Smelled absolutely delicious in the bag, but what a disappointment to drink. Had an extremely harsh, unpleasant quality, maybe too many cloves? Palatable only with the addition of milk and sugar, but even then not particularly good.
22 Tasting Notes
Smooth and delicate with a hint of grape sweetness.
Very brisk with a lingering finish. Pleasant notes of grape.
Three minutes doesn’t seem to be quite long enough of a steep time. The aroma is still pleasant with malty notes, but the tea itself loses fullness.
No notes yet.
Consider rinsing the leaves more throughly next time to cut down on the mustiness…second steeping didn’t have as much, while retaining much of the richness.
No notes yet.
Smooth, light, and rich with flavor and aroma.
Used two heaping teaspoons, hotter water, and a longer steep time than my last brewing. Brought out a more complex fruitiness, which I appreciate, but still just a bit too astringent for my taste.
Light and pleasant, but lacking in any distinct pizazz.
No notes yet.
No notes yet.
Brewed up malty and delicious! Pleasantly sweet aroma to the leaves and a wonderful mouthfeel.
Velvety texture and earthy, this one has some nice herbal complexity to it. The flavor profile is similar to coffee from Sumatra with a lingering and somewhat juicy finish. The aroma recalls afternoons spent exploring the storage rooms in the barns back on the farm. There an odd dusty component as well.
Tangy and refreshing by itself. Excellent with some honey and whiskey as a hot toddy.
Solid, lovely tea! Delicious brightness, smooth on tongue, pleasant dry finish. Don’t be fooled by the lower end price, this is one of the best teas you can pick up at Peet’s.
Experiment Note: Butter Tea
I’ve been curious about Tibetan Butter Tea for awhile; having slowly schooled my Southern self away for drinking the heavily sweetened tea I grew up with, it seemed like it might be fun to try something in the opposite direction. A raging sore throat today made the concept of something hot and full of fats seem particularly appealing so with directions pulled from the internet and no real concern for authenticity and played with the idea. (based on instructions found here: http://www.yowangdu.com/tibet/tibetan-food-recipes/po-chu.html)
I decided to use the second steeping of leaves from the Ancient Trees as the use of a brick tea seemed appropriate, and as Lipton was the suggested tea, something rather flat might be just the ticket. I boiled the tea for about four and a half minutes, strained out the leaves, added milk and butter and about three pinches of salt, and brought it back to a boil, whisking the mixture briskly in place of churning.
The tea ended up with a beautiful rose color and fun layer of foam on top. The flavor was actually pleasant, and I will say that it was very soothing for the sore throat, but no amount of telling myself to think of it as more of a broth than a tea could convince my Southern brain to accept this a sipping beverage…I am, however, excited by the prospect of using this as a base for a soup. I just have to figure out what to put in it.
I rescued a tin of this that had “expired” while I was working at Peets with the sidelong comment to my manager (a tea geek) that I thought pu-erh’s were intended to be aged. Insert tank here about how Peets is a coffee company that sells fair to middling tea and a warning to not judge all pu-erh teas by this one. One co-worker commented that he didn’t really like the earthy taste.
Undaunted, I pressed on. Indeed, the flavor of this tea is earthy — one might describe it as the taste of the fields. It’s not, however, an unpleasant taste. Both the texture and the flavor are imminently smooth and thick, which is in my opinion a great quality for a rainy day tea. Probably my favorite aspect of this tea is the color — a rich red when brewed. It’s simply enjoyable to look at.
That said, the flavor profile is very simple and rather flat, which keeps this from being a tea that I would recommend strongly or one that I drink with any frequency. The tea hasn’t sold me on itself; it has left me eager to try other pu-erhs.
A simple, pleasing tea. The peach flavors play well the grape hints from the white tea and compose a relaxing cup. Held up well for three steepings.
I’m quite pleased with this one. Delicious smoky aroma — satisfying without overpowering the sweet notes underneath. Very smooth even texture and flavor. Lacks any harsh astringency.
[Consider brewing a bit stronger next time.]
The first steeping had a nice dry finish, without being overly astringent. The tea was slightly sweet, and a bit of honey brought out some citrus notes. Smokiness comes out in the second steeping, although the finish loses its qualities. Ideally, I’d like more body and perhaps a bit more in terms of complexity from a tea.
KLM is certainly one of the better teas available through Peets. The leaves have a very pleasant aroma, slightly smoky aroma — reminiscent of a church sanctuary infused with years of liturgical incense. The first steeping is a little harsher than ideal for my taste, needing a touch of honey to counterbalance it. The second steeping is much mellower and pleasant to drink straight.
