This tea is quite unique – I opened the package and I wasn’t even sure that it was tea inside! Instead of the usual dark, curled pu-erh leaves, this one is in little buds with very short, tight, scale-like leaves. And instead of being dark they’re a light beige colour. It didn’t even really smell like a pu-erh until I added the water – then I could pick up that earthy odor. It didn’t smell as strongly as some though, and it has these smokey undertones.
The tea that it brewed up was surprisingly pale-looking, a very light, golden shade. Its flavour goes from sweet to earthy back to sweet again in my mouth. The earthy flavour is surprisingly mild (for a pu-erh) and the tea lacks the ‘thickness’ of other teas of that type. TeaSpring described the tea as “earthy with hints of vanilla” and I agree, if you tilt your head and squint the sweetness does seem to having something of a vanilla-ish note to it.
This isn’t a tea you can just chug down and go – this is a tea that needs to be savoured in small little sips. Thanks to whoever decided to put this in the Travelling Teabox!
That sounds interesting! I think I’ll give that a go the next time I have a TS order…
There might even be some left by the time the teabox gets back to you. :)