Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green, White & Pu-erh Teas
Where to Buy: Praise Tea
Tea Description:
Our combination of Sencha, Gunpowder, Mini Tuo, Chun Mee, Pai Mu Tan, Lung Ching, Snow Bud, Pi Lo Chun, candied pineapple and strawberry takes you to an oasis of delight. Delectable both hot and cold. Try some with white crystal sugar. Indulge your taste buds.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
After a quick glance at this tea’s ingredient list, I thought that this tea may just have a little too much going on. It smelled intriguing, though, with its delicious notes of strawberry and pineapple, so I decided to give it a try.
And somehow, this massive list of ingredients works together very well! While it is next to impossible to pick out each individual tea’s characteristics, I can taste the fresh, vegetative flavor of green tea, a light earthy quality from the tuocha, and I can even taste notes that are very much like white tea – notes of hay and that crisp, airy quality that is often noted in white tea.
The strawberry and pineapple notes are less distinctive than the flavors of the tea, but, that’s alright. In fact, I find it to be quite refreshing to have the tea as the center focus in this cup, and have the fruit flavors to serve as accent notes to enliven the overall flavor. The place where the fruit really stands out is in the aftertaste, where I can taste the flavors of both the pineapple and the strawberry.
This tea does have a natural sweetness to it, so I would recommend tasting before you sweeten. I did end up adding just a pinch of sugar which helped to enhance the fruit notes more than sweeten the cup. Without the sugar, the fruit notes fall a little flat … they’re still present, but, just not as lively as with a pinch of sugar.
This one makes a nice iced tea too. I recommend steeping it at least twice, as it is even tastier with the second infusion.
Pu-Erh Earl Grey from Red Leaf Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh & White Tea
Where to Buy: Red Leaf Tea
Tea Description:
Aged Pu Erh tea has some similarities to green tea but yet still has a taste all its own for tea lovers to enjoy. This aged tea is combined with bergamot oil to create a new take on the traditional Earl Grey tea. Pu Erh Earl Grey uses only the finest aged Chinese tea along with bergamot and a touch of peony to balance out the flavor. The result is a strong cup of tea with amazing citrus tones and a hint of floral accent. Pu Erh tea has a distinct strong flavor that tea lovers will recognize instantly and the Earl Grey blend is one that will take this aged tea and make it a favorite of everyone.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
For those of you who have read very many of my reviews on different types of Earl Grey tea, you’re probably well aware that I’m carrying on an unabashed, passionate love affair with the Earl. So when I am given a new Earl Grey to try, I get very excited.
But, I can say that this was one Earl Grey that I was not excited to try. I was even a little nervous to try it. I love Earl Grey, but, I’ve had my ups and downs with Pu-erh. And while I am slowly coming to terms with the rather assertive nature of Pu-erh, and even gaining some appreciation for the tea, it’s taken quite a while for this to occur, and I wasn’t too sure I was ready to try my beloved Earl Grey as a Pu-erh.
I did not steep according to the instructions on the website, which suggest a boiling temperature for 5 – 7 minutes. Instead, I got out my gaiwan, eyeballed a measurement of the tea in the bottom of my gaiwan, added hot water (190°F) and put on the cover. I did a quick rinse, and then allowed the first infusion to steep for 45 seconds, and the second for one minute, and these two infusions were combined in one cup.
The Pu-erh is a shou Pu-erh, which means it has been fully ripened. It is strong and earthy. But, fortunately, the bergamot is also strong, and the bright, tangy character of the citrus fruit shines through. Also in this blend is a sprinkling of white tea, which surprised me when I first opened the pouch, as I didn’t expect to see Silver Needles in the package. I don’t know that I can taste much of the Silver Needles’ contribution to the cup, but, I can’t say that the tea would taste the same without this component.
