I'm not crazy about Shu Pu-erh; this one was better than average though. The single-serving size of these tuo cha's is very convenient.

Brews a blackish brown, like black coffee. Aroma is earthy, but with more nuance that I'm used to in shu Pu-erh. There's a creamy quality and a hint of a savory, chicken-soup like quality as well, and some faint herbaceous tones, and some rather strong woody tones.

Flavor is smooth with just a hint of bitterness and sourness. The cup is not particularly full-bodied, and there's a faint but long-lingering astringency. Aftertaste is of dust.

Interestingly, I found this tea offered a powerful pick-me-up, something I'm not used to in Shu Pu-erh. It didn't feel particularly strongly caffeinated, however, so I'm wondering what's at work here.

Worth trying, but I did not like this enough to consider drinking it as an everyday tea. Reasonably priced, however.

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Comments:

Leah wrote: on February 3rd, 2011

Hi there,
Quick question for you. Do you find upton's loose pu-erh or rishi's tuo cha better?
Thanks!

Alex Zorach wrote: on February 4th, 2011

This is the only straight Pu-erh I've tried from Rishi. I definitely prefer this Tuo cha to any of the loose Pu-erh I've tried from Upton. However, there is one green (raw / sheng) Pu-erh I've tried from Upton - ZH75 - that I liked much better than this tea. That tea comes in a mini tuo-cha that is still a bit larger than single-serving-size. If you really want to get into Pu-erh, you may also want to look at Yunnan Sourcing; it can be a bit intimidating but their offerings are huge and prices very reasonable.

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