World Market

I had no idea that World Market made Pu-Erh along with it’s other teas. When I saw this in the tea section, I absolutely had to try this. What a wonderful surprise to a shopping trip aimed at buying chocolate.

I edited this review to include several separate steepings
-I steeped this tea Gaiwan style, and did 30+ second steeps each time.

Leaf Quality:
The leaves were chocolaty-brown, and several leaf buds were present. Longer leaves (and the name) hinted that this Pu-Erh may have been produced from Ancient Arbors. They smelled very earthy, but also malty and sweet. After “washing” the leaves for 10 seconds, I noticed a great woody aroma. This was very refreshing.

Brewed Tea:
First Steeping: This is one of the lighter Pu-Erhs that I’ve had. It wasn’t as astringent as I had expected for a ripened “Shou” tea. The liquor was a dark, pinkish-brown, and smelled typical of a Pu-Erh. The malt from the dried leaves showed up in the brew, and was quite welcomed, as it made the tea a little more robust (again, this was very light).

Second Steeping: This brew was only slightly lighter than the first. This cuppa was much sweeter, less malty, and more floral. It retained the same earthiness as before. It was a very smooth couple of sips. I also noticed a hint of mushroom in the background. Very nice.

Third Steeping: The tea showed more malt and leather notes this time. I got a slight smell of mushroom, but it wasn’t present in the taste. Very smooth and reminiscent of pine wood.

Fourth Steeping: The tea started getting lighter in color here. Muscatel notes showed up, as well as more Pine flavor. The earthiness remained as strong as it was in the first steeping.

Fifth Steeping: The Pine notes were completely gone, and the tea was only a slight bit earthy. A very floral brew with a hint of nuttiness.

I didn’t encounter the “fishy” taste with this tea, as other reviewers did. I suspect that some didn’t wash the tea first. This tea is great for the price, though I wouldn’t age this tea further.

Backlog from last night.

My tummy had been slightly threatening all day yesterday, and I have read that Pu-Erh is supposed to be good for digestion, so I thought I’d give this another try.

This tea just isn’t my thing. It has a scent to it that I can only describe as fishy. Do not want! At least not in my tea. I tried it with cream and sugar to see if it would mask that scent, but it didn’t.

On the plus side, it did seem to calm the tummy rumblings, so I would like to try a different Pu-Erh, and see if I can find one without the piscean scent.

Tried this last night, when i was having some digestion issues. I was not fond of the scent or taste. It has a fishy/seaweedy taste. It reminds me or nori. I wasnt fond of it at all. But it did make my tummy feel better.

I might try a higher quality Pu-Erh. Just to say i did.

When I opened the tea bag package, my husband laughed and said it smelled like latex paint. I took a sniff and he was right. The taste is a little bitter, not indulgent or smooth. Nothing special. I wouldn’t buy it again.

This is my first Pu-Erh, but I think it is a good start to the journey. I really enjoy the second steep of this one—there is a golden, grassy note that doesn’t come out with the first brew. There’s almost a “thick” nature to this tea…I’d say it tastes almost broth-like, but maybe it’s the earthy, loamy nature that I’m really detecting. I like to drink this one if I’m not feeling the best. Maybe it’s the power of suggestion that I’m getting from the packaging, but it really does seem to help my stomach if it’s off.

I thoroughly enjoy this tea. It does not have as much chocolate flavor as the Double Dark Chocolate Mate by Republic of Tea, and instead has a much more intense coffee base note. It is quite bitter (but I find I love bitter teas) and not very smooth. I do enjoy this tea enough that I have bought three boxes now, which says a lot due to my serial new-taste-trying addiction. When I brew this tea, I leave the bag in the cup the whole time while I drink it. Teas that I can do this with are my favorite. I recommend this tea if you like coffee and chocolate packed together into a strong cup.

Although China seems to be primarily known for its green teas, I think it also produces some of the best black teas in the world. I’ve enjoyed English Breakfast and Irish Breakfast teas very much in the morning. I was curious to learn how Chinese Breakfast tea stacks up against them.

I brewed this blend for five minutes at 212 degrees, the end of the range specified on the package. This produced a tea with a maple syrup color. The aroma was similar to that of European breakfast teas.

The flavor was quite strong and malty. The aftertaste was just a tad on the sweet side. Perhaps that was the influence of the cacao ingredient, although there was no discernible chocolate flavor.

World Market recommends that you use one to two teaspoons of tea leaves per cup. To compromise, I loaded six teaspoons for four cups. This made the flavor slightly astringent. I will use my normal one teaspoon per cup next time.

This is a nice tasting breakfast tea. It’s the type of tea that I enjoy most in the morning to turbo charge my slumbering senses.

This is only the second Pu-Erh product that I have tried, so my realm of experience is very limited. I think it would be unfair to make comparisons until I expand the field some more. I’ll instead judge this one on its own merit.

