Royal Palace Pu-erh

I’ve been looking forward to trying this sample ever since Ricky said he thought I’d like it since I’d liked Maiden’s Ecstasy.

The little pu erh leaves are so small and cute, like they are with the other Samovar loose pu erhs, and perhaps loose pu erhs in general (my experience isn’t yet broad enough to comment). They’re not a uniform color, they’re gradations of brown from a medium, milk chocolate to a dark, bittersweet chocolate color. They have the deep, dark, leathery smell I have come to associate with pu erh. And something mocha-like, too.

What a gorgeous, dark color this brews to! It’s a deep dark brown, with some red in it. Depending on how the light hits it, it is either very nearly opaque, or darkly translucent. The aroma is gorgeous too. It’s only a little leathery, and not barnyardy, or fishy that I could detect. It reminds me of a savory mushroom soup. Not cream of mushroom. The other kind; the brothy, gravy-esque kind.

The taste is amazing. Again the words deep and dark come to mind. Again, there’s nothing barnyardy or fishy about how this tastes to me. There is some leather, but there is a lot more, too. Earth, moss, coffee, and an interesting mix of other suggestions. On the one hand, gravy. On the other, tree resin. On the other… ok, I realize I don’t have three hands, but if I did, the third would be almost a very dusky, deep, dry cabernet, the kind I don’t generally find palatable. In this tea, though, I like that suggestion. What I don’t like about those kinds of cabs is the abundance of tannin. This, however, is exceptionally smooth.

I think what I must be trying to describe is what ancient trees taste like. Which is awesome to think about.

This is quite lovely. Unlike the other Samovar pu erhs, this is so rich it’s not something I could drink every day. Fortunately, since pu erhs improve with age, I don’t have to worry about it going bad in my cupboard if I limit my indulgence to a sometime thing.

Quick rinse then brewed. The smell is very sweet – very much the sweet hay smell I seem to get from pu-erhs. It’s pretty potent, in fact. Maybe a little too strong for the not good mood I’m in right now though. But as it cools a little it seems less… syrupy sweet hay and more dry sweet hay and not as potent so I could be okay with this today. We’ll see.

Sipping and wow. This is nothing like the smell. I mean, it is, but I was expecting something thick and (maybe too) sweet and glaze-like. And it’s not. There’s an initial sweetness but it isn’t heavy and then there’s a warm taste that gives it a hint of spice and then the sweetness falls off – not so much that it is bitter or tart – to something more earthy. I can’t get the espresso or chocolate taste from Samovar’s notes but that’s okay. This is sweet without being syrupy. Rich without being heavy. Smooth without being boring. This is very good for a pu-erh.

I treated myself to this at the Hayes (“Zen”) Valley Tea Lounge today! It was nice and relaxing. I found the flavor to be very mild, soft, slatey and earthy. I think I detected some cocoa notes. But the dominant flavor was minerally earth. Kind of “root-y”. Definitely puerh.
It was fine overall. Great to enjoy over a portobello mushroom and gruyere cheese sandwich (which is what I had) at the lounge. But it didn’t wow me enough to buy more to take home.

Good but not full-tin worthy. :)

This is a tea takgoti sent to me since she knows that I enjoy trying pu-erhs. This one is quite nice. It has a very smooth taste. Of course it has that distinctive pu-erh fragrance. But I think I actually like this one. I will have to think on it further to determine what exactly makes it nice.

Update: Have now had three steeps of this and I like it more each time.

Ahhhh now that’s more like it! I gave this pu-erh a quick rinse and then steeped for the full 5mins and it brewed up to a very dark brown/black color. The taste is like a sweet hay/mossy taste with a bit of astringency to it, but that’s ok! Honestly though I would prefer a stronger earthy/hay/mossy taste. But this is still really good! Nom, nom, nom!!! :-D

This is the third and most expensive of the Pu-erhs I’ve tried that arrived in the Samovar Pu-erh sampler.

Difficult to say whether this is “better” than Maiden’s Ecstasy because ME will appeal to the person who likes hints of sweet. Royal Palace Organic is a classic malty, deeply woodsy Pu-erh that will appeal to the purist.

I’m not sure I detect the chocolate or cocoa notes that have been described. The malt and wood notes are strong, but yet it drinks smooth. This is the first Pu-erh I’ve tried that actually had me craving to drink mass quantities of it, so it’s possible the cocoa finish is subtly there, beckoning me back.

It’s smooth, it finishes a bit cleaner than other pu-erhs, I would say it’s almost got a crispness to it that I haven’t yet experienced in other brand’s higher-end pu-erhs.

Still deep and earthy after 6-7 infusions.

I would drink this everyday if it were affordable, but I’ll stick with my other finds and reserve Royal Palace for the occasional “ah, this is the stuff” moments. It truly is the clean finish that distinguishes it from other brands, but that’s not enough of a “wow” for me to convert to it for my go-to brewing.

kind of fishy, very smooth, but not much body. light, springy aftertaste

Really enjoying this. If you’ve tried Samovar’s Maiden Ecstasy, you should definitely give this one a try. It costs a bit more, but very worth it in my opinion.

So good.