This was an interesting and fairly tasty tea. It did seem to have some fermentation taste in the beginning. But this taste was not unpleasant and not quite the same as a ripe puerh. I am at a loss for how to properly describe this tea. It was initially sweet. When it opened up there was some bitterness for a couple of steeps. There was a very slight wet storage aftertaste, I could taste it but just barely. The tea got progressively sweeter as I resteeped it. By the twelfth steep it had developed something of a subdued fruity flavor but I couldn’t pin it down specifically. I like this more than most of the other liu baos I have tasted.
I steeped this twelve times in a 150ml gaiwan with 10g 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 minutes. There were a couple of steeps left in the tea but twelve was enough for me. I would recommend this tea but anyone who has not tried liu bao, it doesn’t taste like ripe puerh which it generally tries to emulate.
