2015/2018 3 Cranes “2506” Liu Bao
7.4g, 100mL gaiwan, 212f, Brita filtered water
5s rinse smells like shou puer: mushroom and dank in a slightly fishy sort of way
dry leaves smell like the HK custom aged sheng I’ve tried before. Bit dark and earthy
wet leaves smell woody and slightly sweet.
7s: mouthfeel slightly thick. tastes like shou. slight black pepper undertones.
10s: much darkened in color. darkened flavors. still like shou.
rest of steeps pretty consistent, not sure exactly how many I ended up doing. don’t really get sweetness during gongfu steeps, but I’ve never been too perceptive to vendor listed sweet notes of shous, so it could be a me thing.
thermos brew: standard grainy sweet notes, but retaining a woody character.
overall, a nice daily drinker if you’re into this sort of shou tea profile, and Yunnan Sourcing sells it for even cheaper last I checked (so fairly easy on the wallet in comparison).
Flavors: Black Pepper, Earth, Mushrooms, Sweet, Wood
