(no subject)

So, I get a monthly tea subscription box from tearunners.com. (I've gotten other tea subscription boxes over the years, but I like this one especially because they let you customize your box before it gets shipped to you - so you sign up for a particular box and they send you a list of all the things that will be in your box and also all the other boxes, so that if there's something in your box that you know you hate, you can swap. Which is nice, as there are some fairly common tea types (Earl Grey, most spiced teas, teas that contain hibiscus) that I really don't like.) So once a month I get four sample-sized packets of tea, usually enough to make five or six cups. It's cool, because it lets my try teas that I'm curious about but not curious enough to commit to a larger amount, especially of something that might be a little pricey.

This month, one of my samples was a pu ehr tea, which is a tea variety that definitely falls into the above category. Pu ehr is one of those things that, when you read about it online, you get a lot of people telling you that it's an acquired taste and it's not for everyone, which makes you a little wary. But hey, sample size - if I hate it, it's no big deal, right?

I got six little discs of compressed tea, each individually wrapped in paper. The tea brews up extremely dark, almost black, and has an underlying earthy funk to it - I can see why it might put people off but you guys, I absolutely love it. It reminds me, more than anything, of buckwheat honey. Which is another not-for-everyone food and the only thing I've ever had the proprietor of a farmer's market stall warn me about before buying but that I also really love. I'm really happy to have found something else that weird "this kinda tastes like dirt and I'm really into it" niche.

So now I have to buy some more pu ehr tea, I guess.