This is a very tasty shou with a moderate amount of fermentation flavor. The fermentation flavor is not unpleasant or fishy. There was little to no bitterness to this tea. This tea was mildly sweet from the start. Somewhere along the line it got listed as having a mushroom flavor. That is not out of the ballpark. This tea is quite good. This is one I am tempted to buy more of to age, we shall see. It’s good enough to warrant a tong of the stuff.
I steeped this tea twelve times in a 150ml yixing gaiwan with 10.1g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 min. It was pretty much finished at twelve steeps but I think if I upped the time I could get a couple more steeps out of the leaves.
Flavors: Earth, Sweet
Mushroom, yes! I wasn’t sure what I was tasting!