Since I prefer strong robust teas in the morning, I brewed this tea for the full five minutes at 212 degrees. The aroma reminded me of newly tanned leather. Images of mahogany wood also came to mind. The color was a rich dark brown, like black coffee.

The flavor was not as strong as I would have liked. It had a medium-power malty, earthy, and leathery taste. No bitterness appeared, even after the maximum steeping time.

I said I wasn’t going to compare the two Pu-Erh teas that I’ve tried, but I can’t deny that I found the previous brand (Teavivre) to have a much fuller and more complex flavor. The World Market offering, though, is not bad and is reasonably priced. I will drink the 50 cups that I paid for but will continue my search for better entries in this arena.

The aroma of the un-brewed tea leaves is sweet, and inviting, but the liquor is very light. It’s not the best Bai Mu Dan I’ve tried. However, I did notice the great floral notes that were in this tea more than others.

Minty and lively, nurturing and healthy green tea!

Mother Gaia in Tea form! A wonderful starters tea for anyone interested in exploring the world of Pu-Erh. The taste of of the soil is grown in , the malty and rich taste you get with each sip, its like feeling your the tea itself absorbing the nutrients it absorbs and nourished by it! A definite standby for me!

Ahhh, World Market’s Ancient Pu-erh Tea. I met this tea quite a few months back. This, friends, was the first Pu-erh tea I ever tried, and it was also my first ever loose leaf tea. I remember that first cup – I spent the whole time drinking it with an odd expression on my face, puzzling, grasping for the right words and the right description. It was so different; I couldn’t place what the tea reminded me of. And then when I did realize what it smelled like, I was shocked: was I drinking something that – gasp – smelled like hay?

As far as taste goes, it’s actually a very smooth and rich tea. I detect a slight smokiness, and like others have mentioned, a little bit of a leathery, even nutty, taste. Personally, I almost NEVER add anything to my teas, but I have heard that this tea tastes good with milk or honey. Also, this Pu-erh tea is supposed to aid in digestion, so it’s suggested as an after-meals tea.

The bag (which cost me about $8) yields 50-55 cups, and you can get several cups out of each infusion (just add a few minutes steeping time for each additional cup). Boiling water is recommended (brings out the fullest flavor), and recommended infusing time is 4-5 minutes (although I have done if for closer to 3 minutes, and that was fine too).

Folks, this isn’t your ordinary tea. I like to think that if it were a person, it would be one of those television survival men, like Bear Grylls or Les Stroud. This tea embodies “nature”, and it’s nothing if not “outdoorsy”. I could throw out more adjectives, like “earthy” and “woodsy”, but I think you get my point.

This isn’t a city-boy tea.

Almost done with my pouch of this. It’s still just on the edge of overwhelmingly minty and the green tea base is still a little hidden, but I don’t even care. It tastes so light and clean, and is so soothing. I’ll be disappointed when it’s gone.

I love this tea. Quite a bit. Unsurprising, given my love of peppermint, but I just thought I’d get that out there.

That said, the green tea is a bit underwhelming (or maybe the mint is just overwhelming). I think this might be even yummier with a better tea to mint ratio or a better tea to begin with. It is refreshing, though, and it would probably be delicious iced.

I like this one. Like the other World Market teas I’ve tried, it’s pretty much as advertised: silky and smooth and slightly plummy, although I don’t really find any pine. There are some other flavors here I can’t quite put my finger on, but it’s one of those teas that linger at the back of your mouth in a pleasant way.

It also seems forgiving of oversteeping; I accidentally let one pot go for eight or nine minutes — oops — and it was still drinkable.

I had a $10 coupon to World Market for my birthday and intended on buying more tea tins but then I panicked and couldn’t remember how many I still had room for so I decided to err on the side of caution and get some tea instead. Should have gotten the tins instead.

Not much flavor here, both before and after the addition of sweetener. Maybe I’ll try two bags next time (I did brew it in a mug rather than 6 oz tea cup).

I got this to keep at work in case I wanted something with caffiene or forgot my normal tea (or, like this morning, was running a bit late) so it’ll do for that but I’m not running out to buy more which is sad because it smelled pretty good!

I got this from a friend a while back, but I’ve been so busy trying other teas that I’ve been putting this one off (mostly because I was pretty sure I would love it).

I brewed it for the first time Sunday, and I think I’ve had four or five cups since? It’s really good, especially with a little bit of honey stirred in. It tastes pretty much exactly as described, malty with very subtle chocolatey hints. And it definitely wakes you up!

This has been my favorite sencha so far but I haven’t tried many. Light fruity and vegetal.

Smooth, dry, and malty.

1 teaspoon (~2g) brewed with boiling water for about a minute provides a cup that is best described as “smooth”. The taste is not too strong, but noticeable. Brewing for up to five minutes increases strength of taste linearly but does not bring about bitterness.