Ripe Puerh: Going Steady
I started Going Steady with ripe puerh rather by accident. I prepare a pot of ripe for my wife in the morning, repeating the process daily till the leaves are cashed. I started doing this in earnest about six weeks ago, testing each day’s pot for the differences.
Without exception, by Going Steady the experience was better in terms of richness, sweetness, and camphor expression.
King of Camphor and Clarity.
It’s an intensified form of transformation, the pot roasting of puerh, the slow-cooking of shou, the way to get that humid feeling, yeah that humid feeling.
Did I tell you that in Malaysia the only tea they drink is puerh? Well. . . and black tea made by Indians at stalls, but if you’re served tea, it’s puerh. The best puerh I had in Malaysia was served to me in a glass tumbler, filled about half way with no leaves. It was light, sweet, and camphory. The other places all served the same tasteless ink.
It was a Muslim restaurant. All kinds of other sugary drinks to order. No doubt that puerh had been getting TTP in the Malaysian heat– and humidity– for years. A tumbler no less.
Here’s the deal. I’m at the place where if a ripe does not exhibit camphor notes then I consider it substandard. The main reason that ripes do not exhibit the camphor they should is because they have been poorly stored. . . by not living in Malaysia and by not being neglected by Muslims. Oh, I can assure you that the Chinese have plenty of puerh safely tucked away in climate-controlled coveys and warehouses, but the neglect is what creates the stress to cultivate the qi.
The only way to solve the Malaysia Problem? GSM: Going Steady Method.
Tread lightly into GSM by opening the leaves the evening before your morning session. If you like the results, stop half way and start up again the following day with the same pot. Since everyday you’re infusing the tea, you’re keeping the right microbial balance. At the same time, all the sugars and dynamic processes hidden away by dryness get a chance to develop through a nice slow cook.
Ripe puerh? Go Steady my friends.
