★★★★☆
Sweet smoky flavor in this rich tea. This one would elevate a barbecue plate with a side of fried potatoes. Happy sipping!
A rare aged, fermented tea from Yunnan, China, pu'erh stands apart with its uncommonly soft earthy flavor. Freshly damp forest aroma, warm hay inside a barn, mushrooms and savory vegetables. Wilted flower notes and faintly dark chocolate texture.
Customers use these reviews to describe their experience with Pu-Erh Poe, 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.
Sweet smoky flavor in this rich tea. This one would elevate a barbecue plate with a side of fried potatoes. Happy sipping!
Great tea for those like me who forgets to set timers when brewing! I left this brewing for like 20 minutes (whoops) and it was still tasty.
I don't think I rinsed my tea leaves for long enough, because I definitely ended up with a brew that had a strange fishy flavor and scent. It was disappointing, because I was hoping I would like this one, but I guess it was not to be. That being said, don't let my dislike prevent you from trying it. It might be your jam.
I enjoyed the Pu-erh Poe tea as part of the CommuniTEA box. My sample packet contained 3.2g of tea. After rinsing for 15 seconds, I steeped half of the packet of tea in 6oz of 190° water for 2 minutes. This tea stands up to multiple infusions (I stopped counting at 5) and each has a slightly different flavor profile. It is mellow and earthy, with no fishy, smoky, or mushroom flavors noted. I enjoyed it with a raw sugar cube. Great tea--and the generous sample size means I get to enjoy it another day, too!
Today's CommuniTea packet is pu ehr poe, which to me smelled a little smokey, without any of the cherry cigar vibe that I got yesterday. I only brewed it for two minutes, but I think that was too long and strong for me. It turned deep reddish brown, and managed to smell and taste both smokey and a little antiseptic. Almost like being at a campfire next to a dispensary. I'd made a bowl of channa masala too, and I liked the tea a lot more if I alternated the two. Isn't everything better with masala? :-) (Brewed in 12 ounces of 210F water for two minutes with a 15 second rinse.)
I had no idea what to expect from the description of this tea. I have enjoyed the pu erhs that I have tried so far with the communitea so I am open to new experiences.
I brewed this up as per the instructions but did do a rinse first to eliminate potential funky flavours. The best way I can describe this taste is a cross between mushroom stock and tea...I like it, it has an interesting quality that somehow kept me sipping at this until it was all gone. It is earthy, deep and somehow very relaxing. I can see drinking this while meditating. Interesting tea.
Certainly a diffrent tasting tea, very earthy and roasty, no fishyness, definitely enjoyed! I probably wouldn't of tried this tea and so glad the communitea introduced me to it. Very yummy!
This is not my preference, but the quality of the tea is still incredibly good. I feel that it would benefit strongly from coming in a pearl form instead of this, but it's still an incredibly good quality of pu-erh.
This is one of the darkest teas I’ve ever brewed, and it has an earthy and almost minty smell from the packet. However, when brewed, the first thing I tasted reminded me of mushrooms! Afterwards, I was surprised to read that this was one of the flavor notes of the tea. Very unique, earthy, and hay-like Pu-erh tea!
Part of the May 2021 CommuniTEA box. This is NOT my cuppa tea, by far. The only one I dislike more is the tobacco-like lapsang souchoung. This tea is similarly pungent and far too earthy for my taste.
Very earthy. Not sure how I feel about it yet. I'm not getting any fish or mushrooms, but there is a sour flavor I can't place.
Wow - this is really not pleasant. It certainly does make my brain think of campfires and being outside - like drinking tea that's been left in the forest for a week LOL.
Not my thing, but very unique, that's for sure! The color is very nice. It's smoky and earthy, so if you like that in a tea, definitely give it a try.
I think this packet of Pu-erh Poe has more character than any other Poe I've had before. This was the first time I got such a strong earthy, musty, forest floor aroma. I love Pu-erh tea and have had other bags of Poe from Adagio and it's always an adventure to see what flavor profiles you'll get depending on the harvest, processing, etc. Such a rich mouthfeel with so many layers of flavor. This was very earthy with a touch of mineral. Never thought I would love a tea that reminded me of a damp forest floor, but I do. If you are looking for a beginner Pu-erh you might look to Dante first or take it very slow with this one and be sure to do a rinse first. If you are not new to Pu-erh then you will enjoy this very much.
