sillybearhappyhoneyeater Posted October 9, 2014 I don't know how familiar with tea everyone is here, but I want to share something i did today which others may try. I have been working on creating a super blend of pu'er teas which are good for specific health and spiritual purposes. basically, a sort of tea based external elixir tonic. what i started with today was a small blend of ancient tree pu'er and some crab foot leaf which grows on the side of pu'er trees. the blend is about five parts of an ancient tree tea from an origin I have yet to ID, it has a strong smoke taste and big long leaves which were rolled before being put in the cake. three parts ice island bing dao pu'er - an ancient tree tea from the remote ice island forest. it has a slight back taste of mint.and then about two parts pang xie jiao, a type of chinese medicine herb which grows on pu'er trees. my reasoning is that the larger leaf pu'er is very good for energy levels, but it is quite young right now, having been harvested in 2013, so it is a bit strong in taste, and it can be rough on the tummy. the bing dao pu'er is the best tasting, and also has great effects on the third eye region of the head - so it is good for starting long meditation sessions. It is a bit expensive though, so i prefer to save as much as I can for aging. finally, the pangxiejiao is a very good digestive medicine which also adds a feeling of age to pu'er teas. It can be a little too good for digestion sometimes though, so i only use it in small amounts. the overall effect of this tea boiled on a stove top was wonderful - added some goji berries in on the second brew. Haven't poured it in a tea pot yet, will make that tomorrow after breakfast. If i can find my agarwood, might even add a bit of that into the mix..... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted October 9, 2014 Good stuff. We've had some past discussions on it. See here http://thetaobums.com/topic/32152-the-tea-thread/?p=486947 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
i am Posted October 9, 2014 Where are you getting the puer? I haven't had one yet that was smoked, but I've just starting drinking more black tea, and a lot the varieties are smoked. It's not going to be my every day tea, I don't think, but it's an interesting new flavor, especially since I'm used to green and wulong. I've only had maybe 5-6 different kinds of puer, but haven't run into a smoked one, yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sillybearhappyhoneyeater Posted October 9, 2014 pu'er is not smoked- it is just that the taste of some varieties of sheng pu'er have a smokey taste to them, sort of like some varieties of scotch do. I own a tea shop and do all my shopping in China and taiwan. We have a website but i haven't posted it here because I don't want to use this site as an advertising platform (gotta stay morally upright) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
i am Posted October 9, 2014 Good call Great. Ok. I figured since two of my black teas are actually smoked over pine wood, the puers probably were, too. That's interesting that they take on a smoky flavor. Do you know if it was present before they were aged, or does it happen as they age? I'm glad it's getting into puer season here in the states. At least to me winter and fall are puer season... If you want, PM me with the website so I can check it out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted October 9, 2014 (edited) pu'er is not smoked- it is just that the taste of some varieties of sheng pu'er have a smokey taste to them, sort of like some varieties of scotch do. I own a tea shop and do all my shopping in China and taiwan. We have a website but i haven't posted it here because I don't want to use this site as an advertising platform (gotta stay morally upright) Its a tea thread! I don't think it'd be out of place to mention the website here, conversationally. I think as long as its not flagrant, ie in many posts, knowing peoples expertise is an asset for members. Edited October 9, 2014 by thelerner Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sillybearhappyhoneyeater Posted October 10, 2014 Also, its still in development. Should be ready later this week but anyway, www.teaking.ca We do all of our shopping in China and Taiwan - carry a much larger range of teas than available on the website. We also have a product line called Tea Boss, which we are launching next weekend at the delicious food show in toronto. I'm working on a couple of other really cool projects with tj willia, owner of worldteapodcats.com incidentally, you can hear his interviews iwth me on that site under the label tea king. I do Cha dao in a very Daoist way, and I'm willing to open a discourse about the spiritual effects of tea ceremony and tea as wai dan practice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
