Golden Pu-erh

This is my first time trying a pu-erh. I know the experience of a DavidsTea pu-erh will be greatly different from that of a high quality pu-erh, but I had to get my foot in the door just a little bit.

Yup! There’s that fishy smell everyone was talking about! I decided to try to not let it get to me, since I read the smell isn’t really in the flavour of the tea. I’d have to say I disagree. Although it’s a lot less strong, there is fishy flavour to this tea, but it’s balanced out by the smoky/earthyness of the rest of the flavours.

I really like the smoky/earthyness but the fishy flavour kind of gets to me. I don’t know if I’ll ever restock this tea but I’ll still drink it, and maybe blend it with some of my favourite teas to see how that is. I’ve also read it gets better after more steeps so I will try that out in the future as well.

Update: _{I didn’t keep this, I ended up returning it. As I finished the pot I just couldn’t get over the fish taste. Being a vegetarian too it was really weird drinking something that tasted like fish. I know there’s not actually fish/fish oil in it but still…}

_{Maybe I just got a bad batch because other people didn’t pick up on fish flavour as much as I did, but still, I’m gonna change my rating and hope that I can find a yummy not-fishy pu-erh from somewhere in the future.}

this is fine i guess. kinda a dull cup. lacks personality. not awful or anything.

it’s about perspective. i would be excited to drink this if i was a tea no-man’s-land.

I can’t help but try and defend this tea. It’s a very mildly flavored pu-ehr with amazing earthy aroma nothing short of mountain soil. On tasting it you can easily taste the young roots and meadow grass. Resteeps easily for at least 3 times keeping the flavor (getting milder and gaining more of a fresh hay taste). One point I must bring up is the “pu-erh effect”, this tea definitely delivers an amazing rush. The best I can describe it is feeling instantly refreshed, clear-minded and gathered. If you need a coffee in the morning to wake up and you are trying to find a tea that will match that I cannot recommend pu-erhs highly enough. No caffeine crash, no jitteriness, no thoughts all over the place – just pure clean energy. In fact try having a 3rd or later steep short time before bed, you just might learn something new about yourself or solve that problem that has been bugging you forever. This is my first pu-erh and I am forever in love with this sort of tea. I would definitely recommend this particular one to anyone who wants to jump into amazing world of Pu-erh.

I’m a pu-erh novice – I’ve tried a little, but not very much. This is the first one I’ve ever liked, though. I wouldn’t have ordered if it didn’t come in a sampler pack I ordered, but I’m glad it did.

I do get a lot of the fishy smell that other people are getting, but I don’t get it in the taste, which I’m glad for. (Although maybe I am and just don’t know it – I’m a vegetarian who doesn’t eat fish!) And it’s not fishy like a fish market would be… more like taking a walk in the woods near an ocean? There’s definitely an earthiness that comes out, especially on subsequent steeps.
But the liquor, true to its name, is definitely a beautiful golden-red color. It tastes very earthy, especially as it steeps more and more times (I’m brewing this gong-fu before class in the morning – I knew I wouldn’t have time to finish a mug, but I could do a few smaller cups!)
It’s very earthy. I don’t know if I’ll order it again, but it’s not a sample I’m running to get rid of.

Here fishy fishy fishy!

I swear I felt like Ernie sitting in his boat when I smelled this one brewed. I’d even tried rinsing before brewing, hoping that it would make a straight pu’erh drinkable for me. But nope. I did two sips and just couldn’t do anymore. Pu’erh is definitely not a type of tea I can do straight right now. I’ll revisit them later in my life but right now, they are definitely not for me.

The only way to describe this is that it tasted like earth. It was almost like you could taste the Chinese Yunnan caves it was grown in. It was amazing. I did three infusions and it just got more delicious. By the end I had a natural tea high, and it could feel the positive energy. Overall, great, I can’t wait to try some higher end Pu-erhs.

First steep:

Boiling for 5:45

Second Steep:

Boiling for 6:15

Third Steep:

Boiling at 9:00

Thought I would try for a little longer to say how strong it could get. Since, it was the third steep it wasn’t a whole lot stronger than the first I did at 5:45. I let it sit out to long and it was not that good at room temperature. Next time I will do the first steep at 9:00.

