Smooth as Glass: ’07 Thick Zen, CNNP
9th Infusion
The ’07 Thick Zen is smooth as glass. At room temperature, very subtle camphor notes are detectable. Overall, however, Zen is an apt description of this middle-aged puerh. Juicy Zen: feint fruitiness, wheat, and a gentle old taste without any hint of any off odors or stale storage. It smells a bit like a horse stable dry. Wet more like lightly roasted barley, what they call “ku-qiao.”
The qi of the Thick Zen is very much in the stomach. It really stimulates the appetite pre-meal and post-meal produces a warming ball of heat in the stomach. Over all the qi is quite relaxing and seems quite a bit stronger in terms of these effects after eating than before a meal.
12th infusion 3 minutes
Even pushed it exhibits neither bitterness nor excessive astringency. Part of it has to do with being very moderately pressed even for a CNNP ’07 production. The photo doesn’t do it justice in terms of just how transformed this here’s a shot of the cashed leaves anyway.
To the naked eye the cashed leaves look much redder. Anyhoot, the transformation is coming along nicely.
