1999 Vietnamese Cooked Loose Puerh

Tea type
Pu'erh Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Dirt, Earth, Loam, Moss, Sweet
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Jason
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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24 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Last of this Pu-erh from Ian (and by the way where is our friend IAN?) It’s been months since I reviewed this Pu-erh…and a lot of Pu-erh has been DRUNK by me. Or should I say has been DRUNKEN....” Read full tasting note
    74
  • “The last of my sampler pack of this variety, and it ended up being a little bit more leaf than I’d been using before. This brought out the sweetness nicely and bumped up the earthiness a bit, but...” Read full tasting note
    81
  • “My puerh experiences are getting better and better. First I’ve found green puerhs, which I think I’ll need to explore more, and now this one. This puerh takes that dirt or fishtank flavor that you...” Read full tasting note
    80
  • “On a challenge from my benefactor, QuiltGuppy, I steeped a cup of this today. The dry aroma is dusty, like the dirty actors in a Sergio Leone Western. While steeping, visons of gardening danced in...” Read full tasting note
    1

From Canton Tea Co

A lovely loose cooked puerh made by a small artisan producer on the Yunnan/Vietnam border of China.

About Canton Tea Co View company

Canton Tea Co is a London-based tea company trading in high grade, whole leaf Chinese tea. We have exclusive access to some of the best jasmine, white, green, oolong, black and authentic puerh teas available. In our first year, we scooped Six Golds at the 2009 Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards. Our Jasmine Pearls won the top three star gold award, endorsing it as the best available in the UK.

24 Tasting Notes

74
676 tasting notes

Last of this Pu-erh from Ian (and by the way where is our friend IAN?)

It’s been months since I reviewed this Pu-erh…and a lot of Pu-erh has been DRUNK by me. Or should I say has been DRUNKEN. That’s better. I’ve been drinking Pu-erhs for months since then and enjoying myself.I’ve had lots more experience with and can tell a real difference between review 1 and what I am tasting in this review.
This flavor is not horribly bad. There is a nose and taste to the
Pu-erh that resembles bean sprouts and is dusty tasting. I did a rinse of the leaves so that’s not an issue. You’d almost swear that someone threw in a small handful of potting soil because the sour earthiness is present but not in the usual warm and inviting way. I wish the flavor was more caramel or salty rich flavored but it’s not. The mushroom taste that I detected the first time around, well…it got lost in the dustiness. I looked in the cup and it’s cloudy. Not that great a Pu-erh.
No bells and whistles. Ah.

This is good confirmation that my taste must be improving. (Now Amy Oh had better not make a comment about me being a tea snob…I’ll get sensitive!)
We all become transformed after a time by the access to the fantastic variety of wondrous tea’s. It’s bound to happen that we change and appreciate quality tea…and that our palate developes.

Onward and upward!

Jim Marks

drunk, drunken? drank? drinked? drinken?

Bonnie

Drunken!I’ve been tea drunk enough for it to qualify as DRUNKEN!

Michelle

Yes, where did Ian go?

TeaBrat

tee hee – you know I was only teasing!

Bonnie

You KNOW you want to say it!

Daisy Chubb

Yeah, where is Ian? I miss that boy ; 3;

Bonnie

Maybe he has a girlfriend! I know he can’t drive yet! Yooohoooo Ian, did Teavana suck you into a sales pitch?!

Kittenna

My assumption is that Ian is finishing exams about now, and probably too busy to be on here :)

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81
237 tasting notes

The last of my sampler pack of this variety, and it ended up being a little bit more leaf than I’d been using before. This brought out the sweetness nicely and bumped up the earthiness a bit, but the tea still avoided veering off into bitter or too strong territory. It stayed extremely smooth and mellow, and gave me an appreciation for how much pu-erhs can vary – this one and the Camel’s Breath tuocha being at the opposite ends of the scale from one another. Both great and interesting, but for different reasons and with very different taste profiles.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec

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80
411 tasting notes

My puerh experiences are getting better and better. First I’ve found green puerhs, which I think I’ll need to explore more, and now this one.

