Bowling Puerh
Bowling Puerh takes on the topic of puerh vessels. It’s an important point for discussion because the cruddy experiences you may be having with a few of your tobacco class puerhs may not be due just to a heavy hand, aging, storage, or even the weather. Yes, some productions are decidedly more sensitive than others and just as some offerings must be served gongfu style, others are going to be much better served grampa style or if you’re particularly mack, in a bowl.
For the record, the Puerh Junky very rarely bowls his puerh. However, the Puerh Junky isn’t calling the shots. It’s the tea itself that determines whether it should be bowled and you’ll know when varying attempts at brewing gaiwan or pot prove fruitless. If you’re finding that your treasure is not getting sweeter with a few years of storage, then it might be a good candidate for bowling. I’ve found this to be the case with a couple productions, particularly Beijing Olympics and Prince of Vanilla.
Bowling has it virtues. First, it completely takes the intricacies usually required with brewing raws out of the equation. A bowled puerh stands up well to protracted soaking in water in other words. Second, bowling means fewer occasions reloading water. The quantity is obviously greater than even customary pot size. It’s a considerably more casual drinking engagement. Third, it turns liabilities into assets. The mild sweetness that fails to build with years of storage isn’t an issue when bowling. The touch of sweetness with tobacco seems particularly satisfying from a bowl. The Puerh Junky has only bowled tobacco class productions, though it’s possible that it might work with other classes.
The first time the Puerh Junky saw drinking from a bowl was in the movie Betty Blue, a French film seen as a university freshman. Besides the heroine being clearly off kilter, the main thing I remember is those Frenchies drinking coffee from bowls. I can’t drink from a bowl now without thinking of that movie. Before seeing that movie, the though of drinking from a bowl never crossed my mind.
So bowling puerh increases the ole savoir faire quotient, something the Puerh Junky desperately needs. One of the most surprising discoveries from bowling has been an appreciation for the qi of productions that I couldn’t enjoy for their subpar taste. Both Beijing Olympics and Prince of Vanilla have heady qi expressions which previously were not noticed because they weren’t bowled. . . must be some ancient trade secret that the French aren’t letting on to.
The idea behind any brewing of puerh is to do as the tea instructs. Some productions are quite versatile in terms of brewing times and vessels but some are not. I imagine that there are many in the tobacco class that would lend themselves to bowling. Just as some productions must be gongfu in clay for the best experience, the same applies in the case of bowling.
