63 Tasting Notes
Venturing a little deeper into the pu-erh world is fun! This is my first raw pu-erh. I didn’t even read the label before I made it – but as soon as I saw the light, golden liquid I did! So different from the ripe ones I’ve already tried. The first steep was light and vegetal – the initial smell reminded me of canned green beans, but not as pungent. The taste was smooth but a bit astringent – just a little drying, but not bitter or unpleasant.
Second steep was sweeter – I got a distinct apricot smell. I steeped it a little longer this time (just over a minute, the first steep was probably around 45 seconds) and it was lovely.
I’m still working on my third steep but this is definitely a nice tea. I think I prefer ripe over raw, just because the flavour seemed more…blunt? My favourite thing about pu-erh is that I have experienced a mineral taste that just feels so quenching and healthy to me. I’m not sure I would buy more of this one for a while, simply because there are so many more ripe pu-erhs that I want to try, but I’d gladly drink it again :)
I want to LOVE this. I want it to be my daily matcha that I never ever run out of. But I can’t – It’s awful. I am reading the other reviews and trying to figure out what happened – maybe I got a bad batch? This and ginger (two flavours that I love) are the only two matchas that I wouldn’t order again (and may not even finish).
The first time I tried it I used warmer water and added a bit of coconut milk. I was so turned off by the taste that I didn’t try again until now, months later. But the funny thing is, I blamed the coconut milk; I had just assumed that it was “off” somehow. So today I made it as an iced latte (my favourite way to drink flavoured matcha) without anything added at first. I had to pour it down the drain and start again with a different kind.
The smell and taste are the same – plastic-y, chemical tasting, nothing like coconut (fresh, dried, toasted…it doesn’t matter. Nothing like it!). A few people have mentioned sun screen but I love the smell of sunscreen and would gladly eat something that smelled like it (as long as it was edible) and this just isn’t it. I’ve tried twice prepared two ways – I’ve had a lot of flavoured matcha – so I don’t think it’s me. Did anyone else get a funky batch of this? I don’t even feel like I could put it in a smoothie to keep myself from wasting it. I adore my other flavours from Red Leaf Tea so I won’t let this stop me from trying some new kinds but I am starting to think I am just not meant to find a perfect coconut tea!
First off, thanks for the generous sample!
I really enjoyed this tea – mango is one of my favourite fruits so I am always on the lookout for anything featuring it! I haven’t tried it hot yet and to be honest I may not, because it is really good iced! I found the mango flavour authentic and the base was definitely still present. A tea-loving coworker smelled it and guessed correctly that it was mango, which I think it pretty impressive!
I’ll definitely be taking a second look at this company because I was very happy with this sample :)
Part of me is so sad that it’s taken me this long to learn to enjoy pu-erh tea. My first experiences were terrbile – and very rarely will you see me pour tea down the drain. Now that I’ve found some better quality teas though, and learned to rinse them, my sadness comes from having only ordered sample sizes. Maybe my timing is actually just right, because I found out some big news this week…I’m moving to China at the end of the summer!
I’ve been resteeping multiple times with steep times ranging from 10 seconds to eventually 5 minutes once I’ve steeped the tea to death. Mellow is such an appropriate word to describe it. The taste is warm and earthy but clean and not muddled. I don’t get any hint of fishiness, even with the smell.
I can’t find words to describe it, but it tastes healthy – I feel like my body likes it more than any other tea I drink. I have a few different samples left to try, but that was the end of this one. I’m not sure whether I prefered this or the one I reviewed a couple of weeks ago from Verdant…
I want to like pu’erh tea. I really do. But until today I have been trying and failing miserable at making any that didn’t smell like rotting fish (I don’t even like to eat fresh fish). I even bought a flavoured pu’erh from Davidstea that I ended up pouring down the drain and returning the rest of the bag. Having read a bit more about ways to brew I decided to give it a try again.
