or hachamah- i drink sunshine now

sivan 4 5781

 

it has been unreasonably gorgeous this past week. sunshine, temperatures in the 70s, and flowers, flowers, flowers everywhere. when it gets like this i get invigorated by the sun. i wake up with energy and with that energy comes lots of anxiety. this is when i start chugging the downer herbal teas (mixes of chamomile, lemon balm, lavender, etc etc). i already feel naturally animated and i don’t crave caffeine let alone want it to fuel any anxious energy. all this to say that i have barely been drinking tea these days. when i do, i am casually brewing some loose leaves in a cup and i am not sitting down for a gong fu session of puer. 

 

this is the time of the year where i try to spend as much time outside as possible. i have less desire to drink tea and when i do, i am looking for something that is not super stimulating, and doesnt require lots of precision.

 

i have dipped back into trying young unaged puer to see how i like it. since i don’t need a lot of caffeine at the moment, its easy to just drink a couple cups to taste and see how it feels with my body and to go back the next day for more pours of it without concerns of it being too harsh on my body. 

 

til now, i have found my tastes to favor a more old school background (well aged, trad storage or dry stored in a warm humid climate, smoky, musty, old, wise, curmudgeony, complex, more adjectives). i like the antiquated anachronistic taste, the thick mouthfeel, the calming qi. 

 

im looking for something that isn’t super bitter (i want to drink it now and not age it), isn’t too astringent, has good mouthfeel, isn’t hard on my stomach, and has good qi that isn’t just caffeine power. im also starting to compare spring vs autumn. although autumn is usually ‘lesser grade,’ it may work for me in this instance because i don’t need strong caffeine in the summer, and i don’t want that strong bitterness that is indicative of a good tea for aging. there is so much tea out there and even focusing on aged sheng, like i’ve been doing, is overwhelming in and of itself. and age sheng is just one segment of one kind of tea. jeez. calm down self, just enjoy the warmth, the flowers, the bird songs, and the tall branches swaying in the breeze.

 

xoxo,

atzei besamim