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This is a good introductory Puerh. It’s not very high quality, I’m told. It’s a Shou style Puerh which means it’s pile fermented (wo dui) before being pressed into these little bowls (tuo).

I like it, though. It is unpretentious. My grandma first brewed this one for me, because she is a fan of Chinese culture. It is very mellow and easy to drink, and lasts for more steepings than you might want to drink. I would say give it 6-8 steepings but it can hold up to 10.

You may want to “wash” the bowl of tea for 30 seconds in hot water to open it up, and the first infusion might still have a little bit of the smell of the wet pile flavor, which is “fishy” and earthy to me, like a fermented fish sauce, and that turns off a lot of Western tasters. You can eliminate it by throwing out the first infusion, or just enjoy this unique aspect of the style. Mostly it’s got smoky, nutty, earthy, aspects and is not astringent, I find that it settles the stomach, and is quite refreshing.

Haven’t had any greens like this one. It’s cloudy, and the first infusion is “thick” if that makes sense. The tea has a very full body to it. A fine sediment of tea sweepings forms at the bottom of the cup, because this tea’s leaves are so small, which I believe is part of the style.

I believe this tea is very sensitive to oversteeping, anything beyond the recommended 2 minutes gives you more drying astringency. The flavor is delicate, mellow, maybe a little vegetal/mineral. There is little to no bitterness.

I like this one but it seems a little fussier than their genmaicha. At higher temperatures the brew is very different, I could not make this tea “properly” until I got my precision kettle. It’s still enjoyable right off boiling, but you don’t get all the subtleties of it.

This tea is basic, but good. It’s a light brew, with little astringency, easy to drink. Not much complexity here, sort of a one-note pleasant floral aspect. Doesn’t really go well with milk or sugar which will drown it out, despite this varietal forming part of many brands’ English Breakfast teas. Very much a hong cha to drink unadulterated, maybe English size teapots are also a mistake. Not a whole lot of punch to the flavor but it’s a nice sip for a morning where you don’t have time to focus on a complex brew and just want a cup of black tea.

This tea is very hard to measure with a teaspoon, because the leaves are so huge. It’s a full-leaf tea I guarantee I ended up under-leafing it, but that’s okay, it’s a pleasantly subtle brew. I will revisit it once my kitchen scale arrives. I made this cup with more water than you’re supposed to, because I like this as a weaker brew for afternoon sipping, adding water many times, at least 4 infusions.

At this strength it’s almost got a toasty-vegetal taste like a green tea, and it’s very smooth. When brewed stronger the peach smell does come out, and it’s very pleasant. This tea goes well with the tap water in my town, which is slightly hard even after filtering. Don’t overbrew and you won’t notice much astringency.

This is the first tea I have had that exhibits the “muscatiel” flavor profile and it’s very delightful. This tea is very fine indeed, but very delicate. The recommended 185F is a good limit. It lasts for at least 4 steepings in my little 300ml Hario glass pot, with the flavor getting less pronounced but still present. Beyond 4 steepings it’s getting a little extra to keep brewing it.

If you are forgetful like me overbrew it like I did on some of the later steepings, add sweetener, but don’t do this tea dirty by adding milk. It doesn’t play well with honey, that will wash it out and make it insipid, but it goes well with a light brown sugar.

This is a weird tea to have as an everyday tea, but it’s a flavor sensation.

Looking for something to add milk and honey to, a straightforward black tea experience that is still tasty and more complex than a teabag blend? You’ve found it.

I got this silver striped Ceylon to experiment with blending my own English Breakfast, but it’s excellent on its own. Most of the teas in my cupboard are lighter, more posh teas that would be a crime to add milk to, or otherwise adulterate. This is a much more nostalgic brew for me, taking me back to mornings in high school trying to make as strong and hot a cup of tea as I possibly could to maximize caffeine as my parents believed that coffee stunted growth, and warmth on cold mornings. In England I believe they call it “builder’s tea”.

It’s not nearly as astringent as something like a Tetley bag, but it’s pretty astringent. Drink it with food. I may mix it with lighter teas just to mellow it out. Very classic flavor profile that is great for a rainy morning where you still need to get a lot done.

The tea temperature scale does not allow me to represent that I put it through water at 210F, as the instructions demanded “near-boiling” water without specifying a temperature. This is the first time I have brewed this tea with my new kettle that reaches precise temperatures and with water filtered by my new pitcher.

I washed the leaves in 210F water for 30 seconds and discarded the liquor before the first infusion. This is likely why the liquor has none of the fishy pile flavor like the first time I brewed it. Instead, it is a very mellow flavor.

This is a ripe shou puerh and is apparently fairly middling in quality. I suppose I will have to try the fancy stuff. This is a review of the 1st infusion, but I know this tea stands up to 8 or more.

It’s very mellow and mild and if I was using my unfiltered tap water I would not be able to taste a lot of the notes in it. It’s almost savory, but has a sweet aftertaste on the tongue. If I wanted to adulterate it, I would probably add lemon to bring that out more.

It’s slightly roasty but not really, more just a full flavor on the tongue. I imagine the slight astringency comes from me steeping it at too high a temperature, I will probably try something like 200F when doing a “near-boil” next time. That might be part of the normal profile though. It goes away on later infusions.

This is a good morning tea, maybe with something savory like a pork bao or something, I don’t have one but that’s what I wish I was eating with this tea.