Thank you for the samples a while back, Teavivre! First I will say that I’m really not the person who should be writing reviews for raw pu-erh, as I’m realizing they are really not for my tastes. I’ve tried a few of them now and most of them seem very similar to my palate. All of the raw pu-erh offerings I’ve tried from Teavivre have been very good though, but I just shouldn’t be the one judging them! Only one raw pu-erh remains to be tried and I think I won’t be focusing on them for a while, until maybe my palate changes at some point.
The flavor here is very light, almost citrusy and creamy. But to me, raw pu-erh is always better with the first steep. I really need to learn how to steep them better. I certainly don’t want to follow the 4-10 minute suggestion on the pouch, as that would surely be a bitter mess. I see the “ancient tree” description and I would think the leaves would have a much tougher flavor. Not so! Light and tasty, but as usual I’d rather be drinking a dark and rustic ripened pu-erh. The second and third steeps seem to have a similar flavor profile to the first steep but becomes a bit tangy/astringent, even with such short steep times. Though it doesn’t make it undrinkable… nothing I can’t handle! But raw pu-erh does seem to do this to me every time, even if I lower the amount of leaves/ steep time: the first steep is alright but the other steeps aren’t as delicious. It is completely my fault though… I’m sure others can steep raw pu-erh much better. It is delicious for raw pu-erh but tough to distinguish from other raw pu-erh (for me.)
Steep #1 // half of a 10 gram sample pouch // 10 minutes after boiling // rinse // 30 seconds to 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 30 second steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 30 second steep
