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Look, is this fancy? Maybe not. Yeah I got it on Amazon overnight and didn’t pay $140 to ship it here over 3 weeks from China, so what! (Wait so why am I doing that with puerh…) Super smooth, no bitterness or astringency. Rather sweet without any sugar, wrapped in a toasty roasted flavor that reminds me of when you overcook popcorn and get just a bit of that burnt smell, and maybe a bit of roasted barley. Maybe some oatmeal & maple in there. And on the exhale a hint of…cinnamon toast? Great morning cuppa for the office, and maybe the first thing I’ll offer newbies.

As a homebrewer of beer, I can’t get over how much this tea tastes almost exactly like steeped malted barley (basically, Grape Nuts cereal), to the point that it’s almost a negative; when I want tea I want tea, not unfermented unhopped beer! This makes a great addition to other dark/black teas to sweeten them up.

Received from Yunnan Sourcing July 2023. Dry leaves a mix of olive green to greenish brown. Tightly packed, I got a lot of breakage and powder in my first session.
Rinsed for 10 seconds at temperature (205F). Wet leaves smell like hops and seaweed, and after a couple steeps lemongrass.
First steep 15 seconds. Liquor is a light honey color. Aroma very clean, makes me think of an ocean breeze/seawater with a hint of cut grass. Not as bitter as I feared for a sheng puerh, very accessible for those who prefer shou but are willing to explore sheng. Light vegetal, bit of orange blossom. Finish is sweet and viscous, bit of cooling on the tongue. Very calming sensation in the chest, like deep breathing.
Second steep 20 seconds. More bitterness apparent in this one but not off-putting, and at the sides of the tongue a new subtle lemony tartness, maybe pairing with more noticeable orange blossom aroma. Color unchanged.
Third steep 20 seconds. Bitterness has faded back to steep 1 or I’m used to it, sweetness also faded. Otherwise consistent.