I have my doubts about this tea, about it’s age. As far as the fermentation flavor goes there was a lot of it. And it was somewhat unpleasant. It tasted more like a 2015 fermented tea. It had not cleared at all. The fermentation flavor was thick and lasted for about four or five steeps. It began to improve dramatically around the sixth steep. If you can get past the initial fermentation taste this is a good tea. A nice sweet note developed in the later steeps. I wasn’t really paying attention to the specifics to tell you about notes of chocolate but something of a fruity flavor did emerge.
I steeped this tea ten times in a 120ml gaiwan with 10g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min.
Flavors: Earth, Sweet
I’ve heard a few people mention fermentation flavour, but I don’t really know what it is – what does it taste like?
It stems from the process of pile fermentation that ripe puerh undergoes. Initially it is quite unpleasant. It is described as earthy. The best way to understand fermentation flavor is to go online and buy a 2015 ripe puerh. It will have fermentation flavor as it’s first flavor. This tea was supposed to be from 2003, it shouldn’t have had so much of it.
Thanks Allan, much appreciated. I’ll get a 2015 sample or two.
I get licorice in the newer stuff. That keys me to the young stuff.