I am mostly giving 3 stars for the memories of my grandfather that this tea evokes. It reminds me of the smell of his woodshop in the garage (he called it 'the barn'). Woodsy, musty, mushroom and tobacco all rolled into one. For me taste would be 2 stars since none if that is appealing.
What a weird tea. Too campfire chic for my taste buds.
I think I've gotten a little more used to pu-erh's since I first tried them. I do like a good flavored pu-erh, but I'm not quite to the point of fully enjoying a plain pu-erh.
I did do a rinse. After that, the steep was dark and aromatic. The flavor was earthy, woody, a bit straw-like. It's not my favorite flavor profile, but one I'm willing to explore.
This is a very tasty tea. It is more pronounced than the subtle pu-erh Dante. This will hold up to multiple steeping without sacrificing flavor. It is earthy and rich with touch or seaweed up front. After the first sips, it becomes more mellow.
Take this review with a grain of salt. Actually, now that I think about it, a grain of salt might have been a good addition to this tea as it's quite savory. I am a novice pu-erh drinker. Before trying this tea, I had not experienced an unflavored pu-erh tea out of a blend. To be fair, I haven't had a flavored pu-erh tea outside of a blend either. As recommended, I gave the tea a 20-30 second rinse and dumped the rinse water before preparing my first steep. I struggled with the flavor of the tea, not because I didn’t like it, but because I couldn’t tell whether what I was tasting was what I was tasting or whether I was tasting the descriptions suggested in other reviews and discussions. Barnyard? Yes, I can see that. Basement water? Yep, I can see that too. Earthy? Certainly. Mushrooms? Yep, I can taste them, too. Smoky? I get that. About the only taste I didn’t pick up on was fishy. A second steep was mellower: the complex flavors were all there but they weren’t as potent, and I was able to appreciate the cup more. I can’t see myself ever being an avid pu-erh fan, and this certainly is not a cup I’d choose to drink on a regular let alone daily basis, but I’m giving it four stars because I assume that it is at least “good” for what it is.
I wasn't sure what to expect with this tea since there was a possiblity of a fishy smell/taste. I got an earthy smell from the packet and did a 15 second rinse. This tea brewed up a very dark red. The taste was very rich and interesting. I got 3 steeps from the packet and enjoyed them all.
For most people, this tea will be a love it or leave it. I really wanted to love it but it wasn't to be. That said, the dark color is gorgeous. The scent really depends on the person. CommuniTea members reported on woods after rain to moldy socks! It was woodsy to me but with the underlying smell of damp fungus. The taste was layered and rich. Savory. Just a bit too fungal- like for me.
I first rinsed this tea for 15 seconds with boiling water as many other reviewers recommended. The CommuniTEA packet smelled like a pile of dirt in a musty basement. I steeped this tea for 4.5 minutes with boiling water. It tastes like I steeped a mystery dust ball from a basement corner. I dumped that cup after a few sips, it was just as bad warm as it was hot. I tried a resteep in case the rinse wasn't enough. The resteep was still dusty but there was an interesting earthiness that had me keep sipping even though I didn't enjoy it. Maybe like some dirt covered rocks were added to the dust pile. Overall, I do not want to drink this again, but it's worth trying since it's a bit different than typical black or green teas.
Not bad, has a kind of earthy, mineral-y flavor. Dirty water 😎
I have only tried a few pu-erh teas and I quite like them, but I LOVE this one. It has a flavor like no other tea I have tried. Steeps to a dark red-brown. The flavor is rich, dark, woody and smoky. It's not the sitting around a campfire type of smoke that you get from lapsang souchang--this tea has mellowed smoke, like visiting a winter cabin that has the years of past wood fires soaked into the walls. It also has flavors of a barn hayloft: aged hay and old wood. It's a smooth and rich tea with no bitterness or astringency. The flavor lingers on the tongue. Best when hot or warm. I rinsed the leaves in water for 30 seconds then steeped for 3 minutes. Second steep still had lots of flavor, but not quite as deep and rich. I cannot wait to drink this again!
