Imperial Organic - 100% Organic Pu-erh`

Some where out there a pu-erh snob has fainted. That’s right, I am drinking pu-erh out of a teabag. $6 for a box and you can get it even cheaper on Uncle Lee’s website.

I bought this just to check it out for experimentation. I wasn’t expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised. It has the nice brownish-red color of a pu-erh. For a teabag this has some tremendous flavor. It’s very woodsy, and roasty/toasty with a hint of smoke puffs. The aroma reminds me of the redwood forest groves in Northern California. This is reminiscent of the wild tree pu-erhs I like a lot. It’s actually quite pleasant and it’s organic.

Don’t tell the tea snobs but I actually think this is more flavorful and interesting than both the tuo chas I had earlier today. It will just be our little secret… ;-)

Bagged
Aroma when Dry: sour, sweaty
After water is first poured: sweaty
At end of steep: earthy, slight musk
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: dark, earthy brown-red
Staple? No
Time of day preferred: unsure, first tasting
Taste:
first notes: forest dirt, mustyenss
As it cools? Notes get sweaty, peaty again
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? With slight sweaty, chemical notes

A co-worker, who is working on waning herself off of coffee, purchased this tea from a local heath store; and seeing as how I’m the recognized local tea connoisseur, she had peaked my curiosity.

The aroma given from steeping is extremely promising, with an almost rich woodsy atmosphere, deeply green, very dark, and a slight smokey tinge. The color is a very satisfying deep and handsome red of pu-erh.

The flavor is amazingly rich, with a smokey earthy taste that empowers it’s roasted base; this is the flavor of a fresh forest.

There are times when a teabag tea surprises me. This teabag is one of them.

Rich flavor, marine notes are just barely detectable, it’s cleaner in that regard for those who have an aversion to puerh for that reason. I think Kasumi no Chagin hit it with the ‘peat’ descriptor. ‘Forest dirt’ hits more on the second steep. I know, this sounds so appealing, doesn’t it? But it’s a pretty good puerh for everyday drinking.