I fixed a pot of this yesterday afternoon and promptly fell asleep, so I drank it later on in the evening warmed up in the microwave (wince). In between the nap and the drinking, it lost that pu-erh fishy, earthy smell. It didn’t smell like much of anything at all. Surprisingly, it didn’t taste like much at all. Mainly like strong tea. Not leathery, not fishy, not musty or earthy. Weird. It was a definite reminder of the way that smell impacts the taste.

I resteeped the leaves this morning after reading that pu-erhs are good resteepers. This cup has more of the pu-erh flavors and scents. Definitely musty and earthy. Not bad, actually. I am quite enjoying it. I was really skeptical after I opened up the bag of tea and took a whiff. It was really fishy and off-putting. I don’t know that pu-erhs will ever be a staple in my cupboard, but I definitely wouldn’t mind trying more.

First things first, they say it’s been aged for 5 years: what does it mean? Is this a 2006? 2007? Does it mean it stops aging once I buy it? I guess it doesn’t really matter, I get what they’re trying to say.

Anyway, I like this Pu-erh.

You can smell that this tea is young has just starting turning to earth. I don’t get how anyone can compare the smell of it to fish. I like the taste. It’s rich, full-bodied and yet refreshing. The fact that this tea is still young gives you a mix of vegetal and mineral (earthy) flavours.

Definitely recommended to those who are new into pu-erhs.

This is my first time trying Pu-erh tea. After reading all the comments I was hopeful that a great new experience awaited me. I am disappointed so far – this tea doesn’t seem to have much flavor at all. I have re-brewed the leaves 3 times, each time longer than the last, and it never seemed to improve. The flavor is not bad, it IS earthy, and reminds me of lapsang souchong, but I expected more. Maybe next time I will steep it longer initially.

I did what a lot of others said, and rinsed the leaves for about 10-15 seconds and poured out the water, then re-steeped. Maybe this removed a lot of the flavor? I’ll keep experimenting, as I really want to like this tea! Any suggestions are welcome to this pu-erh newbie.. :)

This tea smells exactly like dashi (fish stock) but it doesn’t taste like it. I’m not sure if I like it or not. The smell doesn’t bother me that much but it tastes very earthy.

I have had pu’erh tea before, which is typically deeply earthy and in between mild and strong. This is no different to the one I’ve had before.

I like that there are no surprises, as this tea can be consistent from anyone. It is a good mild tea.

Awesome Awesome Awesome. very earthy. strong. Even after a couple of steeps, it still has a strong flavor.

I’m a little sick today so I decided to break into my pu’erh and was quite happy at the slight smokiness and earth tones in this tea. I’m sure there are better Pu’erh out there but I’m quite enjoying this blend.

I thought this Pu’erh would be really strong in taste, but no way. It’s a delicate earthy taste.

This one is rich in flavors, it really catch the “old leaves” feeling without being corrosive. Yep! It was really a tasty experience!

This was the tea that introduced me to pu’erhs. I never got any fishiness, just dampness, earth, and a touch of smoke. I drink it before or after heavy meals to cut through the gross, bloated feeling. Wonder tonic indeed.

The colour of the tea is really dark. My first sip was a little taken back. I taste a lot of smokiness in this tea…almost like Lapsang Souchong. Nothing on the label mentions smokiness so I was caught by surprise. The smell from the bag didn’t indicate any of that either.

This is an odd tea to be sure. Very earthy, almost a dirt texture. I added milk to cover some of it up. It reminds me of the burdock root that I used to recharge my liver back when I had some health issues. Hmmm. I’ll need to try this again to give a proper review. There is definitely more to it than “earthy” though. This is the only unflavoured pu’rer that I’ve tried so maybe I should check out another variety to compare.

First time trying this and really enjoying it. Very nice earthy flavor, but it does not overwhelm my senses.

This tea is terrific. It tastes mildly of mushrooms and disturbed earth. A nice, accessible pu’erh for the collection.

ok it taste like dirt a bit but….With all the good things it can give… I think it’s a must. It’s also a tea that you must learn to enjoy and adding a little bit of honey etc…won’t kill you.
I drink it everynight, after supper. I had a surgery and I don’t diggest as good anymore. This tea’s the best help! Works for real!!!