So when I first went to DavidsTea, after the girl brought down a bazillion tins (not really but it felt like it), I got a few teas to bring home. So did my Mom. When I was checking out, I think I mentioned to my Mom that if I was ordering these online I’d be getting some free samples, but this was so much nicer to be able to get smaller amounts. The lady then tossed a bag of this in with my stuff for free just because, which was awesome. It had been one of the ones I was considering getting, but decided on some fruity oolongs instead. Lol.
That was months ago and I finally decided to try this one today. Mostly I was putting it off because I had an awful experience with the last chocolate orange tea I tried (burnt orange, yuck). But I was going through my swap bin and realized I hadn’t yet tried it. So I figured what the heck.
This would also be the first puerh that I’ve ever tried, though I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t use it as a comparison for what a puerh should be. At least I hope not.
Anyway. The tea in the bag was powdery with little chocolate curls and orange pieces. I think it was so powdery because of the chocolate, or something. I can’t imagine it was the tea causing it. I measured out a tsp and a half-ish into my steeper, poured boiling water over it and waited the minimum 4 min.
The wet leaves had that orange-y smell that I was expecting, but it didn’t assault my nose or smell burnt like the other orange chocolate tea I’ve had.
The brew wasn’t bad. The orange wasn’t overpowering, but it was definitely there. It had almost a spiciness to it that I wasn’t expecting, but it wasn’t strong. Just kinda a faint note at the back of the sip. I didn’t really get a strong distinction of chocolate from this, which I’d expect something given how much was in the mix. But I think it added maybe a richness to the cup and helped to tone down the orange. I’m not sure what a puerh is supposed to taste like so I couldn’t exactly pick it out of this, but it certainly didn’t adversely affect the brew.
I went for a second steep since, from what I’ve read here, puerh can take multiple steeps, usually this is encouraged, so I figured what the heck.
I should’ve stopped at the one steep, and certainly not tried to drink the second one. The wet leaves had a fishy smell to them, which I’ve heard sometimes a puerh will have. It also had a minty smell to it. Actually, it reminded me alot of the chiclet gum my Mom chews for her heartburn. (Just to note, I don’t think her gum smells fishy, just that these leaves reminded me of that. Lol) I scraped the leaves out of my steeper immediately before adding baking soda and hot water to it, since the steeper stank of this. Hopefully it’ll go away. Lol.
The brew had the same fishy smell to it, and the taste. UGH! Like fish. And mint. And orange. BLECH!
Maybe the third steep would’ve been better, but I didn’t even want to try it since what’s the point if you can’t get through the second steep?
Overall, for me this is a one steep only. But I’m not really planning on keeping this around. Maybe I’m doing something wrong because it seems like other reviewers for this have gotten multiple steeps out of it. But it’s just not for me I guess.
I won’t let this spoil my interest in trying puerh teas though. I’ll still, eventually, be giving that section of teas a try one of these days.
