In the past few weeks I have been revisiting this interesting genre of white puerh tea. Having not brewed white puerh tea for some time it took me a few sessions to recalibrate the ideal temperature and brewing time to optimize the preparation of the brew to my satisfaction. I use boiling hot water that is left to cool for a few minutes together with a yixing teapot. 8g to approx 100ml with 1 rinse my brewing time varies from 20 to 40 seconds for initial steeps. Adjustments to higher temperatures and longer steeping times come after the initial 4 to 5 steeps.
Despite its charms it is my impression that this semi aged white puerh tea remains a work in progress. After glancing through my early notes on the tea from over a decade ago I am reassured that my memory of this tea remains accurate. Over the years the characteristics of the tea have deepened, increased in complexity and become more substantial. There is no bad bitterness and sharp sourness that is a mark of a tea not aging well. The dark sweetness that comes through is soft and warming, providing a cooling sensation at the back of the throat upon swallowing. A pleasant aroma lingers in the breath. After experiencing multiple sessions of this tea in recent weeks I am of the belief that there is room for further development and improvement. It will be interesting to observe future transitions that will occur as a part of the journey that awaits this tea.
The pictures provide a comparison of the tea aged under natural storage in a tropical climate here in Thailand. The pictures are from a recorded brewing session in 2007 and the most recent in 2015.
