Ripened Rose Pu-erh Mini Tuocha

haha well 2 years ago when CHAroma tasted this she did. not. like it.
(but yes that was 2 years ago)
but as a puerh goes, for me, there isn’t really anything to dislike here. it’s just not thrilling is all. it’s a fine, average puerh.
okay okay it might kinda be boring. but not bad bad.
if it blossoms later, like on the 6th steeping or something, i’ll let you know….

my sister is watching anime. Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist

I finally decided that I’m not going to put it off any longer and that I really, really wanted a rose tea. Today is the day I’m trying the ripened rose pu-erh mini tuocha.

I did a few seconds rinse followed by a short one-minute steep with a two minute steep waiting for me in my little red tea pot.

First, the tea is so dark it looks like coffee in my tea cup! I didn’t realize how light the teas were that I had been drinking until this morning, but this settles it. If nobody knew better, they would think I was drinking black coffee. I also enjoyed watching the tuocha fall apart in my french press. The rose on top of it also grew as it steeped which was lovely to look at when I re-filled it for the second steep.

The first steep of this is really, really mellow. It isn’t very strong at all. Instead it is rich and very slightly earthy. Just enough there to remind you that it is a pu-erh. I think the rose might have lightened up the taste, but I don’t taste it yet. Just lovely and smooth pu-erh.

I think if I gave this cup to my Dad he would drink it without realizing that it wasn’t coffee because it kinda tastes similar to it. Less bold than the brand he drinks of course, but it could pass off as a nice morning cuppa to some coffee drinkers I know. And it is so smooth that they could drink it without milk or sugar.

I’m starting to taste a slight malt as I’m reaching the end of my cup. I only brewed enough for one cup with the first steep, so once it is gone it is gone. But I’m really liking this mysterious malty flavor that popped up. I wonder if it will show up in the second steep or not.

The second steep has to be even darker than the first steep. There would be no question about it. If somebody saw me drinking this, they would think I was drinking black coffee out of a china tea cup. I think I can smell a tiny bit of rose with this cup. Just a touch. Maybe the rose will be more present in this steep.

The second steep tastes a lot like the first, but I think I am picking up a floral taste. Everything is blended together so well that I am having a hard time separating one thing from the other. Complex indeed.

There is a slight bitter twang at the back of my throat, but it isn’t unpleasant at all. A very dark taste that lightens up and reminds me of roses. Ah ha! That is where the flower taste really is. I can taste the roses lightly in the sip, but that bitter twang lightens into that smooth floral rose.

The more I sip it now, the more apparent the rose in the back of my throat becomes. This is why you need to be patient when drinking tea and that why we need to slow down to really taste what we are eating. I think I might be in love and I am so glad that I get two little tuochas per pouch.

I might try a third steep later after I enjoy my little second steep pot full.

Thank you for letting me try this Angel and the Teavivre team. I never would have ordered this by myself and letting me sample this has opened up a new world of pu-erh beyond what Numi offers. And I think I like it even better now.

Words cannot begin to describe how terrified I am. I’ve been filled with dread ever since I started researching pu’er/puer/pu-erh. What do they do to this tea?? In case you couldn’t guess, this is my first pu-erh experience. Okay, enough’s enough (as my boyfriend always says). Let’s move on to the tea review.

Man, when they said these are mini tuocha, they meant mini. These are itty, bitty, tiny, bite-sized cakes. I wasn’t expecting that. They’re actually pretty cute. I spent all day reading about pu-erh and how to break it apart. I don’t have a tea needle or an envelope opener, so I was contemplating using a metal chopstick. But as it turns out, all that knowledge is useless with these little things. At least it fits in my tea strainer! Problem one solved.

The dry leaves have a very faint, slightly fishy aroma. Of course, part of me only thinks it smells fishy because I’ve read reviews using that word. Now it’s stuck in my head, and I can’t think of another way to describe this. I really like KS’ review where he said, “The aroma is pure ripe puerh (you know that “Eeww, do I really want to drink this?” smell. To which you happily reply, “Well, yeah.”).”

That’s pretty much exactly what I thought when I smelled the brewed tea, except minus the enthusiasm. I’m still not sure how this is going to turn out. I only did a one minute steep because I was so afraid. Did I rinse it enough? Because I mean, I only poured boiling water over it for like two seconds. Oh, the dread!!! The anxiety!!

It smells…kinda’ gross…like mud-covered gym socks or like a musty, dust-covered wood cabin in the middle of the Adirondack mountains. I wish I could place the aroma because it actually smells somewhat familiar. It’s tickling my memory anyway, but I’m not coming up with anything. I definitely get the idea that this is cooked pu-erh as the word “cooked” readily comes to mind. Hmmm, dare I sip it? Oh come on! Why am I so afraid of this? Red rooibos put the fear of the unknown into me, let me tell you. Who’s afraid of tea? I mean really?

