I Don’t Crave Smoky Puerh on Days with Smoky Weather

 Readers of this blog may already know that I am a fan of a bit of smoky taste in my puerh.  I understand that this can also be seen as a flaw but I don’t care.  There is something strangely comforting with a touch of smoke in aged sheng- like sitting by an outdoor bonfire on a clear summer night, a wood burning fireplace in the cold of winter or next to a warm hearth or charcoal tea stove.  Besides, all of the old puerh I started drinking a long time ago had at least a bit of smoke in it and I developed an appreciation for it.  I’m fond of it in the same way I like the dirt taste in my puerh.

This summer, like many summers of the last decade, there have been terrible forest fires in Canada’s West.  When there are weather advisories for poor air quality caused from the forest fire smoke you can really taste the smoke in the air.  On these days, I am really put off by smoky tasting puerh and generally don’t cave it anymore.  I recalled a similar lack of craving during some really smoggy spring days in Korean many years ago.  It just no longer seems harmonious to imbibe the smoky note in puerh at these times.  When it’s smoky or smoggy outside I crave a bright young Sheng or, even better, a fresh early spring green tea.  There is something more pure and clean about these that I wish upon myself during these hot hazy days.

Peace