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Special thanks to Amy for sending me some really fine coinage! :)) Seriously, the Chinese used tea as a form of currency and barter exchange. I really like this so on to the review.

I used 1/2 a coin for this tasting and drank three delicious cups. In the wet leaves I smelled a toasty and sweet aroma. The cup is very dark and sweet smelling. I just love Puerh teas (the few that I’ve tried). This cup was no exception-velvety smooth, sweet, and delicious! The main flavor note I get here is mushrooms. My second cup was steeped at 1 minute and roughy same temp. An even deeper color greets my eyes. The aromas are slightly deeper as the wet leaves have a more toasty aroma to them. The cup has more depth of flavor too, with even more sweet mushrooms. My last cup (212 for 3 min) was still a delicious sweet cup with good flavor, but not as much depth as the second.

I’m not sure I get the “fishy” quality that alot of people talk of. Maybe it just doesn’t exist here at such short steeps.

For the second 1/2 coin, I decided to do longer steeps to experience the deeper flavors. My first cup steeped at 180 for 3 minutes. Now the aroma really comes out of the wet leaves! Really toasty and wood-like. Deeply inhaling I get intense toasty…….like a roasted marshmallow sweetness. What a toasty sweet aromatic cup before me. Much deeper flavors here-toasty, woody, very sweet and smooth! I’m still getting mushrooms, and….wait…fishy? Maybe some fishiness here. At least I think this is what others describe as the fish-like quality of Puerhs. If so it is mild, and I like fish, so it only adds to the depth of flavor.

My second cup was at a gentle boil for 5 min. I think having only two cups was a good choice as my second cup was similar to the first. Toasty, roasted marshmallows, mushrooms….and fishy?! Maybe a little more “fishy” than the first cup, but still a secondary flavor and still mild to me. What a delicious cup!

What I take with me with this tea experience is that I like to brew Puerhs in shorter steeps like my first 1/2 coin, and with the deeper flavors and aromas of the second 1/2 coin. It just depends on my mood. I like the dark sweetness of the cups. I like all their flavors, and still with the longer steeps-smooth and sweet with no bitterness. A little “fishy” maybe, but not offensive.

I will definitely explore more Puerhs in the future! Thanks again Amy. :)) One coin down, one to go. How should I brew it…….by the 1/2 coin? Should use the whole coin next time? Maybe I’ll flip a coin and throw caution to the wind. :)) WWWHHHEEE!

Cupped: Tuesday & Monday, February 21 & 27, 2012.

Reviewed: Sunday, March 4, 2012.