I was not a fan of this tea. I rinsed it as suggested, but it still tasted fishy. So I poured out that cup and tried again. It was the same. Perhaps it was also the mushroom like flavor, but I just couldn’t get past it.
I erred on the side of giving this a slightly higher rating. If I could, I'd give this 3.5 stars. I did a rinse for 45 seconds and still found the earthiness too earthy is the first brew. For me, the flavor reminds me of the barn where my grandpa would store clean bales of hay and his tractors. The second brew was much more palatable to me, strong hay flavors continued to be prominent.
Adagio recommends steeping this tea for 3 — 5 minutes at 212 degrees. After just 3 minutes, this was one of the darkest teas I've seen. The aroma is definitely an earthy scent like warm hay in a barn, but the taste is more like a smoky black tea with something deep underground like caves or roots. If it weren't for the high caffeine, this would be the tea to drink while curling around the darkening embers of a campfire and staring up at the night sky as you contemplate the mysterious vastness of the universe.
I noticed more of a mushroom and earthy flavor with this tea. I didn’t know about rinsing the leaves before, so I didn’t do that. Added half a spoon of sugar. Not a bad tea.
Earthy with notes of hay. It wasn’t bad, just not to my tastes.
Sampled with CommuniTEA on 5/19/21: Pu-erh Poe was my first introduction to pu-erh teas a while back when I sampled it in the 'Premium Teas of China' box. I liked it then and I like it now: Rich, earthy, rustically decadent. I do think the mushroom and umami notes come through more without a rinse, so I prefer it that way. But if you are not a big fan of those flavors, a rinse will definitely diminish their presence. 15sec rinse, 5mins at 212F.
So the smell of this tea is salty mushrooms in the forest with a bit of hay and earth mixed in. I did the recommended rinse, so no fishy smell or taste. This is some seriously dark colored tea. It looks like coffee. Very thick and velvety mouthfeel. Tastes a bit like chocolate. Glad it doesn't really taste like it smells. Definitely interesting. Not sure if I like it or not. I walked away from my cup for a while and when I walked back into the room I was greeted with a very strong smell of woodsy forest dotted with mushrooms and covered in wet leaves. Not my favorite smell. Added monk fruit and milk. Enjoyed with the CommuniTea. 5 minutes @ 200.
Smells and tastes like earthy, mushroom dirt water.
Smooth as silk. Pu-Erh can be hard to get right, but once you do? Delicious!
I did a brief wash of the leaves before pouring my first steep. I definitely made a mistake in using my normal 8oz cup; I should have remembered what I do with my Pu-Erh Pearls and use a 24oz cup. I did that for my second steep.
Pu Erh Poe has a woodsy, almost hay-like flavor with some notes of chocolate coming through - a very earthy cup.
It's probably the fermentation that intensifies what you get out of the steep, but never plan for a single cup when you brew a Pu Erh. A serving that is normally enough for 8oz works better for 24oz and multiple steeps. Honestly, this is great as an option to serve guests; it might have a higher price, but you get quality AND quantity of tea from Pu Erhs.
Today's CommuniTEA packet smelled like an earthy Pu-Ehr with a slight smoky undertone. Steeping for 3 minutes at 212 produced a deeply opaque brown tea that could pass visually for coffee.
The Pu-Erh Poe was the first tea of this style that I had tried from Adagio. The tea is richly earthy and leathery with a smooth mouthfeel. There is a light yet evolved briskness that is very different than a standard black tea. Some almost mushroomy and ever so faint tobacco leaf scents and flavors are present (in a good way). Some pleasant mineral flavors are present in the finish, along with a light astringency.
Adding cream to this one really brings out more earthy and fresh straw flavors. Deep and rich creamy notes synergize with the already smooth Pu-Ehr mouthfeel and the naturally sweet cream. The cream manages to tame any of the stronger flavors down while enhancing their pleasant qualities.
Overall, this is a superb shou Pu-Ehr with plenty of strong and fermented earthy flavors. No fishy or off-putting qualities to be found, just pleasant aged tea flavor.
