154 Tasting Notes
I was a bit apprehensive about this tea since chocolate teas are usually artificial tasting or taste like weird watery chocolate. This was a pleasant surprise. I don’t know if I would be able to pick out that it was a chocolate pu-erh from tasting it by itself, but I enjoyed it. It’s not too sweet so that it is reserved for a dessert tea (though I tend to drink my pu-erhs as a digestif) and it did not have any funky taste to it.
This is a great, grocery-store available introduction to pu-erhs for those that are a little intimidated.
Bonus: NUMI uses no pesticides in their tea or plastics in their tea bags.
Preparation
This tea smells like a warm, toasty banana muffin, but I was afraid it would be too artificial tasting. The aroma mellows out a lot upon steeping and actually tastes quite nice. The aroma is not reflected in the flavor, but it helps to take an inhale of the steam before sipping to get the full experience. Tastes good, but not extra-ordinary.
Preparation
I wasn’t expecting this tea to wake me up because it’s herbal. It’s keeping me awake but not giving me an energy boost. I am pleasantly surprised with this tea. I like the smell and the taste. Even after brewing for about 30 minutes during my morning commute, it still tastes delicious. I have to be careful how I brew it — since the tea is so fine, I have to use my finest mesh strainer otherwise I’m stuck eating a bunch of leaves.
The flavor is sweet, verging on too sweet, but it never gets too excessive. It’s smooth and almost buttery (reminds me of Toasted Walnut by DavidsTea). The nutty aroma matches the steeped taste perfectly. No false advertising here!
There is rumor that we may get a Traders Joes in a city not too far from me… we have nothing like it. One health food store that is ok. I’m excited about the possibility of some good new finds.. I hope if they come I have better luck than you did with this one. At least it is easy to return when the store is local :)