Hello hello!

Pu-Erh.Sk is a tea company that I’ve reviewed multiple times here on the site. I’ve even awarded them with ‘Best Puer Production’ of 2016. This means that, collectively, they had the best puer on the market for the year 2016. One of the teas that helped contribute to that award was their legendary Rareness sheng puer. Rareness is a Yiwu sheng puer that’s sold at a rather high price point, primarily because it’s difficult to obtain. This tea comes from old tea trees that are hard to obtain because harvesters have to climb high up in the tree to be able to access this tea. Along with that, this is the second time these old tea trees were harvested. So with that in mind, here’s what makes Rareness one of Pu-Erh.Sk’s most ‘rare’ teas…

Steeps 1 - 4

6.6g of tea was used in a 100ml vessel for this session with Rareness, along with a water temperature of 185ºf. Starting, Rareness opened up rather quickly and immediately gave off the tasting notes of deep green sencha and herbs, with the savory and broth like aftertaste. With the continuing steeps, Rareness kept opening up with a smooth and mouthwatering texture, which left a hint of bees wax mixed with an underlying sweetness in the mouth. Alongside this combination I closed my eyes and imagined myself in the middle of a forest, relaxed by tranquility. With the four steep, this tea already connected my tongue with nature and placed the tastebuds right in the middle of the Yiwu mountains.

Steeps 5 - 8

Rareness continued to open up, and released a deep broth that coated the entire mouth like a fine oil. The herb-like tasting notes turned more prominent with the likeness of sage, and grew creamier and creamier. With the continuing infusions, I started to sweat as the sweet undertone became sweeter, and brought out the light murmur of a deep forest moss.

Steeps 9 - 18

Rareness’s body began to mellow out around the tenth infusion, and by mellow out, I mean that Rareness’s body smoothed out and wasn’t as aggressive as earlier. Its body was still room filling, but something interesting happened around these steeps: Rareness’s body became smooth and frothy, and identically resembled a vodka/gin mixture. To add to this, the notes of creamy sage with the underlying sweetness made it resemble an alcoholic beverage. Its power was immense at this point, as I could feel my body begin to intoxicate all over. After eighteen steeps (2.5 liters of tea later), it was time to say good buy to Rareness…

Conclusion

During the second half of this session with Rareness, my muscles began to relax all over. By the time the session was over, my body felt like it was floating up above in the clouds. After relaxing on the couch for some time, I tried to get up but was held down by the immense feeling of being high. My head, body, and mind was heavily sedated which caused an immense calm to fall over my senses. After an hour of meditating I tried to get up to move myself to the bed, where I slept for the night. Upon waking up the next morning, I expected my body to be back to normal. To contradict what I thought, the moment I got up, I realized that this tea’s strength still had a strangle hold over my body — for a sensation that lasted the entirety of the day.

I’ve never experienced such a tea high in my life, nor did I expect a tea to have such an affect on the mind and body. Rareness is a tea that shouldn't be recommended to new puer drinkers, because its genius would go under-appreciated. Rareness is a very special tea, and is one that is worth an experience because it brings imagery, emotion, and immense body feel to the plate. Although not everyone can afford an entire beeng of this tea, a small sample is definitely worth the money to experience what it feels like to drink something so close to nature, and yet, put you in such a high and placid stupor. Rareness is definitely a rarity, and Pu-Erh.Sk did a fantastic job bringing it to light…