Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: White Two Tea
Tea Description:
Repave was made with aged puer tea material from 2007, which was stored in Menghai for 7 1/2 years prior to being pressed in November of 2014. The soup is already a dark bronze color, sweet and soft. The material is from Hekai. This is the second and final pressing of this material. Some of the wrappers were stamped incorrectly as 2006.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about White Two Tea’s Tea Club Subscription here.
Taster’s Review:
Smooth! Really, really smooth and mellow!
That’s my first impression of this tea.
To brew this pu-erh, I grabbed my gaiwan and heated the water to 190°F. Then I eyeballed a measurement of leaves – what looked like about a bamboo scoop of leaves – and put them into the bowl of the gaiwan. The leaves of this sample have been cut from a cake that probably looked like the cake in the photograph above. Some of the leaf pieces are individual leaves, but most of them are chunks of several leaves that I pried apart carefully with a knife.
Then I poured enough of the hot water into the gaiwan to cover the leaves and I steeped it for 15 seconds. Then I strained off the liquid and discarded it. This is the “rinse.”
I’ve found that this simple ‘rinse’ procedure is the big difference between a cup of pu-erh that I can enjoy drinking versus a cup of pu-erh that I would rather discard. So, if you find pu-erh to be too earthy or just off-putting, I recommend trying the rinse! It really does make a HUGE difference!
Then I filled the gaiwan with more water and this time, I steeped the tea for 45 seconds and strained the liquid into my favorite “little” teacup. It holds one gaiwan-full of tea. How much is that? I don’t know. I’ve never actually measured it.
My first cup is SMOOTH. Mellow. It has a lovely sweetness that is somewhere between a deep molasses and a buttery caramel. It’s earthy – but it isn’t an off-putting or overwhelmingly strong earthy flavor. It’s beautifully mellow at this stage. There are distant mineral-y notes. This first cup disappeared quickly because … I really enjoyed it!
The second cup is just as smooth as the first. The flavor is deeper this time. Still very sweet and that sweetness is still very molasses-y/buttery caramel. I taste less of the earthy notes that I tasted in the first cup now, but the distant mineral notes are still there. This cup seems to be all about the sweet and that’s quite alright by me.
This tea just seems to keep on getting sweeter with each infusion! The third cup is even sweeter than the first two. With this cup, I am picking up very little earthiness (an occasional earthy tone here and there) and the aforementioned mineral notes are softer now. This is just SWEET.
Later infusions offered the same sweet, molasses-y taste, and I liked that the earthiness mellowed out significantly by the fourth cup. I don’t know if it’s that my palate has become more acclimated with the sweetness of this tea or that the flavors are just now emerging, but I am starting to discover some soft floral notes.
A truly lovely pu-erh – this is one you’ll fall in love with!
1997 Light Green 7582 Private Order Pu-erh Tea from White Two Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: White Two Tea
Tea Description:
This cake is made from the Menghai factory recipe 7582, composed of many larger leaves. This production was made on private order at a smaller factory between 1995-1999, we decided to take the median of the age and list it as 1997, though we can not pinpoint an exact year. The tea is already smooth and easy to drink. There is some humidity that still shows up in early steeps.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about White Two Tea’s Tea Club Subscription here.
Taster’s Review:
Nice!
The aroma of the dry leaf is delicate and earthy. It’s not a strong fragrance which I sometimes find in an aged tea. I’m glad the earthy notes are rather subtle here because it’s usually that really strong, earthy scent that I find off-putting. This is not off-putting at all.
To brew it, I grabbed my gaiwan. I eyeballed a measurement of leaf (the sampling I received from White Two Tea had been broken off the cake) and placed it in my gaiwan. After having brewed cake pu-erh enough times, I’ve gotten to the point where I can recognize by sight how much tea is “the right amount.”
As I said, the sampling had already been broken off the cake, but a couple of the pieces were a little thicker, so I took a knife and I split the leaves apart so that I’d get a proper infusion.
I brought the water in my kettle to 185° and I poured enough water into my gaiwan to cover the leaves. Then I let that steep for 15 seconds and strained off the liquid, discarding it. This is a “rinse” or a reawakening of the leaves. I find this step is crucial for the best tasting cup of tea.
Then I filled the gaiwan with more water (same temperature) and let it steep for 45 seconds and strained it into my little teacup.