Okay, man up! First sip…I’m not sure what to make of this…It’s not 100% off-putting. Only slightly off-putting. It definitely still has that weird, hard-to-describe taste that’s in the aroma. Woodsy, I guess. It’s not bad, just really weird. I’m getting a little bit of leather, but not nice leather. It’s not like walking into a leather outlet or a horse stable. It’s more like riding in the rain and mud and then having to clean the saddle. Or leather cleaner maybe. It’s not entirely pleasant.

This is definitely what I would describe as an acquired taste. I wouldn’t expect the average tea drinker to enjoy this, especially one like me who has a passion for green, white, and oolong teas. But the flavor isn’t overtly in-your-face. I’m not getting any bitterness (or rose, but I wasn’t expecting to since this is my first pu-erh). It’s actually quite smooth. But I think four sips are enough for this first infusion. I can’t bring myself to finish the cup. Let’s see what happens with a second infusion! This one for two minutes.

Phew! This second cup is even more fragrant than the last one. I suppose if I had liked the first cup, this second cup would be better. But unfortunately, that quality I didn’t really like only got stronger. I gave the cup to my cat to sniff. He sniffed it for a good 10 seconds. He kind of perked up near the end, and I thought he might actually want to try it. Then he thought better of it. I made myself sip it, and it was actually sweeter than I expected. But I don’t think I can drink this tea. It’s just not my style.

To finish off the pu-erh night, I gave it to my boyfriend to try. He often likes things I don’t. He took a tentative sip, wrinkled his brow, and took another sip. Then he said, “It’s dry and it tastes like leaves.” “It’s called pu-erh,” I said. He replied, “More like just poo.” The boyfriend concurs; this is not for us.

But I’m sure my first pu-erh experience could have been a lot worse than this. I’m still convinced that this is high quality tea. If anyone would like to take the remaining three mini tuochas off my hands, send me a message!

Got my order from Teavivre today :D And I received this as one of my samples. I have tried this one before but it was when I was first exploring the wonderful world of pu-erh. So hopefully I’ll like this one a bit more then the last time. I’ve been playing around with my gaiwan today and thought I’d do multiple steeps for this tea. So here it goes!
10s rinse
1st at 10s:
The flavor is light but it’s good. It’s woodsy and sweet. There is a bit of a smokey flavor to it.
2nd at 10s:
The liquor is certainly darker. The aroma is strong and very earthy. The flavor kind of reminds me of a cigar. It’s musky, earthy, and a bit smokey.
3rd at 10s:
The liquor is a dark, velvety brown now. The aroma has lightened but it’s still pretty earthy. It’s turned very smokey and musky. There is a bit of a sweet, floral note coming through, though.
4th at 15s:
The liquor is starting to lighten up a little bit. The aroma is earthy and sweet. The flavor is earthy and has a bit of a floral\sweet note to it. This is actually my favorite so far.
5th at 20s:
This steep is mellow and quite enjoyable. The aroma is sweet and earthy. Much lighter than the last two. The flavor is sweet and earthy. A tiny, tiny bit of floral comes through.
6th at 30s:
This one is much like the first. It’s light. It has more of the earthiness to it but still has that sweet note to it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the last Teavivre Pu-erh tea that I sampled so I was excited to try the mini tuocha rose injected version. I’m not a flowery tea enthusiast but Teavivre seems to do a great job in keeping the flower from running away with the flavor.

This tea did not disappoint me. It has a very deep, woodsy, earthen taste. The color is a dark rich brown, like molasses.

I had salmon for lunch yesterday and I guess it is still very much on my brain and tastebuds. With my first sip, I thought I detected a salmon-like flavor within this tea. Then, I came to my (tasting) senses and realized that this was just the subtle rose attribute peeking out from the other strong and dominant musky flavors.

It is fascinating to me that the flavors of this tea seem to contradict each other yet are in perfect harmony. The light and delicate rose flavor blends exquisitely with the rugged and powerful earthy taste.

