Review: The English Tea Store’s Young Pu-erh Tea, Part I

Another first for this little teapot and his humans: a 2-part tea review. When the tea vendor suggests a steeping time ranging from 2 to 10 minutes, a little bell goes off. The tea must have quite a range of possibilities. This one certainly has, as we found out. We started by doing several short infusions of 2 minutes each, using a teaspoon full of dry tea and 8 ounces of water. In Part II, we do a couple of longer steepings.

The Subject: Young Pu-erh Tea from The English Tea Store.


Rating:

Water temperature: 212° F

Steeping time: 2 minutes (see comments)

Tea type: Black
Scents, flavorings added: N/A
Aroma, dry tea leaves: Loamy, sweet
Aroma in the cup, plain: Loamy, sweet
Taste, plain: Complex (see comments)
Aroma in the cup, enhanced: N/A
Taste, enhanced: N/A

Additional Infusion(s): 3 done (last one was disappointing)

Chilled: N/A

Comments:
According to the vendor’s Website, this tea is slightly aged black tea that was compressed into a big cake while the leaves were still moist and then allowed to dry. The big cake was then flaked apart to make the tea easier for tea drinkers to handle. (Some of these cakes can be a bit larger and pricey. Breaking them apart allows the vendor to sell smaller amounts at more reasonable prices. This one is quite reasonable at $4.39 for a 4-ounce pouch, as of the writing of this review.)

As you can see, the liquid color got only slightly lighter in the first 3 infusions. It was a full shade lighter in the 4th infusion and, while still aromatic, was too weak in taste.

The flavor, however, went through a progression. It started out mild and musty. The next one was a bit mushroomy, slightly musty, mild, and smoother. The 3rd was milder and smoother still. The final was unfortunately one infusion too many, with a weak, watery flavor.

The tea leaves dry and after the 4 infusions:

The cupful shown in this photo is actually the combination of the remainder of all four 2-minute infusions:

The flavor of these infusions pales in comparison with the next round we did. To be explained in further detail in Part II.

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, the rating of the tea and any opinions concerning it are always strictly objective.