Toasted Fig

The dry leaf smells a bit like coconut and death. Maybe some weird cough syrup – not cherry but some sort of medicinal fruit. I wasn’t too up on the idea of a fig tea and now I’m downright apprehensive. However, I am feeling bold today. (Or stupid. Sometimes I get the two confused.)

Post-steeping it smells more of coconut and a hay-like cookie. Better. A little scary, but still. Better.

The taste is faintly pu-erh-ish (earth, hay, barn) but it’s not too heavy or thick (which is the issue I seem to have with most cooked pu-erhs). Instead, in the middle of the sip (where the syrupy thickness would start to come in) the coconut kicks in and lightens things up, turning them sweet-but-not-cloying. The finish is still sweet but almost… jaunty. I’m not a huge fan of licorice/anise tasting things so I worried about the fennel in this, but I can’t really pick it out other than a hint of tingle in the back of my throat at the end of the sip. It’s been ages since I’ve had fig so I can’t say if this is appropriately figgy or not. Mostly, I get pu-erh and coconut.

All in all, not a bad tea – definitely not as bad as I feared. For those that like the flavor of pu-erh, this would probably be more successful, but for me, the aroma of pu-erh makes me unconsciously brace myself. Even though the too-heavy syrup I am braced for doesn’t kick in, just the subconscious anticipation of it makes drinking this tea not so relaxing for me.

This does make me want to try a coconut tea from ATR because the coconut aspect to this is nicely sweet, light and creamy. I’d like more of that, please.

This tea was a surprise from out of the blue for me. I really didn’t expect to like it, which is a bit unfair to the tea. Even more unfair is that I willingly chose and paid for a sample of this tea, only to think mean thoughts about it.

On ATR, the description says, “An earthy blend of Organic Pu-Er, Figs, Dandelion Roots, Coconut Flakes and Fennel.” The big turn off to me is the “Pu-Er” part. The rest sounds interesting.

So, today I decided this was the tea for me. I opened the packet and smelled the tea. It smells like brandy. Like a holiday fruitcake. It has that thick, syrupy, molasses-like scent. Pu-er. Fruitcake. It’s all feeding into my aversion, but yet I’m going through with it… and thank goodness I did! 195F(90C)/1.5 min.

Once steeped, yep, fruitcake scent, although less now. I take a sip. And another. It’s really, really good! (Lesson learned.) I can definitely taste the figs and now that I have the flavor in my mouth, I can completely identify the aroma as coming from the fig component. Yes, there is still that brandy taste to it, but it’s not very strong. (I’m very thankful I took such a light approach to steeping. I’m a black tea sissy.) The pu-er, I have to say, does not, thankfully, taste like dirt. Yes, there is a slight earthiness to it, but it’s not at all offensive. I think it’s a fine example of how a pu-er should taste. I can still get a sense of this being a tea and not a chunk of mud. The coconut is nice because instead of making it taste tropical, it lends a creaminess to the flavor. It’s a fine mix of tea and other ingredients. I’m very pleased with it and happy that my tea fairy didn’t let my preconceptions get in the way of tasting it. I think I’ll be ordering more to keep in my cupboard to share with guests, too.

I’ll admit it: I’m afraid of pu-erh tea. Even tasting notes by people who like them don’t sound good to me. Dirt, fish, horse farms? No thanks (and I grew up on a horse farm so that last one sounds really unappetizing). But when QuiltGuppy offered to send me a sample of this one, which she enjoyed and did sound good from her tasting note, I decided to take her up on it and give it a try. Thanks QuiltGuppy, for giving me my first pu-erh!

The aroma of the dry leaf surprised me on this one. I feel like I can sometimes pick out the coconut, and the fig, and the fennel individually, but when I stick my nose in the pouch they combine and I get overwhelmed by one scent: fine bourbon. Perhaps with a hint of bourbon balls (bourbon cream candy with pecans covered in chocolate) but wow if it doesn’t smell like the inside of the Beer, Bourbon and BBQ festival I go to every year (note: I’m a Kentucky girl, and I love bourbon). I could smell the dry leaves all day! Sweet, a bit molasses-y, oak barrel aged, a hint of rye, a bit of fruit, herbs… it’s like describing a bourbon tasting note.

Anyway! Onto the actual brewed stuff. THIS smells like the inside of an oak barrel previously used to age bourbon: much much woodier, a touch resiny, with a tantalyzing hint of the bourbon notes in the dry tea. I feel like this aroma carries over into the dry tea well, with a hint of added smokiness. It’s almost like the (brewed) tea was aged in a bourbon barrel, like some bourbon barrel ales I’ve had. It’s sweeter than I expected, smooth and full-bodied. As it cools it gets a touch less woody (though still present), and there’s a spiciness at the end of the sip. Still very bourbony, but without the alcohol hit. Wow, I really like this one! Thanks so much for sharing it with me, QG, because I probably would have never ventured there on my own. Between this one and the Milk Oolong, I sense an order to ATR in my future when my samples run out!

ETA: Second steep, 5 minutes (the time recommended on ATR’s site). Wow, this tea is really dark. I looks a bit like a black cup of coffee. It’s less sweet this time, but a hint of sweetness is still there. Not as fruity from the fig or creamy from the coconut, but more charred oak barrel (but in a tasty way!).

Fun facts: dandelion root (an ingredient in this tea) is rich in vitamins and minerals, and is apparently a herbal medicine, which has been used to treat just about everything but specifically things to do with the gut, liver, and kidney. It contains inulin, which might be contributing to the sweetness here. It’s sometimes described as being somewhat bitter, which I’m glad doesn’t come through in this tea. It’s also a mild diuretic and digestive aid. (I got my info from the University of Maryland Medical Center website: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/dandelion-000236.htm)

This is a very pleasant tea! I would not have known it was a puer if I had not read the description and QG’s tasting note. I have had puer that smelled like shrimp, like fish, or like a horse farm. (And I liked them okay, they tasted smooth and sweet in spite of their aroma.) This is not like that at all! The toasted fig adds lovely flavor and body, and the coconut is subtle and adds a little creaminess to the cup. This is very good puer – this is very good tea! Thank you, QG!

Gone >_< Going on shopping list!

Smells like brandy (or actually, a bit like vanilla-y bourbon, with some oak char going on) and toasted hazelnuts to me. Very nutty and “roasty” upon first dry sniff through the entire cup. Disappointed I couldn’t detect any fig at first, but it came up gently upon my second cup (sitting on a warmer) as something jammy but not astringent like other (say, berry or citrus) fruits, more that swollen sticky Christmas pudding sort of thing, dates and whatnot. It takes patience but it’s very nice indeed when it does finally show up, goes lovely with the pervasive roasted nut aroma.

This tea actually tastes much better without any milk or sugar.

For this kind of caffeinated tea, you know the ones, those heavy dessert-y rich ones, it’s better than most I’ve tried so far. I like it more than similar sweet nutty rich offerings from David’s for example. Not one of my all-time favorites or a pantry essential, but I’d happily order and drink it again.

Update: for some reason this gets better after a cup or two (and it’s not a re-steep, just from a large pot kept warm on an electric burner). It’s grown on me. It’s not as amazing smelling as Tangier dry out of the bag, but it tastes better in the cup over time.