A sample I purchased, I love the aroma of the wet leaves after brewing – wood smoke and lemon. Very nice!
Overall, I think PuerhShop has done a good job of describing this one. It does seem to be aging nicely and shedding off bitterness. It does have a bit of smoke present in the flavor. I am finding it slightly tart, a bit of apple cider notes. Some definite astringency is hitting me on the back end. I might have to spend some more time with this one but for me, personally I’m not sure it’s a keeper. Would I buy a whole cake? No. It’s 8 years old now and I’d say it still has a way to go and I’m not one of those people that collects pu-erhs for the purpose of aging them. I prefer some of their milder shengs I’ve sampled recently but I suppose it depends on what you are looking for.
3rd and 4th infusions are starting to mellow out a bit and are getting sweeter and fruitier, but I am still on the fence a bit about this tea.
Prepared gong fu style
