Hi again fellow Steepsters! Long time no see! I’ve been incredibly busy with end of semester projects, graduation (eek! Well, and yay!) and getting ready to move. I have still been drinking tea though! So some of the reviews to come may be from a bit ago or impressions from a bit ago and the present. Soooo… Here we go!
This was sent to me by Jaime! Thanks a ton! I’ve been wanting to try this forever.
The first time I steeped this, I used the water from my Sparkletts water jug dispenser (the hot side). Well, apparently it didn’t get hot enough that time and/or I was pretty impatient to make my tea (also likely), because after it steeped for about 4 min I tested the water and it was only lukewarm! I figured that I would try the tea anyway, but even as it cooled it still only tasted like water with some spices and pepper. Not too pleasant. I’ve never had a pu-erh tea before, but I figured that that couldn’t be right.
After chalking the first steeping experience up to user error, I tried it again yesterday. This time, I made sure that the water was hot enough, then steeped the tea bag for 4 min and then gave the cup a good stir to mix everything together (as recommended by Jaime). I could pretty much just taste water spices again while it was hot, but as it started to cool, I could really start to taste and smell the chocolate as well as the orange, cinnamon, and nutmeg. This is totally different from cocoa. If you are looking at this to be a replacement for that, then I think that you will be disappointed. But if you just look at this tea as being a different kind of beverage “option,” then you might be pleasantly surprised. This was a totally different tea experience for me, but you know what? I think that I liked it! I am going to try it one more time before I rate it and decide if I want to buy a box once I am finished with the samples.
Yeah, this is one that you kind of have to come to with no expectations…it’s not going to taste like cocoa, or tea, or really even pu erh (at least, not for me). It’s its own special thing. I’m going to have to get me some more of it myself!