An Attempt at Fermenting Tea/Making Puerh

It's been a month since my last post, and since I can't seem to get the motivation to work today (a combination of being tired, a headache, and a long day), writing seemed like a good idea. 

Anyway, in short, here's what I did; I know it's probably a long shot compared to real puerh tea processing, but I thought it was interesting. I got the idea after leaving tea leaves out for a few days because I had a short drinking session.

First, I put a tea base– Nepal First Flush Oolong from What-Cha– into a gaiwan and added cold water. I let it sit for near an hour, so the leaves soaked up the water, and then drained it.

Next, I placed the gaiwan containing the leaves by a drafty window, where they would get sunlight and air to dry off. For the first day, I turned the leaves every few hours, and then for the second day, I left it alone for the most part.

I ended up leaving the gaiwan by the windowsill 3-4 days, until the leaves were completely dried. After, I simply left the gaiwan with the dried tea leaves in my room for a week. Something interesting to note was that the leaves became more darker/brown; while some were still greenish-white, many more were brownish (and when brewing, all of them were brown compared to the original's dark green & brown color). 

So, now, here I am– drinking the tea at half-past 9 PM. To brew, I did a tea wash first with boiling water (because I'm scared of dangerous window bacteria!), and then did each brew after for 10-30 seconds. 

Surprisingly, the results were pretty tasty. Compared to the original tea base, the flavor of this tea was much more mellow. Like any other puerh (shengs, mainly), the first brews were a bit metallic with a roasty, coffee-like flavor; it wasn't fishy or composty, however. It had a bit of fruitiness like the tea base, but it was less sour/biting. The color, too, was a darker, orange-yellow compared to the bright yellow of the original. As for the aroma, it definitely had that fermented smell you can find in puerhs, with a fruity, vinegar scent. 

It got even better as time went on, losing that metallic flavor for a sweeter, melon-like taste with a little bit of chocolate. However, it did have a slightly bitter aftertaste. I also got that feeling in my throat– a bit dry, like you have something stuck– that you also have with some other fermented teas.

Overall, it was a pretty interesting experience. I'd like to test it out with other teas since I've only really tried it with this Nepal oolong, and also see how it tastes when aged for a long period of time. Try it out sometime!