Help & suggestions, Please?

[Sundri]

I am relatively new to the world of pu-erh teas, but I have done my research and understand the complexity and depth that tends to surround this type of tea. I love the concepts and 'energy' surrounding pu-erh and the talk of it's health benefits and the strength of it's 'chi', the distinctive culture that has embraced it... I am already a connoisseur of many loose-leaf teas and my love of oolongs in general drew me this direction .... I really want to know and love this tea!

But I have an issue that seems to mainly be my own luck or puerhaps (harhar) I'm just managing to pick all the wrong ones...

I've tried 3 different varieties of pu-erh so far and only one of them has been even remotely drinkable. All 3 have been the 'shou' pu-erh in various lengths of leaves and oddly enough the only one I was able to stomach (and actually do like) is a lesser grade loose-shou-type with slightly longer length to the leaves and a very dark earthy color, smell & taste. (much like the smell of a rich moist potting soil, or a deep forest in early morning fog...) However, the other two were supposedly higher quality (and thus also rather spendy) small-leafed shou's from different vendors, and both arrived with a varying degree of undrinkability.

Now I am open minded when it comes to tea, but when I open the tin & it smells like the very center of a crowded chinese fish market, something just doesn't seem right to me. Especially when it doesn't quite seem to fit with the descriptions others have given of the same tea.

So please enlighten me if you can? Did I just loose the luck of the draw and get a couple of bad batches, or are there some varieties that really are supposed to taste/smell like this? I really do want to like puerh tea, but I can't afford too many 'experiments' that end in an undrinkable cuppa-fishy-goodness. ;>.>

[nickE]

What tea, specifically, are you drinking?
How are you brewing it?

[Sundri]

What tea, specifically, are you drinking?
How are you brewing it?

I have had 2 separate instances so far of the 'fishy' tea. - It's not just when the tea is brewed that it smells 'fishy' but even on opening when it arrives.

The fishiest of the teas was the 'golden-tip' pu-erh from serendipitea.com - this one was the 'china-fishmarket' experience to an extreme. (I love most of their other teas, so this was a rather nasty surprise.)

The other 'fishy' tea was bearable - it did still have some of the earthy tones to it that let me at least steep it, but the fishy smell/flavor is there just enough that I can't quite get past it to try it more than once. This one was the 'Imperial Puerh' ordered from the Boulder-Dushanbe teahouse (boulderteahouse.com)

The very earthy & likable puerh I picked up to try from enjoyingtea.com - and it is simply their 'aged puerh'. I know that it is a low grade pu-erh, the leaves in this are loose and fairly large - at least 1 - 2 inches, with a few twigs included. But it has been nice and earthy and consistent about it's flavors.

I usually brew my pu-erh at boiling or just under for about 3 minutes, give or take a bit depending on the length of the leaf/color/etc. However, I experiment around all the time with my teas to find the 'perfect' temperatures & times, so I have tried them hotter/colder/longer/shorter and in quite a few multiple-steepings as well. The fishy smell is there through all of them, in pretty much straight ratio, it doesn't change.

[rosmarinaus]

Funny that this topic should be posted when I have the very same question. I just brewed some Yunnan Puerh that I received as the latest shipment in the TeaSource Tea of the Month Club. It's the first puerh I've brewed. I brewed it for 4 minutes with water at 210, at the top of the temperature range specified.

I also had the same reaction when I opened the vacuum sealed bag - that the smell reminded me of dried fish. I gave it a go, but after half a cup poured the pot out.

The smell was much fishier than the other 3 puerhs I recently ordered in a sample pack from Silk Road Teas, even the Camel's Breath pressed puerh.

I've been very happy with all the teas I've received from Tea Source so far. This is the first one I haven't liked.

I'm also looking for enlightenment. I'd love to explore this type of tea.

[rosmarinaus]

I just found some information from another forum that might be helpful: http://steepster.com/discuss/1503-some- ... inkers-shu

Specifically (from the username Ginkgo):

"2. Brewing a shu – whether gongfu style or a big teapot is used, I think following tips may help:

2a. Rinse the tea generously. Rinse the tea with boiling water for 10-15 seconds, and discard the water. If rinsing once is not enough, then twice. Some shu doesn’t require rigorous rinse, but even in that case, a thorough rinse will not exhaust its flavor. When you know a specific puerh better, you will have more precise sense how much to rinse it. But at the beginning, rinsing the tea generously can reduce the off flavor of fermentation as much as possible, and therefore you can have a more pleasant first encounter with the tea.

2b. Start with low leaf:water ratio and increase it in future sessions if necessary. When using gongfu style, I would start with 3-4g tea in a 120ml vessel, and 5 seconds for each of the initial infusions. When using a large teapot, I would start with less amount of tea than what I would normally use for red tea, and add more boiling water whenever the teapot is less than 1/3 full. If the tea liquor looks like dark soy sauce, then probably less tea leaves or shorter infusions should have been used."

I'm thinking that in my case I should have rinsed the tea, and should have been more conservative about first steeping time - more like a minute or less.

