When I visited Dream About Tea in Chicago I asked the proprietor for advice about Pu-erh. I told him that I hadn’t found any I truly liked and that they upset my stomach. He asked what I had tried and so I told him the most recent experiment Tuocha: Camel’s Breath. He told me that Tuocha is made with broken leaves and that I would likely enjoy full leafed pu-erhs better. This rang so true for me I felt like slapping myself for not realizing it. Afterall, I prefer full leaf teas of every other sort of tea, why not pu-erh? I asked him for a recommendation for a beginner pu-erh tea and he showed me this one.
I rinsed it with hot water and then brewed it for 30 seconds (as per directions found on the web). Brewed up it smells like a combination of honey, light sweet fruits and apricot. The taste is very light, though that may be due to the 30 second brew time. I am looking forward to the second steeping which I may do a longer steep. There is no bitterness, no compost like taste. Just a sweet good tea. I really like this one.
Second Steeping: 45 seconds this time. It has stronger notes of honey and apricots.
I wish I wasn’t in stingy-mode for another whole month. I have zero pu-ehr and I desperately want some. You didn’t make it better with this post just now!
This is just an amazing tea. It doesn’t taste like any other pu-erh I’ve tried.