Marco’s Blind Tasting Intro

I think we must both have been feeling a bit bummed out that Taiwan is no longer shipping to Canada.  I know that I have some packages held up there and, likely, so does Marco of Late Steeps and one of the co-curators of Teas We Like.  To fill the void Marco proposed we swap some blind samples in the comments here.  We shot some emails back and forth and agreed to send 7 blind samples to each other.  We decided to both send samples that are easily accessible to us to get this rolling and make it easier on us. 

To ensure that I get my blind samples out in a timely manner I proposed that I simply send the puerh that is in my shelf storage and that I have been regularly drinking over the past few weeks instead of dig through my deeper sealed storage.  For readers who wish to follow along, the samples I sent Marco will give you a good idea of the puerh that I have been consuming most over COVID times.  Often tea blogs do not really represent the tea that the authors are actually consuming for one reason or another.  For me recently, I mainly post reviews of puerh that I were either offered free by vendors or stuff that I am sampling to purchase and, when I do, my actual purchases.  Not all the puerh I regularly drink have been featured in blog posts.  It is interesting to see what other puerh bloggers are actually drinking and I hope that you enjoy Marco’s upcoming posts (if you enjoy seeing what’s in other people’s closets).

Marco decided that he would send me at least a few blind samples of puerh that he is considering proposing to the tasting panel of Teas We Like.  It will give readers a little sneak peek, a hypothetical early look, into what might lie ahead for Teas We Like.  I hope you enjoy it.

After opening the box I received from Marco a few weeks ago I was impressed by his presentation of blind samples.  He opted for a completely sealed yet completely transparent sample bag that would need to be cut open.  This lets you see the leaf and choose accordingly but leaves you completely blind to the odour until you cut the package.  I think this is really interesting because sometimes I like to smell the samples before I dive right in but this essentially builds a bit more excitement for me.  It also makes me think that I get a lot more information from the smell of the dry leaves than the look of them and more than I often write about in my blog reviews. Marco also marked them with the Greek alphabet as per tradition started by Hobbes of the Half-Dipper years ago.

I didn’t start sampling them in order but instead selected based on the looks and hope to post in the order I tried them.  I have tried 4 thus far and they are interesting.  Some are probably meant to be sampled next to each other/ compared to each other so I might post like that too.  Anyways, in the next few weeks you will see some posts on this stuff…

Peace