December 12, 2004
Organic Wild Tree Pu-erh Tea
Name: Organic Wild Tree Pu-erh Tea
Kathy's Rating: 8.5/10.0
Company: Rishi Tea
Origin of tea: Yunnan Province, China
Price: ~$12/5oz (140g)
Tea form: Tea leaves compressed into small bowl-like structures
What they say: Known as Xiao Tuo Cha in Chinese, the name of this tea translates to “small bowl tea” due to its shape. Our Mini Tuo Cha is made with a select grade of Pu-erh which is hand harvested from 1300 year old tea trees on Jing Mai Mountain. Mini Tuo Cha has a surprisingly rich and sweetly flavored infusion with a big body and smooth finish not found in most Mini Tuo Cha grades. Each Mini Tuo Cha is individually wrapped and perfect for a single serving. Simply unwrap and steep 1 Mini Tuo Cha per every 8 ounce cup you wish to prepare. Like most Pu-erh, 1 serving of Mini Tuo Cha can be steeped many times.
Preparation method: Boil water and pour over tea bag. Steep for 30 seconds and discard just the water. Pour the rest of the water over the tea, and steep for 4-5 minutes before drinking.
Review: This is my first review of a pu-erh tea, which is processed in a different manner than the other tea categories - black, oolong, green, and white. In fact, this process is so different, pu-erh tea earns its own category within the tea family. You might wonder, how is the processing different? I did some research, and found a good source of information that explains pu-erh tea is actually post-fermented. This means like black tea, pu-erh tea is fully fermented. However, instead of the process ending after full fermentation, pu-erh tea is fermented a second time some time after the first fermentation process is stopped. So, the intense fermentation process explains why the pot of tea I made with pu-erh leaves yielded the darkest red-black liquid I have ever seen from a tea.
Given the color of the liquid, I expected the taste to be extremely strong. Surprisingly, the tea was incredibly mild (given the post-fermentation), with earthy notes. This is a really good tea that I really enjoyed! I'm a bit hard-pressed to give more details on why I liked it, because sometimes, I just like something not for a lot of specific reasons. I will say that this tea had a wonderful aromatic quality that never felt clingy, which reminds me, strangely, of perfectly cooked piping hot white rice. This is a tea that I can reflect with. Definitely, I would encourage you to try it. I will be looking for more pu-erh teas to review in the near future.
Posted by Kathy at 04:43 PM | Permalink