Mini Puerh (Imperial Tea Court)

Pu’erh teas take a certain amount of getting used to. Their earthen and mossy flavors and aromas form a fine line for most people between delicious and disgusting. In fact, they’re a bit of a love it hate it kind of experience. As far as that goes though, this mini bird’s nest toucha Mini Puerh from Imperial Tea is a wonderful starter for new pu’erh drinkers.

Many pu’erh teas come in ‘cakes.’ These are relatively large compressed discs of tea, and so you couldn’t really call it ‘loose.’ This particular pu’erh is in the caked family, but the cakes ar very small. Roughly the size of a Rolo candy to be precise. The Mini Puer are shaped like a bowl or “bird’s nest” which gives them a distinctive look.

The smell of the dry cake reminds me of a forest floor in Autumn, with the leave’s fallen but not yet dry. There’s a bit of a mustiness to it which I find enticing.

When the tea brews the cake comes apart in the infuser. It’s at this point you can discern the look of the ‘loose’ leaves from this tea. They’re dark and appear a bit decayed. The aroma from the spent cake is similar, but amazingly lighter than that of the dry cake.

Brewed, the tea produces an extremely dark liquor. Somewhat cloudy and gritty you can’t see through the brew at all. The aroma from the liquor shifts a little with each infusion but maintains the same general profile of mossy/fungal scents.

The flavor is well rounded, composed of earthen flavors such as wood, drt and moss while holding a hint of honey in the initial touch on the tongue. While the tail is light and lasts a while, there’s only a little astringency and not much bite. Overall this is a very smooth Pu’erh.

I recommend this Pu’erh for fans of pu’erh and Lapsang Souchong as well as other teas from Yunnan province in China.