Producer: Crimson Lotus Tea
Origin: Multiple mountains; 2016 (?)
Brewing Parameters: 6 g; 100°C; 5s up in Gongfu style
Appearance: Very tightly compressed square brick with light to dark green and yellow leaves
Rating: A | 94/100
# of Brews: 6
Tasting Notes and Thoughts
As my first puerh cake, I'm actually pretty satisfied with what I got. Taking it apart was more of a pain that I expected; it is extremely compressed, and the awl I have isn't the best thing to use as a pick. I'm doing this review during the second time I'm drinking this tea, because I ended up breaking apart or grinding most of the leaves into dust. It was much better this time, but I still need to practice breaking it apart. I think I've almost poked a few holes in my desk at this point, narrowly missed stabbing my hand, and ripped the wrapper a few times.
After I did a short wash and let the leaves open up a bit, the first brew came out a nice golden yellow. Unlike the Planet teas, there wasn't that much dust in the liquid. The aroma was similar to the other teas, with that slightly chocolate-y and and fermented soy smell (miso!). However, it also had more sweeter and floral notes, which found their way into the flavor. That's why I like this tea the most out of the set; it starts off with a quick sweet and milky taste, followed by a light, lingering citrus and jasmine flavor. It ends with a rose-flavored kick (it's very floral and somewhat cinnamon-y) which lasts for half a second, before slowly dissolving away. The texture, like the other teas, is slightly waxy, but unlike the others, it doesn't dry the throat too much (it still does, but it's not too bad).
Surprisingly, I got decently tea-drunk off of this in the first few brews– which I didn't necessarily experience on any other teas I had this review series (maybe Planet Yiwu was close). I think the closest tea I could compare it to that's not a puerh is a Jin Xuan– which is probably why I like it so much. I'm tempted to buy another cake just to store and age (they're relatively cheap– $20 plus shipping, but they're only 100 grams compared to the usual 200 or so grams), but I also want to save my money so I can buy a 2017 cake (like a bottle of wine, I want to have a cake from a special year: the year I graduate!). Oh, decisions. Anyway, I stopped at six brews, but it looks like this tea can go for a lot more brews, so I'll be doing sessions all day with the same leaves. It's a good tea to end this series on.
Other Notes
Today's album is Constellations by Dead Astronauts. For me, Dead Astronauts has always been a hit or a miss; in general, the backing tracks/beats/etc. are very good, but sometimes, the vocals can ruin the song. But, still, I like the album as a whole– my favorite songs are Weathered Wolves, Little White Lie, and Part Two.
Anyway, welcome to the last weekend of winter break, and welcome back to the grind! Today, I'm grabbing some lunch with some friends and watching Perks of Being a Wallflower with them. Then, I'll be going to a fencing club meeting (which is, surprisingly, working out decently well); I'm thinking of starting to learn epee since I like the slower pace and the freedom it offers. After that, I gotta do comp civics work and go to bed early because tomorrow, I have my first college interview with Haverford! I'm excited but have no idea what to really expect. I'll fill you guys in on how that goes.
On competition civics, I'm kind of pissed right now because that group member I've had issues with is still very hard to work with. She's one of those people who says you're wrong or pokes holes in your argument, but doesn't have a solution or alternative to help. She also expects us to work around her schedule, doesn't work nearly as hard as the rest of the unit (she says she does, but it becomes obvious in practice that she hasn't done much), and fails to show up to meetings or help write stuff. Tomorrow, we're getting judged by some of the toughest teachers/judges at a practice, and since I have that interview tomorrow, I won't be there (which is good! hopefully it shows the rest of the unit how much work we need to put in).
Lastly, I asked that girl to watch a movie. She said "that sounds awesome but I'm dealing with some things, so I'll text you when I'm ready". My friend told me to respond to that with "yeah no worries, good luck with those things" which I don't think went over that well because she responded with "thanks !". From my experience– and it might just be me overthinking things– when people put a space in between their message and the punctuation, it's them being passive aggressive. So, who knows what'll happen. At least I tried, so I have that peace of mind now. I just hope I didn't sound like an ass.
Anyway, welcome to the last weekend of winter break, and welcome back to the grind! Today, I'm grabbing some lunch with some friends and watching Perks of Being a Wallflower with them. Then, I'll be going to a fencing club meeting (which is, surprisingly, working out decently well); I'm thinking of starting to learn epee since I like the slower pace and the freedom it offers. After that, I gotta do comp civics work and go to bed early because tomorrow, I have my first college interview with Haverford! I'm excited but have no idea what to really expect. I'll fill you guys in on how that goes.
On competition civics, I'm kind of pissed right now because that group member I've had issues with is still very hard to work with. She's one of those people who says you're wrong or pokes holes in your argument, but doesn't have a solution or alternative to help. She also expects us to work around her schedule, doesn't work nearly as hard as the rest of the unit (she says she does, but it becomes obvious in practice that she hasn't done much), and fails to show up to meetings or help write stuff. Tomorrow, we're getting judged by some of the toughest teachers/judges at a practice, and since I have that interview tomorrow, I won't be there (which is good! hopefully it shows the rest of the unit how much work we need to put in).
Lastly, I asked that girl to watch a movie. She said "that sounds awesome but I'm dealing with some things, so I'll text you when I'm ready". My friend told me to respond to that with "yeah no worries, good luck with those things" which I don't think went over that well because she responded with "thanks !". From my experience– and it might just be me overthinking things– when people put a space in between their message and the punctuation, it's them being passive aggressive. So, who knows what'll happen. At least I tried, so I have that peace of mind now. I just hope I didn't sound like an ass.
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