Ripened Aged Pu-erh Mini Tuocha

So this is the last of my TeaVivre samples from waaaay too long ago, and the only one that I hadn’t tried yet. In between getting those samples and now, we have moved to Southern California, land of perpetual sun and practically no rain (at least so far – I’ve been here since June and he’s been here since March). This pu-erh reminds me of autumn rainyness, without — as I saw in an amusing assesment of ripe pu-erh elsewhere — tasting like hamsters. The closest we’ve come to that after-rain smell here is from the sprinkler system that runs at 4 am every morning in our apartment complex. The tuochas are also a tiny bit bigger than some of the others I’ve seen, so I was able to get away with shorter steeping times for more steepings.

First of all, thankyou to Angel and TEAVIVRE for this generous sample.
I have been wanting to try unflavoured pu’erh for awhile now, so I thought Teavivre samples was a great opportunity.

Smell: earthy, reminds me of working in the garden! Not fishy smelling at all like some bad pu’erhs can be

Taste: very earthy tasting, and not bitter at all with just a tiny note of sweetness at the end of the sip.
2nd steep: 2minutes, same taste, a little lighter brew, the toucha has opened up now though
3rd steep: 2.5 minutes, this still doesn’t lose any flavour.

I suspect this could re-steep all day. I have lots of errands to run today, so this is it for me today though.
In summary, I think you have to be in the right mood for such an earthy flavour and it would feel good to drink this after a heavy sweet meal.
At this point, my palate still appreciates flavouring (maybe I will give the rose toucha a try next time). However, I did enjoy this today.

First review. Thank you to Teavivre and Angel for this sample that is beautifully packaged with care.

What a beautiful Spring day in the Rockies! The rest of North America seems to be having weather problems but not here..it just split around the mountains and bypassed us. No rain, tornados, snow or wind. So, I washed windows and then made tea! These mini Toucha’s are so cute…wrapped in white paper with red lettering (I don’t have any idea what it says…) . Read the directions and because I like stronger Pu-erh went with 2 minute steep after a quick rinse. I poured a bit in my glass double wall cup and took a whiff. Cinnamon! Oh no, something must have been left lingering in the cup! I quickly got another glass cup. Again, cinnamon! How could that be? I never smelled cinnamon or any spice in my straight, unflavored Pu-erh before! I filled up my glass with the coffee brown liquid and took a nice big swig…rolling it around and swooshing it like a fine aged wine. Hum…a bit of a chickory bitterness but not a tea leaf type bitterness, slight earth, on the heavy side and mysterious. Leather. Believe me…do not steep this longer than 2 minutes. I would even stop at 1 minute. This is potent stuff! I sweetened it a bit. Added milk. Neither changed the character at all so not necessary. I’m puzzeled and don’t know if I like this first pour that much.

Second steep 2 minutes. Wow what a grand difference. This is the best! Mildly smoky and astringent. The blues are gone as though someone opened a window and let the bats out. This is still slightly earthy in a good Pu-erh way with a hint of brown sugar. It is light enough for Spring or Summer. The color is a caramel brown. I added sweetening which was good and then played with ice which was also fantastic. Cream not so much. This is light and delicato. Need to respect the complexity at this stage so better sans milk.

*My Hints…1st steep keep it short…1 minute. 2nd steep… 2 minutes and if you add sugar forget the milk… but iced is good too ( nice warm weather Pu-erh).

Wow!
I never rate or review a tea while I’m still drinking it, but in this case I must make the exception.

First off, thank you Angel at Teavivre for this amazing sample! I cannot begin to express how delighted I was when you contacted me. I was already checking out your website before you generously offered to send me samples. And now I’m definitely buying more from you!

This is the first pu-erh tea I have ever tried. I was a little shy about them from seeing how they are these little discs of aged tea. I thought for sure I was going to mess up the brewing of this tea. For once, I admit I was completely wrong!

This morning before leaving for work, I grabbed the bag I received from Teavivre. I also grabbed my box of paper filters & headed to work. Once at the office, I got myself settled & decided it was time to try this tea. I would have prefered to make it at home, but I woke up late today…come on…the Super Bowl last night was a great game & my guests didn’t leave till after midnight. There was just no time this morning to properly brew this tea!

