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My Sheng Olympics sample for the day. :) 6-7g sample in a 4oz gaiwan, water 90-100C. Started with 10sec steeps, gradually added time. This is interesting to drink fairly soon after trying the 2015 version, because you can really see the effect of the aging. Interestingly, there’s not much of an “aged” flavour to this – a bit of that old books note in the scent, especially smelling the wet leaves, but tea liquor itself doesn’t really have the musty, earthy flavours at all. I’m guessing that means the storage was fairly dry? Anyway, what’s noticeable is how much the tea has mellowed out with age. I found the young version a bit more bitter than I prefer, but this has a lovely balance between sweet and bitter. It’s smooth, with a medium thick mouthfeel and aftertaste. I didn’t really pick out a lot of distinct flavour notes, but I found it really easy to drink – I just kept steeping and drinking over and over (while somewhat distracted by my laptop). I had to force myself to slow down and sip more mindfully so I’d have something to write in this note besides “Yum!” It held up to longer steepings very well, getting darker in colour and thicker in flavour without developing any overwhelming bitterness or sour notes. Quite nice.