Ah … this is lovely! It’s sweet and mellow. The earthiness is perhaps the most pleasant earthiness I’ve yet to taste from a pu-erh. There have been times when the earthy qualities are just not pleasant at all. They taste a bit more like earth than they do earthy, if you get what I’m saying. But, this is more like the flavor of a mushroom. That’s the kind of earthy I like.
It’s not brine-y. It doesn’t taste fishy. It’s remarkably smooth with no astringency and no bitterness. It’s a really lovely cup of tea. And since it’s a pu-erh, I can take this for several infusions (and by several infusions – when it comes to pu-erh – I mean more than 3 or 4!)
The second infusion presented a slightly deeper flavor than the first. Earthy, and I’m starting to pick up on the development of a caramel-y like flavor. Very pleasant. Mild. Smooth. A hint of a vegetative flavor that complements the aforementioned mushroom note.
The flavor kept getting deeper with each subsequent infusion. It remained very mellow, smooth and sweet. The sweetness develops from a caramel-y note to more of a dark molasses-y type of flavor.
I picked up on notes of raw cacao in later infusions. I’m also picking up on a mineral-y quality and a slight ‘tangy’ note to it. Not astringent tangy, but as if someone had squeezed a lime on my tongue but without the distinct lime note.
I really enjoyed this tea – the first that I’ve tried from this new-to-me company! I found this experience to be quite encouraging of what is to come!
Mint-Chilla Chai-Nilla Tea from The Spice and Tea Exchange
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: The Spice and Tea Exchange
Tea Description:
A pu-erh chai tea with creamy vanilla, bright peppermint, and a touch of cinnamon. A rich smooth tea that adds a refreshing minty twist to the traditional chai tea flavors. Contains: organic green pu-erh tea, organic peppermint, organic cinnamon, organic vanilla bean, organic licorice root.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is an enjoyable pu-erh blend but I don’t know if I’d call it a “chai.” The only ingredient in this blend that is common in a masala chai blend is cinnamon. There is no ginger, no clove, no cardamom … none of the other “usual” ingredients in this “chai.”
Oh, sure, there’s licorice root and I’m enjoying the sassy flavor that it adds to the cup, but licorice root is not a common ingredient in a chai blend.
But whether or not I’d consider it a chai, it is a tasty blend.
To brew it, I used my Kati tumbler and heated the water to 190°F. I added a heaping bamboo scoop of loose leaf tea to the basket of the tumbler and then I added 12 ounces of heated water. I waited for 15 seconds and then drained off the liquid, discarding it (the rinse). Then I filled the tumbler again with another 12 ounces of heated water and steeped it for 3 minutes.
The pu-erh base is earthy and smooth. No bitterness or astringency to speak of. Just smooth, mellow flavor. The earthiness is complemented by the cinnamon and licorice root. The peppermint adds a burst of fresh flavor while the vanilla adds a hint of creaminess. (No need for dairy to make this a latte! It’s a little bit like a latte without the addition.)
An enjoyable tea that tastes just like the holidays! A great tea for this time of year!
Bolder Breakfast Blend from The Tea Spot
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & Pu-erh Teas
Where to Buy: The Tea Spot
Tea Description:
This new American black tea blend combines bold flavor, rich color, & full body with hints of chocolate. This robust breakfast blend is made from our favorite strong black teas from high altitude estates in China, India and Sri Lanka. We have combined these black teas with pu’erh, an aged black tea from Yunnan China, and dark chocolate essence. This tea yields a rich, dark liquor and a warm, well-rounded flavor that takes very well to milk and even better in the form of a tea latte. The high caffeine content and robust flavor makes this the perfect tea to help kick your coffee habit!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve tried quite a few different teas from The Tea Spot, so I was kind of surprised that this is one that I hadn’t yet tried. I mean, it has chocolate and The Tea Spot seems to understand that more chocolate = better. Check out their Chocolate “O” and Chocolate Cherry Bomb! if you don’t believe me.
Since this blend has pu-erh in it, I decided to brew it in my Kati Tumbler so that I could do my usual pu-erh rinse. I heated the water to 200°F and added a heaping bamboo scoop to the basket. Then I poured the water over the tea, allowing it to steep for about 15 seconds, and then strained off the liquid, discarding it. Then I refilled the tumbler with the heated water and steeped for 2 1/2 minutes and strained.
Wow! This is an interesting breakfast blend and I mean that in the best way possible. It’s a very GOOD interesting!
