2013 Awazon Raw Puerh Tea Cake 357g 1305# Spring Tea

From Puerh TTB-4

This is about the 4th Awazon tea I’ve tried and this is my favorite so far. The powerful nose is grassy with some vegetive qualities. The nose suggested richness and the taste delivers. Good texture, with round, slightly fruity taste. Decent finish. 2nd steep was a bit disappointing. Just plain wood/straw flavor with a hint of bitterness at the finish. I oversteeped the third cup 3rd (40 s vs 20 s) but I like the tea. It’s woody and slightly bitter. Not much cha qi. Several more good steeps. Not a star, but a good solid tea and probably good value.

This tea is pretty good. The first thing I noticed was a sweet note that I identified with white grapes but not as sweet. A little bitterness crept in around the third steep. There was a little bit of astringency too. Overall I really liked this tea. I believe it is a blend but I’m not entirely sure. It is a nice young sheng full of sweet notes. There was a mild qi to this tea. Not massive but there. I think this might age into something nice.

I steeped this eight times in a 120mml gaiwan with 8.2g leaf and 190 degree 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, and 30 sec. The leaves were not done at eight steeps. I’m sure I could have gotten four or five more steeps out of them but I want to go on to something else.