Pushing Puerh: A Tasting of 2006 Jinggu Yunchun Tea Factory Puerh

A few days ago, one brought the water to a boil to in order to prepare a sample of puerh a friend had removed from a bing a few days earlier. The dry leaves smelt very sweet, leathery, with tones of licorice.

One prepared the tea as one would any other puerh before drinking a cup. The first infusion felt very smooth and watery on the tongue with a sweet woody dough taste. Not bad for the first infusion.

The second infusion bore similar results without much change in the flavour profile. One couldn't help but think that something was lacking in this tea. The mouthfeel was watery not full.

One pushed the tea a little harder to get something out of it during the forth infusion but still very little changed. The tea, although not bad at all, just didn't seem complete, as if lacking a defining front note. Its aftertaste soft and leathery with a subtle camphor flavour.

The fourth infusion one pushed a little harder, still with similar outcomes.

One then decided that there was no point in fighting with this tea, so giving in to the tea, one just decided to enjoy the tea for its own sake. After making this decision and accepting the tea, it tasted much better.

A few days later one prepared what was left of the sample, just accepting it for what it is, and not pushing it into something it wasn't. One enjoyed it much more. In this way this sample taught one a lesson about life. One will never truly enjoy life if we are always trying to be someone we are not, when we just accept who we are and just be, we will truly enjoy what life has in store for us.

Peace