Conundrum Tea

Thank you to Conundrum Tea for this sample. This is quite a good ripe puerh. It did not have too much in the way of fermentation flavor and what was there was neither fishy or unpleasant. It seems this was cleanly fermented tea. There was little bitterness to this tea, maybe a little in the first steep but even that I’m not sure of. It had a nice sweet taste throughout all twelve steeps I gave the tea. Later on I would even venture to say it had developed something of a dates note to it. It was not in my estimate really chocolaty. It was really good so this is not a bad thing. I only mention it because many people look for a chocolate taste in ripe puerh. It could have been there but I didn’t notice it. This is not a cheap tea. I think they sell 50g for $23. Still, after I try some more of their samples I may buy some. I have another five or six samples to try. I think they are a US seller but I am not completely sure. I don’t really remember how long it took for the samples to get to me. If the rest of their teas are this good it will be very nice. They even sent a hojicha so they are not a seller of strictly Chinese teas. At least I’ve never heard of the Chiinese making Hojicha. But I digress. I gave this twelve steeps and it was in the end really tasty. What more can you expect. It may be my imagination but I think I even feel some minor qi from this tea. I don’t usually get any from ripe tea. This was excellent tea and their store looks really interesting. I don’t think they have a presence on Steepster. They contacted my on Instagram. I find myself wondering if they give a discount on this tea if you buy it in quantity. I really did like this one.

I steeped this twelve times in a 100ml gaiwan with 7g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 min. The tea was not finished at twelve steeps. If I wanted to continue I could get a few more steeps out of the leaves.

It is beautiful to look at as well as drink.

Very smooth and subtle for a black tea, almost sweet. I am in love with this tea. Black teas are often too bitter for me. Everest Sunrise has no hint of bitterness. It actually gets sweeter after drinking.