The very nice manager at Adagio, when she heard me say I liked pu’erh teas, got excited and made me a sample of this “pure” pu’erh.
“Pure” pu’erh, let me be perfectly clear, tastes like grass clippings. Dirty grass clippings.
Now, this isn’t the first time I have failed to appreciate something that cultured people like, and it won’t be the last, I’m sure. If you enjoy it, bless you. But no. Just no. Pu’erh can provide some interesting depths of background flavor (I like the Berry Pu’erh from Tea Harbor and the Hazelberry Pu’Erh from Adagio) but straight? Ain’t happening.
Flavors: Cut Grass, Dirt
Meghann M, did you do a longer steep like 3-5min? You may be like me and prefer a short steep following a rinse. And if you still find shu pu erh isn’t your thing, still try sheng. (IMO) it’s SO much better:)
Once I get through more teas in my cupboard I may try another. I still have yet to try the GM chai pu-erh. I can’t remember if that is the only pu in the sampler pack…if not, i have experiences ahead of me!
Oh, and I did do a longer steep. It was around 4 minutes as that’s what the bag suggested.
Meghann M- the chai and regular pu erhs are the only pu erhs in the sampler.
Oh so sorry! This version was my first Pu Erh too and I found it utterly nasty. There is another one in the GM packet and it’s much much better than this. This is vile. :P I’m so proud that you made it three sips (I think I made it through 1/3 of the cup). This tea was the inspiration for the “3 sip” rule. ::shudders::
Oops — I’m the DM and forgot my own rule: it’s the “1 sip” rule (not 3 sips). Huh, I think that I was too nice rule-wise ;)
You may have been too nice, 3 sips was alright…they were tiny sips. Because the tea was hot, yes, that is why, the tea was hot, very hot!
Glad to hear GM’s are better. I may give one from the sampler a try tomorrow. I’ve had too much black tea this evening. Suffering from a bit of a caffeine high. Must go for a walk or something!