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I really wanted to like this tea, but it didn’t happen for me. (5 gm in 70ml clay pot.) The wet leaves have a subtle musty smell. The broth has a nice gold color. The problem is that I found it to have very little flavor and no caffeine or body feel. I had to push it from the beginning to get any flavor, and when I did, I got a burnt after taste. For this price point, I would definitely go for the Milk, Cream & Alcohol. I have not tried Little Walk but it has a good Steepster rating so that might also be an option. Using the Richmond Rating scale below, I would give it a 2.2 which equates to 44 on Steepster (I guess).

1 I hate this tea. I’m not sure I can finish my cup, and I would never purchase it.
2 I’m not a fan of this tea. I may finish my cup or pot, but I probably wouldn’t buy it.
3 This tea is okay. I might drink it from time to time. I may purchase if it were inexpensive or someone gave it to me.
4 I like this tea. I want to drink it regularly, and I would be willing to pay up to the mid range of my budget for it.
5 I love this tea. I can’t get enough. I would be willing to pay at the highest end of my budget for it.

The pot of leaves has the classic puerh hay smell. The soup color is yellow-gold and clear (no cloudiness). The texture is moderate-to-high thickness. As advertised, this has a bold Menghai taste that is in your face. I began to notice a slight body feel at the end of 2nd steeping. I’ve been drinking it slow and easy so it has been ok on my stomach, but I think it has the potential to upset mine if I slammed it. $ 0.16 per gram seems like a nice price point, so if you like bold Menghai flavors, this is a no brainer. It is a clean straightforward tea. I might rate it slightly higher than 80 if I was a bigger fan of big Menhai character. For my home notes, I’m giving it a 76 due to my personal tasting preferences (3.8 using the Richmond rating system):

1 I hate this tea. I’m not sure I can finish my cup, and I would never purchase it.
2 I’m not a fan of this tea. I may finish my cup or pot, but I probably wouldn’t buy it.
3 This tea is okay. I might drink it from time to time. I may purchase if it were inexpensive or someone gave it to me.
4 I like this tea. I want to drink it regularly, and I would be willing to pay up to the mid range of my budget for it.
5 I love this tea. I can’t get enough. I would be willing to pay at the highest end of my budget for it.

Leaves have a sweet hay smell. The color started a rich yellow and quickly moved to gold. The texture is fairly thick with a nice mouth feel. There is a mild sweetness and I get a slight bitterness, which I don’t mind. The flavor was a little bolder than I was expecting. If a soft Yiwu is a 1 and a bold Menghai is a 5, this was about a 3.5 for me. I began to notice a mild body feel at the end of my second steep and increases slightly into my 5th steep where I took a break. It did not upset my stomach at all which surprised me for such a young sheng. This tea seems to have some serious backbone so I would drink it w/ respect. I think it is almost too much for me to be a daily drinker but definitely want to enjoy from time to time. I ended up getting 13 steeps out of the leaves. Using the Richmond Rating Scale, I give this a 4.4 which equates to a 88 on Steepter scale. Richmond scale:
1 I hate this tea. I’m not sure I can finish my cup, and I would never purchase it.
2 I’m not a fan of this tea. I may finish my cup or pot, but I probably wouldn’t buy it.
3 This tea is okay. I might drink it from time to time. I may purchase if it were inexpensive or someone gave it to me.
4 I like this tea. I want to drink it regularly, and I would be willing to pay up to the mid range of my budget for it.
5 I love this tea. I can’t get enough. I would be willing to pay at the highest end of my budget for it.

Leaves have dusty hay smell. Soup color is gold just starting to brown. The texture is very smooth and not very thick. The taste is light and soft. Mild sweetness with just a touch of bitterness (esp in middle steeps). Slight woody aged taste. Mild huigan. Noticed mild chi after 4 steeps. Easy on the stomach. Not something I would write home about, but for an aged cake, this might be one to add to my collection since it such a reasonable value ($.18/g).