Coffee Pu'erh

For me, someone who loves coffee, this was a terrible substitute. For the tea lover in me, I was sorely disappointed as well. Weak yet bitter, the almond did nothing for it either.

The pu’erh’s strong flavours were done a disservice by the bitter, yet bland and water-y, coffee flavouring. The almond flavouring did nothing for me either.

I’m someone that doesn’t tolerate coffee. Yes, I do enjoy Coffee Crisps bars and coffee cakes but I cannot swallow one sip of the sweetest Brazilian coffee. After trying Jumpy Monkey and actually liking it, I thought I would give a try to another coffee tea. Once steeped, the liquor is strangely opaque, like coffee. Unfortunately, this is too much for me. Maybe more vanilla aromas would make it better for me but, as it is, it’s too strong and too bitter.

However, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to someone who is transitioning from coffee to tea.

i can taste the puehr tea, the coffee and also the vanilla taste!

it’s good coffee..but not tasting any puerh. hmmm…maybe flavored puerh is not for me. did a side by side with samovar blood orange and natural tea leaf lavender puerh. i was able to detect puerh in the others but the coffee flavor in this makes up for the lack. great for those wanting to sub tea for coffee but now im wondering about the caffeine content of this.. it might be half coffee half tea lol

This is a really strange tea, but I like it with milk and sugar. Definitely tastes coffee-ish.

Huh I’m amazed I never commented on this tea before. I drink this somewhat regularly and have a couple different ways I like to make it depending on what I’m going for. Typically if I want it to be more sweet coffee/chocolatey dessert tea, I steep it for about 2 minutes and put a bit of sugar (honey seems “wrong” with this one to me on account of the coffee) and almond milk in it. If I want it to be more earthy and tea-y, I let it steep for 5+ minutes, depending entirely on how much attention I’m paying it.

… I’ve been tempted to see how short steeps go for this, but just can’t be arsed to experiment when I really quite enjoy this as I’ve been doing it.

Also, I do rinse it briefly (~10 secs) with cooled boiling water off the start, which I don’t know if it’s “necessary”, but the initial rinse liquid does smell a bit wonky to me. If nothing else, in my mind it’s a good thing.

Edit: Oh of course NOW I see my old review pop up on the page. Oh well. I hope this one might be a bit more helpful at least.

There are coffee beans in this blend! It has a pleasant, coffee-like aroma as well. I was a little wary of the base as I have not tried any of DAVIDs pu-erh blends before, but it did not display any offensive qualities. There was no fishiness, and reviews to the contrary seem to be from some time ago, so they may have improved the blend since then. As for the quality of the taste…was it earthy? Possibly. Did it taste like coffee? A little bit. Was it smooth and recognizably not black tea? Yes. Did it have its own complexity or distinguishing qualities? Not so much. But oddly enough, it was enjoyable to drink—maybe I just craved that aromatic, coffee-and-caramel experience in the morning. In all, if I were to recommend a flavored pu-erh blend, I would pick a different one (the tea base is much more pronounced in Lupicia’s blends, for instance), but this isn’t bad either. Thanks to beelicious for the sample!

I am addicted to this tea! I used to be an avid coffee drinker but was finding myself getting bored with my daily cup so I thought I would try some more teas. I was initially quite scared to try a Pu’erh tea as I have seen some comments mentioning rotting fish. I was pleasantly surprised when I brewed this and and detected only a slight oceanic scent. This does have a slight earthyness along with a subtle chocolate-coffee flavour I just cant get enough of. This coupled with the fact that I cannot detect any bitterness in this tea it makes for a very drinkable cup.

Ha! That’s it! I always tend to oversteep my teas. This time I’ve tried this again for no more than 4 minutes and that’s the key! The pu’erh earthy taste is very subtle now, I mostly get coffee and a hint of vanilla, much much better!

I was craving something rich and coffee-like today so I opted to get a hot up of Coffee Pu’erh. This tea smells amazing as a dry leaf and when brewed. It is definitely related to coffee but made more gentle by the smooth, earthy pu erh, instead of coffee’s usual acidity. Chocolate is present throughout the flavors, perhaps even more strongly than the coffee flavor. This is an example of a blend that tastes sweet in a rich way instead of just a candy-like way, and I enjoy it much more than the usual sugar-inspired blends at Davids Teas. I took this tea without sugar or milk, and let it steep a little long. I bet as a late this is amazing. This satisfied my coffee/late cravings without sugar, acidity, and lighter on the caffeine. This might become a new staple for me as a way to drink less coffee. Every bit as satisfying in mouthfeel, taste, and smell.