423 Tasting Notes
Drinking this gongfu style while doing some reading for my thesis. This is a strong and earthy tea, good for dozens and dozens of brewings by the look of it. It mellows down and grows sweeter with every brewing, but I still probably wouldn’t recommend it for people just starting out into the world of pu’erh. The leaves, both dry and after brewing, are on the long side, with no sourness or much astringency to them. I was very tired when I came home from work today and brewing several rounds of this made me sit up and take notice! This won’t be an everyday tea for me, but I can see myself drinking it at times like these. A perfect study tea for me!
Preparation
I bought this as a possible replacement for my golden monkey Ceylon from Fortnum and Mason. This is my first order from JK tea house and it arrived very very very well packed. I doubt that a nuclear bomb could have damaged it :)
The leaves are long, thin and tightly twisted. Their raw smell is slightly sweet. The tea itself (brewed western style w/ boiling water for 2-3 minutes) is very smooth, slightly sweet with no bitter notes and only a slight astringency that rounds it off nicely. A very good tea for the price, even if it is no replacement for my Golden Monkey Tail Ceylon
Preparation
Finally got to brewing this tea gongfu style (got five brews out of it before it started going flat), and it just became my favourite tea. The leaves are extremely long, and smell wonderfully fruity – like a good fruit cake. The tea brews a bright amber, and the first infusion smelled strongly of fruit – almost like a watered down hibisucsy like fruit tea. I did not feel any citrus in the blend – more ripe sweet plums, and there is little if no bitterness to it and hardly any astringency. Fantastic!
