★★★☆☆
I'm not sure tea reviews are very helpful. Anyway... here it is.
*** Won't turn it down if somebody offered me a cup.
Generously sized for teapot brewing, this extra-large pearl gives the term tea ball new meaning.
Customers use these reviews to describe their experience with Pu-Erh Pearls, including flavor, aroma, preparation preferences, strength, and how the tea fits into daily routines. Browse the full review history page by page to compare tasting notes, steeping tips, and favorite ways to enjoy this tea.
I'm not sure tea reviews are very helpful. Anyway... here it is.
*** Won't turn it down if somebody offered me a cup.
Excellent tea if you are looking for a more earthy flavor. You can also get a second steep from this tea and achieve the same flavor as the first one by steeping it 3 to 4 minutes longer
Delicious! Exactly what I want from a pu-erh. Earthy, malty, and smooth. It does say to use 1 pearl for 24 oz, but I use it for a 12 oz cup and I love it. I do like my tea strong. Also, just dropping the pearl into my strainer is simple and time saving.
This tea has a very distinct Pu Er flavor, musty and earthy. It is especially convenient that it is in individual balls instead of the solid brick that most Pu Er's are processed into. No chipping off a serving, just use one ball per pot. The flavor and fragrance stand up well to a second steeping. I tried it in a third pot and found the these aspects diminished and no longer strong enough to really enjoy. I tried the tea with milk and honey and found it was preferable without those additions.
Not bad, but not a fan of the strong smoky flavor. After the 3rd time through, it got more pleasantly mellow, but could not lose the papery aftertaste. I was hoping for a bit better.
I bought a sample size because my boyfriend has always wanted to try some. He is very impressed! It lives up to his expectations. Planning to get more with my next order!
Great tea! Milder than black tea but still packed with flavor. If you are a green tea enthusiast, like me, this will be a great in between a black and green tea for bitterness.
This is definitely a tea for those who like pu'erhs. It's very strong, and if you're not used to it, doing a quick few second steep and discarding that leaves it more mild and enjoyable. It's very deep and lovely.
These are wonderful. They have a strong but delicious flavor. I was surprised with how much they expanded once used.
To Date, This is one of my favorite flavors. Very earthy and very smooth -- I use the pearl balls two days in a row and both days it is perfect.
Typical Pu-Erh. Dark and aromatic. These pearls actually make a great conversation starter at tea parties. Thumbs up!
this smells like the inside of a thousand year old mummy. its awful. the 'pearls' are also nearly 2 inches in diameter, waaaay too big for any personal pot of tea. i had to break chunks off to brew. i hated this one. do not recommend.
Very good gongfu style. I got 8 steeps out of it. Probably could push it to 10 with more careful timing. There is a strong smoky base note that lingers throughout each steep, with more floral and nutty notes opening up in the later steeps.
All steeps at 212:
00:20
00:32
00:41
00:50
01:03
01:15
01:28
01:40
Quick and easy tea. Go to tea for guests or on the go.
Absolutely love it. Not only great taste, but love to watch the ball soak up the water and grow. So cool. Like it cold as well.
smelled of mushrooms. delicious tea and i would recommend it to anybody who would be interesteed in it.
These pearls are great for grandpa style! You really can brew for 5 mins or just leave in the thermos like I do. A super dark earthy oolong that could be a good coffee substitute. It’s not super complex but has great flavor. I put a pearl for a 16 oz thermos and get three nice brews out of it, leaving the leaves in the entire time
Well-packaged tea! I really like Pu-Erh Pearls and was having a tough time getting them after moving from the city where my tea shop is located; but...here they are! Thank you! As for the samples: thank you for introducing me to the Tri-Pepper chai and the Orange Rooibos...both good for delicious alternative hot drink.
the size is just over 5 grams, it’s a good Shu Pu-Erh but I like more in a cake
I am a Pu-Erh lover and this tea does not disappoint. I think this would be a good intro to the style for someone who has never tried it; the briny-musty characteristics are there but do not overpower. Definitely holds up to at least a second steep without any loss of enjoyment.
Amazing tea I love it so much, ADAGIO teas is amazing
My morning coffee substitute. A wonderfully rich taste that survives multiple seepings. I love it plain but thinking of trying it with milk. The aging process brings out that wonderful earthy taste. I make it iced in summer and absolutely love it.
