Okay, finally trying my puerh sample from Teavivre. Thank you Angel! I have only encountered puerh a few times before and I didn’t like it – the aroma was always fishy and I couldn’t get over it. I understand that to mean that the puerh was of low quality and lately I’ve been wanting to try some better stuff, so here I am. I also have one from Peony Tea that I hope to try soon. The tuocha (henceforth to be known as the bird’s nest) is adorable and has an aroma that reminds me of hamster cages – not pee or poo but sawdust and maybe the grains that I used to feed Jake. (We had a hamster who died a few years ago, he has a very fond place in my heart. The smell of this actually makes me miss him).
I did a thirty second rinse to awaken the leaves, and hopefully rinse away anything that I might find particularly yucky. :) Surprisingly, the bird’s nest basically crumbled. My gaiwan is full of small pieces of tea leaves, it almost looks like ground coffee. I didn’t really expect that.
First official steep went for 1 minute and yielded a DARK liquor. It truly puts me in mind of coffee, that is not something I’ve had in tea before. I am predominantly a black tea drinker and puerh seemed like the next step for me. My tea pet (a pair of feet) are getting a really good bath today! Anyway, the first steep smells like a barn to me, old wet wood and damp hay/sawdust. It smells like cows and horses coming in from the rain with damp hides – while this description may sound unappealing, there is something comforting about it too. I don’t necessarily want to drink it, but the aroma is very familiar. There is no fish at all, but just damp nature – wood, earth, animals, cloth. Interesting. The taste matches the smell astonishingly closely. Still no fish, but strong earthiness, very natural and organic. Strong without being bitter, and not like any tea I have had before. I like this, but it’s way out of my comfort zone. It doesn’t even taste like tea as I know it. I would like a bit of sweetness here, a honey note to offset the earthiness. I don’t even know if puerh HAS honey notes!
Second steep went for 1.5 minutes, yielding an even darker brew than the first time. it’s almost black! Are we sure this isn’t coffee? The leaves are so small that a bunch escaped the lid of my gaiwan. It may be silly, but I hate leaves in my cup. The aroma this time is very similar than the first. Initially it seemed a bit muted but then I got a strong hit of leather, like I’m in a shop filled with freshly worked boots. While I LOVE the smell of leather (I was a biker baby, I had leather jacket, chaps, all that good stuff) I feel a little weird about drinking it. Bravely, I persevere and am rewarded with a better brew than before. The taste is very similar to the first steep but more palatable. The edga has been taken off the earthiness and I am getting something more like the tea I know and love. There is some sweetness here that I appreciate, though there is also a hint of bitterness. It’s strange that both of those notes can be present where they weren’t before. I’ll finish this one quickly, I fear it may be becoming bitter because of the leaves that slipped into my cup. I almost expect a bit of spice, cinnamon or nutmeg but I get nothing like that. This remains very organic, tasting entirely of the earth. This is definitely better than the first, for me.
Third steep went for 2.5 minutes (whoops!) and yielded a much lighter cup. This time I am enjoying a deep amber. maybe the extra time was a wise accident. The aroma has gone back to hamster cage, wet sawdust and maybe even garden mulch. As I’ve said before, very earthy. The taste is a muted version of the aroma, no bitterness but not any sweetness either. I think I am getting close to the end of my run with this bird’s nest. The beau says this one is by far the best, while I am not sure. The boldness of the second steep was remarkable, but this one comes across as drinkable. I am starting to get a cumulative hint of bitterness which is clouding my judgment of this one.
I’m going for a fourth steep of 3 minutes. I’m too lazy to get up and re-heat the water so it has probably cooled quite a bit at this point, but the extra time seems to balance that out. This liquor is considerably lighter than the others and has very little aroma. There is a whiff of barn animals, but that’s about it. The flavour is similarly weakened. I’ve reached the end, I think. I do prefer my pu a little lighter (for now) so the second and third steeps were the best for me, but they were all enjoyable.
All in all, puerh is definitely not an everyday tea for me, but this bird’s nest has taken away a lot of my fear. There is hope for me in the world of pu! : ) As for the rating, since I have little experience with puerh, I will just go with how drinkable it is for me and perhaps adjust up or down as I try more. Since previous puerh blends were undrinkable for me, this rating is actually really high!
Oh god. This is too funny. I laughed at the Mac & cheese first. Then at the herbs de Provence on it. Not having grown up in North America I don’t get the Mac & cheese. But My common law spouse is born and raised Canadian. I tried making gourmet Mac n cheese from scratch and don’t you know it, it ain’t as good as the boxed shit. I guess unless it’s glowing orange it just don’t cut it.
