2003 Hongyin

I’ve been curious about this one and luckily some decided to make its way over to me. The description is true when stating that this shu will win no beauty contests, haha. The leaves are small, frail, and mostly melded together. They give off a a deep autumn leaf pile scent with some dry wood and slight earth. This tea kinda smells like drought in how dry it is haha. I warmed my gaiwan up and popped a chunk inside. The scent deepens and becomes more “dry”. I pick up some parchment, dust, leather, tobacco, and sage after a rainstorm wafting from my gaiwan. This has a lot of piercing and sharp tones. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The taste follows suit with the scents, beginning with clay and some bitterness. A dry leather and quick sour tone overlaps. Then, the brew moves into some smooth red pear with a light sweetness. However, this taste only lasts a second, for the brew moves back into dry tones with some sour underlying. This brew reminds me of a dry red wine. I experienced some tongue prickling and throat numbing. The qi is deeply warming and potent. I am relaxed and my hair begins to prickle. This is a nice dry tea with some complexity and heavy leather tones. This qi is amazing and it has aged quite nicely. The unique dry characteristic would make this a good conversation tea.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCu6favTGeC/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

So far it seems I’m not usually a fan of older ripe pu-erh. I think this may have aged past my personal preferences.