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I purchased this cake because of the price, shape and name. Obviously this was named in honor of Panchen Lama Norbu not Nyima, otherwise, the PRC would never let it see the light of day on western shores. I digress and don’t want to cause any political arguments here.

Anyway, I can’t say how pleasantly surprised I was with the quality of this Puer. I wrestled with the mushroom shape trying to break a modest piece off. I got a little bit bigger piece than I wanted, but gave it a go.

Because I had more cake than necessary, it was important to keep the steeps as short as possible. This worked wonderfully. Over many, many, many steeps, I was rewarded with a rich, full-bodied tea. This tea produced an impressive depth of flavor; typical puer flavors of earth, leather and finally pleasant salted mushrooms. Nothing spectacular as far as flavor or aroma, just solid, hearty and healthy flavors. As stated earlier, I kept the steeps very short,therefore I never encountered a harsh or bitter note.

Overall, this puer exemplifies only positive qualities: price point, flavor, aroma, and endurance.