In the Mood for Tea

I was given a packet of this by a good friend who has decided she does not like puerh teas. This is naturally a deplorable occurrence, but one which has worked significantly to my advantage, because this loose puerh is rather good. I had to guess a bit about quantities and steeping time but previous experience stood me in good stead. As a result, when I drank this tea I got a solid hit of honey and grape followed by a tongue-puckering, grape-like dryness in the aftertaste. Further resteepings led to a mellowing of the honey flavour, but the grape persisted throughout as did the astringency. Beyond the flavour, this tea has happy and relaxed qi. It filled me with a sense of well-being after I drank it, which was most welcome. One thing I did not notice was the bitterness that the company’s website suggested should be there. I’m not going to complain about that though. This tea is a tea you experience with your whole body and the lack of the advertised bitterness does not detract from that experience.

I am not a tea expert – I’ve just gone on a bit of a tea experimentation craze, so my tea tasting prowess is nil. I cannot list off the exact flavors and undertones to this tea. All I can say is that this is the first tea I have truly enjoyed drinking on its own, with nothing added (milk, sugar, or honey). It is naturally sweet enough for someone with a self-admitted sweet tooth when it comes to tea (and somehow who’s used to scooping a dollop of honey into her teas), but not sickeningly sweet. No bitterness after 3-4 minutes of steeping. I can see this being my regular everyday tea if not for the price tag – 81kr (12.51USD) per 50g. Thankfully it should be able to tolerate multiple steeping sessions.