Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu erh
Where to Buy: Geeky Teas
Tea Description:
Pu erh, strawberries, cocoa nibs, natural strawberry, hazelnut, vanilla and creme flavors.
Never give up and good tea will find you.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Pu erh is a tea that scares and intimidates me. I never know how to correctly prepare it or if I’m even drinking it right. I’ve tried to learn but this is one tea I want to actually sit down and learn from more of an expert. But regardless, I thought I would try my hand at a flavored Pu erh from Geeky Teas.
I’ve tried flavored Pu erhs in the past and they didn’t turn out right. So I thought I would give it another go. This Pu erh blend combines strawberries, cocoa nibs, hazelnut, vanilla, and creme flavor. A combination I would typically shy away from anyway since I’m not a fan of hazelnut. But this is a Geeky Tea blend and I’m determined to try all of their amazingly fun blends.
Right off the bat, this tea smelled almost sinful. A decadent blend for sure. The dry leaf mix had a lovely chocolate covered strawberry note with hints of hazelnuts. I prepared this up like I would a black tea-212F and steeped for about 4 minutes. 4 minutes later, I poured the tea into my cuppa and allowed it to cool for just a moment.
I have to say, this tea was fantastic and delicious. I was incredibly hesitant to try this tea because I thought it would be an instant pour out but it was the complete opposite! The tea had a lovely dark rich and like the dry leaf mix-sinful feel to it. Bright strawberry flavor with a rich chocolate and hints of hazelnuts, vanilla and creme surrounded each and every sip. I am not a chocolate fan nor a hazelnut fan and I can’t get enough of this tea. I have had several sessions with this tea and each sip is as good as the last. This is one of those teas you enjoy when you’ve got a sweet tooth that needs satisfying and you don’t want the calories. Plus this tea is dedicated to The Never Ending Story. . I mean it doesn’t get much better!!
Pu’er Tea (Raw Loose Leaf) from Cloud Nine Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu’er Tea
Where to Buy: Cloud Nine Teas
Tea Description:
A bold fragrance, slight astringency, a hint of bitterness and a sweet aftertaste: this is raw Pu’er tea at its best. We love its explosive pick-me-up quality, and we think you will too.
Place of Origin
Simao, Yunnan, China
Harvest
Spring 2015
Storage
Airtight dry storage recommended (sealed in a zip-lock bag. BPA-free)
Brewing & Enjoying
The goal is to bring out the tea’s essential oils. Raw loose Pu’er is best brewed at around 85-90 degrees Celsius with filtered water.
Steep at least 5 grams of leaves for 10-20 seconds and watch them open up. Discard the water (the ‘first wash’) to remove residual dirt particles. Drink the second infusion onwards. If the tea becomes too astringent, drain the pot/gaiwan*, remove a few leaves and re-infuse.
This brilliant raw Pu’er will sustain as many as eight or even ten infusions, though infusions two to five are the most enjoyable.
Enjoy the Pu’er buzz!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Pu’er Tea from Cloud Nine Teas is on tap for today at Sororitea Sisters. This Pu’er Tea is a raw loose leaf tea that Cloud Nine Teas offers on their website with a warm and fuzzy product description.
Personally I find this tea to be a nice offering. It’s certainly a more gentle pu-erh tea. Maybe even the MOST gentle pu’er I have ever had thus far. Once infused it has a fairly drab yet see-thru color that lays in the cup. The taste and smell are on the sweeter side, too. It’s both thirst-quenching and clean and makes you crave more.
Having said that…there may be people out there that are looking for a more earthy, wormy, dirt-or-woodsy type of pu’erh…in which case…I don’t think this is the pu’erh for you. It’s a more mellower, groovy, and laid-back type of pu’erh and I appreciate that.
This is a pretty good raw pu’erh to start with if you are new to this type of tea. Nicely done Cloud Nine Teas!
