Sticky Rice Pu-erh Tuocha

I’ve been popping Yin Chiao like mad trying to get rid of this cold but it seems to have frozen it in the initial stage. So I’ve had an on-and-off fever for days now, sore throat, fatigue, etc, yet it’s not a full-blown cold. Makes me want to just stop taking that stuff and let it run its course. Ugh, just feel like sleeping.

So that said, I wanted an unflavoured tea, something that wouldn’t upset my already nauseated tummy. This was quite salty last time I drank it, like salty popcorn, but this time, it was mellower. I gave it a really good rinse this time so maybe that’s why.

Still no rating. I’d probably place this somewhere in the 70-80 range but don’t want to commit to that yet. First world problems.

I have so much of this tea, I don’t even know what to do with it.

Of course, I ended up not liking it as much as I thought I would – but hey, it was an investment! haha I’ll swap it away and maybe sell some tea sampler packs on teatrade or my etsy shop and all will be well :)

The taste is a little more mushroomy that I expected – it’s quite easy to oversteep (re: bitter mess!) if you use a high temperature – so steep it at as low a temperature as you can (that’s my recommendation).

At first I tried it in my gong-fu pot but the leaves are very very small (smaller than rooibos), so from now on I only brew it with a Perfect Mug steeper – they don’t let anything through :D

I will say that it does settle my tummy, but from now on I know I’m more of a darker shu tuocha fan – I like the dark earthiness (ie: Cornfields Shu from Verdant)

I picked this as a free sample from Chicago Tea Garden, mostly because it just seemed too different not to try. I mean, come on – sticky rice flavored tea! How can I not try it?

This is actually my very first pressed pu-erh. And my first green pu-erh, too. So a whole bunch of first all rolled into one insane smelling tea! And I do mean insane smelling. As soon as I opened the envelope, I instantly smelled freshly-made sticky rice. It’s so weird but kinda awesome.

Anyway, I did a quick rinse and then (since I’m sharing with the husband) poured steeps one and two (both at 30 seconds) into a fair cup, then into glasses. So I don’t know if there is a big difference between the first and second steeps, but it totally smells like a bowl of rice. Which is still kinda awesome.

The taste isn’t as sticky-rice as the smell (though the smell is pretty intense). I get a quick, almost mint or ginseng whooshy tingle at the very front, then a mild almost reed flavor flash, then a sticky or sweet rice fresh taste. The aftertaste is light and very rice-y. Even with the hints of the other flavors, the main taste is very much rice. But rice in a mild, gentle tea way.

I think I could really get behind green pu-erh. It doesn’t have that barnyard, sweet hay, fishy, sweet thickness that is just too much for me that I get from black pu-erh and that makes it much easier for me to drink. This tea is really quite gentle, mild, sweet and rice-y, all attributes and flavors I enjoy. I didn’t know what to think of it at first, but by the end of my cup, I determined that really like this and I would very much enjoy having it in my pantry. I don’t have to go out and get some right now but I’ll be perusing Chicago Tea Garden’s website to see what other goodies I might need to buy when I decide to pick this up.

ETA: Steeps three and four (at CTG’s suggested 45s and 1min) resulted in some light bitterness that really battled with the rice taste, almost covering it (though the bitterness was not overwhelming). It was very disappointing and made me question how much I actually wanted to buy this tea. But I tried again, backing off the steep time (or at least not increasing it like I normally would). Steeps five and six (at 45s and 1min) were much better, back to the original steeps’ sticky-rice-ness. Shorter steep times are this tea’s friend. And I’m back to planning a CTG order.

Thanks to The Purrfect Cup for this one!
I had this once before but am so glad I was able to try it again! Sticky Rice, Sticky Rice…yeah, yeah, YEAH!!!!! Totally…see my other notes on this one!!!

This one is actually a really great tea, but it has turned out to not be one that I can’t drink very often.

It’s very nice and has a very believable flavour that inexplicably suits the tea, but it IS a rather… special flavour. I have found that it requires a specific mind set. Possibly even a specific weather.

Like today where it seems it never really got properly light outside. The entire day seems to have been shrouded in twilight.

I have a bit of a headache, haven’t done a single thing of house work all day (which I really ought to!) and am in bad need by now of a cup of tea.

(On the upside Crownprincess Mary gave birth to twins today.)

Thank you Will Work For Tea for this Sample!

I’ve been wanting to try this Sticky Rice Pu-erh for a long time!

I can’t wait…I just can’t wait to blurt out…I love this stuff!
It tastes soooo good!

Now I’ve spoiled everything didn’t I. No need to read further.

Don’t you want to know why I blurted it out? (A few of you just said “No, not really.”)
It’s ok, my feelings won’t be hurt. I’m just an old disabled woman approaching my last breath on this earth! Sniff. (guilt)

Well, now that I’ve stooped so low…let’s get on with it!

