Caramel Toffee Pu-erh

Tea of the evening here… today I went on a long hike with my boyfriend and felt good enough about doing that to order beer and nachos for dinner… ha ha. Unfortunately that also left me with a stomach ache that I was hoping some shu would settle.

I’ve had this blend for over 2 years now, it isn’t bad, I just kind of wish it was gone. Today I gave it a quick rinse and actually found it’s better that way. I did rinse off some of the flavoring too, but in this case that may be a blessing. At least it doesn’t smell fishy like that horrible flavored puerh from David’s. I think I will stop buying flavored puerh though, it is so much better unflavored.

So apparently I’ve never rated this one…even if I’ve had it several times… Amy oh’s review from yesterday reminded me I had this tea. I knew it was going to be my tea of the morning. I had planned to get up at my usual time (even on my surprise day off – due to an excellent conference) but I eased into my day and slept a half an hour later (living the life I know).

But I took my time getting ready for the day = internet. Then I gathered the laundry to start, showered, etc. FINALLY I got the kettle going and had to do a little digging to find this one. I have to say it reminds me of coffee in both smell and taste. But not in a bad way. More like welcome back to a better way to have that caffeine kick. I did add a little soy creamer to this one and some of the amazing Vanilla Sugar from Penzey’s – which is mine and mine alone in the house!

I do get a lot of the pu-erh in this tea even with the additions to it. BUT I think the suger is finally allowing the caramel toffee flavor to shine here. I seem to taste the pu-erh more on the finish this time around rather than right from the start. A really nice way to start my lovely day off.

Got this from my mystery swap with Moraiwe. Breakfast in bed for me this morning with some brioche toast with Nutella and some catching up on Greys anatomy from last week. Perfection in a cup. The aroma was very sweet. To the taste you can taste the caramel and smell the toffee. In the second steep I will add a little sugar and milk. Latte style. Thank you for this tea!

http://m.flickr.com/lightbox?id=8770078064

Delicious! Granted, my first pu-erh, but I think I may have found the perfect fall-ish caramel black tea! I just tried a sample that I received with a paid order, but I will definitely be ordering by 1/2 pound next time.

I had enough for another cup of this, and though I was not overly enamored of my first attempt at pu-erh, I decided it was worth it to try it again.
And I’m glad I did! I used a bit less leaf, and steeped it less aggressively, and this time a creamier cup came out, with notes of the toffee, as promised!
I still don’t think I’m going to be leaping into the world of pu-erh, but I might mosey in.
Just goes to show that, if you can, always give tea a second chance.
Sipdown!

I need to apologise to Pu-Erh for that long period in which I wouldn’t drink it because I thought it was gross. I was wrong, Pu-Erh. Will you forgive me?

This tea has a deep caramel/molasses/toffee thing going on.

You know James Earl Jones’ voice? It grew in the same rich soil that grew this tea.

That’s just science.

I get a couple of notes from this tea, I’d say two from the caramel, one note is a burnt taste and the other is a sweet caramel taste. After this I get the puerh, it is sweet I think not bitter, but it’s hard to really tell.Bought this the other day at the Coffee and Tea Festival NYC. Capital Teas unfortunately only had a limited number of teas available. I bought both puerhs they had available. Both were flavored.

I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 2 min.