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I was pouring tea for a couple of friends (outside! Socially distanced!) and this was a very lovely tea for a lovely Oregon spring day. The first infusion was extremely buttery and a very sweet and smooth finish. The second infusion, grassy notes mingled with the butter. But the third was a revelation, the grass was overshadowed by heavy floral notes that appeared. One of my friends thought I’d switched out for a jasmine tea! Really lovely, will drink again.

Threw this in a Cinderella mug and did grandpa-style while working on a spreadsheet all afternoon. Started out thick and minerally, steadied down to a smooth, thick, earthiness with a bit of sweet on the finish and a lingering umami. Very easy and delightful to drink.

“I needed another $10 to get Amazon free shipping and this was in the suggested list” is probably not the method that anyone should use to choose a tea. But that’s what I did. $15 for 200g of puerh? Heck yeah free shipping here we come!

Half the cakes are compressed so hard they cut my hand when I try to break them up. The other half fall apart at a touch. Rinsing twice, then a 2 minute steep provides a medium hued tea soup you could mistake for a very mild fish broth. Around a 4th steep the fish taste goes away. That’s it. When the fish taste goes away, there’s no other flavor, you’re just drinking hot water.

This is the second ever puerh I have tried and it’s probably going to take a while to find one that I like LESS than this. Ick.

I bought the 100g volume as I figured how can you go wrong with tangerine and puerh? I brewed this cup-style, or more like teapot-style: Threw the whole tangie ball into a big tea pot, rinsed for 30 seconds, then steeped for 5 minutes and decanted to a thermos pitcher. It is a very lovely dark color, and my guests mistook it for coffee!

The tangerine isn’t very noticeable at first, it’s definitely in the aroma but not felt on the tongue. Very mellow, woody, earthy flavor, and a strong mineral finish.

I broke the tangerine skin and did a second 1L steep for 6 minutes, and this time tangerine flavor appeared, along with a hint of wood smoke.

I’m pretty new to the world of puerh, but of the three I’ve had to date this is my favorite.