Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Indie Tea
Tea Description:
Steeping Steeping Little Pot, How I Love You Quite A Lot, Chocolate, Chiles, Cherries Too, Make A Tasty Pu-Erh Brew!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I didn’t read the description of this Mad Party tea from Indie Tea before I brewed it, and by a quick look at the leaves, I figured it was a black tea blend … not a pu-erh! Had I known it was pu-erh, I probably would have done a quick pre-rinse, but, as it is, this is really quite enjoyable … even without the pre-rinse. The aroma is quite earthy, the flavor is not quite as earthy … which is usually why I like to pre-rinse my pu-erh anyway … to rinse away some of the earthy flavor.
The first couple of sips – sipped while still fresh from the teapot hot – were earthy … and tasted of strong pu-erh. After the cup cooled slightly, the flavors of chocolate, cherry and chili began to pop. I noticed a hint of smokiness to the cup. The pu-erh base is rich and mellow, and allows the flavors to express themselves in a really delicious way.
The chocolate tastes rich and smooth … the cherry has a sweet yet tart taste to it, and the chili … while spicy … doesn’t attempt to offend the tastebuds by overwhelming them with heat. It’s a gentle heat … and it slowly builds as I continue to sip. But even now, as I pass the halfway point of my cup … the heat is still quite subtle and really very lovely. The back of the throat feels warm without feeling assaulted by chipotle chili.
The chocolate is the real star of this cup … and I suspect this has a lot to do with the pu-erh base as well, because the chocolate really seems to come alive in the presence of the pu-erh. It’s really quite enjoyable.
Really yummy. This is a pu-erh I’d consider keeping on hand … I like the heat level, I love the chocolate-y tones, I love that it is a little earthy and smoky but it never goes overboard on these two tastes. I love the way the sweet-tart notes of the cherry come through … again, subtly … and really beautifully.
Two thumbs up on this one.
Mother of Pearl from Della Terra Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Puerh
Where to Buy: Della Terra
Tea Description:
Pu-erh is a type of tea that has been fermented after the black tea leaves are dried and rolled, giving it a very unique, sweet and woodsy taste. Our Mother of Pearl Pu-erh is blended with strawberry and mango flavoring and pieces, along with rose hips and faux pearl pieces. The flavor you will have in your cup after brewing is a perfectly fruity and sweet tea with a slight smoky undertone.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Mother of Pearl from Della Terra Teas is lovely yet intense. I love this tea. Purists may cringe but this is a wonderful puerh blend!
Now I truly do love a good puerh so I am not one that needs a blend or starter puerh to get through the cup but this tea here, I feel will appeal to just about anyone for various reasons. For beginners it is a great way to get introduced to puerh. For your kids, if you want them to have the health benefits of puerh but know they won’t go for a pure puerh, this has all the fruity goodness and sweet vanilla notes they will love. For the purists, okay maybe you won’t enjoy this as much as I do, but trust me, the base is lovely even if not from an aged cake that has been stored correctly for the last 10 years. Hey even purists need a little sinful delight now and then!
To make the purists cringe even a little more, if you add just a touch of rock sugar, the flavors in this tea really pop, not that they need the boost, they are so excellent on their own.
I had eaten some mexican food earlier today and it was sitting heavily on my tummy. I was getting to that food coma stage and knew I was about to drift off. So I made a cup of this. It had been a while since I had reached for it. I am so glad I did. Not only is it so delicious but the aroma wafting from my cup was igniting all of my senses. I had taken a few sips and my cup was sitting about two feet away from me on my tea table (okay coffee table but whatever), I was almost asleep on the sofa but the aromas beckoned me to take another sip, and another, this tea will fill your home with such succulent smells.
Vanilla, Strawberry, Mango, Roses, Sugar, and Aromatic Woodsy scents. It smelled like a cake made out in the woods in a log cabin. Something very reminiscent of the holidays in a way. I drifted of to sleep with a relaxed tummy, happy taste buds, and visions of an old log cabin in the wintery woods, with smoke coming out of the chimney drifting over the tops of hundred year old tress.
A lovely tea that evokes lovely imagery!
When I woke, I immediately reached for my cup to make a second steep. Yes this does re-steep wonderfully.
You really must try some!
Organic Japanese Puerh from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Puerh
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Looking for something completely different? Then we highly recommend giving this puerh a try. Our Organic Japanese Puerh originates from the Isokawa region of the Shizuoka prefecture in Japan. This unique tea was invented fairly recently and is made artificially with an organic malted brown rice culture and a combination of first and second flush harvest tea leaves. The leaves are pan fired and fermented for 3-4 days. After that period, a small amount of fresh leaves are added for 2 days. The aroma of the liquor has roasted chestnut notes with a lingering sweetness. This puerh is a strong smooth tea with a drying sweet after taste and buttery quality. Strong notes of roasted chestnuts can be detected. Cacao, tabaco, and brown rice notes are also present with a hint of fruitiness. This tea is somewhat coffee-like but not nearly as strong.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is wickedly good Puerh!
