Overall I liked this cake. It did have an unpleasant note in the first steep. Whatever it was, could have been my taste buds, it was gone by steep two. There was a fair amount of bitterness to this tea early on. I’d say it took four or five steeps for the bitterness to steep out. The note that was left was nice, what I would describe as a semi sweet note. Not quite apricots but then again this is a tea that I think has begun to age. The tea liquid was more orange than yellow but it still had some yellow in it. I never came up with a description for the note I liked in this tea. Not sweet in the sense of sugar mind you but sweet as far as raw puerh goes, but not tremendously sweet, mildly so. Some might say apricots but I am not sure about that. I really did like this tea though. Puerhshop’s house brand is usually good in my experience but I have more experience with their ripe teas. This one I think is on the cusp of becoming something nice given another five years of aging.
I steeped this tea twelve times in a 120ml gaiwan with 7.7g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 mini, 1.5 min, and 2 min. I think if I wanted to push it this tea would go at least another four or five steeps but twelve is enough for me.
Flavors: Bitter, Sweet
Just popped to their website and for $26 for a full 357gms cake I think I am going to get one for further storage. I agree with your opinion about their house brands, so far they have not disappointed me.