I thought I’d make a short post on a tea I’d read about, but never had the chance to sample before… well, I say ‘tea’ but its days of being tea are long over – it was once tea – aged puerh to be precise, about 20 years ago, before some little insects munched down on it and left their pellet like excrement behind to be gathered and stored.

Bug Shit 1

A friend gave me a sample of this a while back and it lay forgotten in a small bag amongst my belongings until yesterday when I remembered that I had it and rummaged to find it.

He had said it was about enough for 2 sessions and, having no idea of the potency of bug shit, I divided the contents of the bag in two and into a tea strainer. It looked uninteresting, didn’t smell of anything, but as I poured boiling water over it it yielded a thick black liquid.

Bug Shit 2

I examined it carefully for a few moments before taking my first sip… Hmnn, strange – definitely not like tea, but not bad. A very medicinal taste, some qi, mellowing with a few more infusions, before I started to feel a little queasy. I’m not sure if this was entirely the effect of the tea or the fact that some of the black pellets had started to turn more brown – more like the colour of regular shit. Anyway I drank a little more before deciding to abandon ship, take a rest and brew up some regular puerh.

Bug Shit 3

In all, an interesting experience. I wouldn’t seek out more of this tea, but at least now I know.

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