Sweet, tobacco flavor like chewing tobacco with less molasses but a hint. Plum and a lightly astringent mouth feel.
I'm not the world's biggest pu-erh fan so only four stars from me. Still, this is my go to for unflavored Pu-Erh. Dante has a more alien taste to my palate although it is outstanding in Antivan Leather, a fandom blend. If I want to combine pu-erh with a flavored tea, I crumble a Pearl. I do wish Adagio sold another unflavored non-compressed pu-erh that didn't have the fishy taste which turns me off. The Pearls haven't had a fishy taste for me at any point, but crumbling is a bit messy and rather defeats the purpose of a teapot-sized offering. I drink a teapot's worth of tea during a day but prefer at least three different teas instead of a LOT of one tea.
Love this tea. Strong but smooth. Great morning tea. Great second steep 6 min).
These are nice for a quick cup. I use one of Adagio's 'Ingenuitea' pots, and get about 5 or 6 steepings in a 10 oz mug. 1st brewing is discarded, next is 10-20 seconds, gradually increasing to a few minutes. I've heard some people will get as many as 10 cups, but I find it getting weak after about 5 mugs. After reading some of the other reviews, I wonder if people don't know to discard the first quick steeping? Tea people call it 'waking up' the leaves. I don't know if that's a great description, but there is a lot of difference in the next steeping.
This is one of my favorite teas, especially on busy days! I can let this steep for a long time (seriously, I have let it go for near to an hour when I got distracted), and it doesn't get bitter. And I personally find the damp earth/mushroom/etc flavor appealing. And it's easy to dose out, just grab a pearl and throw it in my IngenuiTEA and add water, and it's done!
Wow! These pearls are perfect for brewing a 24 oz pot of tea, and coming back for a second steep. The first steep was dark, rich and earthy...the second steep brought out more mineral notes. Lovely! Makes me wish I had a clear glass tea pot!
This is very tasty tea. I like to watch the balls unwind
One of these pearls is way too strong for a 16 oz mug. I would recommend breaking a pearl in half unless you have a 24 or 30 oz tea pot. The second and third infusions were better than the first. This is the size of pearl you use for a large teapot serving 3 or 4 people at a dim sum restaurant. As one previous reviewer noted it tastes like leather. I can say for certain if you brew a whole pearl in a mug it will be strong enough to tan leather. It didn't start to taste like tea until the second infusion.
This tea has a nice warm quality. There is a lot of astringency, but I find it pleasant. At times it reminds me of white tea and at times it is very earthy.
Leather. The pearls do not take long to infuse with the water creating a rich tasting leather water. It's not necessarily bad, but I also don't really like the flavor of a leather tanning shop. It legit tastes like you're chewing on a brand new high quality leather saddle.
I just bought these to finish the price on one of those deals, and it was so worth it. The tea has an amazing flavor and each ball lasts so long. I’m still using my first one and it’s been like a week
I have come to the conclusion that my favorite style of tea is Puer (Pu-Erh). I love the leather/horse/earthy aroma and flavor. I love the dark, inky liquor. I enjoy the forgiving nature of a smooth tea with little to no bitterness. The post-fermenting process removes all of the guesswork from making a cup of tea while attending Zoom meetings! I used to buy puer toucha from another tea monger, but they stopped making them. I was excited to see Adagio's puer balls because although they are not exactly the same thing, the quality of leaves 'should' be better since you can see them pressed into the balls, right? Well, that is definitely true here. Although this is not the highest quality puer I have ever tried, the tea makes a nice dark brew with characteristic flavor profiles. I still think the Pu-Erh Dante is my favorite from Adagio, I really enjoy the pearls for aesthetics when I have friends over. It's fun to watch the pearls unfurl into full large leaves. I also think due to their size, that the pearls are perfect for sharing (or for keeping me going when working on deadlines).
These were flavorful, non astringent and relaxing. I found that one pearl will do for a 24 ounce teapot.
I use 2 pearls for a cup and it’s perfect. I crave this tea for some reason in the afternoon. For a second cup I steep this tea again for 6 minutes. The taste is woodsy, heaven.
