Yunnan Pu-Erh Tea

I was a bit surprised that this oriental-supermarket Pu-erh didn’t yet have a proper generic entry in Steepster, so I added it. I bought this together with a Sea Dyke Tie Guan Yin to get some baselines into my research.

This is a tea that screams ‘tea egg’: very choppy leaf parts that don’t really expand and instantly give off their content. So after a messy gaiwan attempt I made a pot instead. As I approach this from a previous experience with some even grainier mini tuo’s, I was surprised that the water didn’t turn to mud instantly, and I might have brewed a bit too light. Inspection of the infuser confirms that this is true: again, these leaf parts hardly expand at all, so in this case, more is more.

I set out to hack my brew by refilling the infuser and returning it to the same water. The problem is, there is so little to these teas that they really need a full body for anything to be experienced at all. In doing so, for instance, a slight camphor note can be teased out of the mini tuo’s I mentioned before.

I don’t think I can honestly say that it is the same for this tea. There is dry wood in there, which basically is just the tea itself. Beyond that I can only call this a ‘black tea flavoured pu-erh tea’. What it does well: it puts a decent tea buzz in your throat, nose and mind. Of course, this the cumulative effect of all my attempts to appreciate this tea.

I won’t call this tea awful or even a waste of money, but it is certainly nothing beyond a daily household tea. Perhaps good to have at home for the cheapness and the reference, but not something you miss out on at all, so no recommendation.