Yunnan 2004 Mini-Tuocha Ripe Puerh Tea

This was a part of the birthday order from What-Cha. It was included as a “mystery tea” — that is, Alistair picks the tea, and you get it at something of a discount. When the order arrived, this tea was not available on the What-Cha website. It’s from Menghai, but I’m not sure what their name for it is. I don’t know whether or not What-Cha will put it on the site at some point — or if it’s something he just has a little of and is using for mystery tea boxes.

I did a couple of quick rinses. I used 8 grams per 4 ounces, and that is way too much. Should have gone with 4 grams. This tea is very dusty. It looks like coffee grounds after rinsing, not tea. I’m double-straining it, and it’s impossible to completely keep out the tea. The tea you drink also looks like coffee. I bet this is one that gets recommended for coffee drinker pretty often.

It’s extremely earthy, sort of overwhelmingly so. I’m interested to see what happens when I cut down on the amount I use. It’s smooth. Has a little bit of a hay aftertaste. Hm… This earthiness isn’t gross or anything, but earthy notes still don’t appeal to me very much in tea. I’m withholding judgement here until I try it in a smaller amount, and might notice more things in later steeps. I’ve only had two so far.