And I have to say that despite my misgivings about the idea of a Pu-Erh Earl Grey, this is quite good. Delicious even! It earned a It’s not going to earn its way into my list of favorite Earl Grey teas, but, it certainly has earned a spot on my list of preferred Pu-Erh Teas.
I like this!
Peacock Village 2004 Shu from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Product Description:
The Peacock Village is unique in its perfectly light and clean body. It does not weigh down the palate with earthiness. Rather, it sparkles in its crisp sweetness. The very large leaves used are similar to the old tea tree leaf material in the Xingyang 1998. The first steepings yield a crystalline orange tea with tea oils swirling on top. The sweetness is like rock sugar and white grapes. After the preliminary steepings, the tea starts to unfold in darker buckwheat flavor and honey. Unexpectedly, there is something in the texture and aftertaste of dried oregano. As the tea steeps out, the grape-like fruit taste becomes dark elderberry, and the aftertaste is tinged with the warm spice of Thai ginger and peppercorns.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea made me a little nervous at the start. While the dry leaf aroma doesn’t possess a strong earthy scent, the liquor does smell rather earthy. And it is that earthiness that often puts me off when it comes to Pu-erh. But Verdant has not let me down yet, so I relied on my past experiences and took a sip.
Yes! Fortunately, the earthiness is not as strong in the taste. The first sip starts out with a fairly moderate earthy tone which quickly dissipates into a clean, sweet flavor. With each subsequent sip, I notice less of the earthy note, and more of that sweetness. It’s really quite lovely.
I brewed this Gongfu style as directed on the Verdant Tea website, except that I steeped the first infusion 30 seconds and added 15 seconds with each subsequent infusion. What I am drinking now is the results of the first two infusions (following two quick rinses). The taste is remarkably light for a Pu-erh, which tends to be somewhat heavy. Once the earthy notes subside, the flavor is sweet and crisp … almost like a honey that has been thinned with sparkling white grape juice.
The third and fourth infusions render a tea that has almost no earthy note to speak of. There is just a hint of earthiness somewhere in there, but, it’s back in background, and so easy to miss with the other lovely flavors in the cup. It has a warmth to it as if it had been slightly spiced. The spiced tones develop later in the sip, toward the finish, and the aftertaste imparts a tingly taste on the tongue as if I had just eaten something with fresh peppercorn. Not hot or spicy, mind you, but, just a hint of pepper. I taste lovely fruit notes throughout: the grape-y notes that I mentioned earlier are still there, and I taste something else too … pear perhaps? A very interesting tea, this Shu from Peacock Village, and I am eager to try the next two infusions.
My fifth and sixth infusions are even sweeter, reminding me a bit of the rock sugar candy that I used to love as a child (and if the flavor of this tea is any indicator, I still quite like that rock sugar candy!) The earthiness is gone. There is a dry sensation toward the finish and into the aftertaste … but it isn’t astringency. It almost feels powdery, like dry cocoa but it doesn’t taste chocolate-y, instead it tastes like warm spice. It is a curious sort of sensation, but not at all unpleasant. I’m quite enjoying the mysteries that I experience as I sip this tea.
For those who have thought that Pu-erh is not to your liking, I think you should give this Shu a try. It is quite remarkable, and unlike any Pu-erh I’ve yet to taste.
Rose Tuocha from The Tao of Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Tao of Tea
Product Description:
The Tuocha refers to a family of bowl shaped teas, commonly available as Green tea Tuocha, Black tea Tuocha and Puer (aged) Tuocha. More recently, Tuochas have also become commonly available by compressing the tea leaves and flowers together, or by heat infusing them together. In making the Rose Tuocha, more mature leaves of the tea plant are selected in summer, sun-dried, steamed, oxidized to turn dark, then compressed along with rose petals into small bowls. Wrapped with paper, the Rose Tuocha are an ideal size (3 grams) for individual serving.
Flavor Profile: Sweet, smooth, very mild rose flavor with little astringency.
