Thank you Dinosara for sending two of these tiny bird nests to try! The leaves here are very dark and there is a rose embedded in the bottom of the nest. I don’t know why I’m trying this one now, as this apparently never expires and I have plenty of other teas that will expire! But the bag this came in is very handy and I’m planning on putting other teas in it.
Steep #1 – Boiling – two minutes – Immediately the rose left the nest like a baby bird and flew to the top of the steeper. The color is very dark. I’ve never seen a darker cup – black until held up to the light and it turns a cranberry red. There is a bit of the fishy fragrance but the flavor itself is not tough… it’s actually very addicting for some reason and tough to explain the flavor itself. It’s a bit cedar like while still maintaining some sweetness. A little spicy.
Steep #2 – Boiling – must have went for three minutes – I think I left this one steeping a little too long since the flavor was very woody. Not terrible but I really liked the mystique of the first cup. The color of the cup is even deeper.
Steep #3 – Boiling – two minutes – The leaves in the bottom of the steeper are actually very tiny. The color of the cup now looks like root beer. The sweeter flavor is back again. I wouldn’t necessarily say there actually IS a rose flavor to this tea, but the flower is a nice touch and it isn’t just a plain pu-erh.
Steep #4 – Boiling- two minutes – I think this one is losing a bit of flavor now, unless I just steeped it wrong. So I’ll just stop here!
Really very nice, as almost everything from Teavivre is! I’m really looking forward to trying more pu-erhs in the future.
Their Mengku Palace is one of my favorite puerh teas!
Another one I’ll keep in mind!