From the Puerh TTB #4
This may have to be the first shou that I’ve bought in nearly a year. After a quick rinse, I did a 10 s steep. I was distracted when I started to drink and for a moment thought I was drinking sheng. Despite the young age I don’t taste any fermentation flavor (after my review I went to the web site and discovered the tea is from the 2012 harvest and was pressed in 2015, so that makes more sense). It tasted a lot like a sheng that has a few years of age on it. Slightly grassy flavor with some earthiness. 2nd steep: Color more red than orange, and more of a shou aroma. This sheng-like flavor may be because the leaves hadn’t separated in the first two steeps.
The 3rd steep was the next day: Dark red color; really looks like shou now. Smells and tastes like one too. Fair amount of fermentation flavor, some cherry fruit, and some bitterness. The bitterness dominates the finish. The different components work together pretty well, so it isn’t unpleasant. Much stronger than the first two steeps. By the 5th steep it was much more pleasant. No fermentation flavor and only a hint of bitterness. Flavor is a mix of wood and stone fruit. Finish is still bitter. I’m still drinking (up to about the 7th or 8th steep) and still enjoying the tea. It’s milder and less complex but has no negatives. Just a really nice taste.
I’m pretty much an exclusively sheng drinker, but every once in a while try shou. This tea could make me keep coming back.
I am frothing and waiting for the new stuff from W2T as well. This one and a couple more are coming home to me very soon.
It is nice
I added to my buy list for the next order, but I’m trying to resist more tea.