I’m not really familiar with the wide variety of shengs available, but this seems very middle of the road. For a moderately aged tea, you could do a lot worse but also a lot better. It would make a good daily drinker and that’s how I’m drinking it. 5g in a 16oz ingentuitea hitting it with boiling water and just waiting until it looks right. for my notes on taste I did a session with 5g in a 90ml gaiwan.
Early on it’s a bit smokey, but not too strong. More of the petroleum than wood smoke. There is a very distinct saccharine sweetness coming from this, but it balances the bitterness really well. There is still a lot of green to this despite being a decade old and you get a cooked kale flavor from the body that also brings up ideas of tobacco and wet wood pulp. There are some of the classic stonefruit flavors there in the background, but the texture really distracts me away from it. It started out nice and silky but has transitioned to being a bit drying, which is really where I back out.
All around not bad, but I won’t be buying a cake.
