Chocolate Pu-erh

Cuppa #3

This is heavy on the spice. I’m only getting a bit of chocolate, but it’s playing off nicely against the spice. There’s big cinnamon and nutmeg, and a surprisingly nice base. Wow, I wasn’t expecting this to even be drinkable. Hell, I half bought this just to see how bad it could be. But it’s actually good? Out of my three mugs so far today, this is the best.

You know what this tastes like? Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate. I’ve never had that before, but the flavor tastes very much like if you blended hot chocolate and pumpkin spice. It’s tasty. I can’t believe I’m recommending a bagged Pu, but this is really good. I mean, as with all these bagged teas, I will never beat out loose leaf, but I really think I could stash a few of these in my purse and enjoy them on the go. Good stuff.

Solid B.

So this is teabag #5/6 that I’m having tonight.
4min 212F
smells of cinnamon and nutmeg
tastes of cinnamon and nutmeg, maybe a hint of earth in the aftertaste
I wouldn’t call this a pu-erh. It tastes like a cinnamon tea. Their Emporer’s pu-erh is better.

The other teabags I finished today: Sakurambo (black), Darjeeling 1st flush -Lupicia; Jasmine green, Earl Grey – Rishi. #6 – will be Momo oolong Lupicia

Sipdown. After the 6th teabag, my tea count will be 251.

So, derk was going to send me a few pu-erhs to try. This turned into a sampler box with a huge variety! Thank you!

The brewed tea has a very subtle smell, possibly the pu-erh.
Ooh, subtle pu-erh flavors and subtle cocoa flavor. Of course, I prefer a stronger cocoa flavor. looks at chocolate bar on his desk with 90% cocoa solids Still, I like how the flavors are in balance, and it’s pretty amazing for a bag of tea I could pick up in a grocery store. Mmm.

Thank you Derk!

I had seen Derk’s review on this and wanted to try it but I just couldn’t pull the trigger on buying a box of it on Amazon. I admit I didn’t have too high expectations but I was really hoping it was going to be decent. I know I like Numi’s toasted rice sencha so wondered if I’d like this one too.

This is good. I really like it. Nice cinnamon, nutmeg notes, some other spices. I don’t really get chocolate per se (maybe cocoa dust) but I haven’t really found a chocolate tea that tasted like chocolate lol. I taste it more in unflavored teas, to be honest.

I’ll get a box of the teabags for traveling. :D

A not-so-guilty pleasure. Smells warm and decadent like a Mexican hot chocolate. Oh my. Not creamy. The flavors aren’t overwhelming and really complement the tea base which is fairly close to a black tea but with a shou puerh clean earth, mossy and mineral kick to it. Everything about this tea tastes very natural and inoffensive. A damn fine bagged tea and a real nice introduction for complete puerh newbies.

Another sipdown. This is from the travelling teabox and I enjoyed trying the types of puerh from Numi. I’ve been eyeing these but didn’t want to commit to an entire box. I enjoyed trying this and would consider buying a box in the future.

Lots of earthy cocoa and cinnamon, citrus, vanilla. This isn’t sweet at all, so don’t think this will be desserty. I like it, though. It reminds me of 70% cocoa dark chocolate (bittersweet chocolate). This is very chocolaty and dark, but the spices are a nice addition too.

Yum! I love having this after dinner because it tastes just like dessert without the guilt. Therefore I particularly enjoy having it with some vanilla ice cream!

This is one of my favorites. I use both the bagged and loose-leaf versions Pu-erh purists will probably frown on this tea, but I’m not a big fan of pu-erh and this one doesn’t taste earthy. The blend of flavors works very well together, and I think the tea enhances the chocolate flavor.

This was my first foray into Numi’s Pu-erh and I wasn’t sure what to expect. When I opened my one pound bag (another good deal), I was surprised by the strong spicy aroma that burst forth. Having a mouth full of sweet teeth, I was hoping that the dominant smell would be chocolate. However, so far the chocolate was missing in action. There also were yellowish chunks of…something…mixed in with the muddy brown leaves.

I steeped the leaves for five minutes at 212 degrees. The brewed color was a very dark amber, close to brown. The aroma that wafted from the pot and cup was full of spice, similar to ginger.

At first sip, the flavor seemed almost like I was drinking liquid potpourri. After a few more gulps from my cup, I kinda, sorta, maybe, tasted very faint accents of chocolate. The one thing I am sure that I did not taste was the expected leathery and earthy presence of Pu-erh.

I also thought that the overall flavor could have been bolder. The taste had no astringency while drinking or afterward.

Give this selection a try if you are in the mood for a Pu-erh tea that doesn’t taste like a Pu-erh tea. If you are craving a strong Pu-erh offering that is bursting with chocolate flavor, you might be a bit disappointed.

I liked this one iced or hot oddly. My roommate actually thought it was weed based on the musty Pu-Erh smell, but was pleasantly surprised by the chocolate. I had a similar reaction, and it was like a creamier, mossy light hot chocolate. The flavor profile was inconsistent with each bag, which is why I rated this lower than I think it deserves at its best. There were times were it tasted only like cocoa dirt water, or times that I got the full flavors that are already described on this page. Not worth close to nine bucks, though.