This puerh takes that dirt or fishtank flavor that you find in other puerhs and transforms it into something mellow, smooth, and really tasty. If I had this puerh without every trying other puerhs, that description wouldn’t make sence. I might come up with rich and slightly earthy, but not dirt

I like this a lot. I might even be able to get the hubby (who has not liked a puerh, ever) to like this.

If Canton ever has another free shipping sale, I think I might buy this. (Note, if you’re reading this O! People from Canton Tea Co, please wait a while! I need to clear some cupboard space. :)

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec

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1
120 tasting notes

On a challenge from my benefactor, QuiltGuppy, I steeped a cup of this today.
The dry aroma is dusty, like the dirty actors in a Sergio Leone Western. While steeping, visons of gardening danced in my head. Freshly plowed soil with hints of fertilizer mixed in. The first sip was a perfect blend of the dusty odor, heavy earth notes and a touch of peat bogginess. A 1999 vintage, it is not as old as dirt. It does however, taste like it.
Thank you QG, for helping me reach a conclusion today. With so many fine Oolongs, Blacks, and Greens out there, I am giving up on Puerh. If I get the urge for some, I will simply move some furniture, collect a little dust, add a dash from a vaccum cleaner bag, and use a potting soil base. I think I could come pretty close.
No offense to you Puerh lovers, but to reuse an old and tiresome expression, this is not my cup of tea.

teawing

I would like to add, the texture was sans grit. As surprising as that may seem.
:)

QuiltGuppy

I’m so glad I’m not the only one to have this result… as badly as I feel for your taste buds. It did receive some higher ratings, some very high, from other reviewers. I think it’s a situation of to each his own… Love the review, though! :)

KeenTeaThyme

I have a strawberry blended puerh (the My Name is Bruce blend) if you want to try it. I don’t think I’ve tried all that many and honestly they are mostly forgettable. I tend to like green tea anyway so something strong like this wouldn’t sit well with me either. Don’t feel bad! ;)

I agree with QG – love the description, especially, “dusty…like the dirty actors in a Sergio Leone western.” :)

LiberTEAS

I had this experience the first time I tried Pu-erh as well, but now, I have learned that proper brewing is essential with Pu-erh. What were your brewing parameters?

teawing

Just off the boil, about 3 minutes. Not much different than some of the higher ratings.
I can’t believe it is even the same tea some have described.

gmathis

Love the vacuum cleaner dust analogy!

teawing

gmathis: thanks!
LiberTEAS: was that too long?

teawing

KiTT: Thank you too! I would try a blend, if you can spare some, but I doubt straight Pu-erh’s are going to be in my future.

Angrboda

Generally with this type I use 30 seconds at the most for the first steep. But I also use a lot of leaf, so it might not easily translate into anything useful for you. It is a type that steeps really fast though

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76
596 tasting notes

Not as rich as I would like to be, but decent so far. Will try more.

Cofftea

A Vietnamese Pu Erh? Odd.

Lainie Petersen

It is odd. Good for my tummy, though.

Cofftea

The odd intrigues me and I’d normally be on that like white on rice (Asian pun intented lol), but I’m not a shu fan.

Lainie Petersen

I can drink either shu or sheng, but find that shu is really good at calming a tummyache.

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22 tasting notes

Jack: “It’s older than you, Ricky! It smells like Chocolate.”
Jason: “It’s not tea , it’s butt. It doesn’t taste as bad as it smells.”

Brewed in our Medium Dark Yixing Pot

TeaEqualsBliss

I LOVE that you guys are logging again! :) teahee!!!

Geoffrey Norman

I agree with Jason, it smelled like butt. Even tasted like it on first steep to me.

