Naked Pu-erh

Thank you Dexter3657 for this sample.

Yixing teapot – 370ml – (Enough for two)
Tea weight – 10g
Water temp – 95°C
Steeping times – 15 second increments

This tea has a dark, smoky, wooden, straw, damp earthen scent. An overall pleasant medium strength Pu Erh.

Flavour is smoky and smooth with sweet wooden highlights. Non offensive and of medium strength. Flavour remains consistent over three steeps.

It’s a nice Pu Erh but nothing special. Would be perfect for an everyday Pu Erh or as an introduction to it.

My first plain (unflavored) pu-erh. Smells ok in the bag, a bit musty, a bit smokey, nothing too offensive. I gave it a quick rinse (sorry couldn’t bring myself to try it), all I smelled was dirty socks and fishy. Ewwwww, at this point I was thinking, people drink this stuff. Let it steep for about a minute – less than what was recommended on the package. As it was steeping, it lost a lot of that “offensive” dirty sock smell.
First sip – initial impression, wow is this weird/strange/unusual. It’s definitely musty, woody, maybe a hit fishy still, but I like it. I am very worried that I am going to need some serious pu-erh lessons (should hide the credit card worried). I’m not going to rate this until I’ve tried the next steep, but I think I am going to be a HUGE Pu-erh fan!!!

Second Steep……Mmmmmm, this is really good. I really don’t know a good pu-erh from an ok one. For a beginner like me this was great, a bit of a rocky start, but I just didn’t know what to expect. The fishy was totally gone on the second steep – maybe I didn’t rinse it enough that I got a little bit in the first steep. I’m rating this really high, it is so unusual, yet so comforting that I am really excited to try it again, and to try other Tealux Pu-erhs that I have samples of.

Had this with some cinnamon sticks broken into the pot this morning.

I forgot to rinse, but it was still delicious. This is a really good intro tea, as long as you rinse! Otherwise it does smell a little footy/fishy.

My first deliberate foray into puerh! And it tastes a lot like the one my favourite chinese restaurant serves (only theirs is super watered down…).

I had this gong-fu to help me wind down for the night. I ended up spilling the first gaiwan contents (and hot water) in my lap, so I had to remeasure out some more. This is a very neutral Shou. The brew isn’t anything to brag about, but it isn’t a poor quality brew either. The flavor is slightly musty with some decayed sour wood. The aroma is almost like cinnamon. This brew does lack a lot of flavor. The liquor is a deep thick crimson soup, but it tastes rather diminished. This helped wind me down (on the second attempt), and it gave me energy to search for another brew. I’m glad I got to try; because, I can now check another pu-erh off my list.

This brew is a melancholy visit to the marsh. The musty scent of wet, even boggy soil accentuates the essential woody flavor. Shorter steeps present the mellowly sweet, twiggy flavor, with a damp earthiness and smokey finish. The gentle smokiness smooths the liquor, while the rich, earthy taste is softened by malty flavor… Some floral notes are at play, but these are subtle, mostly dominated by the marshy dankness.

The tea is pleasant, but somewhat reserved with revealing flavor. After an entire bag, I don’t feel as acquainted as I should. Using less leaf, about 1/4 the volume of the gaiwan, reduces the intensity of the malty flavor, and lingering fishiness. So, if you don’t like fishiness, I would rinse for five seconds, or slightly more, and avoid using too much leaf!
Quite tasty, if you like the smell of woody marshes. I enjoyed it after meat.

A good casual tea, not very remarkable. It’s also strongly stimulating, good for getting level-headed, and super-boosting your digestion.

This was my first time trying Pu Erh. I did give it a quick 5 second rinse, but apparently that wasn’t long enough to get rid of the fishy smell. I’ll give it one more try, but I may not be a Pu Erh fan.

I’ve had this pu-erh sitting in my cupboard (my pu-erh cupboard) for awhile. I can’t even remember if I’ve had it yet. I must have – or at least once! Anyway, it was my early morning brew this morning. I did two quick rinses on it with boiling water. It seemed to be a pretty basic ripe pu-erh. Woodsy, earthy. It’s strange Tealux doesn’t give much details on this tea like where it’s from other than the fact that it’s from Yunnan. It’s also supposed to be aged 5 years. Hmmm – reading the package, it’s supposed to have floral notes with a lingering hint of honeysuckle. I think I discarded the leaves too early. It probably would have gotten better if I did more steeps but it was gone after the first steep because my 2nd cup of the day is always green.

I think I will go back to this tea another time soon and give it multiple steeps to see if it really is as good as they say.