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Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Pu-erh & White Tea

Tea Description:

Crisp, refreshing tea that is great hot, and perfect iced! A Dr. Oz inspired pu-erh / white tea recipe. One of the best teas for weight loss.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I have a confession to make. Well, it’s not really a confession, exactly, but more like a re-affirmation of something that you probably already know. Pu-erh scares me (nothing new there, right?) but even when I find a Pu-erh that I enjoy, I seldom drink that Pu-erh more than once. Oh … I reinfuse it, certainly, and I spend a good couple of hours with the Pu-erh, consuming many wonderful infusions from it. But, once those leaves are spent and discarded, I seldom revisit the same Pu-erh. Instead, I usually pass what I have left on to other people, so that they can try it.

Or, at least, that’s what I tell myself. I guess if I were to examine my true feelings more closely, even though I know that I have enjoyed a particular Pu-erh tea, I still find myself apprehensive about it, and it’s not really something that I tend to want to try again … unlike something like say, a yellow tea or an Ali Shan Oolong or even a favorite Earl Grey. These are teas that I can keep on my shelf and enjoy more than once without apprehension. But Pu-erh, even though I may enjoy it immensely, I don’t think I’ve found more than a couple of them that I have taken out more than once and tried again.

Perhaps I’m stubborn (don’t tell my husband I admitted that!) and even though I enjoy it, I don’t want to enjoy it. I don’t know.

Why am I telling you this? Well, because this particular Pu-erh blend … this is my second time I’ve brewed this blend! It’s kind of a first for me! Maybe not an actual “first” … but it’s the first time in a long time that I enjoyed something enough to think “you know what? I want that again … I want some of that now!” That doesn’t usually happen with Pu-erh.

That is to say, I like this quite a bit. It has such a unique balance. With other Pu-erh blends (that is, Pu-erh blended with other teas … like in this case, white tea leaves), I taste primarily the Pu-erh or a weird (but tasty) fusion of Pu-erh/other tea. Here, the sip starts out with a distinct white tea flavor that tastes fresh and airy, with notes of a hay-ish vegetation. Just before mid-sip, the flavor starts to taste more earthy, with a definite Pu-erh taste.

I like what the white tea brings to this cup. Not just the aforementioned fresh, hay-like, airy taste, but also a fantastic lightness. The Pu-erh doesn’t overwhelm the palate with earthiness, the ginger doesn’t overwhelm the palate with it’s peppery notes, and the lemon does not overwhelm the palate with a strong citrus-y flavor. Oh, sure, I taste each of these notes, but, they aren’t inundating.

The lemon is a tad stronger than the ginger … or perhaps I should say that it starts out that way. The ginger flavor builds as I continue to sip, but it never does reach a very spicy level as ginger is sometimes known to do. Instead, it warms the cup, and adds a nice contrast to the bright, sunny flavor of the lemon, which is tart but not overly so.

Wow! Chalk this one up to another WIN from The Whistling Kettle. I’m really enjoying this. It surprises me just how much I like it!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Pu-erh, White Tea