Sticky Rice Pu-erh

Oh boy. I’m not even sure where to begin with this one. It came in the mail to me through Golden Moon Tea’s Single Leaf Club (like a tea of the month club… I’m trying to broaden my horizons); however, when I enter the secret link to read more about it, the link doesn’t work.

So, kind of excited as I’ve never tried pu-erh before, I open the container and sniff. Now, if I were a farmer, perhaps this would have invoked a different reaction, however, the barnyard/dirt fragrance really turned me off. Would I actually try this? I had to question myself. Well, this morning I took the plunge.

I followed the directions almost exactly, but added a rinse first, hoping to shake some of that scent. 180/1.5 minutes…

Sniff… ack! Nope, now it’s wet barnyard that I smell. And something like feet. Seriously, this is getting worse and worse. But, I’m thinking to myself, I lived in France for years. Some of the cheeses that could condemn a home on odor alone were some of the best I’ve ever tasted. Besides, the color of the tea is very light yellow and pretty. So, I throw caution to the wind and take a sip.

I’m not a mathematician, but I’ve come up with an equation:

(scent of cheese:taste) ≠ (scent of Sticky Rice Pu-erh:taste)

I’m pretty proud of that and I have no words to describe this that wouldn’t fall into my mom’s “if-you-don’t-have-anything-nice-to-say, then-don’t-say-anything-at-all” category.

One reason for the less than optimum rating is that the can was less than half full, which means that I will not get that much out of it. I count 18, which means 9 pots and consider that scanty, even with additional steepings. My second steeping I thought would be safe at 2 minutes, but that actually brought in a touch of bitterness. Not enough to ruin it, but 1.5 minutes the second time would have been better. I haven’t tried a third yet, but I think I might get another one yet this morning. I also appreciate more complete brewing instructions, as in tell me how much to use. And as with the other reviewer, the link did not work to order more. It was supposed to work for Feb. and that is more than half over anyway, by the time I got it. But moot point if it doesn’t work at all.

I’m going to get some from Chicago Tea Garden. I’m sure it is cheaper and probably the same tea!