Taster’s Review:
This is certainly different … not at all what I expect when I taste a Pu-erh. Pu-erh tends to be quite a strong, assertive flavor, but with this Pu-erh, you need to throw everything you know about Pu-erh out the window, because it’s so unusual … but in the very best way possible.
When I steep Pu-erh Tuocha like this, I steep them in my gaiwan, using short steeps and multiple infusions. My first cup was the combination of the first two infusions (following a quick 10 second rinse). This cup is really quite light in flavor. A little woodsy with a mellow rose note that is pleasantly sweet. No sharpness, no strong earthy flavors. Smooth and only the faintest hint of astringency at the tail.
My second cup (the combination of the third and fourth infusions), brewed up darker and much bolder than the first cup. The color here is much more like what I’d expect from a Pu-erh, whereas the first cup was more like a black tea. The flavor is more assertive compared to the first, but, still, it is not that typical earthy flavor of Pu-erh. There are some earthy hints that seem to have paired up with the woodsy flavor that I mentioned with the first cup – creating more of a “damp wood” flavor than an earthy note. The floral notes are stronger here too. What this cup actually tastes like to me? Coffee … but without the bitterness and astringency. This tastes rather like a smooth cup of rich coffee.
My third and final cup (the combination of the fifth and sixth infusions) was slightly (only very slightly) lighter in color than the second cup, but the flavor has become much smoother than either the first or the second cup. The floral tone has emerged nicely, and I am still getting that coffee-like flavor that I had mentioned. Of the three cups, this one is definitely my favorite as it has become so unbelievably smooth.
This is an excellent Pu-erh. It would make a good starter Pu-erh for those who are new to the tea. And for those of you who really love rose teas, you should give this one a try … while the rose flavor here is a bit more mellow than a typical rose Congou, I like that this Rose Tuocha shows me a whole new set of flavors to the rose that I would have never experienced from other teas.
Ripened Chrysanthemum Pu-erh Mini Tuocha from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Product Description:
A Premium Pu-erh Mini Tea Cake infused with Chrysanthemum flowers
- Plucked and manufactured in June 2008 in Simao, Pu’er, Yunnan, China
- Premium Pu-erh tea leaves and Chrysanthemum flower individually wrapped and compressed into beautiful bird’s nest shaped tea cakes for convenient brewing and storage
- Brews a tea with a deep mahogany color
- Chrysanthemum lends a light sweet floral note to the rich complex flavor of the Pu-erh tea
Read more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This mini tuocha cakes are neat! There is one chrysanthemum flower tucked inside each little nest, and as the Pu-erh steeps and begins to fall apart, the chrysanthemum flower is revealed. This isn’t like a blooming or flowering art tea, it is more like a buried treasure tea!
The aroma of the dry tuocha is what I’ve come to expect from Pu-erh – earthy. I don’t know if I’ve just become more acquainted with that scent from Pu-erh or if this is a lighter earthy scent in this Pu-erh, but I’m not finding this off-putting as I normally would. It doesn’t smell delicious or anything, but, it isn’t revolting either. I tried to see if I could smell the flower, but I did not, perhaps the delicate scent o f the chrysanthemum was overwhelmed by the earthy tones of the Pu-erh.
I used my gaiwan and infused using short steeps (a quick 10 second rinse, then a 30 second infusion for the first steep, and added 15 seconds with each subsequent infusion). The flavor is rich and deep. Earthy, yes, but, I find that the subtle sweet notes of flower from the chrysanthemum provide contrast to the earthy tones.
There is, of course, that amazing sweetness to this Pu-erh … a deep caramel-y flavor that is what finally won me over and helped me develop an appreciation for Pu-erh. The floral tones are very nice, and they develop as I continue to sip. The floral note has a slight sharpness to it which when juxtaposed to the strong sense of earth in the background tempers what would otherwise be quite a heavy flavor. A nice balance, and certainly an enjoyable Pu-erh experience.