Banana Bread Coffee Pu Erh

Another from Cameron B!  THANK YOU.  I’m trying to write tasting notes for Cameron’s teas while they are new to me…  I really wanted to try this one! It sounded dreamy!  Unfortunately, this only works as a great coffee flavored puerh blend.  It’s really tasty coffee flavor.  But any banana bread notes are nonexistent to me.  If I ran out of coffee puerh options, I’d definitely stock up on this one for that necessary tea in my cupboard.  I’d just ignore the banana bread aspect that I’m very sad is missing.  Subtle notes of cinnamon and a little bit of woodiness from the rooibos.   Cameron noticed banana in the past, so I guess it has now faded!   But three very solid coffee puerh cups, if that is what you’re looking for.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 21 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 10 minute steep

2024 sipdown no. 52

Thank you Cameron for sharing!

The steeped scent is coffee and cinnamon. Coffee and cinnamon are at the forefront and the base adds depth and smoothness overall. There is perhaps a subtle hint of banana towards the end of the sip, though I wish it was a tad more banana-forward.

The second steep was just as flavourful with a touch more sweetness. A lovely cup overall!

Definitely tastes like coffee puerh with cinnamon, and a little banana sweetness underneath. The banana note lingers after the coffee and puerh earthiness depart. I like it but prefer the pecan pie puerh version to this one. I did sign up for the 4x a year subscription and I am loving the first box. I probably wouldn’t buy these separately, but as a whole, I’ll sure enjoy sipping them down. A nice way to explore what Old Barrel has to offer.

A new-to-me tea company, yaaaaay! I heard about Old Barrel from TeaTuber “As The Tea Brews” (highly recommend her channel if you’re not familiar). She kept raving about their teas and they looked and sounded so interesting and yummy, so I decided to make them my monthly tea order for February. They’re based in the Southwest (New Mexico originally) and they have a lot of teas that reflect those flavors, based on things like horchata, green chile, empanadas, etc. But interestingly, they also have quite a few puerh blends, which I find to be unusual. I figured for my first order I would pick up their New Mexico sampler, and then added on a few more teas that I was most interested in, which brings us to this tea!

This is one of several teas they have that use coffee from local businesses (love it), and I tend to like coffee in teas so I was excited for this blend. Plus banana, yum! I have to say, I’m really enjoying this cup. The coffee beans and the cinnamon take center stage, with the banana mostly in the background until toward the end of the sip, where it becomes a bit more obvious. I like that it isn’t really sweet-tasting, despite being a dessert-ish tea. And the coffee isn’t bitter or acidic. The puerh base gives a nice richness, while the coffee adds yummy toasty notes which are so cozy with the warming cinnamon. For me, the banana keeps it from being a bit too “dark” and one-note, it’s such an interesting flavor and really makes the finish IMO.

Anyway, so far so good! I hope I like their other blends as much as this one. Oh, and this would probably make an amazing latte, I might have to try it that way soon…