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I lost almost all my energy and usefulness yesterday to a stomach virus and today my buttered English muffin did not sit well. It sat and sat and sat in my stomach feeling like a brick. I decided a pot of puerh for all day sipping was in order.

Since I am behind on cleaning I was busy vacuuming and dusting and polishing and forgot to check the tea, and this big flat cube had opened right up and I had a pot of almost inky black tea.

No worries, puerh almost always forgives, so I added some extra water. Then I was puzzled. There was puerh smell and…something else? Fruity? I decided the jasmine incense burning in another room may have infiltrated the kitchen. But this didn’t smell like jasmine, or like puerh. I poured a cup and sniffed.

It’s just the tea. If someone else made this tea I would swear it was a flavored puerh. Trying to wrack my brain for what the aroma was, I think blackcurrant describes it best. There is camphor as well. Minty tingle on the tongue while the tea is hot that fades as it cools. Overall, the broth is very creamy.

Second steep (these are big steeps) was very dark as soon as the water hit it, so it probably had a 30 second steep at most. Now the initial aroma was quite expected “horse-y” puerh aroma. As I poured it into a second pot, the horse barn was subdued and stronger camphor came forward but there is still a fruity note here, much weaker than the first steep and horse and camphor lead.

White2Tea says it has molasses notes, and I suppose I get molasses and maybe some molasses has this fruity taste which they do not mention at all. I think it is fabulous, and this would be a really great choice for introducing people to ripe puerh tea.

I will ice part of this and keep drinking it for the next day or two, as Ashman is now feeling a bit off in the gut and will also benefit from puerh’s tendency to calm the gut when food feels heavy.

Bottom line: I like it very much and would definitely order more of this.