Honeysuckle Pu’erh from The Persimmon Tree
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu’erh
Where to Buy: The Persimmon Tree
Tea Description:
The Honeysuckle pu-erh tea delivers a deep red infusion with a sweet woodsy, floral aroma. The finished brew is mild and earthy, with a lingering hint of honeysuckle. This honeysuckle tea can be steeped multiple times in a sitting without becoming bitter. This particular pu-erh is cooked and has been aged for about 4-6 years.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The urge to drink Pu’erh comes and goes with me, perhaps largely because I initially found it a very acquired taste. Even though I’ve now tried a significant variety of different Pu’erhs, I still feel that I’m learning about the variety and discovering new things. This tea, for instance. I’ve never tried a floral Pu’erh before, or any variety flavoured with honeysuckle, come to that. It’s a real first! I treated this one as I would generally treat a loose-leaf Pu’erh, using 1 tsp of leaf in boiling water. I tend to vary the brew time based on the individual tea and the strength/scent/liquor colour, but went with a fairly standard (for me) 1 minute this time. The resulting liquor is a medium red-brown. The scent once brewed, and while brewing, is very evidently a Pu’erh – it has quite pungent manure notes!
To taste, this has to be one of the most unique Pu’erhs I’ve tried so far. I was expecting a fairly standard earthy/manure flavour based purely on the scent, but it’s actually nothing like that. Instead, there’s an initial almost-sharpness, which blossoms into a heavy, sweet, nectar like floral. Honeysuckle! There are virtually no earth or manure flavours to be found, which is a big surprise. The sweetness seems very natural, and isn’t at all overpowering. I think it’s helped by a sort of yogurt-like note which contributes a cool, tangy freshness to the overall cup.
I really like this one. I’m definitely the kind of person that objects to strong manure flavours in their tea, although I don’t mind earthiness at all. This one is pretty unique amongst those I’ve tried in that it has no earth or manure notes (despite the scent). The flavouring is sufficiently strong that the honeysuckle is front and centre pretty much the whole time, although as it cools this does dissipate a little to reveal just a hint of what lurks beneath. I’m pretty sure a fairly conservative brew time helped here – a longer one might herald more of a “traditional” Pu’erh flavour. I personally like the honeysuckle, though, so I’ll always err on the side of caution when brewing this one. It’s an outstandingly flavourful cup!
2010 Spring Kunlu Mountain from Wymm Tea (Ancient Tea Pu-Erh)
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-Erh
Where to Buy: Wymm Tea (Ancient Tree Pu-Erh)
Tea Description:
Kunlu Mountain is located within Ning’er Hani and Yi autonomous prefecture county in Pu’er city. Kun means “valley” and lu means “sparrow” in Dai minority group’s language, together Kunlu means a valley inhabited with sparrows. Kunlu Mountain sits at the end of the Wuliang mountain range, where Lancang and Honghe rivers divide. Kunlu Mountain’s altitude ranges between 1410 and 2271 meters, and is considered one of the higher mountains within Pu’er city region. A combination of early-cultivated and wild-grown trees forms the ancient tea tree forest, which covers 10,122 mu (equivalent to 6.75 sqkm) on the mountain.
Kunlu Mountain once served as imperial tea garden for the Qing emperors over 200 years. After successful bureaucratization of Cheli Xuanweisi in 1729, E’ertai (Ortai), the governor-general of Yunnan-Guizhou-Guangxi tri-province, established a tribute tea factory in Ning’er village, Pu’er Fu (known nowadays as Xishuangbanna). Every year, only the best and most delicate tea buds harvested from Kunlu Mountain in early spring were sent into this factory, in which they were carefully pressed into shapes or processed into paste. These products were presented in front of the Qing emperors after a 6-month, 4100-km route done solely on horseback. These products were carefully supervised by feudal officials and guarded by soldiers.
Taster’s Review:
This 2010 Spring Kunlu Mountain from Wymm Tea (Ancient Tea Pu-Erh) doesn’t appear to be listed on the Wymm Tea shop any longer. There is, however, a Pu-Erh called Kunlu Sheng Pu-Erh from Ancient Tree 2010 Spring which I can only assume could be comparable. Don’t quote me on that because I haven’t tried that offering yet.
I mainly wanted to mention this offering from Wymm Tea because it was the very first Pu-Erh experience I had from this company and it was a great one. This Pu-Erh is right up my alley. It’s not the muddy-thick-wormy-earthy-tar like pu-erh that I have had from other companies. This is more of a gentler-earthy yet semi-floral Pu-Erh experience. I think this is a great Pu-Erh to start with if you are trying them for the first time. It will NOT scare you away from Pu-Erhs as a whole and will NOT make you pre-judge other Pu-Erh’s but at the same time it’s very pleasing and will set a standard for other Pu-Erh’s. This is very well-done and I can’t wait to try additional offerings from Wymm Tea!
