Chocolate Bar Shou!

Hello hello!

For this week, I’m going to be looking over a tea that’s as savory and as sweet as chocolate. In fact, this tea is pressed in mini chocolate bar form, which is a mini brick with six sections that break off. This puer is made from 2012 shou tea material which comes from Teasenz. While this brick of chocolate puer can’t be eaten like an actual bar of chocolate, you can actually drink it for easy access on the go! So does this tea taste anything like chocolate? Lets find out!

Steeps 1 - 4

For this session, I used 1 square of tea (6.6g) for a 100ml vessel, and used water which was heated to a temp of 185ºf. Anyways, this tea opened up to the faint taste of wood and earth, which left a sweet aftertaste of stevia. After a few more infusions, this tea’s body began to expand to a light and savory leaf pile, which was smooth on the tongue. In these steeps, this tea was smooth and pleasant all around, and almost resembled a black tea.

Steeps 5 - 8

The body of the chocolate bar continued to open up, as its liquor darkened in color. The wood body brought out a defined spiciness on the tip of the tongue, and left the aftertaste of freshly cut timber. The texture was thick, and with the mix of tasting notes resembled whisky. However, this tea’s texture was heavy and thick — almost like a broth.

Steeps 9 - 12

By this time, this tea’s body began to settle down as a buttery-like texture made its way to the sides of the tongue. The tea still held a spiciness, but didn’t resemble whisky like it did earlier. Anyways, despite not tasting like a whisky anymore, it still had its wood-like body that was smoother than ever. While this tea was robust, it left a light sweetness lingering in the back of the throat once the tea was gone. After drinking enough of this tea to experience a meditative tea high, it was time to end the session here…

Conclusion

First, I wanted to point out that for a five year old tea, this shou puer has been beautifully stored. Second, the leaf was in really good condition and exceptionally clean. I’d like to praise this mini-brick for its complex tasting notes, and although it didn’t resemble anything like chocolate, it reminded me of a fine whisky. Another favorable aspect of this tea was the fact that it was very heavy and for the price point of $6.95 a box, it makes this shou one hell of a deal. Overall, I think this was an easy shou to drink and is accessible to those who don't usually favor shou puer. Despite the fact if you like shou or not, I think this one can find its way into any puer lovers heart the minute it meets their tongue….

[This review was not paid or promotional content. This tea was reviewed out of pure curiosity of the tea itself]