Today, I experienced my first Puer tea tasting as part of a Beijing City Day Tour. I’ll admit—it had all the makings of a tourist trap. Everything felt a little too polished, a little too rehearsed, like a tea factory line designed for out-of-towners. I was the only brown girl among a group of older, mostly white tourists, and at first, I felt pretty guarded and out of place.
But then came the tea.
It was an aged Puer, broken off from a compact coin of fermented tea leaves. I’d never seen anything like it before. One sip, and I was hooked. It tasted rich, earthy, and deeply comforting—like a warm hug in the middle of a Beijing winter.
I loved it so much that I bought the Puer coin and the traditional tea brewer they used during the tasting. It’s now sitting beside me as I write this entry, with Friends playing in the background. I probably paid more RMB than I should have, but honestly? If this marks the beginning of a lifelong love affair with Puer tea, I consider it money well spent.
It won’t be my last tea tasting in China. And hey—another bucket list item, ticked.
Follow me on Instagram @KultureKween for more recent updates.