The smell…Earthy with a hint of fish. Everyone already warned me about that. No big deal. It’s the taste that I’m interested in.

The taste….the first sip is to test the water temp. The second really gives me the feeling of if I’ll like the tea or not. I not only like it, I love it!

It’s wonderful!

I can’t explain other than to say it’s a great flavor with a warm feeling to it. I can’t quite place the exact taste, but it’s good. I dare say it’s a plain black tea without making it sound boring. But it’s a simple flavor that isn’t overly thought, yet it is wonderful!

And while I’m still in the middle of the first cup, I’m already looking forward to a refill.

Well done Teavivre. This is a new favorite! I’m glad I took advantage of the holiday discount & ordered more!

FYI…my order was received on time & in perfect condition!
For those that haven’t ordered from Teavivre, I highly recommend you give them a try. Great tea + great customer service = a happy tea drinker!

Now if you’ll all excuse me…I’m off to finish this amazing cup of tea.

Thanks to Teavivre for the sample (sorry it took so long for me to get to a review).

This is my second cup of tea today. I steeped this for two minutes and the wet leaves did smell a little like dirt. But it didn’t put me off from trying this out. In the cup is smells – well I don’t know what the smell is, but it isn’t dirt, what it is is yummy. This brewed up a nice strong cup. Which I will need today in order to start unpacking from yesterday’s move. I’m getting a little of the chocolate notes someone else mentioned. But mostly there is a bold flavor I can’t put my finger on. I’m looking forward to my next cup already (with a longer steep) and I’m not even half way done with this one! We have another winner!

Very good, nice color and taste I’ll get more of these, Thanks Teavivre :)

This is a delicious Pu-erh! I brewed this up in the Yixing and the result after 1 minute was a glorious dark purple brew. The rose flavor was so delicate. This will be purchased from Teavivre. I know my Pu-erhs and I love this one….

This is a decent shu pu-er. I would advise to steep it a bit longer than the directions call for to get the real power of the cup. I tried it by-the-book and then with a much longer steep, and I enjoyed the second version much more, got so much more true flavor from it. Steeping such a compressed nozzle of leaf for 1 minute doesn’t really cut it – it’s a diluted version of it’s true self as the leaves are still trying to come unglued.

With the longer steep I enjoyed the traditional earthiness-ranging-to-spicy flavors, still a bit smoother than I might prefer, but very drinkable. Not bitter, even after a long steep, and no “dusty” notes either, on the flip side. I could see this being a good steep for the morning, when you want that rich, earthy kick, but still need something subtle and easy to wash down.

Pics, my steeping attempts, and other thoughts in my blog review: http://bit.ly/s7zKmj

So… this is some exciting stuff. This is my first ever Puerh. and i didn’t know rather to be excited or intimidated by it. It is wonderfully malty like the yunnan blacks i have had and so much more dark… almost like a cup of coke. Dry, it smelled a little fishy. Brewed is is a wonderful thing. having said all of that. i’m not even sure if this is the same tea as the teavivre tea. The packaging look identical so i kind of assumed. None the less, amazing.

Thank you Tommy for my new Fixation.

This is my first sampling of Pu-erh tea. If Teavivre’s Ripened Aged Pu-erh Mini Tuocha is representative of other teas of this type, I will be seeking out additional members of this club soon!

This tea is absolutely delicious! It has a rich, robust, and bold wood taste with a sweet edge to it. The color is a full-bodied dark brown, like maple syrup filtered through mahogany wood. The aroma reminds me of freshly cut fine wood in a furniture maker’s shop.

I found myself swirling the tea around my mouth longer than usual with each sip. I just didn’t want to swallow it and end the fabulous flavor ride.

As always, I followed Teavivre’s preparation instructions to the letter. I brewed this tea at 212 degrees for two minutes. That method seemed to perfectly produce one of the best tea experiences I have ever had.

If there is such a thing as a tea drinker’s tea, this has got to be it. I would enjoy this beverage at any time of the day or night. This tea is now listed at the top of my rapidly growing tea shopping list.