2005 Jingmai Golden Puerh

From yesterday's receipt, I was reminded of this loose shu that had been missing in action for 6 years.   About two months ago, my husband found this tea in a canister next to the brown sugar when he was looking for the buckwheat flour.  I'm always amazed when long lost teas show up especially since my eyes glance at these ceramic canisters dozens of times a day if not more.

This tea is a variety marketed in the West as "Wang Puerh" supposedly fermented 120 days instead of the normal 60 days for loose shu.  Is this "king puerh" which languished in my kitchen corner amongst humble ground grains for 6 years now an aged treasure to be savored?

I brewed it up immediately the day I was reunited with this tea.  Neither here nor there, it's a lighter shu almost like a liu bao. Of course I've only had one liu bao in my life sent to me by Wilson.  I drink a lot of delicious imperial dianhong so I'm surprised this tea is so ho-hum.   I remember it tasting a bit more lively and maltier back in 2006 but I was very sniffy about shu in general and did not really appreciate it back then.  This tea is almost begging to be blended with something else.  I think I'll use a few sprinklings of this tea to lighten up other shu's.  What about tea being of Jingmai origin? I'm not sure I can tell.

Today I was staying home from work as I caught a cold in the winter chill. I wanted something warm and toasty.  Of course when one has a head cold, all your senses are muffled with your olfactory system barely registering.  This tea didn't have enough punch.  I guess I should figure out what teas are good for such days.

Those with sharp eyes will notice that a few yabao buds had made it into the teapot and the teacup.   The yabao kept brewing and brewing since last Sunday.  It needed progressively longer steepings but it still gave a good show. I didn't want to pitch it in case something interesting developed but it only kept getting slightly weaker and slightly sweeter.  Ira wrote me to say you can add a few yabao buds to "improve the soup".  The cha wang soup definitely needed improving and it does make the brew lighter almost citrusy.