Another sample from Teavivre! Thanks so much I put the entire sample piece of the pu-erh cake in the infuser. Teavivre’s instructions say 212 after a rinse, 30 seconds, 1 min, 2 min, 3 min so that is what I intend to do. The dry leaves are very dark… and I love the idea of tree-ripened. It probably means something different than I think it does!
Steep #1 // a few minutes after boiling, rinsed, 30 seconds
The flavor is very delicate while still being present. It’s sweet for a pu-erh, mildly spicy. Not very oaky at all, but that was probably because the leaves had barely been unraveled, even after a condsiderable rinse. Very tasty!
Steep #2// just boiled, 1 min
A strict minute! Wow is this cup a deep maroon color.. the darkest tea color I’ve ever seen. But the flavor isn’t tough at all. It’s so tough to describe though… other than to say that this is definitely one of the best pu-erhs I’ve tried.
Steep #3 // just boiled 2 min
Very much like the last cup — and the leaves aren’t really expanding too much yet (though they have fell apart from the cake).
Steep #4 //just boiled 3 min
I could probably keep steeping this and the flavor would be just as amazing. I am not tired of it yet, and these have been four FULL mugs (over two days — I’ve been drinking other teas too!)
I think many people who might have tried pu-erh haven’t tried one like this one and a not-so-delicious pu-erh might have scared them away from all pu-erh. So I hope all tea drinkers try ONE decent pu-erh before giving up on all pu-erh.
If I only wanted ONE pu-erh stocked in my cupboard, this one could easily be it!