I bought this in the fall from one of the local tea houses I’ve been meaning to check out. I can’t say I dig pu’erh (the only exception was the one that tasted exactly like a Cinammon bun and no pu’erh taste in site) but vanilla mint pu’erh I might be able to handle, I thought to myself.
I sent some to dexter3657 without trying it beforehand. It’s a good thing I did because had I tasted this, she wouldn’t have gotten any. Cause it ain’t that good! It’s really minty. I don’t find it muted like I thought it might be. And gosh, it smells so dirty. I don’t think I’m going to be able to finish this cup, my stomach lurches every time I bring the cup to my nose. OMG. How do people drink this stuff. Lol
ETA: the cup cooled a little so it’s a lot less aromatic. The taste is not bad, it’s just the smell that’s revolting. I can’t even tell you if this is good pu’erh or not. I might be able to finish it, I’m halfway through.
Did you rinse it first? I guess that helps sometimes with excessive ‘dirt’.
Hmmmm – all I got from this was mint, I didn’t really taste much pu’erh. I understand that the flavors we DON’T like are usually the ones that stand out the most, but if your “stomach lurches” with the smell of this – me thinks you should start really gentle with pu’erh.
these guys were probably clobbering it with mint in hopes to disguise. because yes, there was loads of mint. but when when the cup came closer to the nose, there was the puerh. also, dex, is there such a thing as gentle puerh? I know those samples you sent me from Mandala before were not offensive at all but I also wasn’t thinking that it was tasty.
Yes there is – The white silver buds is really gentle – at least Mandala’s is – I’ve got some Tealux too – I’m going to try it first and then if it’s decent will send you some. Working on finding you a decent shu too. :))
Was it grace (?) I think so – said that Noble Mark was gentlemanly… loved that line. Not offensive and not tasty are two different things. You may not be a pu’erh lover. I’ll send you a couple of “non offensive” and you can decide if they are tasty or not. :))
most people have bad shu cha and decide puer is not good stuff…sheng and shu are completely different animals…
in my experience there are far more bad ripe teas than raw…the fermentation to make shu has to be done correctly or you end up with just plain bad teas…