Magnolia Puerh

So I ended up checking out Earth Fare and buying too much and putting it on the card my mom pays…hey if you’re gonna steal my spring break, I’m getting this Numi sampler and asparagus and bacon and smoked cheddar cheese.

So I opened the box and this one fell out, so I figured I’d have it first. I gave it a quick rinse and steeped it for three minutes. I added wildflower honey because I wasn’t so sure this would be very good, plus it is a pretty floral wildflower honey so it might help bring out this magnolia.

This isn’t too bad, I think sweetening it really helps bring out a floral taste…not really sure if it’s magnolia. There’s also a kind of weird aftertaste that almost reminds me of the way freezer burnt food tastes…so yeah.

Found it quite weird that even though this is labeled as a puerh on the bag and obviously by the name of the tea, green tea is listed as the first ingredient.

Sipdown no. 41 of 2016 (no. 252 total).

Downed the last two bags at work today. Pleasant, greenish floral aroma and flavor. I steeped on the short side, so not a lot of heft from the puerh, but I could tell it was there.
I like this better than I rated it. Bumping a few points.

Still, not likely to revisit it as there are too many other teas to try and though pleasant, this wasn’t a standout.

I only had two samples of this and I took them with me to dog sit tonight whilst my parents are out. They have gone to see a band called The Cult, my mum used to be engaged to Ian Astbury the singer so she goes to see them whenever they come over. I’ve been treated to an Indian take away tonight :D

Steeped colour is mahogany with an earthen, musky scent. I can’t particularly smell any magnolia or anything floral but there is a delicate sweetness.

Flavour is thick and perfumed with some astringency and dryness in the after taste. The flavour is more magnolia like than it’s scent but it’s not fresh enough for my personal liking. The Puerh is still very musky and earthen but somewhat toned down from what I was expecting.

It’s certainly drinkable but this tea just isn’t for me. Too perfumed and dry for me.

Perhaps my sense of smell and taste aren’t keen enough, but I’m not picking up the magnolia or anything else flowery really. It’s basically like a plain pu-erh although it is on the lighter side and quite smooth. The flavour is earthy/peaty though unlike some it doesn’t bring to mind eating dirt, and it also has some sweet hay-like notes. It’s pleasent enough as far as pu-erhs go, particularly a bagged one, but the name feels like false advertising.

additional notes: Old tea bag alert.  I think I found a couple bags of this YEARS ago in a teabox.  Numi is usually my favorite teabag company!  As far as I can remember.  This isn’t bad.  Though I think I just realized today that this is ripe puerh WITH magnolia flavored green tea.  Then I was trying quite hard to taste any green tea, but I don’t think I could…. unless its inclusion is only making the puerh weaker.  Or maybe it’s hojicha.  But I don’t think it’s very weak for a teabag with a smallish amount of leaves.  I don’t think it was worth it to add “magnolia” green, as I can’t really taste magnolia either.  Checking my 10 year old note, I didn’t notice magnolia then either. A straight puerh here would have been fine.  The second steep was weak but I probably let the first steep go a little long.  Again… I like Numi!  Nice to revisit this one.  Now if only they would make their vanilla black again.

My fiancee made this and let me take a few sips of it because I wanted to try it. It confused me because it smelled like a normal pu-erh (dusty and full of damp earth) but when I tried it I tasted flowers. It was light and smooth and floral. It felt like it was a contradiction to my senses. I think I like the chocolate pu-erh better.

This was one of the tea bags that came in our goodie bags from the NYC Coffee & Tea festival. I’m a bit meh when it comes to most pu-erhs… I don’t hate them, but I also don’t tend to enjoy them a ton either. I’m really not sure what made me decided to brew this one up this afternoon, and I almost regretted it for a bit when I was thinking if I wouldn’t be better off with a tea I loved after this morning’s disappointment, but in the end I’m happy enough with it.

The tea bag smelled straight up like hay and wood shavings. I’m sure the paper bag isn’t helping. Steeped, it has those same woody notes but overlain with a sweet magnolia aroma. It’s definitely a woody, oaky kind of puerh, reminding me more of the base notes to ATR’s Toasted Fig than some of the other puerhs I’ve tried. The magnolia lends a sweet, lightly floral note to the mix that’s rather pleasant but not perfumy or anything. Definitely better than I was expecting, but I can’t say I’ll be using the coupon on the back of the card.

Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box

Numi is pretty good for bagged tea, so I grabbed one of these to try. I was surprised to read that this is primarily a green tea, with just a hint of pu-erh! The magnolia is very intriguing! We have magnolias in our yard and I love the scent. The magnolia+green is like a twist on jasmine green, and the pu-erh adds a hint of rich undertone to the whole package. Very nice. I would love to see someone like Verdant or Mandala do a straight pu-erh version of magnolia!

I’ve been overlapping my teas, in an effort to catch up to my steep sister Sil, & I brewed this one & the Plum Oolong at the same time. I added a little stevia to the Oolong, because it benefits from a little sweet, & drank it with my dinner (BBQ! Tony was having sweet tea, I had Plum Oolong).

As I was drinking that tea, I realized it wasn’t sweet at all. When I started drinking this one, I realized it was, LOL. Oops!
Oh well, the sweetness was actually nice, bringing out the fruitiness of this one. Although it’s not amazing, it’s ok for a bagged Shu.

Bagged

Aroma when Dry: Floral, slightly sour
After water is first poured: Soft earthy floral
At end of steep:
Tea liquor:
first color: Light brown
At end of steep: Ruddy

Staple? Yes, will try loose leaf version next.
Time of day preferred: Morning
Taste:
first notes: floral, deeper then Jasmine. Being my first Magnolia I have tasted, I have to go by comparing it to what the flower smells like on a tree. Earthy, woody fragrance follows, and deepening taste.
As it cools? Notes blend into floral woodyness.
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No.
Lingers? Not much, leaves with a flat dustyness.