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Kittenna drank Chocolate Orange Pu-erh by Teaopia

6106 tasting notes

Thanks to Indigobloom for this sample!

I had a pretty rough/emotional evening yesterday, which turned into some depressing nightmares, which is what I’ve been left with this morning. :( Nothing like starting off the day with some heartache, and feeling helpless that there’s nothing I can do to change things. Anyhow, I opted to brew up some samples that I’ve had for ages, in a (probably futile) attempt to make myself feel better.

This one made the cut, as I was looking for something a bit heavier this morning. Brewed up, it smells much more reminiscent of ETS’ Scottish Caramel Toffee Pu’erh, or whatever it is called, than the DavidsTea version of a chocolate orange pu’erh. So basically, I’m detecting delicious caramelly flavours, and really no orange whatsoever. On the sip, I’m pretty much getting the same. Caramelly yum, and maybe just the barest hint of orange. Strangely, I’m not really getting chocolate here either. I could probably be convinced that someone swapped my sample for the Scottish Caramel Toffee Pu’erh, actually (except that there were clearly orange pieces in my baggie!)

So in the end, this tea loses major points for not being chocolatey OR orangey…. however I am very much enjoying my cup of it in spite of that. Since a) this tea is unavailable now anyhow, and b) I tend to rate teas more heavily weighted on flavour than how true the flavour is to the name, I’m going to ignore entirely that fact and rate it high, because it’s very yum.

Also, I should note that I used about 2.5 tsp in my mug (~10-12oz.) to compensate for tea age. I suspect this will re-steep decently, so will probably throw the remaining 1/2-1 tsp of tea into the infuser for the re-steep to use it up. Not that I’m anxious to get rid of it, just…. sipdown! :D

ETA: Re-steep, 4 min at boiling, using the extra leaf, actually has some orange flavour! Shocking :P Still caramelly but less so, and still not getting chocolate. I’m getting a bit of the throat-scratchy feeling now that I get with the DavidsTea version… still can’t figure out what the deal with that is, since I’m pretty sure it doesn’t happen to me with other pu’erhs, but it does happen with rooibos, yet not honeybush. Hrrrrrm.

Preparation

Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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3 comments

Sil
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booo. I hope you’re feeling better. If you ever need to chat you know how/where to find me.

Kittenna
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Thanks Sil :) Trying to arrange to talk to a couple people; hopefully I can manage to sometime in the next few days. Sigh!

Indigobloom
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big hugs anything I can do to help? I hope this cuppa makes you feel a little better! :(

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Comments

Sil
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booo. I hope you’re feeling better. If you ever need to chat you know how/where to find me.

Kittenna
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Thanks Sil :) Trying to arrange to talk to a couple people; hopefully I can manage to sometime in the next few days. Sigh!

Indigobloom
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big hugs anything I can do to help? I hope this cuppa makes you feel a little better! :(

Profile

Bio

I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.

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