I broke a lot of rules today. Some of them were my rules. Some of them were tea rules. But everything came out okay!
The first rule I broke was – no tea on an empty stomach. This is my rule. I have a sensitive stomach, a dodgy esophagus, and I can get heartburn looking at a bowl of chili. I wasn’t hungry and I wanted tea, so RULE DISREGARDED.
The second rule I broke was – rinse puerh leaves and discard the rinse water. I confess I break this rule a lot. Sometimes I am glad, sometimes not. This time – oh yeh, glad. That first steep was delish. I kept it oh so short and sweet. Golden color, scent of menthol, smooth, and sweet.
Steep two – didn’t time it! Another broken rule! This is golden and rich in color and LIVELY on the tongue. So much energy in this tea! Like a precocious but adorable pre-teen that you love spending time with but who maybe wears you out a little in big doses.
Steep three – ah, you are a nice tea with a bite of thin cinnamon cookie. Still golden. Still lively.
Steep four – with lunch now. A bit mellower and lovely with food. Hay, white tea-ish but with a vibrant energy. Bright and raw. Go to their website to learn in depth about each tea they carry!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Puerh
Where to Buy: Wymm Tea
Description
This sheng pu-erh brews a bright golden liquor. It has notes of cut hay and earth in its aroma, complimented with a bold almond, buttery flavour.
We were lucky enough to obtain some of these huangpian which give insights into the highly sought after Bingdao Laozhai sheng pu-erh. Bingdao Laozhai is a place renowned in the Yunnan tea industry. Situated at 1400-2000 meters mountaintops, it is the one and only high altitude village occupied by Dai minority group in the Mengku town region. The price of pu-erh from this village would go into the thousands due to the extremely limited supply. Please visit our Bingdao Laozhai pu-erh blog post to learn more about it.
These huangpian are picked from the same trees as the Bingdao Laozhai, the only difference being that it is less aesthetically pleasing; the bigger leaves (huangpian) are filtered out so that the remaining leaves are neat and symmetrical when pressed into cakes. These bigger leaves are often kept by the tea farmers for personal consumption and are rarely found in the market. Even though the huangpian do not have the tidy appearance of its counterparts, it possesses similar taste characteristics and are sometimes considered more flavourful as the leaves spent longer period of time growing on the trees.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Rose Garden Puerh by Tocha Tea. . . . .
Rose Garden Puerh by ToCha
This tea came in a convenient sachet with rich brown leaves and lost of rose petals. I steeped it in a Kamjove pot because I plan to resteep. Why waste good tea?
I am careful to watch a new puerh tea because I have seen a few that steep rapidly. This one was good to go in a little over a minute. I had a rose scented puerh once that was so light on the rose I couldn’t tell it was there, except perhaps for a faint sweetness lent by the flower.
Not so this one. The rose is right up front and tingles on my tongue. Rose can be floral, spicy, or peppery. This is more spicey rose. The puerh is a nice carrier for this. It does not have the strong barn/mushroom/earth flavor that you usually find, but comes off like a rather nice, accommodating black tea that could stand on its own if it wanted but isn’t going to steal the rose’s thunder.
Because the balance on this one is so nice, it will do nicely as a stand alone cup to enjoy or a companionable tea to have with cake or tea sandwiches.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Puerh
Where to Buy: Tocha Tea
Description
For centuries, pu-erh tea has been treasured for its elegant flavor and health benefits. The unique natural fermentation process gives it an earthy, woodsy essence that is never bitter, even after a long steep. Rose petals add a graceful note to this delicious and versatile blend, a wonderful tea for everyday wellness.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Caramel Chai from The NecessiTeas. . . . .
Yum yum yum!
This pu’erh chai has a lovely sweetness that turns it into a dessert. The sweetness is so strong I didn’t even put milk in it. (Is this chai blasphemy?) The pu’erh has a depth and strength that puts a dimension into it that a normal black chai doesn’t have. It’s a study in contrasts, and it totally works.
One of my high school friends loved chai so much he had it incorporated into his AIM screen name. (That’s what the kids were doing pre-texting. Oh, the 1990s.) He’d always get it everywhere he went. He was like a craft beer snob, but with chai. I talk to him very sporadically — but I specifically contacted him to point out this one. He needs this.
If you’re a chai aficionado, you need to try this, too.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Pu’erh
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
Enjoy the warm, sweet buttery taste of caramel as it mingles with a full-bodied pu-erh and traditional Indian spices. Smooth enough to drink straight or steeped in milk for an authentic chai experience.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Morning Mojo from The Tea Spot. . . . .
Have you ever taken one sip of a tea and been like “yuuuup, I’m going to have to buy a vat of this and keep it in an armed fortress just for myself”?
That’s how I felt about this tea, a super-creamy vanilla/orange pu’erh/black confection. It’s perfectly balanced, like a ninja poised to strike another ninja. (Because that obviously requires extra stealth). There’s the sweetness of the vanilla against the tangy of the orange and the earthy of the pu’erh and the depth of the black.
The flavors are like constructive criticism, which starts and ends with a compliment, and offers helpful advice in the middle. It’s like hearing “hey, sweetie, honeydew, WAKE THE HELL UP, lovely. Today’s going to be fine.”
And you know what? Today is, as promised, just fine so far.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: The Tea Spot
Description
Wake up, Buttercup! Morning Mojo’s boost will help you take charge of the day. This breakfast blend pairs pu-erh with the ideal black teas to create a perfectly rounded morning cuppa. Pu-erh, known for its effective caffeine punch, has been used traditionally for centuries as a slimming and beauty tea, as well as a hangover cure. With added vanilla to smooth out your morning routine, and citrus peels for a cleansing glow.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
A Dark Night Orange Spice Pu’erh from Plum Deluxe. . . .
I’ve always been a black-tea-with-milk-and-sugar kinda girl (thanks, semester abroad in London!). Now, as the years have passed, my tastes have matured, and I’ll happily venture out to less traditional teas and more traditional preparations, but there’s something about a bold black tea paired with creamy + sweet that gets me right in my cozy, nostalgic heart.
So you can imagine my bummer when I was recently put on an allergy test for to be without my beloved coconut milk (the only “milk” left that I could tolerate) for thirty days. SOB. As there’s a silver lining to every cloud, this has (finally!) opened up a category of teas that I all-too-often avoid: black teas that taste best SANS milk. Gasp! Who am I?
When this tea arrived in my monthly tea subscription from Plum Deluxe, I knew it would perfectly fit this new category in my tea-drinking life. A mellow pu’ehr with notes of orange, cinnamon, ginger, rose and anise, with fruity hibiscus? Yes please. It brews a beautifully robust almost walnut-y brown, with just a hint of pink from the hibiscus. Sweetened with a touch of honey, it’s a cup that is absolutely un-put-downable. Spicy and sweet, fruity and robust– like no other tea I’ve ever had. The only downside I can find is that a re-steep of the same leaves just doesn’t produce the same vibrant cup with similarly complex flavors as the first, but that can be a tall order for such a nuanced dry leaf.
Normally, I finish my tea of the month and move on to the next month’s bag without too much love lost. But with my newfound love (and need) for milk-less black teas, this one will be reordered as a permanent fixture in my tea cabinet.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Pu’erh
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
Description
This tea is only available to members of the Plum Deluxe Monthly Subscription Plan. Please click below for the other teas they offer or to learn more about joining their monthly tea membership.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
