This is a tasty ripe cake with a fair amount of fermentation flavor left. For those with an aversion to fermentation flavor it was initially somewhat unpleasant even if I wouldn’t say fishy. It was sweet with little bitterness to it. The Yunnan Sourcing description says notes of Whisky/Smoke/Peat. That was not my initial interpretation of this tea but I think it is an alternate description of the notes. This is not really a chocolaty shou. It did develop a nice sweetness in later steeps and was dark and rich in the initial infusions. This was a very strong tea. It was quite enjoyable in the end and the price was right at only $25.
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. Judging by the color of the tenth steep I’d say I could get four or five more steeps out of this if I had a desire for that much caffeine.
