I had eagerly awaited the arrival of my first ever commissioning of a Mandala Tea private label ripe pressing. I was giddy when the crates arrived, anxious to break them out and brew some up. They had been steamed and pressed just a month earlier, cured a bit in China and express shipped to us so they were very young.
With anticipation, I chipped away at a fresh cake and brewed the leaf up in my favorite gaiwan, ready to taste one of 500 cakes I had pressed. I took my first sip and was disappointed! It tasted nothing like the loose leaves I had chosen to make the pressing happen. It was thin, watery, light on the tongue. The first thought I had was that this was not the leaf I had chosen and I reached out to the supplier of the leaves and the pressing workshop to find out what happened. Surely, there must have been a mistake.
There was no problem, I found out. The lackluster experience I was having was due to the fact that the leaves were still quite full of post-pressing moisture that needed to age out a bit. My supplier suggested that I always wait at least a week upon receiving cakes before brewing, two if I can stand to wait before making a judgement.
What a difference that one week made as I allowed more of the post-pressing moisture to dissipate. The fullness of flavor began to return and the aroma deepened. A month later, even better. And so I learned a very important lesson. Give a pu’er tea at least a week to acclimate and rest a bit prior to brewing! Still, the temptation gets the best of me immediately upon receiving a new batch of tea and each time, I have the chance to remind myself of the moral of this story :)
Happy sipping, friends!
Garret
Sanctuary 2022 ripe pu’er