Pu-erh Chai

Very dark—almost like coffee in appearance and aroma. Added warm milk and honey. Flavorful and different.

Sample. Short end of the stick? Interesting. My first Pu-erh. Before brewing the leaves definitely smelled very cinnamon-y and orange-y. Was totally taken aback by the color of the tea. So dark, and unlike any tea I’ve seen before. Had the first few sips plain and it was weird. Not terrible but I definitely didn’t like it. The smell had something off putting behind the spices that I can’t put my finger on. The taste was a little odd too. But added a touch of half&half and honey, and it became much better. The weird smell/taste diminished. The dominant spice seems to be cinnamon. I kind of like it. Totally unsure if I’d order more. But of the 10-15 Golden Moon samples I’ve had so far, this is in the top two.

Smells of earth and cinnamon. By scent I can’t yet tell if that is a good thing.

As hinted by it’s name, it’s not a traditional chai, so I taste the pu-erh predominantly, and the cinnamon is less a flavor than a sensation. A warmth in the throat, following the earth. It does not have the complex spicing of most chai’s, using pu-erh, cinnamon chips, cardamom and “spice oil”. It says it has a smooth citrus bouquet – which I can detect in the unbrewed leaf, but not in the infusion itself. It’s… Ok… If I think if it from a chai perspective it’s not very complex. If I think of it from a pu-erh with cinnamon, it’s fairly decent.

Drunk plain.

Second cup – with a pinch of sugar. It brings out the cinnamon more, yet subdues the pu-erh.

Interesting, but don’t know if I’d buy this. I’ve had better pu-erh’s and better chai’s, and don’t feel the two combined necessarily make up for the other’s weaknesses.

I love this tea. It is dark, almost black in my cup, like coffee. The chai spices are not overpowering and the combination of the earthiness of Pu-erh and the sweet black tea blends perfectly. It has a sweet, salty, slightly smoky taste. On second steeping a slight smokiness intrudes.