A fun puerh tea tasting courtesy of Teavivre

Puerh, I’ll admit, is a tea that’s not to everyone’s liking, but I enjoy it. It’s got an unmistakably earthy taste that is quite different from the girly, frou-frou flavored teas I normally enjoy. This tea is produced in Yunnan, China, and after production the leaves go through a fermentation process and are often made into “cakes” of tea. As you can see here, this sample of puerh tea was originally part of a cake.

I recently received a package of puerh samples from Teavivre, and I was intrigued to note on the packet that some of the samples arrived “raw,” in cake form, and some are in pyramid tea bags.

The first sample I tried was the cake form on the left, Menghai Golden Buds Tribute Ripened Puerh Cake 2009. The package said to brew it at 212 degrees for 3-10 minutes, and I opted for the 3 minutes. I loved the extra earthy taste of this puerh. I like the flavor of puerh anyway, but this one had a richness to it that I especially enjoyed. Later, I tried the pyramid tea bag containing Ripened Loose Puerh, and I noted it said to steep it at 212 degrees for 9 to 12 minutes. Okay, I thought. We'll see … But you know, after 9 minutes I had a tea that looked as dark as coffee and another great, earthy tasting puerh, not oversteeped and not bitter at all. I still consider myself quite a puerh novice and haven't yet developed my palate enough to call these teas anything but "earthy," but I do recommend trying any tea at least once. These teas are very different from my usual flavored teas, but it's nice to shake things up once in a while, and I'm grateful Teavivre allows me to do just that!