You were raised by Gypsies weren't you ??:)
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aww shush! :p
My new brick of Pu-erh is not disappointing. This morning I carefully broke away some leaves trying to keep them as whole as possible. It was actually easier than I though as I imagined them all breaking up as I took it apart. The tea brewed up with a nice red wine color. I gave it a rinse for ten seconds, then steeped for about 15 on the first. I'm four steepings in and its still going strong. However, if I go for a fifth, it will require a longer steep. The tea itself if really mellow. Its very earthy as you would suspect but does not have any of those disgusting flavors that pu-erh seems to be labeled with (fishy). A complete departure from the light, sweet pea flavor of the green I had a couple days ago. Very satisfying and it'll be a great cold weather tea.
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A REALLY floral one today. A very light tea, hand picked spring Tieguanyin.
Hand Picked Spring Tieguanyin | Verdant Tea
A really chocolatey one today. Very rich. I like these from Verdant Tea. Nice teas.
Laoshan Black | Verdant Tea
You know, I got so inspired (and thirsty?) by seeing the lovely picture of your bamboo wrapped goodies that I had to go to my tea chest and break one out myself. So those who think puerh is blasphemy, now's your chance to look away :p
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2008 Ancient leaves ripe puerh brick. I bought this a year or two ago but at the time decided it was too young and needed some storage. Well look what you did, made me go open it... I guess any old excuse will do :D The brick smells lovely, fresh, floral, some hay like notes. Nothing damp or stodgy, just nice and clean.
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Looking good on the inside.
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8 second rinse, 3 seconds for 1st and 2nd infusion, water at 194F/90c. Thick, earthy, exellent mouth feel, mouth watering and thist quenching. Some fresh moss and a hint of flowers. I was a little greedy with the amount of tea, so this will be a nice long session. I am aiming for 8-12 infusions, we shall see how it keeps up. Good times.
Oh, sorry for the terrible pics. I think it is a combo of my phone's abilities and my photo editing software, and it just looks very different on a computer screen.
Ah, I'm so glad my newbie enthusiasm rubbed off on you. Everything looks wonderful. I can understand how pu erh might not everyone's cup of tea (pun intended). It's an aggressive flavor and unlike any other tea I've tried. I sampled a younger pu'ehr yesterday. You can really taste the effects that age has on it. It mellows it out. The younger one let me know right away if it was steeped too long where as the old one let me steep as long as I liked. Let us know how many you get out it today. And thank you for sharing.