Iron Silk Puer

A friend on Facebook did a swap with me a while back and she sent me Iron Silk Puerh from TEASOURCE along with some others, I enjoyed it and she sent me some more this time from INFINITEA, So I decided to compare.
Iron Silk Puerh is Puerh blended with peppermint, clove and licorice, I’m not sure whose blend it was first or if either of these are the “original” but they are both pretty consistent taste-wise, It’s a nice and interesting blend very tasty and smell wonderful, so wonderful in fact that after I tasted these in my tearoom we left for about an hour to have dinner and when I opened the door to go back into the tearoom
it was filled with aroma of peppermint(not the candy but the real deal).Like I said the flavor of both teas is pretty much the same nice Puerh that smell of mint with flavors of licorice and cloves which is very nice but the big difference
in these two aren’t the taste of smell but the Aftertaste and the Mouth-feel so I’ll talk about that. If you have ever put a clove in your mouth or chewed on a real licorice stick(again not the candy) then you already know this aftertaste and mouth-feel that I’m talking about, the numbing sensation of the cloves and sickly sweet bite of licorice that is the difference between these two teas. let me say that the appearance of these tea was very different Infinitea’s had sliced licorice root/stick that you could see nice perfect pretty little slices and no stems in the tea at all looks very
pretty while the look of the Teasource one has stems and the licorice pieces are more like shredded chopped up chunks and it’s just not as pretty as Infinitea’s.
Looks can be deceiving as they were in this case, I figured the pretty one would be the better one and I was Wrong. Tastewise like I said they are pretty same and good
but if ya like licorice or cloves or mint then you really want the one that gives you the feel of licorice and clove and taste and look because those two herbs are so much
more than taste. again if you have ever put a clove in your mouth or chewed a real licorice stick then you already know what I’m talking about and if you haven’t then honestly I’m not sure how to explain the taste or feel of it, I can tell ya that
cloves have a spicy sweetness too with almost numbing sensation in the mouth and back of the throat, Real licorice(forget the candy) you have to just try for
yourself because all I can say is sickly sweet lingering taste with different sensation. Ok anyways I’m crazy so I hope that made sense to somebody out there, TEASOURCE
Iron Silk Puerh wins over INFINITEAS because of the “real” sensations and mouth-feeling that INFINITEAS version lacked, That is NOT saying that the INFINITEAS one was bad or not good just TEASOUCRE is so much better.
I think it may have something to do with the “cut” of the licorice honestly because some things just steep better when they are more chopped up or shredded/grated rather than just sliced up, I’m not sure just my opinion, I feel kinda crazy on this one because I feel people won’t understand what I’m trying to say but I hope you can understand, I have trouble explaining or describing thing with words sometimes, sorry :)
Thank you Deborah from Facebook for providing this tea to me for this crazy post.
Steepster, Sorry this was so long it was copied from my blog :)
http://toadsteablog.blogspot.com/

Shou Puer tea blended with mint, clove, and licorice.

I can get overwhelmed with the added flavors in these TeaSource blends (Roasted Chestnut comes to mind), but they got the mix right with this one. Or perhaps the short steeps really help to minimize the added flavors. Either way, this is a nice little tea that does not really taste like a “typical” shou puer. It would be a great way to ease yourself into the earthy peat dampness of shou puer tea.

Not a ton of subtle flavors here – mint, clove, and licorice. Underneath I can taste some earthy puer but it’s not a scary amount like many other shou puers. That said, I feel like I need to be in the mood for this one, whereas I can always drink a smooth black tea for example.

I also am getting a very nice l-theanine puer buzz. I’m not sure if other people ever feel this but it’s a great ‘tea-drunk’ feeling that I get best with puers and dark teas. This always boosts the rating for me.

Steep it short and multiple times.

Another good tea in this vein is the White Chocolate Puer.

I picked up a sampler of this tea from Beleave Teas, where it is called “Probiotic Pu-erh,” but it is obvious they are sourcing TeaSource’s “Iron Silk Puer” blend. From the ingredients, this is basically TeaSource’s herbal blend Margaret’s Soother (one of my favorite teas!) with a pu-erh base added, so it’s really nice to know I have a caffeinated option of that tea as well! I enjoy the Margaret’s Soother blend mainly as a great throat tea, but it also has a great flavor, so unless the tea base of this ends up being one of those fishy/dirty pu-erhs I find all too often in pu-erh blends, I really doubt I’m going to dislike this one!

I gave the tea a quick rinse, but opted to steep longer than the suggested parameters. It had a nice rich red color and I found the tea had a lovely minty flavor with a nice sweet licorice finish on the tongue. The base of the tea was very smooth and earthy, with a few mineral notes, and just a hint of clove. The tea really did taste like a pu-ehr version of Margaret’s Soother, so it was a bit like getting your sore throat balm with the added bonus of settling the stomach and providing a little digestive aid. I really enjoy this one!

Strong body. As dark as coffee if you steep up to 30 minutes. Rebrew up to three times. (I usually do first brew at 4 minutes, second for 8.)

While doing some online tea shopping the other day, I read on the TeaSource site that Pu-erh teas and other Chinese “dark” teas are probiotic. I’ve been interested in probiotics lately, and I would prefer not to have to get them through dairy or pills. So the thought of getting them through my favorite beverage was enticing.

I’ve not drunk a lot of pu-erh teas in the past, because the ones that I have tasted seemed a bit watery regardless of how long I steeped them. I decided to give them another shot and ordered several cake-type pu-erh and dark teas, along with this spicey loose-leaf concoction.

The tea gives an extra dose of both flavor digestive health, with the addition of licorice and pepperment. I don’t think clove does much for digestion, but let’s face it, it makes tea taste good. The aroma of the opaque black brewed tea is mostly peppermint, but the other spices come out a bit more in the flavor. The overall taste is a lot more like an herbal tea with bit more of a full flavor. It does lack the definitive kick of real camellia sinnensis that I prefer even my flavored teas, but I think I will enjoy this as a mid-morning tea, especially knowing that it is good for my health.