My 1st pureh, and I loved it. Strong and earthy!! Great wakeup
My first foray into plain pu-erh. Very earthy and I understand what another reviewer meant about 'horsey'. Deep and worth pondering, it has some funk but nothing disagreeable to my palate (I did rinse the tea, though I don't know if that made a difference.
Wow-ee! This is a dense tea. It brews a thick black liquor that tastes deeply of peat moss and earth. The leaves are thick and hold up marvelously to multiple infusions. I can drop a pair of these in my infuser and drink from the same two pearls all day long. I do recommend you do a quick wash to unfurl the leaves or your first cup will be a bit muted. Pu-erh is not a tea I want to drink every day due to the bold taste but when I am in the mood for some, this is a great tea. Tossing these pre-measured pearls into my cup sure beats having to cut into a cake too!
Wow. These are really fun. Larger than other pearls. Bigger than the Whopper candy or a round grape. I made a 1/2 gallon of rich black tea with one.
This is a pretty standard, very earthy Pu Erh tea. Not sure why I like using the pearls more, but I do
Wow, these are big! I didn't bother to rinse the leaves because they were so packed in, so I was glad that this tea doesn't have any fishy taste. It is a bit earthy, very smooth and grounding, and strong. The resulting brew is definitely more pleasant than other types of pressed pu-erh, not chalky or pungent, just a little earthy. I don't note any complexity of flavor, but since I had a whole 24 oz teapot, I enjoyed trying Adagio rose petals as a garnish (fun at first, gets way too earthy as the petals get soggy); Adagio chocolate honey as a sweetener (tasted really good, but what wouldn't with chocolate honey added) and milk and sugar (weakens the tea a bit, would be better with a thicker bottom part of the pot which brewed better. I was definitely feeling the caffeine by the 4th cup as I emptied my pot, so I wasn't motivated to try a rebrew no matter how great it is supposed to be. I don't think I would be able to sip this all day in a travel mug, and these aren't easy to break, so they pretty much only work for the rare occasion when I have multiple guest over who are willing to help me get through a big pot of pu-erh. These pearls are fun and pretty good, a bit big and awkward, not fantasticly flavored, just not as offensive as pu-erh normally is. Appropriate for oddly specific occasions.
I am happy that Adagio offers PuErh tea! I brewed PuErh Pearls in my 6oz Gaiwan cup. I found a 3gram pearl in my sample bag - perfect for my cup. The other pearls range from 6-4grams each. The pearls make it an easy way to drink PuErh tea. The dry aroma is dusty forest floor. Reminds me of hiking in a forest. Wet leaf smells more of hay with a tad sweetness showing. Pearl completely unfurled in the first infusion after the rinse. Dark coffee appearance to the liquid. Has a thick, viscous texture, maintains the classic PuErh flavors of leather, forest floor with a sweet aftertaste. It really shows off on infusion 3 and went strong for a total of 7 infusions. It is a pretty hearty little PuErh Pearl. I took off one star because i was hoping for a creamy mouth texture. However, it is a lovely savory sip that caused me to have happy childhood memories pop up during the session.
This is my absolute favorite day-to-day Pu-erh. I canget anywhere from 6 to 10 full 12oz servings from just one pearl. Just pour boiling water over pearl, steep for 10 to 15 seconds and it's perfect.
Working my way through all the Pearls, and I have not had a bad cup from them. It was a bit of a surprise to realize I needed to dig out my BIG 24oz cup - I don't own a proper teapot since I mostly make tea just for myself - to brew it properly, but worth it! Earthy and smooth, no bitterness, just a lovely cup to sip on in the morning.
I am one that loves pu-erh. If you're new I would recommend the green pu-erh first and theyre lighter and less 'earthy'.. the pearls are perfect for serving the classic pu-erh flavor
What fun these little pearls are to watch unfurl. They make a smooth, rich tea.
Excellent strong tea. The large pearls are good for a small teapot.
The Pu-Erh Pearls are great! They're big and you only need 1 per cup. I had mine with burdock and black tea honey and it took the sweetness of the honey really well. It's a plain tea, but it's easy to jazz it up with pantry items. I look forward to experimenting with it more. I would highly recommend this tea!!
The caffeine was good but the flavor was not. Not exactly what I expected. I prefer the Black Dragon Pearls for caffeine with flavor. @adagioteas