Stuff from Hou De

hi nico - thanks for the report. i'm also sort of new to pu'erh, and i also has some samples from hou di fine a while back. i too got a kind of 'high' from a few of them - not at all unpleasant, and i think you're right - having some food in your stomach should help with that. keep us posted on the other teas...........p*

At this point, as well as with the apparent astringency, I would question the age of this tea. Aged sheng, I'm assuming you're drinking sheng by the description, has only a slight quip of the original astringency remaining from the raw leaves and is quite smooth. If it tastes like a handful of pine straw, like some of the "aged' pu'er I've receieved as gifts and various other cakes I have lying around, it's either this year's spring pick or last year's winter.

You can look at the leaves and be able to tell if it's really new tea, although some people disagree with this. Could you describe the appearance of the leaves before and after brewing?

And, most Chinese sheng drinkers say that you cannot drink sheng until it's at least 2 years old because they say it's harmful to your health to drink such strong tea.

How much of this "high" that is described here and also possibly even Jim's sensations decribed in the "decaffeinated" thread could be Qi and not caffeine?

Just wondering,

Mike

heh.

I just remember the first time I drank sheng is some shop around here and feeling rather light-headed for the next hour or so. The reason it hit me was because the tea was relatively new. I couldn't get the grass taste out of my mouth for days, it seemed.

Alas, I drank the last of it a few days ago. I remember the leaves being fairly green. Perhaps it was indeed newer than 99. I have no basis of comparison. I do remember the taste fairly well. The astringency was there, but not nearly as much as in some green teas. The taste I would describe as earthy, pine-y, with a lingering sweetness in the mouth. I'll have to wait to try some more before I can really say. I did recently pick up a xia guan tuo from an asian grocer. There was a much stronger astringency in that one, and not the kind of tingly compexity of my hou de sample.

Nico

"Mike Petro" wrote

Would that be Qi-ffeine ?

ROFLMAO

Mike Petro

"In this work, when it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not be forgotten that much likewise is performed." Samuel Johnson, 1775, upon finishing his dictionary.

"Mike Petro" wrote..

I know one's supposed to lurk for a while before posting, but I don't get a straight line like this one too often ;-).