From a purchase 4-ish years ago.
This aged liu bao doesn’t have much longevity to it but what character it does harbor hits with a pow. With no hint of what is to come based on the liquor aroma, the first cup smacks me in the senses — not what I’m expecting from an old heicha. It’s like drinking a boiled peppermint tea but kind of fruity. It moves with haste in the mouth like it’s trying to get home as quickly as possible (in my gut!). Have you ever seen a small animal dart so fast to its hideout? The finish is oily and a bit metallic. Second steep I think I taste pizza — pineapple pizza — with old sauce and parmesan cheese rind. Third steep is? Nutty-rooty-woody. Forgettable, I guess. This tea definitely has a soft edge of wet storage to it. I have a difficult time describing humid notes without scaring people away.
Overall, I picked up on more aroma in the warmed and rinsed leaf than distinctive tastes in the tea. Lots of associations from the leaf such as maple-sweet fenugreek seed, warm bricks, old Easter candy (robin eggs), goji, autumn leaf, hot stone fireplace and finally mulberry, which appeared as the leaf cooled and while I waited for the kettle to boil again.
Too caffeinating. Both times drank left me feeling some anxiety.
Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Bread, Cheese, Chocolate, Fireplace, Goji, Herbal, Metallic, Mint, Mulberry, Nuts, Oily, Pancake Syrup, Pineapple, Roots, Smooth, Tomato, Wood
