18th January 2025 - New Tea - Heaven Surveyor
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I recently went on a tea splurge. Well, it is cold and miserable so 
why not explore some new tea. As ever, I ended up with Mei Leaf so I 
can avoid the wait times from China. The tasting notes are always 
entertainingly mad as well!

One of the teas is a raw pu'erh called Heaven Surveyor[1]. I am 
rather inexperienced with pu'erhs but slowly changing that. The tea 
leaves seem fairly small and almost like they have been shredded. This 
is likely to be due to my having bought a sampler rather than the 
cake. My sense of smell is fairly pants so there is little point 
describing it. 

The tea is from Man Song, an old tea growing region which is near 
Yiwu. The trees are old and the flavours delightful. 

The second infusion tasted very green and grassy. I was ready to 
discount this as a manky affair but a mineral feel kept me curious. 
The third infusion was a lot less grassy and I started to enjoy it. 
There is a fight between fruity sweetness and a mineral bitterness. As 
you drink, you taste the fruit but an odd sensation builds around the 
mouth. I find the edges of my tongue and a ring around the mouth feel 
very dry while tasting bitterness. It is a bit like drinking tonic 
water as a sensation. I do enjoy this even if it sounds fairly odd. 
There is a body sensation which is rather nice. I find myself feeling 
lighter. 

The progression through infusions seems to bring out more of the 
fruit. This is a strong and flavourful tea which seems to keep up the 
boldness. I am currently at 6 infusions so it should smash through 8 
infusions. 

Pu'erh is a strange beast. It is complex with many subtle flavours and 
sensations. I think I get why people love it. I certainly find the 
grassy taste rather undesirable but it is worth battling through. The 
later infusions are fun to explore. I will continue buying samplers I 
think. Who knows, I might get brave enough to buy a cake sooner rather 
than later. 

As ever, tea is tasty and fun! Try gong fu brewing and see what you 
are missing out on when using tea bags. 

[1] https://meileaf.com/tea/heaven-surveyor/