This is an excellent ripe tea with little bitterness and very little fermentation flavor. It did have some fermentation taste but it was not pronounced. There was a nice semi sweet taste from the beginning. While this was a highly enjoyable tea I didn’t notice notes of chocolate. I think you could say it developed a fruity taste in later steeps. This was a tea you could probably steep twenty times. I steeped it fourteen times and stopped there. But the tea liquid was still quite dark. I definitely would have gone a few more steeps. Lao Cha Tou Nuggets are known for their lasting ability in general.
I steeped this fourteen times in a 120ml gaiwan with 12g 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 min, 1.5 min, 2 min, 2.5 min and 3 min. I really think it would have gone twenty steeps at least. This was a really good tea, one of the best I have had recently. Berylleb usually calls their highest quality tea by the name nonpareil and this lives up to that claim. It was not quite as good as the tea from 2003 by Berylleb but close.
Flavors: Earth, Fruity, Sweet
I tried this and the 2003 version. You are right, the 2003 is better. It is more smooth and sweeter.