[Sundri]

Rosmarinaus - It's at least good to know I'm not the only one who has had it happen. & even nicer to know that just maybe the 'fishy' flavor isn't actually the standard for taste. ^___^; 'Complex' as a description when combined with 'fishmarket' as a smell when it arrives isn't the most reassuring start to exploring a tea. *lol*

That does help a bit, I do think I'll have to try rinsing some of the more fishy tea a few extra times to see if it helps the slightly less-fishy of the two, but the super-fishy (golden-tip) I tried just about every method imaginable of rinsing/steeping/heating (the entire tin became an experiment in the range of tea brewing... ;>.> ) and nothing seemed to help it.

Then again, I am also a vegetarian and to top it off have an overly-sensitive sense of smell - so the fishy-tea to my pallet is rather unappealing. I was a little worried that 'fishy' was actually normal for the finer quality pu-erh - which would have pretty much left me in the dust as far as being able to enjoy it...

[auhckw]

Fishy is not too bad compared to Cockroachy taste...

[TomVerlain]

There is a lot of low quality puerh out there. There is a lot of poorly stored tea out there. There is a lot of tea I wouldn't drink, but others like. Trying a variety will help sharpen your taste and hopefully lead you to teas you enjoy.

I would recommend sticking to Dayi brand to begin with. I like 7262, but there are lots of choices for their shu. Even brand new, this recipe is drinkable, but a few years on would improve it.

Brewing it right is important too, and yes, it is not really a traditional english let it sit in the teapot tea.

Pour out the first (at least) infusion, and then as soon as you are done pouring the hot water in the teapot, pour out the tea. You will not suffer for having a lightly brewed cup.

There are some who prefer the "fishy" taste, but in general, the tatse of puerh is not best characterized by that particular flavor.

A real nice aged sheng is quite different than shu. I drink lots of shu because it can be enjoyable as it is itself, when aged sheng is a little too dear for everyday use.

[gingkoseto]

I just found some information from another forum that might be helpful: http://steepster.com/discuss/1503-some- ... inkers-shu

Specifically (from the username Ginkgo):

Hi Rosmarinaus, thank you for reading my writing. I also want to mention that in part 1 (brewing is part 2), I talked about the conservative way of selecting shu products (avoid current year shu, start from products of good old big factories, and no buying without sampling). I am not a fan of shu, and most shu tastes stinky to me. So I myself use very conservative way to choose shu.

About fishy, yeah, once someone mentions a puerh with "fishy aroma" to me, and all my response is But I can't even handle dried fish in food products.

My first impression on this post is, who is that lucky one who never had a fishy shu?

[iannon]

was there a reason you were going with Shu over Sheng? I, thus far anyway, have found Sheng to be much more enjoyable/drinkable.

[Drax]

My first impression on this post is, who is that lucky one who never had a fishy shu?

That would be me... I've tried a fair number of different types of shu, and I've never had a fishy one. As far as I can recall, maybe one qualified as pond-like, but for me, that's different from fishy....

Maybe because I've had very few young shu...

[rosmarinaus]

Ginkgoseto, thank you (and thank you Tomverlain as well) for the additional information. As you may have guessed, I am an absolute beginner with this sort of tea. I have not yet tried another pot, but will put your advice to use.

Sundri, I wonder if I am also more sensitive to the fishy flavor. In general I like strong flavors (the beers I prefer are ambers and darker), so I was surprised that I disliked this. What surprised me more was my husband's reaction when smelling the pu-erh. Typically he likes flavors that are much less strong (wheat beers are his favorite), and I've never seen him drink tea. He liked the smell of this pu-erh, and when I asked, said it did not smell fishy. I'll give this one a few more tries with rinses and different infusion times. I do have a few others, including two raw ones, that had a much more pleasant odor.

[entropyembrace]

I think the problem is the tea that you´re buying. Most American vendors seem to have no idea what puerh is supposed to taste like and what they buy is often really gross low quality shu puerh.

I´d second Tom´s suggestion of trying some Menghai Dayi brand puerh...it´s not high grade puerh...but it is fairly consistant, inexpensive and has good quality control...which makes it a good place to get an idea of what kind of puerh you like.

You can find it for sale from many online vendors, personally I´d recomend Yunnan Sourcing since I´ve had good experience buying from them.
http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/cat ... ry=6634690

Almost all of their teas are available in sample sizes so you dont need to buy a whole cake of something you may not like...just select the sample from the drop down menu before adding to your cart.

I´d say try a few of the classic recipes which are named with number codes, Tom gave one for shu the 7262. Try some sheng too, I really like 8582 and Xiaguan Bao Yan (Xiaguan is another major brand/factory for puerh)

Also to get some more ideas of good quality accessable puerh to try check out bearsblog´s new to puerh post.
http://puerh.blogspot.com/p/new-to-puer.html

[debunix]

I've never had a tea that smelled fishy to me, but have definitely had some that are smoky at the start, particularly some young shengs--but have never had a shu like this. Could my 'smoky' be what others are calling 'fishy'?

[Drax]

I've never had a tea that smelled fishy to me, but have definitely had some that are smoky at the start, particularly some young shengs--but have never had a shu like this. Could my 'smoky' be what others are calling 'fishy'?

Hrm, I sure hope not... but stranger things have happened. Like you, I don't recall ever having a smoky shu...

'Fishy' to me invokes the aroma of amines (or vice versa, I suppose!), and can have a definite 'ugh' quality, especially concentrated...