2005 Xiaguan 8613 Raw Pu-erh tea cake * 357 grams

This is a decently strong and astringent tea for its age. A little complexity to it, but you can figure it all out in roughly 4 steeps but around then you will start to feel the dry mouth that comes with the astringency. I think this would have been better say 5 years ago when these apricot notes were still fresh as they are beginning to fade; though it is noticeable. However, I am pretty sure the tea would be bitter so it’s a catch 20/20…
This wouldn’t be one for me as I can tell it prefers a humid storage over my preference of dry; this is something I picked up on the dry notes and understanding the time process of aging due to humidity and the variances it has.
Not looking at the price of this… I would say if it can be found for 10cents a gram it would be something to invest in a cake of, but I’m a cheap person :)

Has notes of honey in early steeps and a pleasant smoothness throughout. I found this guy a little too finicky, as overbrewing it led to an unpleasant (to me anyways) level of smokiness. Aroma was much smokier than the flavor however. Flavor lasted quite a long time, mostly with honey and some floral aspects, though in later steeps it also developed a mineral, almost salty taste.

After a couple sessions with it, I think this tea is ok, but perhaps a bit too smoky for me. Took some effort for me to get past that taste, and once I did, I appreciated the sweeter, floral aspects, but wouldn’t want to have a whole ton of this tea.