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Okay, wow! This is a tea meant to be cold-brewed (which is how I like my iced tea) so when this arrived for my tea-of-the-month subscription I was very excited to try it. Sadly, the weather lately has been rainy and cold and entirely off-putting to the whole concept of iced tea, so it took me a while to finish up my previous carafe of iced tea so that I had something to brew this in, and then I wound up leaving this tea brewing in the fridge for something like three or four days!

Given how long it was brewing, I was pretty worried when I pulled it out: it looked barely darker than plain water, and I thought that maybe I hadn’t used enough leaves (I put in my standard three heaping spoons for two liters). But I poured myself a glass anyway, and even before I tasted it I could smell the tea as I lifted the glass. It smelled earthy and green and not at all weak, so I closed my eyes and had a sip — and wow! That’s some tea! The adjectives that come to mind are “hearty” and “toasted” and “solid”, which clash oddly with visual ones such as “watery”.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cait_tea/4609134579/in/set-72157623664718933/

Definitely a new standard in iced tea for me.

Mmm. Apparently, on the right sort of day this is very soothing mug-steeped.

This tea was really, really tasty, so I really, really hope it wasn’t what gave me such an awful stomachache last night….

Okay, I think I can officially say now that I like pu-erh tea! It’s all…heavy and tasty and has that interesting flavor-kick at the end. Mmm.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cait_tea/4601944730/in/set-72157623664718933/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cait_tea/4601335215/in/set-72157623664718933/

Thank you, Angrboda!

I’m not entirely sure what to think of this yet. The lime is rather…puckery, and I think I need to steep it a little lighter to get the balance right.