I was hesitant to try this one. It was after dinner and I was looking for a dessert tea. This one smelled delicious in its little sample tin, but what about those reports that pu’erh can smell like fish? Yuck! I don’t want that in my tea! I cautiously boiled water, added 1.5tsp of dry leaf to my infuser, and began brewing.
It smelled like coffee and chocolate – no fish here! The taste was rich and sweet – a thick tea with a vaguely chocolate taste to it. The steeped tea was a dark brown, a perfect complement to the delicious smell and taste. Yum!
Second steep was more of the same from the first – chocolate, coffee, heavenly aroma. No fish here!
But on the third steep, there it was in the background, the smell of a grocery store seafood section lingering over the coffee/chocolate goodness. Disappointing. The taste from previous steepings was still there, though muted. I couldn’t get past the smell though, and I didn’t bother with a fourth steeping.
Overall, a delicious tea I look forward to stocking up on. Bet this would be a fantastic breakfast accompaniment!
