Additional notes: I’m finishing up this pu…. I never really loved it the couple times I tried it. But this time around I used more leaves to finish it. I never thought it tasted DARK enough. Reading my older tasting note I said it tasted like “unsweetened chocolate” which reminded me of SPECIAL DARK from a certain chocolate company… so possibly I just figured out the name now that the tea is gone?! I thought the name meant that it was dark in color… and it was special… haha. I don’t know HOW that went over my head, as I love dark chocolate. Maybe it didn’t quite taste like that deep chocolate flavor when I was only using a teaspoon of leaves? The dark chocolate does seem to fade by the second and third steeps though. The leaves are so odd looking for a ripe pu-erh… they look like a fuzzy golden yunnan and it does seem to get a tiny bit astringent like a black tea might. The third steep was smooth enough though, as a black tea certainly wouldn’t be after ten minutes. The 76 rating is accurate, even six years later.
Steep #1 // 1 3/4 teaspoons for a full mug // 12 minutes after boiling // rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 7 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 10 min
2019 Sipdowns: 47
This is You :-D
Profile
Bio
Hi! I love tea and trying new ones – it adds a bit of variety to my day! Books, music, TV & movies are my thing… and tea, of course.
Some of my favorite tea shops (still operating):
birdandblendtea.com
teavivre.com
52teas.com
svtea.com
whisperingpinestea.com
justea.com
harney.com
Dammann Freres
fusionteas.com
shop.Javateaco.com
Lupicia
Octaviatea.com
Davidstea.com
eco-cha.com
what-cha.com
singleoriginteas.com
teasenz.com
tealyra.com
Mandalatea.com
verdanttea.com
Favorite tea shops (RIP):
butikiteas.com
steapshoppe.com
steepcityteas.com
aquartertotea.com
dellaterrateas.com
zentealife.com
angrytearoom.com
theteamerchant.net
joysteaspoon.com
tealiciousllc.com
Rivertea
Specialteas
My icon photo is Richard Mayhew from the graphic novel ‘Neverwhere’ by Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry.
Most of the teas listed in my cupboard are actually sample sizes. I don’t really have 2,000 ounces of tea around here! Many of my teas have only one teaspoon left… maybe two. But I like keeping them in my cupboard list for reference to what I could be sipping. Usually, I write tasting notes once for each tea. I’m still drinking them, just not writing tasting notes each time!
I’m always in search of: Hattialli, Qu Hao black, Jin Jun Mei, teas using marshmallow root.
My dislikes: hibiscus, ginger (unless in chai), turmeric, bee pollen, charcoal type flavors
My ratings:
95-100 – Super awesome deliciousness favorites – cupboard essential
80-95 – Also pretty delicious
65-80 – Pretty good
50-65 – Okay
1-50 – Probably won’t want to sip it again
I’m planning on being a Steepsterer as long as there IS a Steepster, so if you’re not hearing from me, that means something happened to my health… if you know what I mean. (Or as evidenced by the great computer hiatus of 2019, something happened to my computer… I have a dumb phone so can’t access internet on that. As of 12/20/21 my wifi might start getting unreliable.)
Happy sipping!
Location
USA
