Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: dark, small
Ingredients: puerh tea
Steep time: 30 seconds
Water Temperature: 212 degrees
Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan
Liquor: reddish brown
I’m a stalwart raw puerh drinker but the cooked stuff isn’t usually my thing. This one was a whole other creature though. It is from 2010 so it has had a chance to mellow out a bit. It was earthy, sweet and surprisingly mild. Rather than fishy or compost flavors, it came off as woodsy with an interesting herbaceous quality that reminded me of sage. After a few infusions, an unusual fruity quality appeared in the finish. I couldn’t believe how sweet and lingering it was. Natasha N called it mango tango in her review and I would say that description is pretty spot on. Tea Setter has a relatively small selection but I know that Matt Kitchen put a lot of time and effort into every one of them. Last year I interviewed him on my podcast. The video is included below in case you missed it the first time!
Ethical Agriculture’s Wild Grown Puerh Tea sample provided by Tea Setter.