Haha way to be making it super gourmet.
Nxdoor, I think KF is engraved in us North Americans, it’s in our DNA, lol!
Fjellrev, it’s still crap, but I’d rather have gourmet crap than just plain crap, don’t you agree?
You’re right about that! I never thought about sprucing up KD like that.
OMG, just noticed I wrote KF instead of KD, lol! Corrected, must be my dyslexia, KF as in Kraft probably?
I pimp my food all the time, it’s my creative side :-)
I love my vitamix,it gets used every morning…everyone has a weakness…haha
Aw, thanks cryptickoi, glad to know I’m not the only one enjoying my green morning juice! Isn’t it a life changer? How long have you been using yours?
LOL Oh no! Not boxed KD! I’m not judging, I swear I’m not judging… lol I’m not much better myself lately.. I’m a fellow health freak currently on a massive comfort food binge… I really want to eat more veggies, I really do, it’s just that my hands are doing what they want and not picking them out of the fridge lately!
Kamyria, don’t be too hard on yourself, we all need some comfort binging. Fruits and veggies will still be there when your hands return,haha!
I’ve only had mine for about 6mos. but I’ve been doing protein/superfood smoothies every morning for 3 years I guess…
LOL! Same dirty secret here, but with Penzey’s Sunny Paris or Ruth Ann’s Muskegon Avenue spices added! The gooier it is, the better it tastes. Al dente, of course!
I’m sort of a health nut too…I really wish there were a lot more organic choices when it came to teas…
Ashmanra, listen to us, who are we kidding? gourmet al dente KD really? lol, as if it’s some kind of delicatessen. Oh well, I guess it is to us! Thanks for also sharing your secret! (Now gotta look for those spice blends!)
Closet KD lover as well. I like garlic sausage, onion, and tomato added. Al dente? sorry nope – over cooked and mushy for me. KD isn’t real pasta. LOL
now I’m thinking dark chocolate with berries and ripe pu…mmm…
Another KD lover here! Only time I got tired of it was when I ate a lot of it as a first year student lol, now I’m back to loving it :) dill, garlic/garlic powder, salt and pepper for me on it, in various combinations of the 4. :)
Cryptickoi, me too for 3 years, but luckily, I started with the Vitamix. Wow, it must have made a huge difference for you, after 2.5 years with a regular blender! It’s a leap of faith financially but it is worth every penny. I don’t always add protein powder (the vegetal kind) cause most of the time I add whole almonds, hemp and chia seeds, and greek yogurt. So delicious!
yeah,regular blenders suck…haha
OMG, people, I think we all came out at the same time, lol, Dexter, leave the closet open!!!
Had no clue there were so many KD lovers here :-)
Miss Lena, sounds delicious!
Dexter sausages for real??? Not judging, but, you know…
LOL garlic sausage isn’t the same as breakfast sausage, but yes I KNOW. It’s ok, ham works well too….
It’s hard not to love mac and cheese. It’s such a pure comfort food. And the Kraft version is sort of the gold standard. I’m so glad my kids have graduated from mac and cheese every other night or so as it keeps me out of trouble! I like the gussied up versions too, though I can do without the breadcrumbs that seem to be de rigueur for the gourmet types. I have to confess that we like Annie’s shells also, though I try to limit myself to just a taste!
Morgana, yes I can imagine how being exposed to it every other night is a bad, bad thing for mom, lol! Not much of a breadcrumbs fan either…
Mmm all this KD talk is making me want to make some..too bad we don’t have any in the house at the moment! Popcorn it is :)
You get my seal of approval, MissLena!
I love browning some butter in a pan and adding the cheese sauce mixed with a bit of milk to cook and melt it before adding the noodles back. That’s how I ‘gourmet it up’!
OMGsrsly, welcome to our KD outing then, sounds great :-)
We saw an episode of Diners Driveins and Dives where they made a fancy smancy mac & cheese with a ton of different cheeses. We went to the trouble of finding them all and trying it. Ehh. We are back to the good stuff made with Velveeta instead of water is in that pouch and throw in some hot dogs. I can almost hear my arteries snapping shut.
Yes bad for the arteries, but so good for the soul :-) KS, doesn’t it feel good to embrace this decadent habit of ours?
I got a case of Annie’s gluten free. So tempting to go home and make it, but I’m off grains until the end of the month! This is the first time I’ve actually been tempted. KD is miracle comfort food for sure. :)