Man, I came close to ordering one of these…I ended up with two samples from two different puerhshop orders. I had pretty fond memories of my first try, but after having it a second time, I don’t think it’s anything I need to pick up. The dry aroma was nice and minty smelling. After a rinse, the leaves had a leathery slightly smoky smell – smelled like kind of old sheng I guess.
The liquid had a decent orange tint going on, indicating this sheng’s entrance into middle-agedness. First couple steeps were slightly thick, smooth, with leathery and menthol notes. The taste got pretty pungent a few steeps in, with the leathery becoming more tobacco. It started to gain a bit of a sour undercurrent that reminded me of raisins or craisins, without much sweetness. I got a bit of feeling from this tea in my throat – a slight constricting feeling. Not much otherwise in terms of body feel. Later steeps were pretty clean tasting, with tobacco and an “aged” note. Not bad tea, but not one I need to pick up a whole 250g of. I might have snagged one if they were 100g tuos, but there’s honestly much better tea I could spend $20 on.
Flavors: Leather, Pleasantly Sour, Raisins, Tobacco
