2008 Menghai Ripened Pu-Erh

Teavivre

$71.00USD for 1 Cake (357g)

I was introduced to Teavivre by a Tea Friend on Facebook. She told me that it was some of the best teas she had ever tried. With that glowing recommendation I went to check out their site. They had a fantastic promotion going where you could get 5 FREE samples if you paid the $4.90 shipping. I snagged one white, green, black, oolong, and pu-erh tea. After I placed my order I contacted the company and they ended up sending me a second set of the same 5 samples to use for Tea Trivia Tuesday on Instagram! I am so excited to be able to share these teas with my followers!

Packaging

My two sets of samples arrived in a large silver heat sealed package. Inside each big bag were my 5 smaller samples in miniature versions of the large bag. On one side of each individual bag is the name of their company and their motto “Tea for Life”. On the back is the name of the tea, ingredients, origin of the tea, shelf life of the tea, and steeping instructions. That is a lot of information on these cute little sample bags! And when you go to the website you get so much more information about the tea!

When I opened the sample bag I had a hard time smelling the pu-erh so I poured it into my Gaiwan. Once it was in there I was able to smell a sweet, fruity, honey-like aroma. It was such a nice smell I was excited for my first sip!

How to Brew

Teavivre recommends the brew temperature of 212ºF for 3-5 minutes. However, if you look on their website that is if you are making a full cup. Since I am making my Pu-erh in a Gaiwan they had different instructions! I found that to be incredibly interesting, I had never seen that advertised before. For the Chinese Gongfu Method they recommend to still use 212ºF water for 12 separate steepings: rinse twice, 15 seconds, 15s, 15s, 15s, 15s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 60s, 100s, 160s. It goes on to say that each rinse time is 5 seconds.

As the first and second rinse steeped I could tell why they recommended a rinse, these first steepings had an almost smoky aroma which I wasn’t expecting. I am not a huge fan of smoky teas so I was a little nervous. By the first 15 second steeping the smoky smell had completely disappeared and I was left with a mild, sweet smell with just the right amount of earthiness. There was a light nuttiness to the flavor which was incredibly pleasant. As I went through each steeping the tea became sweeter and more floral in aroma and kept the sweet but nutty flavor.

The Experience

This 2008 Menghai Ripened Pu-erh steeped to a beautiful red color. The leaves were beautiful shades of brown that darkened as they steeped. I couldn’t believe how smooth this tea was. There was zero astringency. From scooping the leaves to each individual steep, the entire experience put a smile on my face. I went through each of the 12 steepings and was happy with each one. The later steepings were lighter in color but the sweet aroma seemed to get better with each steeping.

I absolutely loved this tea and would highly recommend it to anyone that likes a darker tea or is generally curious about Pu-erh tea. This is a great starter pu-erh, the sweet flavor will pull you in! Also, since it is so low in caffeine (less than 10% of a cup of coffee) it is one that you can drink at any time of day. Also, since you can get so many steepings out of the tea leaves it is absolutely worth the money you spend. I look forward to adding more of this tea to my cabinet! I would love to keep this one on hand.

Curious about Teavivre’s products? As of 7/26/18, Teavivre is still offering their 5 free samples- just pay $4.90 shipping (to the US). What a fabulous deal! Be sure to give them a try!

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