Canton Mini Tuo Cha Cooked Pu-erh from Canton Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-Erh
Where to Buy: Canton Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Our own brand mini tuo cha (nests) are made from authentic chopped puerh leaves from Yunnan, not from the fannings or tea dust as most tuo cha are. We chose a maocha (unprocessed leaf) that has been aged for 4 years, giving the tea a smooth, mellow quality. The leaves are pure Te Ji (aka Tippy Grade), which give a sweeter taste. Brew quickly with hot water in a small pot for up to eight infusions.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
There aren’t many days in the year when I wake up and crave shu, but today is definitely one. My choice of tea this morning was completely obvious, but I decided to go for a new-to-me Pu-erh rather than an old familiar favourite. I’m still on a sharp learning curve when it comes to Pu-erh, so trying a new one is always exciting! This Pu-erh is presented as a Tuo Cha, compressed into a tiny cake shape and individually wrapped. I’m brewing western style this morning, so I placed the Tuo Cha into my infuser basket, and gave it a 30 second rinse in boiling water. Now we’re ready to go!
First Steep
My first steep was for 1 minute in fresh boiling water. The Tuo Cha has more or less held its shape, although it’s fluffed up a little. The liquor is a bright red-brown, the scent strongly earthy with just a hint of fishiness. I expected the flavour to be quite pungent, but it’s actually fairly mild. The main flavour is compost – a delicious, soft, warm earthiness. It’s incredibly smooth and almost a little creamy tasting. I’m picking up a hint of forest floor in the aftertaste, with the emphasis on wet leaves.
Second Steep
My second steep was for 40 seconds in boiling water. The Tuo Cha has now disintegrated, and the resulting liquor is a much stronger, darker affair – a deep black-brown. The scent is again strongly earthy, but the fishiness has now vanished. To taste, this one remains smooth and mellow. I was half expecting an increase in the strength of flavour, but that’s not happened. The earthy, compost-like notes are more clearly defined, and the creaminess has gone, but there’s still an aftertaste of dampness and leaf mulch that’s a lot more pleasant to taste in practice than it sounds.
Third Steep
My third steep was for 40 seconds in boiling water. The liquor this time has regained a little of the reddish tint it had initially, being a deep red-brown verging on black. The scent is still earthy, but this time with more of a “damp” scent upfront. To taste, this is again smooth and mellow. I’m noticing only very slight variations in the overall flavour, which is still earthy and a little damp-tasting. The mulchy, leafy notes are slightly less present this time around, but I’d still describe the main flavour as “compost”. One thing I did notice is that this steep released a significant quantity of sediment, which has settled at the bottom of my mug.
Fourth Steep
My fourth steep was back to 1 minute in boiling water. The liquor this time shows little change from the last steep, still a deep red-brown verging on black. The “damp” scent is a touch stronger, with a little of the earthiness starting to recede. Smooth and mellow are words I’d use again to sum up this infusion. The flavour is slightly lighter than previous steeps, but still earthy and reminiscent of compost and wet leaves. The creaminess from the first steep has started to edge back in.
Fifth Steep
Another minute for the fifth steep, again in boiling water. The liquor colour is noticeably lighter this time, more of a red-brown again. The scent is lighter, too – still damp and earthy, but less so than previously. The flavour is slowly deteriorating, too. It’s still compost, but it’s gradually becoming less intense. It’s smooth and creamy, and a pleasure to drink.
Sixth Steep
My sixth, and final, steep was for 1.5 minutes in boiling water. The liquor is noticeably lighter this time – more of a red-orange. The scent has lost most of its earthiness, and is now primarily “damp” and wet leaf. The flavour is noticeably lighter and much more gentle this time. I can taste wet leaf still, and a hint of something that’s almost menthol – a fresh and cooling edge.
I stopped here largely because I ran out of time. I’m sure there’d be life left in this one for at least a few more steeps, though. The flavour is noticeably less than it was, but it’s be nice to see a little more of the creaminess and menthol notes that were present during the last couple of steeps. I would have liked to have seen a little more flavour variation in earlier steeps, because by the end of the day it had become a little samey and one note. I enjoyed my time with this tea, though, and it’s a shu I’d certainly consider purchasing in the future. I liked that it wasn’t too pungent to begin with – sometimes that’s the hardest hurdle for me to overcome when I’m drinking Pu-erh. It’s usually always worth it for the later steeps, though. This would make a good introductory Pu-erh, or a soild choice if you’re looking for strong compost or earthy flavours. It’s a thorough “well done” to Canton Tea Co.!