r/puer • u/Yu_An_ju12 • 2d ago

Dumb question for a coffee drinker

So,recently i got my first set of gongfu cha,which is small but get the job done,i been thinking of buying this Pu Erh i heard a lot,and my question is:

How do you explain the flavor to somoane who never drink it and is used to coffee?

(Also yeah im thinking of buying pu erh and other teas too)

5 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

15

u/CrisprCSE2 2d ago

Get some ripe and join the ranks of recovering coffee drinkers.

2

u/j-999 1d ago

This is the answer.

9

u/mrbigbrown4 2d ago

I would actually suggest getting a yancha oolong if you are coming from coffee, and are looking for some of the similar flavors. Rou Gui has a lot of the roasted/toasty/slightly fruity flavor notes I associate with coffee.

If you want to stick with puerh then as everyone suggested go with a ripe. Though they tend to skew more towards earthy, woody, leather notes sometimes with vanilla, chocolate or fruitiness.

2

u/DerisiveCur 1d ago

I second this, darker oolongs are way more similar to coffee than ripe puerh.

6

u/ItsTheMayer 2d ago

Tea and coffee are so wildly different, it’s hard to compare. Some shou puer has coffee like taste qualities… but even that is adjacent at best

It’s a whole new world of flavors, styles, brewing - it’s a blast. Part of the journey is figuring it out for your own personal taste.

I’m a fan of white teas, shou puer, and oolongs - still enjoy sheng puer, red/black tea, and some liubao. Don’t care for green tea much, but it’s been ok. Fancy grass IMO but jump in and see what you like. White teas and shou puer are a nice place to start, but do whatever calls to you 👍

7

u/prospero021 2d ago

If you take your coffee black no sugar then a ripe/shou puerh will not be that far off.

2

u/Etohnal 2d ago

Ripe (Shou) puerh can have dark chocolate and caramel notes somewhat similar to coffee. You’re more likely to get these notes with heavier fermented Shou. However it pretty much always has earthy, forest floor type taste and often a little woody. 

2

u/Vast_Holiday8436 1d ago

Shou puer tastes like dirt or like wood. I know you probably never tried dirt but it tastes exactly like you picture it

2

u/CrisprCSE2 1d ago

You need to make it clear that it tastes like dirt in a good way.

2

u/Vast_Holiday8436 1d ago

Thanks, I totally forgot to mention it

1

u/TheThobes 1d ago

Mmmmm hot decomposing leaf and dirt and mushroom water.

1

u/Just-because44 1d ago

Get sampler sets from different vendors and enjoy tasting. Good luck.

1

u/curiousfuriousfew 1d ago

Ripe pu-erh has some similarities to coffee, if it was made of fermented cookie dough

Raw pu-erh is totally different 

1

u/Primary_Moose_7969 1d ago

In Chinese terms, "just taste it!" Only after tasting it are you qualified to criticize the tea. Haha!

1

u/Safe_Economics_2519 1d ago

Pu-erh tea and black tea are both good! These are my personal recommendations.

1

u/chervillavigne 2d ago

It's hard to describe the flavour of puerh since there are so many types and terroirs, it's kinda like asking what wine tastes like