I actually love the earth smell of the dry leaf, but I was a bit nervous about how it would turn out wet. I made sure I did a rinse, but then I couldnt remember how long the first steep should be. I went by colour and stopped after about 20 seconds when it was starting to get dark – it actually had a very beautiful rosy tint to it as well. I thought I could smell a little bit of fishyness at first, but that seems to have disappeared entirely.
This is delicious. It is so different from anything I’ve had before, and it makes me want to keep trying different pu’erhs. I am still only on my first steep, but the wonderful earthiness really reminds me of warm moss on a hotter than normal spring day. I wish I had ordered more (I got a sample size of I think every tea Verdant tea had in stock when I ordered) but that just means I’ll have to place another order soon!
I was surprised at the colour of this tea – it has a delightful, milk chocolate colour that I normally would associate with hot chocolate or maybe coffee, but not normally tea. I like it, it’s interesting.
I am the worst steeper ever. I am kicking myself for leaving it too long (next time I’ll try for about 2 – 2.5 mins). It probably only steeped 5-7 minutes though, so it shouldn’t be shot. It smells absolutely wonderful – sweet and rich with a malty element. I imagine it would taste better had I not forgotten about it :( It still tastes quite good, but not special. My parents drink a lot of tea – far more than me – but only Red Rose. This reminds me of a cup of too strong Red Rose that was allowed to become bitter. It’s drinkable, but for the price I’d rather have a cuppa what’s on the stove already brewed.
I have a newly discovered love of passion fruit, so I was very excited to see a passion fruit flavoured tea during my recent visit to Sawadee Tea House. I had only tried two of their teas before (a green and an oolong) and they were both great.
The dry leaves have a somewhat fruity smell, but not one that was distinctly passion fruit. To be honest I would never have guessed passion fruit as a flavour for this one at all, but it is a very nice tea. I liked it best iced; it reminds me of a bottled iced tea – only way better and without any gunk added. I probably won’t buy more of this specific kind, but the tea itself is very good. If anyone has tried a good passion fruit tea, let me know!
This was my first time trying this type of tea, and I’ll admit I was skeptical. It seems to be a love it or hate it kind of tea, and I reallllly wanted to love it. I had planned on getting a small amount to try on my last trip to Halifax, but when I had the chance to smell it I decided to go with 50g instead of 25.
The smoky scent of this tea is strong – so strong that I was seriously worried about having a coughing fit when I actually drank the tea. It isn’t a bad smell by any means; it is comforting, like a bonfire. Actually what it reminded me of most was going through Spaceship Earth at Epcot when I was little and the smell of the scence where Rome was burning. That was my first thought even at the store and I knew that even if I didn’t like the taste of the tea, I would love to just open the bag up to feel nostalgic once in a while!
My fears of the smoke being to strong in the brewed drink were immediately dimished on the first sip. Instead I found the tea to be surprisingly smooth and extremely comforting. I was worried about oversteeping, and probably left it a few minutes longer than I should have, but it had no sign of bitterness whatsoever.
I definitely don’t think this will be an everyday tea for me, but I’ll definitely always keep some on hand for cold rainy or snowy days!
Wow…It’s been a long time since I’ve done a proper tasting note! I am still making my way through my last orders of Della Terra and Verdant Tea, as I wait for my newest order to arrive!
The dry leaf for this tea smells wonderful! It is very strong and the almond is definitely very present! I found that the tea kept its smell once it was steeped as well.
Mostly, this reminds me of a nice amaretto tea. It isn’t heavy on the chocolate, although I do get those notes as well. The flavour isn’t as strong as the smell, but in this case I definitely consider it a good thing. It has a nice balance of sweetness on its own, and tonight I added a tiny bit of vanilla agave (I am in love with the stuff) and it works great together.
I almost always find that chocolately dessert teas benefit from a splash of milk, and this one was no different. It’s perfect for when I want something hot-chocolately but not heavy. It isn’t my favourite dessert tea, but I would consider buying it again. I’ll definitely drink the rest!
I am just sad that I am drinking this instead of trying new teas from my Verdant Tea order that came last week :( Let’s hope that tomorrow I can actually taste and enjoy something! I hate being sick!! This is barely even helping, but it is sort of soothing.
