Aged Ripe Pu-erh Tea Cake 3.53oz

I should preface that this was my first time trying Pu-erh, and I was pleasantly surprised. When I opened the package, like the American I am, I was put off by the smell. It was like if i went outside and stuck my nose deep in the grass and breathed in. However! Once brewed properly, (thanks to a good google search) the tea has almost no smell, and almost no taste. It does have a mildly sweet aftertaste. I didn't sweeten it with anything, and honestly, this tea doesn't need it. The smell does come back a little when the tea starts to cool, so if you are sensitive to smells like I am, its best to drink it quickly! I love his tea! Its a wonderful, unique experience.

I love this tea!! It’s rich without bitterness. I will buy again. And again and again!!

This is a very good puerh for the price. It's earthy, mellow and a bit woodsy. After having tasted a wider variety of puerh teas, this is what I would call a "normal" or "everyday drink" type. Some puerh's have some interesting/unusual flavors such as sweet cigar, brown sugar, maple syrup, wet sock, distant fish. When I smell seafood/fish in a tea, it's generally in the smell of the brewed tea only and not in the flavor. This tea has none of those strange flavors, for better or for worse. My main complaint, which is a small one (considering the price) is there is a large amount of twigs/stems in this tea. Which compared to a higher quality puerh cake, brings the value down a bit. One reviewer noticed that the twigs increase the bitterness, but I didn't notice an iota of bitterness, despite the twigs. It's still a very good value. Generally I brew with boiling water. 30s rinse, 60s steep, 90s steep, 120s steep, etc. I get about 5-6 steepings from this tea before it's mostly water. I also purchased this tea because it claims to be organic. In the Q&A section, someone asks if the tea has USDA Organic Certification. The seller responded very honestly by saying no, but to take their word for it that they have high standards and the plants are grown organically. They even reference some kind of Chinese certification about standards, which I've yet to look it up, but my 'spidey sense' is they are genuine and telling the truth, or at least as much as they know of it. On the word 'organic'. In the USA, there is a growing trend of farmers who grow organically but choose not to seek certification. The certification is extremely expensive and thus they have to sell their product for more money to recoup the cost. Plus, if they have a bad crop year, they are still out the certification expense, which affects their bottom line unfairly. So many farmers are choosing to let their customers decide if they trust them or not when they say, "I grow organically," or "I don't use any pesticides or herbicides and use compost for fertilizer". I'm sure there are some bad apples out there abusing customer's trust, but I haven't met them yet.

This is a fine tea for the price they are asking and very good with proper gongfu technique, and is a great place for beginners to practice with something inexpensive but still worthwhile. Now some of the really nice (and expensive) pu-erh teas will blow your mind and leave you literally speechless after every steep, and this isn't one of those. Someone who isn't careful about how they steep their tea is likely to think that this is one note and not a very interesting note at that. However, if you use the right ratio of tea per water, take care to time your steeps, and make sure the water is piping hot before every steep, and of course take the time to pay attention to the tea as you drink it, you'll be surprised at how much this has to give. Every steep is a little different, and I found this tea going from sour to aromatic to sweet to bitter and back over the course of seven or eight steeps. Look up how to do proper gongfu style steeps and you'll spend hours enjoying this tea.

Ok. Wish it’s less expensive.

Comes in a cute box and generally nice presentation. The cake is marked 2018 and not 2009, which by itself isn't an issue, but one sip and I knew. Fishy, moldy, bitter. For those of you who don't know, this is the sign of improperly processed/stored pu-erh tea. Imagine wringing the liquid out of a pair of muddy, sweaty socks and drinking it. Also, this is not refundable! Avoid this like the plague. Now excuse me while I scrub out my teaware.

This was the first ripe pu-erh that I tried and I love it. Nice malty/earthy flavor and liquor. When I'm in the mood for a full-bodied, full-flavor tea, this is my go-to now. It's got a medium caffeine kick, too, but is much easier on the tummy than coffee. I brew this at 200 degrees (water only boils here at 202 anyway) and let it steep for five minutes or more. This tea doesn't become astringent if you let it brew too long. I usually make two pots with each set of leaves. I drink a broad range of teas and make some of my own blends, but wouldn't style myself as an expert. I gave some to a friend from China, and she really liked it too, so it's not just me!

I was looking for a SMALL puerh cake but am hesitant to spend a lot on tea I haven't tasted. I worried about the quality of one this inexpensive, but thanks to the reviews I decided to give it a try. I'm really glad that I did because this is an excellent puerh for the money. Even tho I like tea with citrus and honey or with milk, I judge tea by how it tastes straight. This tea is very smooth with that deep "woody" flavor I look for in a puerh and no bitterness at all. Brewing puerh is quite different from other teas, so if you are new to puerh please follow the brewing instructions for it to taste like it should. I highly recommend this and will certainly purchase again.

J'espérais un goût rehaussé par rapport à d'autres Puer...mais pas vraiment.

I don't have enough knowledge or experience with this type of tea to give it a 5-star rating so I've rated it according to my own experience. I love the fact that the more the leaves are steeped, the better it gets (atleast according to online research). Every time that I make a pot of tea, I steep more pots using the same tea leaves. Sometimes after the first steep I place the leaves in a small plastic bag and freeze them. I give a number per bag indicating how many steeps I've made from those leave and update the number with each steep. The reason for this is that I sometimes want a strong first steep which explains why I have about 3 bags on the go. The tea has a nice, mild flavour and I often use it as a base tea when I make a mix of herbal teas in a pot.

Only a teaspoonful of the broken up tea is needed for about half a litre. Colour of the tea is deep amber (very pleasing), aroma + flavour is mild and earthy, almost no finish/after taste. The packaging was smaller than expected (compared to the ones I am used to buying from Chinese grocery stores) and it comes with a plastic ziplock bag to keep the tea in once it has been opened.

Smells slightly like seafood

This is actually a decent shou pu'erh, not lacking in quality. My only complaint is that it is advertised as a 2009 tea cake, yet the wrapper has 2018 stamped on it. This tea is smooth with a thick mouth feel. Ripe banana, wet wood.