This was removed from the Here’s Hoping Teabox the last time. Each piece is pretty big and heavy. But whoa this is the flavor I love from pu-erh. The cup gets very dark almost instantly but as the piece of pu-erh unravels, I’m noticing some pretty long leaves – some are about an inch long. Usually a pu-erh has much smaller leaves, even with comparable flavor. It’s amazing that such a dark cup can come from such large leaves. The flavor is delicious dark chocolate and maybe hints of vanilla bean. It’s so delicious. Exactly what I want from pu-erh. It’s smooth, silky, with no hints of disagreeable pu-erh flavors (or being at all bitter or astringent). The second and third cups are delicious too – the same! It disappeared from my cup so fast each time! The little cube of tea filled up my brew basket pretty heavily about half way up, so that must be why this one is so dark, deep and delicious… so many leaves! The description says the leaves are based from Yunnan which I’m starting to realize might be my favorite pu-erh base. I have one piece left to savor but I wouldn’t mind stocking up on this one! All of the teas I’ve tried from Teasenz have been great.
Steep #1 // 2 minutes after boiling // rinse // 1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 2 min steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 2-3 min steep
Steep #4 (next day) // 6 min after boiling // 6+ minute steep
Anyone know how much caffeine in general ripened pu-erh has compared to other things like black tea or coffee?