It should be noted that I don’t think this tea was quite stored properly, depending on an argument of storage. It was sent to me shrink wrapped in heavy plastic and was obviously stored that way. It is the opinion of most people that puerh needs to breathe. That being said this was decent tea with no off flavors. It was just in my opinion a little flat tasting. It was strong. In the eighth steep it looked stronger than some teas look in their second steep. I am sure I could have kept going if I had the desire or the caffeine tolerance. It’s not like there was no sweetness to this tea it just didn’t impress me. Perhaps after a semi humid Long Island summer it will come back. My pumidor is just for sheng or I would rehydrate it there. It should be noted that I didn’t taste any fermentation flavor in this tea.
I steeped this tea eight times in a 120ml gaiwan with 8.7g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse then let the leaves rest for ten minutes. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec.
You just need to build a ‘shoumidor’ like me.