I have just finished work and a bit of house cleaning and could do with a few minutes to relax and my thirst for a pu erh has been growing hence why I chose this tea.
As taken from the Teavivre website:
Gaiwan 3oz Tea:10g
9 steeps: rinse twice,20s,30s,40s,50s,1m10s,1m30s,2m,2m30s,3m30s
Following this rule here is my review:
First steep – This has dark amber coloured liquid that smells mildly of dry leaves. The flavour is slightly sweet and earthy and refreshing all at the same time. The tea at the bottom of my tea bowls is stronger and is much earthier with a touch of astringency.
Second steep – Same dark amber liquid with a more predominant fragrance of flowers. The flavour is also now somewhat floral but still gentle and refreshing. Its also a little woody now also.
Third steep – The liquid is now very dark and reminds me of soy sauce but with a red glow. It’s also much earthier and woodier now but still with that gentle floral touch. Smell wise it reminds me of damp earth or fish but not strong. (I buy cat treats that smell similar).
Fourth steep – The compacted cake pieces have now broken up to resemble dark brown loose leaves. Still getting stronger and stronger with both fragrance and flavour with the most notable being the earthiness. Very nice and full bodied pu erh so far and it keeps improving.
Fifth steep – The red glow has darkened now so the soy sauce appeal is even stronger. Rather astringent and strong, a little smoky but still very earthy. The smell is still reminding me of cat treats.
Sixth steep – Again stronger than the previous steep and earthy…it resembles cocoa, not chocolate but more nib. It’s dark and smoky and earthy and slightly sweet and astringent. Beautifully pu erh.
I will leave my logging there but shall update as I increase the steeps exponentially. :) So far it’s a nice aged pu erh but nothing completely unique. It does quench my pu erh thirst though.
Around 15 steeps in and the flavour gets lost in steeping translation. It hit my top mark around steep 5 or 6 but it has not done badly. :)