TuochaTea.com

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Recent Tasting Notes

90

This is my first purchase from tuocha tea, and so far I am impressed!

This brick is very nicely pressed, dense but not difficult to pry apart. Cool artwork on the pressing as well.

Velvety smooth, I would recommend this one.

Flavors: Cheesecake, Cracker, Oreo Cookie, Smooth

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 15 sec 5 g 2 OZ / 60 ML

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68

This is a nice aged puerh. Definately ready to drink. I usually go for 15 steeps of this slightly increasing time. I bought this from treasure green tea company in vancouver for 40 bux. This was there only cake and i would buy more if i could find some.

Flavors: Apricot, Ash, Astringent, Bitter, Black Pepper, Campfire, Caramel, Carrot, Cocoa, Dry Grass, Eucalyptus, Maple Syrup

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 125 OZ / 3696 ML

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80

And Puerh Plus Box #4 has arrived and we have 2008, Menghai Dayi 8582. Using my 80ml yixing, I rinse the tea once and then gave it a quick flash steep to open up the leaves. But I tasted this infusion anyway. It was really clear, sweet, wood and just a touch of bitter on the back end.

First infusion I got a slightly darker, almost light honey color, Its just starting to show age on the tea now. Its still tastes pretty young though and has a little bitterness on the end still. The flavors were oak, wet wood, bitter, mushrooms? And a tiny bit of sour, just a teeny bit.

Second infusion was much the same with more woody tones coming out now, I guess thats to be expected in a mid aged raw. I think the guys over on TeaDb called this pencil shaving flavor…

Third infusion much the same, its staying pretty consistent with flavor and aroma, maybe a bit more mushroom. Im getting a teeny… tiny hint of medicinal at this point.

IM guessing based on this, this one is going to steep out 10-14 times at least. I get the feeling Im going to be drinking a lot of tea and get a little tea drunk the next week. For this tea, I think a few more years would make this spectacular.

Recommended

Flavors: Bitter, Mushrooms, Oak, Sweet, Wet Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 3 OZ / 80 ML

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90

Excellent bargain from TuochaTea, one 250 g brick is just 8.50 USD! Made this one in 130 ml gaiwan, starting with two rinses. First brew was about 10 seconds, and the taste of was very clean, very smooth and pleasant. No bad tastes anywhere. The tea brew much sweeter gradually and last brews (9th to 11th) were very sweet, but not very strong otherwise. Nevertheless awesome bargain for its price, try it out!

Flavors: Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 10 g 4 OZ / 130 ML
mrmopar

I am surprised the price hasn’t changed on this one. I think they don’t raise prices till they have to restock an item.

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I managed to enjoy this tea but there were some negative notes. There were pronounced sour notes, especially in the first four steeps. There were also sweet notes. I didn’t give this tea any time to acclimate to it’s new environment, having just received it yesterday. I have been told you should give a puerh a week to acclimate. I don’t know if this advice is valid but I have been told by good sources including Scott at Yunnan Sourcing that it may be the case. As to the sour note, I have been told that that is a condition of dry storage so this tea probably did not experience much humidity.

I steeped this tea eight times in a 120ml gaiwan with 7.9g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. I will say I have generally had good luck with teas from Tuocha Tea in general so am hopeful this one will improve. Perhaps I will clear a spot in my pumidor for it.

Flavors: Sour, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 4 OZ / 120 ML

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91
drank yubang Silver bud by TuochaTea.com
314 tasting notes

Just got my TuochaTea order and this was the first tea that I tried. I love the silver bud pu-erh teas, as they are very approachable: almost like a white tea with added depth. Probably a good tea for someone who wants to gradually ease into sheng.

Things started out badly. The photo on the website shows a perfectly silver beeng, but what I got was more like salt and pepper. Also, the tea came in an original wrapper that was all Chinese (Greek to me) and an outer wrapper that had a sticker saying 2008 silver buds, rather than the 2011 on the website. I’m not going to complain, since one normally pays a premium for older tea. I noticed that once I steeped the tea, the volume of buds vs non-bud was about 10 to 1 so can’t really complain about the non-bud leaves either.

