Pure Puer Tea

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Recent Tasting Notes

Hooray! Sampling lots of Christmas tea today. When I opened the pouch the first thing I noticed was that the dry leaves smell sweet and mildly fruity. It is earthy but not fishy at all. I have never smelled a quite like this before, but I have also never had anything with osmanthus.

The steeped tea is also mild and earthy and there is a nice mineral taste. This is very good, it is reminding a lot more of the puer from Teavivre and not at all of the puer from Southern Season. My oldest daughter, who just started drinking green tea for its benefits even though she doesn’t care for tea, likes this pretty well and is on her second cup. O.O. She hates black tea.

I have made s second steep. I will post how well it held up when we finish this pot. Delicious! Many thanks to my wonderful hubby who ordered this for me!

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87

Quick Notes Thanks and apologies to AmyOh . I though I had logged this one, nope. LOL

This is another beautiful mini ‘tuo’/brick. THe leaf look amazing and tender, I almost feel bad about steeping it. The dry scent is sweet and mellow honey and somewhat faint fruits. When wet, it has a stronger and sweeter presence and yet a bittersweet to bitter tone with fruity notes.

The liquor is light yellow/light golden color. The taste is mellow and sweet with slight fruit notes on the first two steeps. As the leaf opens the later steeps get more complex with the bitter notes (desirable) that seem fruity, yet somehow floral. The tea is slightly refreshing but mostly sweet in the aftertaste.

Final Notes
Thanks again Amy, really good one. The ‘spent’ leaf is beautiful when fully opened, looks young and lively. I bought the ripe menghai square. When we do the next swap I’ll send it to you to try.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C

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84

Dry – Sweet, earthy.
Wet – Sweet, creamy, bitter/tart notes(chocolate?)
Liquor – Dark Brown/Deep Bronze.

1st 20secs – Sweet, earthy, vanilla, creamy, a slight bitterness up front. As it washes down, it is slightly more bitter and has a bit of astringency (particles “Chen Dian?”). The aftertaste is sweet, earthy and slightly refreshing.

2nd 10secs – Sweet, earthy, vanilla, creamy and slight bitterness. As it washes down, it is bitter but smooth creaminess. The aftertaste is sweet, smooth and slightly refreshing.

3rd 15secs – Sweet, earthy, vanilla, creamy and slight bitterness. As it washes down, it is bitter, smooth and creamy. The aftertaste is sweet, smooth and refreshing.

4th 15secs – Sweet, vanilla, smooth and faded bitter notes. As it washes down it is bittersweet and smooth. The aftertaste is sweet and smooth that becomes refreshing.

5th 25secs – Sweet, vanilla, smooth, slightly creamy up front. As it washes down, it becomes bittersweet and slowly turns sweeter. The aftertaste is sweet, smooth and refreshing.

Final Notes
Honestly, This mini brick is a good one AND beautiful looking; it has to be one of the most beautifully pressed mini tuo I’ve ever seen. If you buy the 4oz for $24 (20 mini cakes) it is worth it. I had a sample 3 for $5 dollars… that seems a bit too much. That aside, the cake is well made, and you can tell is hand picked, the buds are beautiful and almost completely intact. The pressing is very light so keep that in mind when steeping (so you don’t oversteep past your preferences).

Preparation
Boiling

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100

No notes yet. Add one?

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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87

I’ve been chiseling around on a fairly obscure puerh cake my Father-in-law gave me for a few months now. I’ve been wondering what my next everyday, “workhorse” tea would be. I think I’ve found it!! This little Tou-Cha has all the characteristics of a quality and comfortable puer.

After having a hot bath, everyone in the house is greeted with a fairly concentrated and heavy aroma of leather and moss. My first drinking infusion (after two 30sec rinses) is only 3-4 seconds, producing a caramel colored liquor that is bursting with assertive flavors. This tea penetrates my palate on a couple different levels even on the first infusion. Strong woodsy flavor in the front turns to velvety sweetness on the back of the tongue. Overall a warm comfortable aura envelops me when I’m holding a small cup of this shu.

Second, third and forth infusions:
Because of the short infusions (still mere seconds), this tea builds different, complicated flavors on top of each other. I know they are there because I can taste them. Unfortunately, my palate is not so discriminating as to adequately describe them. They start fairly wild and end exceeding sweet and smooth.
Nostalgia is playing a part in my very favorable review of this tea. A couple of years ago my wife’s Father (who is a fairly well know actor in Malaysia) took us all to a very popular Bak Kut Teh restaurant in a suburb of Kuala Lumpur. BKT is a herbal soupy stew that is both delicious and touted as being very nutritious. In a culture where “food is medicine”, an outstanding (and probably expensive) puerh was served with the meal. After commenting on the quality of the tea, I got “the look” from my Father-in-law. The look of recognition that I had finally, after so many years, developed a discerning palate.
This Puerh reminds me a lot of that meal. It begins strong and assertive. After a couple of infusions, a full-bodied mellowing leads into a complex melding of flavor and aroma. Mushroom and leather are the predominate inclinations with hints of cinnamon, and coriander. This tea has amazing endurance, and better yet, it doesn’t get bitter or astringent. However, please remember that I kept all infusions to the bare minimum. Even after 6-7 infusions, they were only 10secs.