What makes it interesting? Well, first of all, The Tea Spot has got the right idea by adding CHOCOLATE to a breakfast blend. That’s my kind of breakfast blend. They should just call this the Chocoholic’s Breakfast Blend.
But when they do that, they should also consider adding more chocolate. Not saying that this doesn’t have enough chocolate, because it’s a rich and chocolate-y flavor. But really, is there ever “enough” chocolate? That’s like saying there’s enough bacon on a BLT. Uh … no. The rule when it comes to chocolate is more chocolate = better. That said, this does have a really wonderful, chocolate-y flavor and it’s a strong chocolate note.
The second thing that makes it interesting is the base. The base is a blend of black teas and pu-erh. And it’s what the pu-erh DOES to this particular blend that makes it so amazing. (Yeah, I didn’t think that I’d ever say those words in that particular order in a sentence either.) The earthiness of the pu-erh complements the earthy notes of the chocolate really nicely – it adds depth to the chocolate. It makes the chocolate taste even better. And the presence of the pu-erh also adds a deep, mellow flavor to the black tea. It makes the base taste fuller and better rounded. It’s a deeply satisfying cuppa.
The black tea in this blend adds notes of malt and caramel-y undertones. The pu-erh adds an earthy richness without tasting too much like earth. I think that the pu-erh also mellows out the black teas a bit, softening the edge enough so that you don’t need milk and sugar (or honey) in this tea to reduce the harshness like you might in a typical breakfast blend. This isn’t harsh. It isn’t bitter. It isn’t astringent.
It’s just pleasant and yummy. And as extraordinarily yummy as it is, it still has that hefty flavor that you want in a breakfast blend. This still has that vigor to get you off and running. It’s a much nicer way to deliver that kick in the butt that you need. It’s like a best friend kicking your butt instead of a stranger. And at least this best friend will share chocolate with you while it’s kicking your butt.
And that paragraph qualifies as the most times I’ve used the word “butt” in a paragraph this year. I apologize if it offended anyone.
A really, really good breakfast blend. I don’t really have a top list of breakfast blends, but if I did, this one would be somewhere in the top three. Yeah, it’s that good.
Caramel Chai Pu-Erh Tea from Inspired Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Inspired Leaf
Tea Description:
Bold spices and aged tea are mellowed to perfection with smooth caramel.
Inspiration#79 “Age is a state of mind. What’s yours?”
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yummy! I like this way better than I expected to.
I mean … let’s look at the name of the tea, shall we: Caramel – yep, love the stuff. Chai? Oh yeah, one of my favorite teas. Pu-erh? Um … not so much.
OK, so, I will be the first to admit that over the past few years, I’ve discovered that I actually like Pu-erh. Most Pu-erh, that is. But there is always still that lingering doubt. My first few experiences with Pu-erh really tainted my brain and turned me against Pu-erh, even though most (I’d say at least 96%!) of my Pu-erh experiences since those first few have been positive experiences. But those first few have set some sort of unbreakable alarm that sounds off every time I see the word Pu-erh (or any variation on the spelling).
So, I’m always just a wee bit hesitant when it comes to trying Pu-erh.
So, I didn’t expect to love this Caramel Chai Pu-erh the way that I’m loving it.
Since this is a blend rather than a pure leaf Pu-erh, I used my Kati Tumbler to brew it. I added about 1 ½ bamboo scoops of leaf to the basket of the tumbler and filled the tumbler with water heated to 190°F. I then waited 20 seconds and tossed out the liquid (a rinse!) and then I filled the tumbler with another 12 ounces of 190°F water and steeped it for 1 minute. The result is a lovely caramel-y chai!
The base tea is a Pu-erh, but I’m not getting any brine-y, fishy or overly earthy notes from it. I taste lovely spice notes from the ‘chai’ – notes of cinnamon and clove and ginger! The nutmeg is a little less obvious but I don’t think this blend would taste the same without it. The spices aren’t “spicy” but warm and comforting. The earthiness of these spices melds with the earthy notes of the Pu-erh and the result is a very smooth flavor that you’ll want to curl up to.
The Pu-erh is very rich and mellow. The sweet caramel tones of the Pu-erh accent the caramel flavoring to make a really lusciously sweet, dessert-y kind of flavor.
This is a very autumnal taste: cozy, rich, warm and decadent.
I’d recommend this to anyone who doesn’t like pu-erh because of the strong earthy tones or that fishy-briny taste. This tea doesn’t taste like that at all! I believe you’ll be very pleased with the flavors!