Now, I hope you know by now that I wouldn’t just say that if the puerh didn’t move me to say such a thing, because I’m very cautious when it comes to Puerh. Even though I’ve had far more positive experiences with Puerh now than I’ve had bad experiences, those first few bad experiences with Puerh have managed to shape my future Puerh experiences with an initial feeling of dread when it comes to actually even trying a Puerh. Although, I must admit, things are improving – there was a time I wouldn’t even consider ordering a Puerh, and I now actually DO order it! Who’da thunk it?
Anyway, back to this Puerh … when I sniffed the dry leaf, I expected some of that Puerh earthiness … but there was none! Actually, the dry leaf is fairly void of any strong aroma, it is really quite a mild scent that reminds me vaguely of the smell of dry, aged hardwood. The brewed liquor also is quite scent-less, I pick up hints of tobacco and a toasted nut scent, but it’s a very distant smell.
So, I took my first sip … a very apprehensive sip. And WOW! It tastes like coffee. Did I accidentally brew coffee beans instead of Puerh in my gaiwan? I really hope not, because that could taint my gaiwan. But seriously … this tastes like freshly roasted coffee but without that coffee bitterness… it’s kind of like a weakly brewed coffee that has been enhanced with a couple of spoons of sugar. It’s got a sweet, caramel-y tone to it. And it is also coffee taste that comes without the coffee jitters (and for me, without the coffee sickness that I feel a few hours later).
It has a rich, sweet taste, somewhat nutty, like roasted chestnuts, and with a slight earthiness but not the typical earthiness that usually comes with a Puerh, instead this earthiness is more like damp wood and dry tobacco, with a faint note of cocoa. As I continue to sip, I notice a smoothness, slightly buttery, and it’s really quite delightful.
One of the very best Puerh teas I’ve tasted yet! This one gets two enthusiastic thumbs up, and a big recommendation from me to anyone who has tasted Puerh and disliked it … this is one for you to try. Also, if you were a coffee drinker and like me, have found that you need to steer clear of it, but do sometimes still miss the taste of the roasted bean, try this!!! You’ll love it!
Another Verdant Tea Giveaway!
Hello Everyone!
This is not a giveaway that we are hosting, but, since the Verdant Tea giveaway last week was so immensely popular, I thought I’d let you in on another giveaway that Verdant Tea is hosting themselves! This is a great opportunity for those of you who still want that taste of Verdant Tea!
Here is a copy/paste of what David from Verdant Tea sent to me:
By the way, we are starting a giveaway today for the last ounce of our 1996 Mengku Sheng Pu’er. If anyone who doesn’t win the Tea of the Month subscription wants to participate, it is another chance to try Verdant Tea. Here is the product page for that Mengku: http://verdanttea.com/teas/1996-wild-picked-mengku-sheng-puer/ And here is the link to the giveaway: http://verdanttea.com/giveaway/
This was sent to me this past Friday, so, the giveaway has only been going on for a few days.
Best of luck to you! And don’t forget, we have a different giveaway going on every week during our Season of Giveaways! How long will this season last? I don’t know for sure, but it’s going to be a very happy, generous season, indeed!
Mint-Chilla Chai-Nilla from The Spice and Tea Exchange
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Puerh, Chai
Where to Buy: The Spice and Tea Exchange
Tea Description:
An organic pu-erh chai tea with creamy vanilla and bright peppermint. A rich, smooth tea that adds a refreshing twist to the traditional chai tea flavors. Moderate caffeine. Contains: green pu-erh tea, vanilla, peppermint, ginger, cinnamon, licorice root.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I received this from a fellow Steepster and I was totally not expecting to! When you wake up to a nice box of unexpected samples from a friend – that is the best day ever! This tea was included in that box. I have never sampled anything from The Spice and Tea Exchange before that I can recall so I grabbed this right away to try! The name of this tea also got me, with its quirkiness.
The puerh base here may not be the most complex out there by any means but it does provide a nice bold backdrop for the other flavors and is strong enough on its own not to let strong flavors like mint, for example, take over.
The puerh has a leather aspect to it, and a slight sandalwood note. A very nice puerh to use in a blend. I would not want to see a highly prized puerh used in a blend personally, yet I also want one with enough character to give the backdrop a good blend deserves and I feel that The Spice and Tea Exchanged selected a good base for this blend.
The vanilla is noticeable and the spices are quite lovely. Nothing tries to take over here. There is a wonderful mint lift which still allows the vanilla to have its time in the sun. Something of an after dinner mint flavor is what I am getting. You know those Chocolate Andes mints in the green wrapper? Yup that kind of mint flavor, so good! Now I am not saying that this tea tastes all that chocolaty but the spices and puerh tend to lead it in that direction just a little.
On the spices, they are lovely! I am not one for licorice or anise in any amount by nature although there are a few blends out there that have surprised me – this is one of those blends. I feel that The Spice and Tea Exchange has captured the best elements of a chai and added the fun vanilla and mint aspects very well all in a really solid puerh base.
I have had three very successful steeps from these leaves and am going on steep four.
This tea does make me want to check out The Spice and Tea Exchange website now and see what other teas they have to offer. I can also order my spices and herbs there as well. That is a bonus! It is always nice to try a new company and enjoy the cup, even more surprising when it is not a blend I would choose for myself yet I still enjoy it. That leaves a great first impression!