Ripened Chrysanthemum Pu-erh Mini Tuocha

a good tea.

cons: the chrysanthemum taste is a bit weak

Love this pu-erh, I use 1 tuocha per 4 oz of boiling water. 45 second rinse, which also begins to break apart the tuocha. First steep for 1 minute and it is a very dark heavy earthy tea. Increasing 30 seconds per infusion, by the fourth infusion the liquid becomes very light and the sweetness of the chrysanthemum really shines.

I was in the mood for something that was soft, yet a bit punchy, so I grabbed one of these mini-tuos

First steeping: the chrysanthemum definitely rides up front, but doesn’t overpower the shou.

Second steeping: the floral tones are still dominant, but it isn’t as dominant as it was previously. chocolatey notes are starting to become more apparent.

This pattern repeated over subsequent steepings, but even when oversteeped, it wasn’t overly bitter or astringent.

Nothing too complicated but has a comforting sense to it.

Second tasting of the day is the Chrysanthemum Mini Toucha Pu’erh from Teavivre. I tried one of the other pu’erh’s from this sample pack the other day, and it was lovely, so I had high hopes for this.

I started this tea like the other with 2 quick rinses. I then did a 5-8 second steep for the first real steep and got a light clear brown liquor. It was absolutely heavenly, caramel, floral, smoke and sweet and just mixing wonderfully with none of the off aromas of some ripes. This tea was well rested and ready to drink. The second infusion was a little better, and I did that one for like 4 seconds, just water in , leave it for a 3 count and then out, and it was slightly darker than the first.

The third and fourth infusions, I poured the water in and out as fast as I could, and I got a dark almost coffee colored liquor that was quite strong. This one was a little too intense for my tastes, but I expected this as this is fairly normal in compressed ripes, as the leaves open up and suddenly burst out with flavor and aroma.

The fifth infusion was slightly stronger to the second and was by far the best.. strong, but not overly so, lovely aroma and taste. Slightly sweet aftertaste at this point as well.

I havent gotten past this but I expect a slow release and even with increasing steep time, to get slightly less and less potent, but I expect to get at least 8-10 infusions , probably more if Im in the mood for a less intense tea later in the day.

I highly recommend this one for value and taste.

100% Honesty
This does not look like that picture and it isn’t that great, but it is doing what I need it to to.

Here’s the thing… I’m trying not to cry as I read this letter from Great Lakes saying I’m defaulted to owe $499 a month on my student loans. I’m only two months out of graduating… what stupid expectations :(
Never thought I would have to apply for an income driven payment plan :/
Sigh.

This was my first taste of a pu-erh with added flowers. I wanted to try this because I’m not a big fan of ripened pu-erh alone. However, this makes me a fan! The chrysanthemum really balances the aromas and flavors that I tend to dislike in ripened teas and provides a subtle sweetness. I definitely recommend trying this at least once. I’m on the search for more!

I went through multiple steepings with boiling water: (rinse), 10s,10s,10s,15s,20s,30s

Thank you Stephanie for this one. This toucha took me on a wild ride. I used my gaiwan and did 6 cups. It would have gone more. I did not do a rinse – because, lets be honest, I’d just drink it anyway. So the rinse I didn’t do, was breaded deep fried fish and chips meets hazelnut. Yep, that’s what I got and I liked it. Cup two at 10s was bitter spicy barnyard. Almost added sugar or poured it out but did neither. Cup 3 at 5s was spicy, cedar, and underlying leather. Cup 4, 5, 6 @ 10, 12, and 15s, were all similar but each an improvement on the prior. Each mellowed more with the spiciness detaching from the cedar and reattaching on the old book leather. Pu-erh is so much fun!

I picked up a few of these during the anniversary sale, and I’m glad I did!

This is nice creamy rich shu. I found no off flavors here, and I did give it a nice rinse before I drank it. I’ve never had anything with Chrysanthemum in it, but I found the flavoring similar to a rice scented tuocha I had once time. Similar but a little lighter. Good stuff!

My very first tea of yesterday. When I went to open the package, I did so without looking, then wondered why it smelt like oolong. I’d of course grabbed the wrong package, since I’d just woken up. Once I got the correct one, I was really wanting some tea. It didn’t really smell like the flowers while still in the toucha. After brewing, I got some floral scents. The brew was a dark, it looks close to some sort of cola. For the flavour, I mostly get the deep earthy notes, and bit of floral sweetness.