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This is not real puerh. Try the ebay store Yunnan Sourcing LLC to order a real Puerh tea cake (prefferably raw or sheng because shu is just cheap imitation of an aged sheng). If you like green tea and want a more complex taste, younger sheng tea can become the only thing you ever drink. If you drink crap like the loose shu you are drinking and especially if you brew it for SIX MINUTES in a plastic coffee pot ofcrouse it will taste bad.

I agree with those that posted before. It really helps to know ahead of time that it will have an earthy taste to it. It reminds me of dirt, wood, smoke, fire, fall leaves, etc, as you explained... literally like a composted/fermented drink (which it is.)

Pu-erh brews nearly instantly for a first infusion. Leaving it in for 6 minutes loses the subtle layer aspect of shorter infusions.

I love it, but it's intermingled with a personal love for camping and the comfort that brings. I suggest pu-erh if you really want to taste "earth" tastes in a tea.

I'm very happy to see these comments. I had a feeling that Pu-Erhs had more to offer than this. We will be trying more of these in the future and I'll even look around for an official yixing pot to steep it in.

And that means there will be more opportunity for really bad jokes! Yippie!

From what I've heard about this kind of tea, the pot it's made in can effect it greratly. Also, the steep time should be much much lower - like David says above. I thought too that a 30 steep was too short, but it's not.

This sounds like BAD tea. Sometimes you get cheap or bad tea.... IT was poorly made. It's not supposed to taste like soggy paper.

I forgot to mention that a common sequence for brewing pu-erh might be 5 second rinse, 10 second brew, 15s brew, 25s, 40s, 60s, 90s, 3min, 4min, 5.5min, etc...overall very short brew times.

If that tea tasted like paper, it was not a quality pu-erh/puer/pu-er/puerh. The wiki is a good source of information but check out http://community.livejournal.com/puerh_tea/.

If you'd like to try a real pu-erh I strongly suggest visiting www.puerhshop.com and trying their 2003 Spring Banzhang sample. It's very mild and sweet when brewed properly. I don't care what kind of leaf it is...NO tea should be brewed for 7 minutes on it's first brew.

Traditional pu-erh is most often brewed in a small (3-6 ounces) unglazed clay teapot called a yixing (yee-shing) pot and can be brewed up to 20 times depending on the quality of the tea and the skill of the tea master. The first brew is always very short and discarded just to rinse any residue off the tea.

If you wish to experience the depth of a true pu-erh seek out someone nearby who is familiar with the art of gong-fu tea service and have them prepare you a few cups. I guarantee you will not regret it.

It's incredibly unfortunate that so many western bulk tea companies pass off bits of compost and call it pu-erh. This turns off many potential new tea fans to the great experience that is pu-erh tea. It truly is like a good wine in it's complexity and richness.