my mouth just a bit dry.
After those first few steeps, this became one of the smoothest teas I’ve had. Tasted like damp wood and earth, very thick, calming qi. A pleasure to drink. For most ripes, I stop steeping them out once they stop producing really dark black-ish liquor, but I took this one a little further and it continued to give me a few tasty, albeit lighter, cups.
A treat which I certainly wouldn’t mind drinking again, but I’m not in the business of hoarding shou, so I likely won’t be seeking a cake out. Thanks for including this one, LP!
Flavors: Earth, Smooth, Thick, Wet wood
