I rescued a tin of this that had “expired” while I was working at Peets with the sidelong comment to my manager (a tea geek) that I thought pu-erh’s were intended to be aged. Insert tank here about how Peets is a coffee company that sells fair to middling tea and a warning to not judge all pu-erh teas by this one. One co-worker commented that he didn’t really like the earthy taste.
Undaunted, I pressed on. Indeed, the flavor of this tea is earthy — one might describe it as the taste of the fields. It’s not, however, an unpleasant taste. Both the texture and the flavor are imminently smooth and thick, which is in my opinion a great quality for a rainy day tea. Probably my favorite aspect of this tea is the color — a rich red when brewed. It’s simply enjoyable to look at.
That said, the flavor profile is very simple and rather flat, which keeps this from being a tea that I would recommend strongly or one that I drink with any frequency. The tea hasn’t sold me on itself; it has left me eager to try other pu-erhs.
