Post-CoVid Tasting Note: It has now been two months since I recovered from Covid, and my senses have returned to normal. So, as promised, I am reevaluating this tea. After a 5-second rinse of a 5g portion of tea cake in boiling water, I brewed the leaf in 8 oz. boiling spring water for 3 min., which produced a straw-yellow infusion. To my nose there was a pungent aroma of young sheng puer in the hot infusion. There was some astringency on the back of my tongue, but the taste was not bitter. Nor did I detect the strong floral notes and sweetness of typical of other C. taliensis teas. I have enjoyed those flavors in jing gu white pekoe silver needle and jinggu sun-dried sun-dried silver needles white pu-erh tea, but here they did not present themselves until the infusion had cooled to ambient, and even then were subtle. While hot, there was a lingering aftertaste of gardenia flowers. I think this tea would make a very refreshing iced-tea brew! I find that even 10 min after my last sip of the cold tea, there is a lingering taliensis flavor. As a hot tea it may still be a bit young to fully enjoy the puer qualities. The leaves are still a light olive-green in color and the cake was loosely compressed. A second infusion of 2 min. was less astringent, but equally flavorful. This is a bargain-priced and unique puer that is certainly worth trying, which purists may find either delightful or, at least, surprisingly unusual.
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Bought this in spring 2022 from the YS “.us” site. [UPDATE: I have deleted most of this very negative review because it appears I have Covid, and have lost most of my sense of taste. Not fair to slam this tea under that circumstance! Look for a fresh review in a month or so, assuming I survive.]
….If Camellia taliensis intrigues you, please please buy the 25g sample size first.
Disclaimer: I am one of those individuals for whom stevia sweetener tastes bitter instead of sweet. If the reputed sweetness of this tea comes from a similar compound, it is possible that my taste buds simply don’t taste it the same way as other peoples’ might. Again, start with a sample size instead of a whole damn cake!
Flavors: Brisk, Floral, Gardenias, Orchids, Vegetal
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Oh no! I hope you feel better soon and get your sense of taste back quickly!
Quick recovery to you.
Well wishes to you and your olfactories.
Thank you all, I’m feeling good after a somewhat lousy Saturday. Got the PCR positive result today and a script for antiviral (thanks CVS test-to-treat minute clinic). I can taste some salt and sour now, still waiting on the rest. Since I still need my caffeine kick, I’m swilling down the smoky teas I dislike, along with low grade (fishy/composty) ripe pu-erhs that are far easier to drink without functional taste buds! I told myself it’s the priciest 400 year old raw puer, and enjoy it… Because it tastes like… Hot water. :-)
Oh no! I hope you feel better soon and get your sense of taste back quickly!
Quick recovery to you.
Well wishes to you and your olfactories.
Thank you all, I’m feeling good after a somewhat lousy Saturday. Got the PCR positive result today and a script for antiviral (thanks CVS test-to-treat minute clinic). I can taste some salt and sour now, still waiting on the rest. Since I still need my caffeine kick, I’m swilling down the smoky teas I dislike, along with low grade (fishy/composty) ripe pu-erhs that are far easier to drink without functional taste buds! I told myself it’s the priciest 400 year old raw puer, and enjoy it… Because it tastes like… Hot water. :-)