Nan Nuo Shan Pu-Erh

Dry leaf smells like horses (a good thing, I miss riding growing up) but oddly enough not so barny as the few other pu-erhs I’ve smelled. Leaves are loose, long and dull brown with a bit of variation. This is my second time trying it and opted for shorter steeps this time. May go with longer at a lower temp next time as this was still quite astringent but not very “full”. Had to add a few crystals of sugar to get through the second steep and tossed half of the third cup (and yes I did rinse). Will revisit more in-depth. But really I just wanted to say it smells like horses.

I’d never had pu-erh before, and was hoping for something a bit more… intense? I should note that the description on the box says it’s sweeter and less earthy than traditional pu-erh, so I can’t accuse them of false advertising on that count. Unfortunately, not earthy, relatively sweet, and complex, while it might be unique among pu-erhs, also means it doesn’t deviate much from the norm of green teas, so I was a bit disappointed.

It smells softly earthy, which is promising, but the taste doesn’t measure up. It’s very mild, first of all. I could barely taste anything at 2 minutes, so I resumed steeping for a little longer and had more luck then. What I can taste is interesting, definitely complex. A bit sweet, dry, astringent… The problem is that it’s so light in flavour that my not-yet-refined palate is having a hard time picking up on the nuances. I might experiment with steeping time to see if I can coax out more of the flavour.