My first cup was wonderful: exactly what I was hoping for from this tea. It was very light, with a sort of honeysuckle aroma and a taste of raw cane sugar (we used to buy sugar cane as a treat when I was a kid). The finish was wonderful. In the second cup, the cha qi became very noticeable, putting me an in excellent mood. The third pot was also great, but the fourth was noticeably weaker, with a woody flavor replacing the sugar and honeysuckle. I was able to get a couple more pots out of it by using longer steeps, but they lacked the finesse of the first 3 pots. I use 2 grams per 2 oz water and 10, 20, 30 s steeps, so typically get fewer steeps than those who use more tea. Still, I usually get more than this.

This was a great value at $26 per beeng. My only complaint is that I ordered it two days after Thanksgiving and it arrived 3 days after Valentine’s day. Next time I’ll pay (through the nose) for air mail.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C

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85

This is excellent tea if you don’t mind the flavor the tea takes from the bamboo. It has virtually not earthy flavor left. Just about all the fermentation flavor is gone from this tea. The main note of this tea however is bamboo. The other notes, sweet and a little fruity take a second fiddle to the bamboo. The bamboo flavor lasted strong until the fourth steep and then started to be replaced by sweet flavors, even berry notes. This tea is of course stored in bamboo. I think it is also roasted in bamboo but am unsure. This tea has also had a nice effect on me. While I would not use the phrase tea drunk, it has been pleasantly relaxing, not immediately but around the fifth steep.

I steeped this tea six times in a 200ml glass teapot with 8.2g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 10 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 30 sec, and 1 min. This was not an especially strong puerh but I would say it had a least 2 to 4 more steeps in it had I wanted to continue.

Flavors: Bamboo, Berry, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 8 g 7 OZ / 200 ML
boychik

Looks neat

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Thanks for the sample boychik

This is a good shou. I was very impressed when I saw the price! No off flavors or anything, just basic clean “shou” taste. No other real strong flavor notes I can think of a the moment! :)

boychik

I got it because Rich recommended. It’s v. Good price. I wouldn’t be able to afford Dayi version.

AllanK

I have not ordered from Tuocha tea in a while, maybe next month.

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This sample came from boychik

It’s nice and uncomplicated. Easy to drink.

And the cake is quite reasonably priced. I may buy one for myself.

http://instagram.com/p/u6iPa1AyRC/
http://instagram.com/p/u6iAQtAyQg/
http://instagram.com/p/u6h95jgyQd/

Stephanie

I drank this one today :D

boychik

All credits go to Rich who discovered this tea. Thank you Rich!

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There are at least three listings for Tuocha Tea, so I just chose one and went with it. I actually started this yesterday and I am still drinking it but thought I would post. This is less than half the price on Tuocha Tea as it is elsewhere.

I kind of messed up the first mug. I used boiling and a 45 second steep with no wash. The leaf smelled like wet carpet and the cup was very bitter and drying. My fault. Beyond the eeewww, this is a little sweet, and a little woodsy.

The second 10 oz mug at 10 seconds is pretty good. The wet leaf is a pleasant woodsy mushroom with a hint of smoke. This is sweet. It feels a bit syrupy. The taste is of stone and mushroom. This is a very enjoyable cup with nothing off-tasting.

The third mug at 20 seconds is stone and mushroom, and I detect a light smoke late in the sip. This is the best cup yet.

This is a raw puerh, and it still has some of that sheng brightness, but it is aging nicely and seems pretty decent.

boychik

i really like it. its nice and smooth, perfect for everyday drinking if you stick to lower temps and short steeps.

