Tea Type: Pu-Erh
Where To Buy: Red Leaf Tea Company
Product Description:
From the ancient halls of Chinese herbal science comes a special tea that is designed to call out to the spiritual world; Prosperity Pu-Erh Tea! When civilization was born, Chinese healers developed the arts of Feng Shui, writing, and herbology, and the Prosperity Cube. The Cube is a compressed block of herbs that have been specially prepared with sticky syrup and a small square mold. A Chinese character is applied to the cube during the molding process, as a spiritual call for a certain quality. When shared with family, the Prosperity Cube can be amazingly effective in lifting the financial burdens of the participants. Packed with just as many health benefits as other tea varities, Pu-Erh tea such as the Prosperity Cube make excellent sipping teas for those looking for a traditional Chinese taste.
Tasters Review:
I’ve been a little obsessed with Red Leaf Tea Company’s Teas lately…they have such a wonderful selection! This is one of their Pu-Erh offerings. It’s their Prosperity Cube and it looks amazingly crafted!
Dry this had a hint of vinegar aroma to the nose – nothing I couldn’t handle tho. While infusing it started to smell woodsy and a little like syrup.
It infuses dark.
The taste is unexpected and interesting! Just when I am thinking it was more of a mellow bark-like taste is changes up to a syrupy type taste and just when I think I have that nailed it changes to a smooth and velvety rice-type hint and then I think it almost has some drier wine notes coming thru.
If you are one of the people turned off by pu-erhs because you may think they are wormy or earthy – try this one – it’s very different! And ANOTHER really great choice from Red Leaf Tea!
Camel’s Breath Pu-Erh Toucha from Chicago Tea Garden
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Chicago Tea Garden
Product Description:
Origin: China, Yunnan Province
Harvest: Spring 2005, cave-aged until 2010
Taste: Very strong and earthy, capturing the essence of shu pu-erh.
Behind the Leaf: Though I have never had the pleasure of actually smelling a camel’s breath, these mini-tuocha smell … like what I assume a camel’s breath would smell like. Don’t let the name (or that description) put you off though. These pu-erh tuocha steep up a sturdy, dark, and intense liquor, producing a somewhat briny drink. The longer you steep it, the darker it will get– this is a tuocha you can leave in your pot and add water to throughout the day. These pu-erh tuochas are cooked or “ripened” pu-erh (shu).
Taster’s Review:
I’ve had this Pu-Erh cake for a while now. It was sent to me by a tea friend on Steepster, but to be perfectly honest, I was afraid to try it. It’s the name. I mean… drinking “camel’s breath tea” didn’t exactly appeal to me.
But really, if this is how camel’s breath tastes… it’s not all that bad. Quite tasty, actually, even if it is kind of unsettling for me to admit that I like the flavor of something called “Camel’s Breath.”
The aroma… well, it’s special. I can see why it’s called Camel’s Breath. It is strong, earthy and brine-y. A rather intense fragrance, to say the least. However, when steeped for short steeps in my gaiwan, the flavor isn’t nearly as intense.
It is an earthy flavor. It is brine-y. Even slightly fish-like. But, beyond those flavors, there is a sweetness that is just as strong, if not stronger, than the earthy, brine-y taste. And with subsequent infusions, I find that the sweetness develops. The second group of infusions (brewed in my gaiwan, I do a quick rinse, then after the rinse is discarded, I combine the next two infusions in one teacup, and then the next two are combined in the next group of infusions, and so on…) produced a slightly stronger flavor that was even more sweet than the first.
Using this short-steep method, I find that the flavor is relatively mellow in comparison to the aroma. It is a remarkably smooth brew without any hint of bitterness and no astringency. A very pleasant cup despite it’s rather intimidating name.
Moral of this review: Don’t judge a tea by its name, and don’t allow that name to influence your tasting decisions.
Yiwu Wild Puerh Cake 2010 from Qing Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Puerh
Where to Buy: Qing Tea
Product Description:
Yiwu moutain is the biggest mountain among the famous 6 mountains in Yunnan. The region grows a great amount of old tea trees.This puerh cake uses spring tea leaves from Yiwu and is shaped in traditional way. The soup is already friendly and rich of sensation.
Taster’s Review:
I am still a little afraid of Pu-erh… I think more than anything, it’s that very pungent earthy aroma that puts me off on the stuff. However, I was very pleasantly surprised when I opened the sample pouch that I received of this Pu-erh and noted very little (almost NO) earthy scent.
This translates into the flavor as well, with very little earthiness detected in the taste. There is some earthiness in the flavor, it just doesn’t dominate the cup.