The little cute Pu-erh Tuocha seems so harmless…so…‘little bitty cutesy’…until you put some boiling water on the little sucker and it explodes into a MONSTER GREEN floating island!
(Do not use a tea ball for this tuocha). I used a glass PIAO and half expected little fish to come out of the green algae clumpy SEA WORLD at the bottom of the container.

I steeped my pu-erh too long. The color was brassy gold. The flavor…um that was good…a bit bitter with some tannin. I could really taste the sticky rice which was the bomb! I knew that the right steep time would be fantastic tasting. (I finished that first cup of tea…yum!)

I cut the steep time in half but the color of the liquor remained the same. These were some robust leaves…Herculeaves with muscles!

Sipping the sticky rice tea was unbelievably roasty and sweet, like you could chew on your tea and find little pieces of nutmeats or candied things from heaven in a bowl with a spoon. Dessert, coated rice, almost creamy but not quite.
There were many golden cups to come…the liquor was so rich and heavy with flavor that I took my glass mug and put it in the frig for later, just to see how the tea would taste cold.

An old question came to mind…
I’ve asked myself on occasion, would I ever drink a pu-erh with a meal?
Usually, the answer is NO! I like to savor the pu-erh all by itself.

This pu-erh, I would drink to wake up my taste buds before a meal with an appetizer. I might have it with dessert or with a light meal. It expands the way I think about pu-erh’s. My cupboard should have this.

Cold Yes, the cup in the frig was absolutly stunning! Really refreshing!I did sweeten mine a little and loved it that way.

There is absolutely 100% no way that I should be drinking anything with caffeine in it at this time of night, but I could not help myself. I had a super-rich dinner of pasta with Lambrusco di Sorbara (I was wining and dining myself — tonight it was me, a bottle of sparkling wine, a carbohydrate overdose, and my writing!)…and…

I just wanted this.

The clean, fresh, earthy pu’erh piping hot sticky rice-ness of it sounded like the perfect counterpoint to all of that acidic bolognese and vino.

I think in my haste to sip it, I may have burned part of my tongue. >.<

But it’s still very nice. I wasn’t sure about buying the cannister of this when I got it, but I’m definitely not regretting it now. There’s really no other tea in my cupboard that can take its place (though I’d sure like to explore some — yum!).

Ok! Time to try this out! I need something nice and relaxing this evening. Trying to get back on a regular schedule. By some miracle, it’s only 11pm! Exciting. Anyways, thanks to Lynne-tea for letting me try one of these! After the one I tried from Amy oh, I was super excited to try more :D

The aroma is that same lovely sticky rice aroma (and that’s pretty much all I can identify), and it intensifies pretty quickly when the hot water hits the tuocha! I did a ~10 second rinse with boiling water, and then 2 30-second infusions. The first was absolutely delicious, and left a lingering sweet flavour in my mouth, while the second tastes fairly similar but a bit too strong/oversteeped, as there’s some bitterness. Next time I try this it will be with a regular infuser basket, so I don’t have to worry so much about overinfusion due to the time it takes to pour the tea out (which may have been a factor here).

One thing I should note is that using my little glass teapot was not ideal for this tea, as the strainer let quite a bit through, and I had to strain the tea again after pouring it out.

Thanks again, Lynne-tea! This was just what I was wanting to try right now, and I’m happy that Amanda put some up to offer so I can have a little stash of them :D It’s not my favourite tea, but it’s interesting and soothing and something I will crave once in a while.

Back Log from last weekend.
How can a tea that smells so good, taste so bad?
How can a tea that tastes so bad have such a high rating? I LOVE Puerh, this one turned my stomach. I couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth or the smell out of my timolino for hours! I feel like rotting leaves steeped in boiling water would be the equivalent. I’m feeling like I must have meesed something up seeing as how everyone seems to love it. I’m not sure I’ll give it a seond chance even though I have some left. :(

So Janefan is awesome since she sent this in a swap because she saw it was on my shopping list. So when I got this I was incredibly excited because I’ve been wanting to try it. I was a little worried when I saw it was green Pu-Erh. Only because the last time I had green pu-erh I thought it was nasty and tasted like drinking latex. I’ve come to the conclusion however that may have been operator error since when you over steep greens they turn orange. I like the aroma of the dry tuocha it’s nice. I’ve never had sticky rice but it does remind me of cooked brown rice. Started off with a 30 second rinse and progressive one minute steeps. I’m on my tenth round and I have to say I am enjoying this a lot. Each steep brings out a different character. Some reminded me of steamed rice, but as it has progressed I’m getting more of a cornish flavor. One buttered corn. Another creamed corn or corn caserole. That still happens to be one of my favorite holiday side dishes. I’m impressed with how well this is holding up. These last steeps have reminded me of a corn sock. Either a sock or like I have fabric that is filled with corn and thrown in the microwave for sore muscles. I like to heat it up when I have sinus pressure that could take down a water buffalo. I’m definitely finding this one very comforting especially when everyone else around me is dropping like flies due to sickness. I would buy this and enjoy again.