Kittenna

Ewwwww, wet carpet :S

K S

Yeah, learned my lesson – do the wash

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82

This is a good tea. It is not the very best but highly enjoyable. It still has some fermentation flavor left but is maturing well. It is slightly sweet and slightly earthy. It is not bitter. I was occupied with baking a loaf of gluten free bread tonight so this did not get the full gongfu treatment it deserves. I brewed this four times in a 10 oz tea steeping mug. I used 10g of leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 15 sec, 15 sec, 15 sec, and 15 sec over several hours. This is one I would buy again per say but probably never would actually get around to it. There are so many other teas I want to try but it is worth buying again.

This tea has a lot of complex notes to it but I was not paying enough attention to discern what they were.

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 10 g 10 OZ / 295 ML

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76

Another Tuochatea offering I tried, rounding out my tour of some of their teas this weekend. This one is a sheng from Guyi. Not nearly as good as the ripe I tried yesterday. It’s not terrible, but it definitely falls flat. Kind of that bad dull dirt type flavor, with some overtones of fruit and citrus.

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86

Another nice tea and great bargain from Tuochatea. This one is $8.50 for 250 g. It’s not out of this world, but it is a clean mellow ripe cake, with some age behind it. No off flavors, medium body, a cleaner shu, not earthy or musty. Again, another one worth sampling if you are placing an order with Tuochatea.

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89

I decided to take a chance with my last order fro Tuochatea, and try two cakes I never heard of. Their prices are so cheap, it is worth the risk! Some of their cakes have not gone up in price since 2009! These days, with pu erh prices so inflated, that is saying a lot. This tea is only $16 (plus shipping). It’s my first tea from the Kunming Guyi factory. The wrapper is pretty (hey, you know you look!), though the sticker seal is impossible to undo without busting up the wrapper. This is a wonderful tea, and an amazing bargain. It is dark, rich and deep, clean and smooth. No off tastes, except for what I think is a little travel aftertaste from being in a box and on transports for 6 weeks (just got this a few days ago; I hope it is not something more serious). There is no earthiness or mustiness, this is one of those cleaner shus. It held up to a lot of steepings. This is a real keeper and I will have to get another with my next order!

boychik

This tea sounds so good. What else is good to order from them?

mrmopar

The Menghai 8582 from here is really good.

boychik

Thank you Rich, I got it and shared w/other ppl. We love this tea and its very affordable too.

Rich

Oh, good, glad you liked it. Did you get any other teas with your order?

boychik

Yes. Why not, they priced good. The only thing I didn’t like is very slow ship. Now I’m thinking I ordered it during summer. It took 59 days. Maybe spring and summer busier than now. I also got 2008 Menghai 8582, 2008 Haiwan 908 and 2008 Menghai Hong Yun Yuan Cha.

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85

I have been drinking the 2005 Six Famous Tea Mountain Jia Ji Raw Pu-erh Tuocha from Mengla in Xishuangbanna for the last three days. (Purchased here: http://www.tuochatea.com/6ftm-jia-ji-pu-erh-tuocha-p2/). It is quite interesting as it has changed each time I’ve tried it over several days. I brews to a light orange color, and at first was rich, mouthfilling, smoky, and citric. Later steepings have been “younger” tasting to me and current steep #11 is back to alfalfa, green, and mouth watering. It isn’t the most intense tuo I’ve had, but it holds my interest, and I keep coming back to it for the taste and experience. Quite nice all in all.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 5 OZ / 150 ML

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88

Quite a treat, this beautiful 2011 silver melon raw pu-erh brews a light orange color at this writing (03/2014), with a light sweet lasting taste, with hints of oat straw, and a depth of persistent flavor that bodes well for aging. I suggested putting it away for a few years, but my partner objected saying she liked it right now. Luckily it is a 500 gram melon so we can both have it the way we would like.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec 5 g 7 OZ / 200 ML

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75

Needed a refreshing and special tea to calm after a particularly long work day. This one continues to delight me anew each time I drink it.

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75

This is an incredible tea, particularly after aging it for an additional three years. It’s lost it’s astringency and the liquor has gotten darker and darker, yet it has a rich grassy characteristic not found in standard pu-erhs.

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