This is a quality tea which I highly recommend. I purchased this tea from Pure Puer. The customer service from Mr. Chin was unbeatable and a pleasure. I look forward to dealing with them in the future.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec
Bonnie

Lovely review. Very enjoyable!

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62

Interesting tea, well worth drinking, but not for the less adventurous among us. After washing and awakening the half toucha I used, the air was filled with a pronounced wild, vegetal aroma with a sweetness bordering on unpleasantness. It was not offensive, but probably would back off some people, but that is as far as it went. We have a horse farm located about 4 miles from a very famous bourbon distillery here in central KY, the aroma of this tea is very reminiscent of that of roasting sour mash from the distillery. Initially strong and perhaps unpleasant, but quickly turning comforting and reassuring that all is as it should be.
First steep – Lt color (think Ginger ale)
– The first taste begins innocently enough, unremarkable, however, when reaching mid-palate, things start to get interesting. A rather unexpected taste begins rising. A green taste, but not of grass, more like arugula,a peppery, vegetal taste. Surprising, yet not unpleasant. The finish is clean while leaving a lingering tingle — no astringency or bitterness.
Overall first infusion: Light color, uneventful beginning, surprising mid-palate flavor with a clean, complete and memorable finish.

2nd infusion: 30 sec.
Darker color, more refined aroma- definitely moving into a more familiar “tea” smell. The taste is still building as if we are travelling deeper into the forest. Woodsy and wild, becoming more complex.

This is not a great tea, but it is a pleasant adventure. It evolves quickly and even after 4 or 5 infusions, changes, albeit predictable, are still occurring. The only truly bad aspect I found was that when this tea cools bitterness appears. Almost to the point of undrinkability.

Not a tea to drink everyday, but good on occasion and I’m sure it would work well with chili or vinegar.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec
Azzrian

Thanks for following! I look forward to more of your reviews. :)

Bonnie

Too bad this became bitter. I don’t run into this with pu’erh almost ever but then this is a sheng which I don’t drink often. I noticed that Amy said the same thing about it being bitter sweet.

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89
drank Osmanthus Puer Tea by Pure Puer Tea
1719 tasting notes

This came from ashmanra. THANKS I can’t find this on pure puerh’s website. I thought I would grab a picture – apparently not. This is interesting. Beyond the horse and saddle leather it has a pepper / ginger bite to it. Underneath that is some interesting floral notes. Another thing I noticed is that several minutes after sipping this I could still taste it and feel its cooling affect on my breath. Very nice!

ashmanra

Wow! You are right, they appear to be out of this one.

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75

I realize I am spoiled with local tea options compared to some other folks. A few weeks ago I was in Rainbow Grocery and noticed they have a bulk tea selection. In the bulk tea jars were a bunch of mini touchas from Pure Puerh! I know they are based in Northern California so I shouldn’t have been too surprised.

This is the other green toucha that I didn’t buy from them at the San Francisco Tea Festival. Now that I have my dedicated Yixing teapot, raw puerhs are becoming a good weekend drink for me. You fill up your teapot and can re-steep many times. This one mini toucha claims you can make 12-14 cups of tea out of it!

Steep #1: After a quick rinse I steeped this for around 20 seconds and got a very light infusion, which is slightly woodsy and a bit sweet. I’m picking up on a light fruity flavor too, like apple. There’s a slight bit of bitterness in the mix but so far I am not finding it too overwhelming. My infusions are fairly small, I’m getting around 4 oz. of tea for each one.

Steep #2: 30 seconds. The color is a bit darker than it was before and a definite smoky aroma is starting to emerge. Still, I am happy that this is not too acrid or rough for my palette. As far as bitter-sweet goes, I can handle it.

Steeps #3 and 4: 15 seconds. I did them together in the same glass mug. The tea is hitting more of a stride here and starting to settle down somewhat. The flavor is getting to be a little more mellow, still woodsy, smoky and slightly sweet but less of a sour quality.

Steeps #4 and 5: at first I thought the bitterness was receding, but as my cup was sitting here cooling off, a big wallop of it hit me when I began to sip on it. Might try to use ½ the touocha next time, 8g is likely too much for the small teapot.

One thing I have noticed about sheng pu-erhs is they are very good for the digestion; I suppose it must be this bitter-sweet and green quality. Without being gross, I find they have an almost purgative effect at times.

I think perhaps this tea could benefit from a little aging, but I have no idea how well touchas age. In any case I will probably not be too tempted to pick up any more of these in the future. It’s a typical young sheng, kinda sour and wild. That’s the nature of the beast you’re dealing with.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec
Bonnie

Sounds like a good adventure and a reminder about the effect of younger pu-erh’s stimulant benefits. :)

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85

I found that if I steeped this at a lower temperature for a longer period of time it takes on some different characteristics and this really brings out the sweetness, while retaining a woodsy almost spicy quality.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 2 min, 15 sec
ashmanra

Do you think this is worth buying? Based on your first review I thought about getting enough to ut aside for a few years and keep some out for now.

