I’ve written about my experience with the TAETEA Classic 7542 Classic Raw Tea Cake. This time around, I’m reviewing the TAETEA 7572 Organic Black Tea Ripe Pu-erh Tea Cake.
Please note that Amazon offers it in 350g (about $54) and a smaller version at 150g (for about $24).
Created by the Yunnan TAETEA Group in 1940, the company has focused on Pu-erh (also spelled as Pu’er) tea for the last 80 years and the majority is made from the sun-dried tea of Yunnan big leaf with “Menghai Taste”.
Now what is the difference between the 7542 Classic Raw vs. the TAETEA 7572 Ripe Pu-erh Tea Cake?
One is the color of appearance. Raw tea can look dark green or yellowish, while ripe tea can look dark red or chestnut black.
Raw tea is a bit more astringent and bitter and not manually fermented. While ripe tea uses moderate pile fermentation to lessen the bitterness.
You can tell by the look and color of the tea cake. I cut off a few pieces with a butterknife to prepare…
It doesn’t look like much, but I’ve learned that this amount is definitely enough.
Now for the rinse…
Even after the rinse, the leaves stay black. With raw Pu-erh, they turn green. So, that is another difference!
And now to make some tea…
They weren’t kidding about the reddish color.
What’s interesting is that I absolutely loved the taste and kept making tea reusing the same leaves in my diffuser on the Kamjove and each steep, it kept making great tea!
No astringency or bitterness, it was delicious!
Now which I do I prefer? That’s hard to say because I enjoy about ripe and raw. If I wanted to introduce people to Pu-erh tea, I would probably give them the 7572 ripe rather than the 7542 raw.
I also believe in how sophisticated of a tea drinker you are and how many experiences one has had with loose leaf tea.
I don’t use sugar or any additives, I drink my tea straight. But if I had to pick one over the other, I enjoyed the Ripe Tea the most!