Not my personal taste; however, the quality seemed to be high. If you happen to like the earthy, vegetal vibe of pu-erh, then it seems like this would be a good choice. (reviewed through CommuniTEA; 2 min @ 205F)
I've never seen a more aptly named tea before. Pu-erh Poe is walking through a mysterious autumn forest at night after a rain. You can smell the wet leaves and soil under your feet. The darkness is unsettling yet comforting. You're uncomfortable because you're unfamiliar with the territory but you keep moving forward because of a strange pull.
If you keep returning to this forest, eventually it stops being foreign territory and you may even grow fond of it. No matter what, the forest never loses it's dark allure and mystery...
This is my first time trying a pure pu-ehr and I'm a convert. Delicious! I enjoy rich, straight black teas so this pu-ehr is a natural fit. I did do a rinse, just in case, and found the rich, malty earthiness to be a treat. The tea was dark, smooth, and so complex, and I loved how, like oolongs, each sip and each steep brought different flavors to the forefront. This is a tea I'd like to experiment more with, as it just has so much to offer.
Super dark and earthy tea. I enjoyed it even more the second steep. I added a bit of oat milk
I didn't taste much of the fishiness others have noted but I can say it tastes barnyard-esque. I should've known to discard the steep water but I was looking out for fishy odors rather than anything else. I guess that's what you get for being a tea noob.
It’s pu-erh. While I didn’t think it was as awful as some pu-erh, I still tossed it after one sip.
I like the tea, it didn’t smell bad. I didn’t taste mushroom or fishes taste, I rinsed it, did it at 190 and steeped it for three minutes.☕️☕️🫖
Rich, earthy, and smooth! I brewed at 194° for about 2 1/2 minutes and was rewarded with such a wonderful and comforting cup! No rinsing needed for me!
This tea reminds me of walking barefoot in a damp forest...focusing on the forest floor. The aroma and flavor are so rich and earthy. I steeped at a lower temp and added a little sugar and creamer. Loved this tea!
Hi ho! Hi ho! Into the woods I go...picking mushrooms amongst the mossy forest grounds. This tea is earthy, mossy, pungent but for my taste palate...so good. No added cream or sugar. Just a plain o’ cup of earthy tea!
Everyone describes this tea as earthy -- which is just a polite way of saying it tastes like dirt. If I want to taste dirt, I'll steep some potting soil. I tried adding some milk. That brought out a mushroom taste. Now it was like drinking mushrooms in dirt.
This just is not a taste for me. Oh, what I would give for a simple English breakfast tea right now.
Dry tea smells earthy. Very dark brewed tea, almost looks like black coffee. Earthy notes, mushroom flavors noted while hot. When warm, the brew becomes more full bodied and more savory and clean. The tea has a lot of depth, and almost feels like it coats the tongue. The forest-floor type flavor note that I associate with the flavored pu-erh teas is present and much more of a focal point without any other competitors in the cup. I found 3 minutes on the first steep is ideal for my palette, since 5 minutes made the flavors almost too strong, akin to a liquid mushroom. I did a quick 5 second rinse of the leaves prior to the steep, which eliminated any opportunities for fish-like flavors. Brewed 3 minutes at 212,
Well...I was a little apprehensive about trying this tea for the first time especially when I have heard some bizarre descriptions of it's smell and taste. Decided to just try it and see for myself. Steeped at 190°for 4mins.The tea was a deep brown color. There was a distinct damp woodsy aroma. The first sip...Wow! I love the flavor. A rich savory tea layered with notes of smoke, earthy and root herb flavors. Very full bodied ,with an exceptionally smooth mouthfeel. Very nice tea.
I daresay that this tea is an acquired taste. Perhaps one day I will become cultured enough to properly appreciate it. Until that day, I'm thinking words like smoky, barnyard, earthy, and off-putting.
My face upon drinking this tea:
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This tasted like mushrooms and fish. Clearly I am not capable of enjoying fancy tea. Give me earl grey moonlight and let's call it a morning.
To me, this tastes like smoky mushrooms. Different, but I like it! I'm not picking up any hay aromas with this one. As it cools, I get mostly just the smoky flavors. A little bold, but not bold and sassy!
Nay the horse says and he would be right. The fish was strong in this despite rinsing. I made my husband smell it and he said it smelled like a barn. The few sips I had left an awful sensation before I threw the whole cup down the drain.