TeaBrat

How much experience do you have with green puerhs?

ashmanra

I have only had one, and that was Harney’s Ziyun Puerh Maocha. I have only tried about six shu puerhs, but I liked them all pretty well, except for fishy parts! Rishi’s shu was boring. Shengs are very different different from shus, yes?

TeaBrat

yes, they are more like green tea when they are young but they can be kind of bitter and sour. These are pretty good but I don’t know if I would buy more… see if you can get a sample. :)

ashmanra

Good idea! Thanks! I have bought a lot of teaware from that company, so maybe they will out together a diverse sampler for me. I liked their Osmanthus Shu Puerh.

TeaBrat

If you wanted to swap for one, I think that could also be arranged…. :)

ashmanra

Ooo, what would you like to try? I will also have some new tea in a few days. My daughter is bringing back some Dammann Freres , Pickwick, something unpronounceable and the fore unspeakable from Hungary, and some from Northern Ireland that I don’t remember the name of! LOL!

TeaBrat

I’ll check when I’m back at home & PM ya.

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85

Something else I picked up at the tea festival… I think I got these because I liked the shape – lol. The squares come in a little box and of course, the tea, the paper and the box are all biodegradable which is right up my alley. No plastic – whoop! Pu-erh has a definite advantage in that regard.

I cut this square in half because I wasn’t sure I was up for a strong sheng experience. Then I steeped it for about 1 minute. This tea is very interesting because the top notes are light, sweet and woodsy with some green apple but the bottom notes are slightly sour and bitter. Steeping for shorter periods will definitely help to keep the bitterness under control.

After steeping you can see the leaves start to unfurl which is a definite sign these are not made with leftover crud from the factory floor. For a young sheng it’s nice but I would not recommend steeping this for more than 30 seconds. My second steep at 30 was a bit more palatable…

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 30 sec

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90

Tea of the afternoon here… I haven’t been drinking much puerh lately but this seemed like a good thing to have after lunch. I’ve been poking around in my apartment feeling unproductive and trying to decide if I want to go the the gym (it’s been forever).

This cake is tasting strange to me today, it seems more like a regular tea than a shu and I got some tannic aftertaste after steeping it for around 15 seconds. Odd.

The second steep is darker and still has a bit more shu aftertaste, but it still seems a bit bitter. I wonder if this is a cake that does not age well, or if there is something about storing it in my apartment that turned it bad? what does anyone think?

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90

This is quite a tasty shu. The first time I had it I was using very short infusions so today I let it go for about 2 minutes and although the color is dark, it has a sweet aftertaste and is almost fruity, to me this tastes a bit like dates already. Mild with no strange off flavors (see previous notes)

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90

These folks were at the SF International Tea Fair yesterday so I knew I’d have to stop by. I got a very good introduction to their teas including stories and pictures of where my tea came from right now to the actual trees…

They were serving up samples of this shu so I decided to purchase a cake after trying it. ($33). I was told that “third grade” applies to the size of the leaf used and wasn’t meant to imply that this was a third rate tea.

We steeped some of it up this morning. I may have not been generous enough with the leaf. Since there were two of us I decided to steep this in a teapot and forgo my usual gaiwan method. The first steep we did for 60 seconds and the second for 2 minutes.

This yielded a clear, reddish brown brew that is not as dark as some I’ve tried. I am enjoying it. It’s clean with a nice savory/woodsy/mushroom aroma that is very soothing and somewhat mild. The flavor is very earthy with a bit of nutty flavor like butter pecans. It has a clean and sweet aftertaste I am enjoying so much. This is supposed to develop a date flavor as it ages but I don’t know if I will be able to let it age before I end up drinking it… lol

Overall, very good. If you’d like to try a lighter shu without any smoky, fishy or musty aromas I’d give this one a try for sure.

On other notes I’ve discovered I can use a cheese knife to pry apart my bricks and cakes so at least I won’t be needing to purchase a special puerh knife. :)

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 0 sec
ashmanra

But…but…but! The doodads are half the fun! LOL! This sounds delicious. I am going to be drooling over a lot of new companies thanks to your puerh reviews. So lucky you got to go! :)

TeaBrat

@ashmanra – lol. I’m kind of glad I did not get a new knife since that means I can spend more on tea. :) I’ve definitely been getting into the puerh thing lately. Once you get into more variety with your tastings it’s surprising how different they can be from each other.

Spoonvonstup

My pu’er pick is basically a flathead screwdriver with a pretty handle. I’ve also used a fork, which works in a pinch. Glad you found something that works! Hope you never get a brick so tightly compressed that you have to used the serrated edge of that blade. Glad you’re getting more into this! It’s an inexhaustible new frontier of flavor- always changing and challenging.

TeaBrat

It’s fun getting into it but also kind of expensive. :) I will remember the screwdriver if I’m ever in a pinch!

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