Pu Erh Poe

second review…

My first review on this Puerh was just after I joined Steepster 5 months ago. Seems like ages in tea months! I’ve been a ‘tea person’ such a short time. I scored this tea pretty high and this was probabaly one of my first unflavored puerh’s.
What do I think of this Puerh now?
I did a quick rinse of the leaves…(know to do that now) then steeped 3 minutes.
Today I’m pretty sick with nausea from what has turned into an allergic reaction to some food (don’t know what) so tea is something that’s good for the stomach! I picked this puerh to help me feel better.
The flavor was mild and bready without bitterness. I was surprised at how dark the brew was after just 3 minutes and thought that it wasn’t bad for a morning cup with cream and sugar as a coffee subsitute. I added a little sweetening only and thought it was a good wheat bread tasting puerh with a little mushroom flavor. Not really complex but friendly.

Doorbell….granddaughter bringing 7-up for my tummy…mixing well with some ginger tea in the frig!

Awhile back I ordered some teas from Adagio, including several sample size teas, this being one of them. I’ve been drinking a lot of Puerh lately, which doesn’t make me any kind of expert, mind you.

The dry leaf doesn’t really have much of a scent, compared to some of the Pu’s I’ve been drinking, but my nose detected that faint saltiness, more as a sensation. There’s enough in the package to steep this a couple of different ways, so that’s what I’ll do. The first steeping was as directed on the package: 1 tsp in an 8 oz cup for 3 minutes.

It’s really not bad! It’s not as heavily nuanced as some of the Puerhs I’ve tried, but it isn’t overtly fishy or barnyard-like either. I re-steeped, & it was just ok. This would be good for someone wanting to try puerh out without having too intense of an experience the first time around. It’s dark, mellow, and a little tingly.

2nd unflavored cooked Pu Erh properly prepared. I’m amazed at the lack of scent the raw leaves have, it’s even lighter than Pu Erh Dante… which makes me hope I’ll like this even more.

Parameters and Preparation:
1g per 1oz water (I made a 4oz cuppa), rinsing the leaves in just below boiling water for 15sec, then doing a 20sec 1st steep.

I’m shocked at how dark the rinsing liquid gets… I almost cry as I dump it. But if adding this step is necessary for authentic preparation and a better cuppa, then that’s what I’ll do.

The 1st infusion is reeeaaalllyyy dark. I’ve used the term “coffeeish” to discribe the liquor of tea before, but I don’t even think that would do it justice. I have to go w/ cola-ish this time.

The aroma is light. While it was faint, there was a fecal note to Pu Erh Dante’s aroma that isn’t there w/ this one.

Taste matches the aroma. Very strong, complex, a little earthy, and the lack of a fecal note almost makes it a tad sweet.

Let me start by saying this; Very interesting….

Dry Smell: Like fresh horse poop.

Wet: when water was first added it smelled like rancid fish, after it finished steeping it smelled similar to musty cucumber water.

It tastes like cucumber water. Very strong cucumber water that also happens to have a little bit of a bit in it. I don’t really like cucumber or cucumber water at all, so this is… Well interesting. Could have been worse though, but it could have been a lot better. Might steep it again later and see how it is though.

One of the samples from my recent Adagio order. I don’t have a lot of experience with pu’erh, but I’d like to try more. I went gong fu with this one, although I didn’t time the infusions.

I did a quick rinse of the leaves, then steeped for around 15-seconds or so. I found the taste to be very light and sweet, without much of the earthiness I’ve come to associate with pu’erh. I wonder if it’s because I didn’t steep long enough; I’ll try Western style next time.

This isn’t a remarkable tea, but it’s light and naturally sweet. I don’t think I’d reorder it though.

Another sample bites the dust!
Soon, soon my cupboard will be ready for moar samples! (I’m thinking of Harney & Sons for my next sample buying spree – but they are out of the Florence samples! ;_;)

I rather like Pu Erh Poe, which makes me suspicious that it is a baby Pu Erh – a Pu Erh for people who do not know any better or who cannot handle Real Pu Erh, like people who drink Bud (or, god forbid, Lone Star) instead of Real Beer. I don’t like it enough to buy more, mind you, but it’s nice, it brews up fast, and it doesn’t smell (as much) like dirt as other Pu Erh I’ve had. It does have a smoky, earthy taste to it, but what is important (at least to me) is that the smell isn’t overpowering. I pretty much cannot get over things that smell weird. (Like durian. or natto – although to be fair natto also tastes pretty awful)

Reading the other tea notes, I see (not for the first time mind you) that apparently the proper preparation of Pu Erh is a multi step process. That kind of effort is definitely not for me! Pu Erh goes with Oolong into “category of tea that I am probably just not that into” (Note: Oolong will be taken out of this category when I got to Japan this summer and am once again subjected to its iced form all the time)

This is my first venture into the world of pu erh, and I have to admit, I’m kinda terrified. My mother wanted to try this because of supposed weight-loss benefits, but she wasn’t able to commit to the extra effort involved in making loose leaf tea. Today I took this (and her gravity steeper, so now I have 2) off of her hands. The dry leaves smell like moss and earth. However, as soon as poured hot water over these leaves to rinse them, I got a fishy aroma (and was even more terrified). For the real first steeping, like others have said, this tea brews really really dark. The fishy aroma is no longer present. The first sip tasted like earth, but not in a dirty way (if that makes sense), but I got a sharp astringent note at the end. This went away with the addition of a bit of brown sugar :). Overall, I’m not sure pu erh’s are for me, but I think I will be able to tolerate this very interesting tea.

2/3/14 1st tea in an afternoon Pu-erh flight. 3g/100ml gaiwan/212F Washed. This was the only tea in the tasting this afternoon that I actively disliked. The dry leaf smelled foul, like a dead aquarium, and the wet leaf added an ammonia scent to it. This is the first “fishy” pu-erh I’ve encountered, and now I have a definite context for that adjective and all it’s negative expressions. Fortunately the aroma was far worse than the brewed tea. The brewed tea was just boring and flat.

The first thing I noticed was that the dry leaves smelled like a bag of fresh peat moss – earthy and tannic – which as a gardener isn’t something I find unpleasent. I gave the leaves the standard 30 second rinse to hopefully get rid of any dust or debris and then I brewed it for three mins – the lower end of Adagio’s steeping reccs but I know how dark pu’erhs brew up so I wasn’t worried that it would turn out weak. Unfortunately the brewing tea took on less of a peaty scent and more of fishy scent, which didn’t exactly thrill me.

Thankfully it didn’t taste like fish but it was very earthy, almost like a mouthful of dirt. At first I couldn’t decide whether to gag or enjoy it but as I drank more I found that the flavour became smoother and less jarring to my tastebuds.

I’m still not entirely sure if I like pu’erh or not – it definiatly falls in the category of being an aquired taste but it’s interesting and I enjoy having variety in my teas.

Steep Method: Tea Pot
Steep Time: 5:00 Minutes
Temperature: 212F

Whenever I drink this tea I think of two things: Oatmeal and wheat. It almost smells some kind of organic building material (maybe bamboo?). For a pu-erh it’s not incredibly “dark” tasting, rather it is relatively light. It almost tastes like the old smell of my grandparents’ house (I kid you not!).

It gives me a bit of a surprise on my tongue, as it is kind of dull for a second, and then springs to (somewhat) of a life. Overall a pretty mild tea. I think I could have steeped it longer. Maybe I’ll try another infusion for 7-8 minutes. Thoughts?