This is a pleasing complex tea. Teavivre has once again proven to me that flowery teas do not have to taste like perfume.

i am a puerh lover. die hard (could i be any more clear?). i will love loose leaf for my whole life. i am genuinely contrite that it took me so long to find it: shame on me! while i will study and love and review and resteep tea forever (and build extra sections for tea storage into our kitchen so it knows how much it is loved), puerh will be a special study for me.

these tuocha are ripened. which means (i am simplifying this because i am still wrapping my own head around it) that as opposed to being dried in the sun the leaves go through a man made imitation of the ideal oxidation conditions… sortof like a natural emerald versus a spinel; one happens naturally the other not. now tea, like gemstones holds separate camps of favour. some favour the bricks and tuocha others the more nature reliant method. i fall into the latter category.

because of my allergy to coffee i am very sensitive to caffeine. when i say in a review that there ‘stickiness’ or a ‘lack of stickiness’ on the tongue from caffeine that’s because i am so sensitive to it i can actually get a physical sensation of it when it’s too heavy. my experience with the ripened puerh has been much too much caffeine and a significant amount of harshness. i literally cannot stomach it. so i avoid them.

i have heard great things of teavivre of late, so when angel asked me which samples i wanted i included this as one of them. i cannot love puerh and commit to an endless study and then refuse an opportunity to try one from a company i’ve heard good things about. (that’s not the way it works)

this is a column A/ Column B review:

*i was expecting harshness and it was quite mellow =0)
*i was expecting rose and didn’t get a single hint even after varying my technique and 3 steeps =0(
*i was expecting the flavour of puerh and also did not detect it (or not in the manner that i adore) =0(
*i was not expecting it to fall apart or ‘blossom’ because many of the brick types i have tried where too ripe and too compressed for it to happen, even after soaking, but it did =0)

i will refrain from a numerical assignment.

if you like the ripened puerhs this one is quite gentle! early on in the steep you get a deep amber coloured elixir (as opposed to some i’ve had that go as dark as turkish coffee).

thank you angel for this puerh nest… it was a much improved experience from my other ripened puerh samples!

Another offering from Teavivre that I have been excited to try. Tuocha happens to be one of my favorite forms of the glorious tea that is Pu-Erh. I can’t tell you how many times when everything seems to be cramming down on me that I make a cup of Pu-Erh and I don’t know why but Pu-Erh seems to have that Je ne sais quoi that relaxes me and brings me back an even keel. For some it’s a drink of an alcoholic nature however it’s Pu-Erh for me. Now I have tried the rose tuocha from Tao of Tea before and enjoyed it. Again I love the packaging from this company and love how for the shelf life this one says ongoing. First steep the tuocha crumbled almost instantly after a minute. A nice dark liquor was produced. I have noticed with rose teas that the first cup has a bit of bite to it. I don’t know if this is a characteristic of the rose or not. It doesn’t deter from the quality of the tea just a tad bitter. Second Steep lovely and smooth. Third: lighter and tastes more like mushroom water. All said I think this is another fine offering from teavivre. I am enjoying what they have to offer.

The tiny rose bud that was on the top of the tuocha was super cute plus this tea was on sale so how could I resist? I’m a big fan of tuocha format because it’s so convenient and I like to watch the nest shape to unfold.

The taste is sweet and smooth. The rose flavor is very faint, it’s rather floral notes in general that I can detect.

This is a sample from teavivre and I thought I’d give this one a go today. Feeling like a straight, or mostly straight tea right now. Pu-erh sounds good to start the new year in. On;y I did have some Harney and Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice earlier since I was cold.

Anyhow, dry observations…

It smelled very earthy, and the cake was pretty firm…only a little crumbling at the top. I do have to mention I had no rose bud whatsoever with this particular tuocha cake. Now, I don’t know about the others, though there was some confusion initially about which pu-erh tuocha I was getting from Angel. So take this last fact with a grain of salt when it comes to tasting notes. I can’t be 100% sure that I got the ripened rose instead of the plain.

Brewing and tasting…

The liquor turned dark dark dark! It looks very much like coffee or wine, or a mix of the two. I cannot pick up any rose notes specifically, though there is a floral note at the back of my tongue that is accentuated a bit more with the sugar I added. And I added the same amount of milk, roughly, that I usually do, and it is a dark brew still.

I taste a very full bodied tea here…even with the milk and sugar. It is earthy and warm and balanced. I don’t get any fishy taste, though I did faintly smell it when it was dry. To me, this is equivalent to a dark beer (though I don’t drink beer). It’s not for everybody. I think this is good for those who like coffee but want to transition to tea because it is such a hearty taste.

This all said, it isn’t my favourite, but I do like it as a straight tea. I think I prefer pu-erh blends like DAVIDs Oh Christmas Treat! Orange and chocolate are the perfect match for pu-erh.

I’ll see what my next steep is like on this. Oh, and for the record, I did break up the cake with my fingers into a few smaller chunks into my steeper, no rinsing, and I used boiling water and steeped about two minutes.

Happy New Years Steepsterites!

OK. I wrongly reviewed this under the other Teavivre tuocha. I let this steep for 2 to 3 minutes and it is a potent first tea of the day. Please see my other notes and multiply the flavor….