Ricky

Hmm, it seems we drank this one all day. I don’t recalling brewing a second pot of tea. I liked this one. I think it was extra strong because of our yixing pot. The pot smelled old and musty.

Jason

It did smell worse than it tasted, kinda like dirty butt, but dirty in the “earth” sense, and, well, “butt” in the butt sense. I just don’t think I’m a pu-erh guy.

Jason

No offense intended to those who are fans of the pu-erh

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5
247 tasting notes

Smells like dirt.
Tastes like mud.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 1 min, 0 sec
RachanaC (Rachel)-iHeartTeas

That sounds so gross. I think I have this somewhere. I will have to compare notes at some point.

QuiltGuppy

I just don’t get this one. It’s really awful. I’ve read some reviews and people say it’s sweet?! I seriously didn’t taste anything different than the mud I ate as a child. ;) Maybe my sample was bad… I’d be happy to send you, or any other brave soul, the remainder of the sample. Enough for a cup! Any takers?

teawing

So that means “earthy” notes? :)

Paul M Tracy

I love honest reviews! I cross-referenced my tasting notes and I had given this one an 86; one of my highest scores ever. It goes to show how varied our tastes are even in this one community.

QuiltGuppy

twing – It very well could have been earth.

Paul – I know. When I looked up the reviews, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, which leads me to believe that maybe my sample went bad. Or, maybe I’m just not a pu erh person after all. So, are you brave enough to try the rest of my sample? (Just for research purposes, of course?)

RachanaC (Rachel)-iHeartTeas

I am going to try to find mine tomorrow and see what happens. Should be fun.

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83
6768 tasting notes

I seriously CAN’T believe this is a puerh! This is incredibly smooth and sweet! Much more so than ANY Puerh I have ever had! It’s a tad on the mellow side for actual kick or strength but I am overly impressed with this! WOW! Now this is a puerh for me!

Paul M Tracy

Pretty much the same reaction here. I was surprised by how “fresh and young” this “aged” tea presented.

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84
93 tasting notes

Before Brewing:
The leafs are nice! I purchased some pu erh before, but the quality of these leafs are just a tad better (bigger, more unbroken & more even in color) The smell is different. It reminds me of… What’s the word… It’s opposite of spring… FALL!

After steeping:
The color of the liquid is very dark orange (typical pu erh orange). It’s smells very woody – very pleasant. And it taste woody too with a smoky feeling. It’s so different from my usual pu erh that I want to make another pu erh to compare it with. The aroma changes in the mouth. It’s woody at first, smoky after swallowing and sweet when the smokey flavor recedes.

All in all – I like it!
It is the best unflavored pu erh I ever had and I didn’t have to force myself to refill my cup. It’s not a “YUM!” moment, but I am so happy to find a pu erh without flavor in it that’s drinkable!

So here is a: “YUHUU!!!” instead :)

P.S The english language is so funny!
Do you realise you got 72 meanings for “fall”. That’s like crazy.

Rijje

I am seriously considering licking our table (it’s made of wood)…
Just to be sure it really is “wood” flavor I got with the tea :P

cultureflip

I apologise on behalf of the English language.

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86
141 tasting notes

This took me by surprise; it’s so unlike any other pu-erh I’ve had.

This tea is very loosely packed and the leaves are long and twisted. I’m glad it was handled gently so they weren’t crumbled. The fragrance is of a freshly mowed lawn. This isn’t unusual for say a green tea, but pu-erhs are usually more earthy. This was fresh and clean.

When brewed, you have a rust to almost cranberry colored tea. The fragrance is slightly mossy, but young. Here I picture a vibrant patch of newly sprouted green moss after a rain as opposed to something older.

This is a really sweet pu-erh. It’s an odd flavor profile, but what comes to mind first is cucumber with a touch of white grape juice. This was totally unexpected for a pu-erh and was an enjoyable discovery.

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 30 sec
Cofftea

This sounds like a shu I’d actually like!

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