Peacock Puerh Brick Tasting
In my previous missive reference was made to the Liming TF, which prompted my tasting of their ’06 Peacock Puerh Brick. It has a classic lemon, smoke, and petrol aroma. . . not necessarily in that order. Whereas many tuo and brick require bionic strength to extract the right amount, the Peacock Brick is pressed in a manner that would please even Goldilocks.
What I had mentioned was that Liming bricks contrast greatly from the general personae of their cakes. The latter is aggressively floral, and even as they age the flowers still punch you in the face. The bricks, on the other hand, possess a deep tonality that is of a wider in range: vanilla, citrus, petrol, tobacco.
The Peacock Puerh Brick is a tobacco class production, I suppose, but compares more favourably to dark spirits like spiced rum or brandy. It’s too sweet for whiskey but has that smoky quality. The petrol taste here is more interesting than in other puerhs I’ve tasted, in part due to the sweetness of the material. Also, the absence of any bitterness with an assuring measure of astringency makes for a rounded drinking experience.
Infusion Three 20s
The quality of Liming puerh material tends to be very good and this brick is no exception. This is evident in the richness of taste, without any jaggedness that requires future storage. At the same time, as it stores its shining attributes continue to develop. One of these is its qi.
The qi of the Peacock comes on in the mouth with smooth roundness before a rush enters the chest. Then an overall calming extends from the chest out to the limbs. Without the ensuing calming, this production would be too abrasive, not in terms of taste, which is perfect, but in terms of excessive excitement of the nervous system. Still, I wouldn’t have this after 3 pm.
Just a final comment about bricks. . . They’re kinda neglected. Recent trend has been to produce smaller cakes than to offer bricks. Maybe this is aesthetics. The smaller-sided productions naturally age at a faster rate than larger cakes– all things being equal. A 250g brick from ’07 for example, is older than a 357g cake from ’05– all things being equal. This often means that bricks offer a unique aged-puerh experience without much of the fanfare directed to cakes. The Peacock presents well beyond a standard usually confined to bricks.