What I am finding most intriguing about this tea is an almost wild note in the background. I don’t know if one can actually taste the “wild” in a wild-grown Pu-erh, but, this flavor is a bit different from any other Pu-erh that I’ve tried.
There is a lightness to this particular Pu-erh, and this allows the flavor to come off as a bit more crisp and bright. I taste notes of spice in this tea, as well as a hint of sweetness. It has an almost rustic tone to it. The finish is dry. A very pleasant Pu-erh!
Chrysanthemum Tuocha from The Tao of Tea
Tea Type: Pu-erh
Where To Buy: The Tao of Tea
Product Description:
(I was unable to locate a product description but wanted to share with you a little something I found in Tao of Tea’s ABOUT US Section on their website)
Love for Tea
I started The Tao of Tea with a love for the leaf. While travelling with my family in the Himalayan mountains of India in 1997, I dreamed about the possibilities that tea offered. For me, it started a journey into the essence that it exudes and the cultures it connects. The dream evolved into a business and the love grew even more. My travels to the source, friendships with tea people and living with wellness have been very rewarding. Over the years, I have been fortunate to be joined with people that share a similar love and philosophy about tea. Our commonality is based on recognizing the purity in the leaf, the surroundings it grows in and the people who nurture it. It has become the purpose of our company.Veerinder Chawla
Tasters Review:
I’ve had good luck with The Tao of Tea’s Pu-erhs so far and thought I would share my findings on their Chrysanthemum Tuocha today!
The 1st infusion is somewhat light in color and smells like a lighter-scented pu-erh. It tastes like a lighter black plain tea.
The 2nd infusion is darker in color and in aroma. It smells like pu-erh but with a little floral aroma as well. It tastes quite good…both hot and cold. It tastes like a medium flavored black tea with a slight sweet-floral taste.
The 3rd infusion is tremendously dark and smells more like your stereotypical pu-erh. It’s bolder in flavor and almost coffee-like…in taste.
As for the 4th infusion it was still very dark in color and in flavor. It tastes more pu-erhy now and more like a muddy/earthy/wormy type.
Overall I did enjoy this tuocha and have found most if not all of the Tao of Tea TEAs I have tried to be very tasty and intriguing!
Puer Tuocha (Xiao Tuo Cha) from Tao of Tea
Tea Type: Pu-erh
Where To Buy: The Tao of Tea
Product Description:
Mini Puer Tuocha has a characteristic full-bodied and earthy flavor. Can endure long steeping times without gaining any astringency and can be re-infused at least three times.
Tasters Review:
I had a rough start with my Pu-erh journey. I have finally determined it wasn’t necessarily that I wasn’t a Pu-erh Fan, per say, it’s more like I am a bit more finicky with my pu-erh personal tastes, I guess you could say.
Having said that…one company that has really impressed me with their pu-erh’s overall has been Tao of Tea. With this specific selection from them I decided to try an infusion test. Below are my findings:
1st infusion…2 mins
This was a Lighter Brown in color and the aroma isn’t as wormy/fishy as most pu-erhs and I am very happy about that! The taste is VERY velvety and smooth and lighter tasting with slightly earthy yet honey and cocoa type flavors mixed in. 1st infusion rating based on personal tastes 95 – I really liked the taste of this one on the first infusion.
2nd infusion…3 minutes
I found it to be much darker in color and a bit more earthy/wormy in aroma but the taste is a hint sweeter and still quite velvety and smooth. I would say 90 or more for rating on this one…based on my personal tastes.
I’d hated to give up on this one because I KNEW this would be good for more than 3 infusions! It wasn’t slowing down anytime soon!
3rd infusion…4 minutes….
This infusion was even darker than the first two! It smelled earthy but not wormy at all. It was a bit sweeter than the last infusion but there is a ricey-type taste hiding underneath this time. It’s interesting…the aftertaste is a little nutty but malty and more black tea/bold tasting. Personal rating on this infusion about an 88-89 – still quite good!
4th infusion…4 minutes…
I could go on with more infusions with this one but have more tea from this great company to try so I will call it quits with this one…This infusion is just as dark as the 3rd infusion…it smells like black tea with a hay-like aroma as well with a more woodsy-taste as well as being more malty. I thought it was less sweet but still velvety.
I would still say upper 80’s even with it being the 4th infusion!
This is a very Sturdy Tuocha from The Tao of Tea!
Tao of Tea put a lot of thought in their Pu-erhs! The quality is good and they have been known to break Pu-erh stereotypes – at least in my book they have! If you have had some trials and tribulations with Pu-erhs in the past…give it another try and sample some of Tao of Tea’s Pu-erhs! Experiment with them! You just may find the right ones that will work for you!