like bitter or not?
if you do not like bitter why you drink puerh tea? Drinking puerh tea, in terms of one like it, might be an end station. I think it is this reason of bitterness tolerance and even one’s thirst of it. The lack of any major tastes like bitterness and acidity/sourness could lean to inbalance of our bodies. I won’t go any deeper as these are hard to explain simply let’s go to rather I feel it and trust my heart. Or simply I like it or not.
Today it happened to me reach out for 2014 VeiAn’s puerh called Yuna’s Heroes. It actually should be called Yunnan Hero but in the way of chinesse, thai to english translation flow it got this special mis-spelled name. I thought to leave it this way as it sounds not that bizzare. Ohh, even it referes to many not to one, to many of the Yunnan’s puerh teas that did not get their fame but they should had to.
I will try to make this post short. The 2014 same teagardens, the same tea leafes, Thailand aging tea for comparison of the previously drunk 2021 VeiAn’s and 2016 forgotten maocha LaO_Cha.
A perfect way to understand aging and how it goes year by year in the puerh tea cake.
The first very important thing for me that the tea gets better and milder impact on my stomach, the 2021 got/hit the most my center. This happens with indeed raw teas and this is no way indicating that the tea is in any way bad. Simply you eat raw stuff and it is hard for your body processing.
The 2016 got more tolerable still it’s aging is different, aging loose maocha takes longer time and it happened to be pressed only in 2021. When 2016 is compared to 2014 it does not have these baked sweet cake like faculties. They still might appear later. Again this is not saying that the 2016 is worse to 2014. Each tea is unique and some point they might meet on the crossroad.
2014 has this much more stronger ‘power’, more bitterness, more rich in taste and all this is better tolerated by the body. The so called ‘rawness’ will gradually all be changed to naturally ‘cooked’ / ready to drink puerh tea.
Bottom notes from tasting 2014:
The wet leaves are frangrant, no storage disturbing/foreign smells, the rinse water is sweet, the 1st brew comes strong, heavy and already rich in taste, nuts in the aftertaste, pure mouth feelign, 2nd comes stronger, capturing all the taste buds, 3rd similarity to other 2 younger puerhs , taste gets more softer, refined, more enjoyable, 4th bitter dominates, used 8grams/100ml water, I would say tasty bitterness for me, in some later brews a sweet cake like feeling, a cake with nutty liquor like hint
*lazy drops are so bitter so good
*drops that remain in the teapot after a pour and they sloooowly dropping from one leaf to other until the gather at the bottom of the teapot