I was contacted by the wonderful folks at Teavivre about sampling some of their tea offerings. The representative was very nice and their teas looked like pretty quality stuff.
But, the key is in the leaf right?
So onto tasting.
What I really want you to notice about the bag is all the information. It is almost crowded with it. For a tea enthusiast, having this much information about what is in the package is great. I have almost no questions for the company.
All their teas are labelled like this, so I will have great insight into each one!
These little touchas look good! They are tippy, uniform for the most part, and they don’t smell awkward like some cheap pu’erh touchas.
The dry leaf actually doesn’t have too much of a smell to it, but I can sense a light earthiness with some mushroom scents coming off it as well.
Not surprising.
The brewed tea is dark, as you can obviously see above.
It looks like the coffee I was tasting last weekend.
The liquor is not dense, though. It is light, flavorful, and well balanced.
It has quite a clean taste, and there is more of a leather quality to it than a mushroom/rotting leaf taste.
The artificial aging process has not negatively impacted the flavor and left some strange taste as with other pu’erh touchas I have sampled in the past.
What really surprised me was the lack of endurance. Granted, I drink my shu’pu strong, but even still most shu’pu will last me a good 10 infusions. I gave up on this one at about 6.
The one quality I really enjoyed was a wonderful pine taste on the last 2 infusions. I guess I could have stretched out the brews and got some more of the pine, but hey, I still have 3 more touchas of this tea that will definitely not go to waste!
~Billy
Wow, this sounds delicious and unique. Perhaps I’ll have to add this to my tea grocery list,
I would recommend! I thought it was a fantastic little toucha. Also, they are so convenient!
Too many things to read on the package.
They should focus more on what is really needed or asked.
I would say that I like the information on the package, even if it does seem excessive.
From my perspective, I am glad to know where my tea is from, who pressed it, how old it is, and even where it is getting shipped from. It is like a map for where the tea has been.
For me, the more information the better.
@xavier I think the package info was great. I don’t really care about the distributor address, but I understand why they give it. The rest of the information is useful. What do you think is “really needed” or “really asked”?
Wow! Thanks for this info. Could you describe the “awkwardness” you are talking about. I’m supposing I have a cheap birds nest Pu-erh , only by pricing ($5 for 2oz) but I’d like to know what to look for. Like the “mushroom” reference…seems to fit. I’ll try my Pu-erh again with that description in mind!
“Awkward” as in unnecessarily funky, dirty, or too fungal. I am not sure how to pinpoint it, but when you smell it, you kind of know. It almost makes you want to not drink the tea.
But in this tea’s case, I find none of those traits!
I received a sample of this very same one myself and felt very similarly about it. It’s definitely one I’m considering picking up more of in the future!
Oh yeah! I was pretty impressed. As far as toucha teas are concerned, I usually think of them as lower quality, especially these little one time uses ones.