I’ve never tried had a green pu-erh before and I’m surprised at how large the leaves are.
Today’s cup isn’t very good for determining anything about colour. It looks a deep yellow, borderline orange, but it might be a bit off.
The aroma is rather sweet with a note of citrus fruits. It smells fresh. Not fresh as in ‘just off the bush’, but fresh as opposed to cloying. Fresh as in something that perks you up a bit. Airy. Not at all like regular pu-erh smells. I wouldn’t even suspect this was a pu-erh if I didn’t know it to be.
The flavour on the other hand completely blindsided me. Based on the aroma, this was NOT what I had expected. I thought I’d be getting something light and slightly sweet maybe with fruity hints. What I got was a strong green tea with some prickly notes on the side of the tongue and upon swallowing. But again, I wouldn’t have guessed on a blind test that this had ever been anywhere near pu-erh. Knowing, however, that it is a pu-erh, I can recognise the aftertaste as such. Here it is much much more pu-erh-y than in ANY of the other parameters.
Nothing But Tea recommends using boiling water, which strikes me as odd considering that this is based on a green tea rather than a black, but maybe the fermentation into pu-erh hardens the leaves to better withstand the higher temperature, I don’t know. I personally thought it best to let the water cool for a spell like I would with any other green tea. The steeping time was also based on NBT’s recommendation.
What, I wonder, is this supposed to taste like? Is it really supposed to be like a strong, badly brewed green tea? Say it ain’t so!
ETA: The wet leaves after steeping smell exactly like whiskas tinned cat food. Now I kind of wish I hadn’t tried smelling those…
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Ew canned cat food has the worst smell ever.
Angrboda, If you don’t mind my suggestion… I’m nowhere near an expert in raw pu erh- I’ve only tried one, but since this didn’t go so well, you might want to try Carolyn’s suggested preparation as I did. 1g of leaf for every oz of water used. Rinse by doing a 15 sec steep in boiling water (although I do just under boiling to preserve the health benefits), discard the rinse water and do your 1st drinkable steep at 20 sec. Carolyn suggests increasing the additional infusions by 10 sec but I don’t see the need. Boiling water doesn’t shock me so much for greens anymore now that I’m into Japanese greens. Is this a loose leaf green? The one that I had was a cake, but yes- raw pu erhs are a completely different tea cup than cooked. I much prefer raw myself. Hopefully Carolyn’s suggestions will give you a cuppa you enjoy as much as I do:)
I know, I used to buy one for my cat on special occasions like her birthdays (Yes, I celebrated my pet’s birthday!) and was forever surprised at how she would almost start tying knots on herself as soon as she smelled it. Even towards the end when it was a struggle to get her to eat anything at all tinned food was the only sort of food I could lure into her. I don’t get it, the dry food smelled SO much better! O.o
Ew canned cat food has the worst smell ever.
Angrboda, If you don’t mind my suggestion… I’m nowhere near an expert in raw pu erh- I’ve only tried one, but since this didn’t go so well, you might want to try Carolyn’s suggested preparation as I did. 1g of leaf for every oz of water used. Rinse by doing a 15 sec steep in boiling water (although I do just under boiling to preserve the health benefits), discard the rinse water and do your 1st drinkable steep at 20 sec. Carolyn suggests increasing the additional infusions by 10 sec but I don’t see the need. Boiling water doesn’t shock me so much for greens anymore now that I’m into Japanese greens. Is this a loose leaf green? The one that I had was a cake, but yes- raw pu erhs are a completely different tea cup than cooked. I much prefer raw myself. Hopefully Carolyn’s suggestions will give you a cuppa you enjoy as much as I do:)
I know, I used to buy one for my cat on special occasions like her birthdays (Yes, I celebrated my pet’s birthday!) and was forever surprised at how she would almost start tying knots on herself as soon as she smelled it. Even towards the end when it was a struggle to get her to eat anything at all tinned food was the only sort of food I could lure into her. I don’t get it, the dry food smelled SO much better! O.o