The Subject: Pu-erh from Shui Tea.
Water temperature: 212° F
Steeping time: 5 minutes (see comments)
Tea type: Black
Scents, flavorings, etc.: N/A
Aroma, dry: Earthy, rich
Aroma in the cup, plain: Earthy, rich
Taste, plain: Strong, bitter edge (see comments)
Aroma in the cup, enhanced: N/A
Taste, enhanced: N/A
2nd Infusion: Lighter color, milder flavor
Chilled: N/A
Comments:
Three cheers for Shui Tea. This tea is definitely not tea dust in a bag. It’s large leaf pieces that smell so earthy and rich, we could hardly wait to try it. In fact, we couldn’t resist a quick sniff as the tea steeped in the teapot.
The liquid was a reddish-brown and smelled wonderful. The flavor was strong, as is typical for black tea, and had some bitterness. We suspect that we may have oversteeped. Teas of this superior quality can often be steeped shorter times and undergo multiple infusions (we did two). So, 4 minutes instead of 5 would have been sufficient.
We usually drink our black teas with milk and sweetener. So we tried this one that way. The wonderful earthy flavor still comes through. In addition, the tea takes on an almost sweet, caramelly taste, not overly strong, but enough to be noticeable. The only other tea we’ve had with this caramelly undertaste is a bagged tea, Barry’s Gold Blend. That taste makes Act Normal a great dessert tea, especially since it goes well with chocolate. In fact, you could have a cup of this tea instead of dessert.
The 2nd infusion was lighter in color, milder in flavor, and less bitter. You could probably drink it with just a bit of sweetener or even a piece of chocolate (oh, yeah!).
Since this is such a tasty tea, we couldn’t bring ourselves to deduct a half teapot for this being “organic” and “orthodox.”
Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, the rating of the tea and any opinions concerning it are always strictly objective.
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