Pu Erh Poe

One of the reviewers said that this was like a beginner’s pu erh for people who can’t take the real thing, or some such. Yeesh- that makes me a tad nervous.

So, I leaned into my cup nose first, and – ooo hoo! Mushrooms? No- hay or straw.

An old bog.

The wet guinea pig cage from Mr. Padva’s 3rd grade classroom.

This stuff is dark as coffee in the cup. On the spoon, its a pretty, darkish/reddish liquid. Not nasty tasting, as I feared. It’s almost like when you taste limburger and are pleasantly surprised- although this is nowhere as strong or off-putting as limburger. It’s got a strong flavor that is unsweet in the manner of unsweetened cocoa. I don’t really want to say bitter, though.

I may one day try it sweetened, though that would seem to defeat the purpose of pu erh- it’s supposed to taste like…this (my tea vocabulary is lacking). Until I get accustomed to it, I won’t add anything.

I can definitely come to appreciate THIS pu erh – but it’ll take a few brewings.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @98C, rinsed leaves, steeped 4 minutes.

BLEAH!

I don’t get along with pu-erhs, but I keep trying them. This is dark, musty and so bitter that I feel like I’ve lost a layer off my tongue.

It had much less of a noticeable scent to it than I was expecting. It smelled rather like hay that had been used and damp – in a good way!
After brewing, it had a very musty fishy/manure kind of scent. Again, not unpleasant, just very different.
I almost forgot to rinse this and poured a whole cup, so technically my first cup was a full second infusion.
The scent of it on my first actual brewing was much smoother than the rinse scent. It was far less fishy and much more appealing.
It had an incredibly wonderfully full mouth feel, but the flavour seemed really lacking to me. It was ever so slightly astringent and I didn’t taste much of anything like what I smelled. That was kind of disappointing.
I really wanted to like this from the scent, but it really just had very little taste. I ended up adding some creamer just to finish it.

hmm. what can I say about puerhs – it seems like you either love them or hate them.

I am fairly new to the puerh scene but discovered they make a great substitute for coffee. This tea is low in tannins and not very acidic to the stomach.

The first infusion is indeed very dark, as several others have commented. The flavor is mildly malty and earthy. I added So Delicious coconut milk creamer to this because I prefer my black tea with some creaminess. This reminds me of a shiitake mushroom broth and made a nice breakfast drink.

Overall I was very pleased but I’m not sure it’s something I would go out of my way to find again.

This is my first pu-erh and I’m not sure how I feel yet. The smell is reminiscent of week old salmon wrapped in hay, but the taste is like pure soil with a hint of sweetness. I don’t dislike it and I’m curious what another steeping would do. I would like to try older cake pu-erh to compare. Interesting…

Errgh. Didn’t sleep well last night, and one of those mornings I woke up stressed. Need something thick.

Made an extra big cup this morning. I know this isn’t the highest-quality pu erh by any means, but the musty-earthy taste has grown on me. And it’s SUPER musty.

In other news, I did Drink Militia’s autumn interview! http://www.drinkmilitia.com/autumn-2014-interview-holly-faye-steep-inclined/ Pretty sure I have nowhere near as much expertise as some of the people who’ve already done this. But I had fun!

What a strong earthy taste this tea has. I feel as though I’m living in the forest among all the woodland creatures when I drink this tea. But don’t let that earthy aroma scare you away because it has a gorgeous taste that is unlike anything that I have tried until this point. Pu erh teas have this distinct taste and I am looking forward to trying more delicate and aged ones.

When I first opened the bag it smelled like a combination of fish and horse stables. Very earthy/peaty. While some may think of the aroma as unpleasant, I thought it was quite lovely and knew that the tea would have a wonderful earthiness to it. I rinsed the tea first as was recommended & then steeped my tea at 4min with boiling water. The “fishy” smell was lightened quite a bit, and a kind of mossy foresty smell took the forefront.

Drinking this tea was a dream. It was rich, earthy, smooth. With a light addition of milk and honey I found myself quite smitten with this tea. I infused the leaves a couple more times and each infusion was lovely as well. I will definitely be buying more of this tea in a larger quantity.

I am quite new to rating teas but I am an experienced hand in rating and describing wine. I did not do a multi-step brewing process here; steeped it about 3-4 minutes. The first whiff here is terrifically earthy, almost potting soil. Looking further I find notes of mushroom and leather. There is also a sly sweetness from hay and something I can’t differentiate between cola nuttiness and date nut bread. I am not sure that I know all the elements that make up a “good” or “great” tea but this certainly piqued my imagination and kept me coming back for more and “looking” deeper into those complex flavors.

I was surprised by the lightness of this pu erh. Being a huge fan of pu erh in general I was expecting something a lot heavier and darker in taste. Despite that, it still gave me the same calm, mellow feeling that allows accompanies drinking pu erh for me. So it’s different, but not bad at all.

The scent is mildly earthy and only noticeable at all in the midst of sipping.

The color is incredibly dark, especially since I tend to steep my pu erhs for 7-8 minutes. Like someone else has already said, the first steeping struck me as very ‘coffeeish.’

Once again, the taste was a bit too light for my expectations. It still has the hints of earth and dirt, but not enough for me to grab if I want a true pu erh.

It’s a great tea if I want something lighter on the palate with the same smooth, mellow affect.