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I’ve always wanted to own one of these 7562 bricks although I can’t quite tell you why. I’ve heard so many things about them and people owning ones that age very well over time. I’ve never had a brick that is so tightly packed before and, having no idea how to break it apart I immediately began attacking it with a kitchen knife, making a big mess. There must be a better way – a chisel?

My cup is elegant with no strange odors in my opinion. The tea is very smooth and dark with a creamy, malty and chocolate-y element. I am enjoying it. I’m a newbie to Menghai pu-erhs but am already a fan of this one. Definitely a good purchase for the price, I got mine from Puershop.com for $11.95 and that will make a lot of tea!

Raspberry Soiree, I still think you are the spitting image of Hawaiian Fruit Punch.

I am trying to finish this off but it is a bit of a joyless endeavor.

By accident I probably let this steep for 7 minutes or so this afternoon. Actually I think it might be a bit better this way! This tea isn’t bad, I just have soooooo much of it. I’ll never buy 8 oz. of the same tea again! :)

Thanks to SimplyJenW for sending some of this my way! Usually I enjoy roses in tea so I thought I would try this…

Wow, this smells so nice when it’s steeping and so does the finished cup. I am having a bad morning (already) and the aroma is very soothing. I don’t know that much about congous so it’s a bit difficult to determine what role it is playing here. The tea itself is a medium bodied black tea with a hint of sweetness and some chocolate/spice. I sipped on some of it plain but then I also added soymilk and I liked it both ways. This is going on my list of things to purchase from Upton the next time I place an order. This tea is VERY rosey so if you don’t like that I’d steer clear of it for sure. For me it’s so very nice, a small luxury in the day.

I hardly ever add sugar to anything but I will not finish this tea without sweetener – the hibiscus just makes it too tart. It’s a shame because I love the way this smells. Probably will not repurchase it but I just want to finish off what I have…

This is a black tea from Sri Lanka and the description on the website is thus:

A gorgeous, tippy tea that produces a mellow, amber-colored and very flowery liquor. One of the best teas from the Nuwara Eliya district.

I steeped this at around 4 minutes at 205 F and am loving it! It has beautiful small and dark leaves. The aroma of the tea is flowery but the flavors are luscious… I am getting molasses, honey and fruit. This has a slight bit of pungency in the finish which is a bit harsh but that might be tempered by steeping with a bit less time. I took off a few points in my rating for that but otherwise it’s so close to perfection.

This is definitely one of the best ceylons I’ve ever had – very, very good!

I’m keeping the pu-erh addiction alive today… lol

One reason these are great for the office is I can use the same leaf for hours and keep going back to the hot water dispenser to steep it for 30 seconds or so which cuts down on the amount of times I have to get up. :)

Normally I’m not so keen on touchas especially since they can be made with inferior ingredients….

I thought this was great, very flavorful and nice shu with the chinese date, or jujube aroma. Supposedly a very smooth Menghai taste, I’m just starting to learn what that is. :)

It’s smooth and mellow with no grit like you sometimes find after steeping a tuocha (is that from dust, I don’t know?) I am enjoying the redwood type flavor with fruitiness in the finish. It reminds me a bit of raisins rather than dates, but you get the point.

No weird off flavors or fishiness… and no camphor. I only got four of these but I wish I had gotten more – they’re nice!

I find that the more sheng I drink the more I sort of come to crave it and like it…

This came as a sample from Puershop.com, the sample was pretty inexpensive and they give you a good amount to play around with. This is not an expensive cake anyway, the entire beeng is only $19.

This tastes like what it is, a Chinese green tea. It’s slightly earthy and woodsy with no extreme astringent or bitter flavors, it has a bit of a sweet aftertaste. I did accidentally leave my first steep too long which made the tea pretty harsh. But, I should know better! My second steep was around 30 seconds and that was a good amount for this one.

I’m not a sheng expert but thought this was a good value for the price, especially if you can keep the steeping times very short. It did not blow my mind but it’s quite ready to drink now…

Thanks to SimplyJenW for a sample of this one!

Chocolate teas have not always been my favorite because usually I find them lacking in something. This is a pretty unique blend of chocolate, mate, raspberry and almond. I steeped mine for 5 minutes and found the ingredients to be flavorful and fairly well balanced but I also probably used a bit more leaf than I typically would. This is definitely a fun way to start the day! I hope the mate gives me a boost, I need one this morning. :)

This came with my recent order from PuerShop.com, after I placed the order I read the other reviews and I was really wishing I had NOT ordered it because they are quite dismal. In any case the entire beeng was only $18 so I’m not losing out on much by trying it.

I broke off a small chunk of it to stick it in an infuser mug. I definitely wanted to rinse this one quite thoroughly. After that I let it steep for about 1 minute. I’m not getting any aromas of a dirty pond, which is what I was afraid of from the first review. But okay, it might be a tad bit “eau du barnyard”.

This is kind of woodsy, and earthy, it also has a big chocolate-y element. It isn’t the most interesting shu I’ve ever had it terms of flavor and quality but it isn’t that bad either… I didn’t think it was very light like another reviewer said. Could there be a vast difference in the quality of these beengs or maybe I just don’t know what I am talking about when it comes to pu-erhs? lol. It’s true I’ve only been drinking them for about a year.

Since I have the whole cake I might just let this one air out and age for a while too…