Here we are again.. finishing up my round of samples from Samovar. Of all the teas I was most excited to try it was this one, although I did find some new favorites this week as well. Blood Orange Pu-erh.. hmm. What to say.. or rather what not to say.
Opening the package is an experience all in it’s own, as I was smacked with the aroma of oranges instantly. And yes, I did like it. The pu-erh-y smell was masked in the dry leaves but really came out after I rinsed them the first time. I’m honestly not the biggest fan of the smell; too fishy for me. Like.. really. Too. Fishy.
I ended up doing two steeps with about 8oz of water, one for 6 minutes and another at 7. There wasn’t too much of a difference between the two, although there was less pu-erh taste in the 7 minute steep. This tea certainly looks like a pu-erh.. very, very dark and bold looking flavor. Now lets talk about the flavor itself..
This tea is interesting. Pu-erh in my opinion is very interesting in general and something perhaps I need to get used to, or rather we all need to get used to. I will say I enjoyed this a bit more than the Maiden’s Ecstasy and I’ll have to contribute this to the strong blood orange flavor. In describing this tea, I think the best way is to say it’s predominately orange in taste, with ginger that tends to bite your tongue a little, while sitting on a pu-erh base. You can certainly tell that this is a pu-erh tea, although the orange tends to mask that very bold earth flavor you get with plain ol’ pu-erh. However, without the pu-erh, I can’t see how the orange flavor could be as dark as it is. You certainly get a dark citrus taste, as I would assume would happen when adding any kind of flavor to Pu-erh. It seems to darken up everything a bit and give it that earthy quality.
I’m not sure what to think of this tea just yet. I’m questioning my rating as I’m not to sure how accurate I’m really being. It’s really subjective. However, I am glad I tried this tea as I do like spicing up my palette with some new flavors. Right now, this isn’t one I can see myself drinking on a daily basis, or perhaps even one I can see myself craving, but it does have it’s place. And… I’m open to pu-erh now. It’s definitely.. different.
