This tea was pretty good, and I eventually found it to outshine the 2023 Autumn Jiu Tai Po I purchased around the same time and really loved. Just a solid tea with enough depth/complexity to keep you interested from day to day. I don’t find this tea offensive in any way, and whatever bad qualities noted by other reviewers seem to have aged their way out. It does have a touch of bitterness, but a friendly kind not unlike a good IPA-style beer. A piney kind of bitterness. Overall, the sweeter and fruitier notes of this tea seem more prominent. It has some of the “cotton candy” qualities which I love in some raw puerhs and some apricot/grape notes. Maybe some slight citrus hints. I’ve already brewed through the whole cake and now I’m missing it. Probably won’t buy again, though, as so much more raw puerh I haven’t explored yet.
I scored the 2023 Jiu Tai Po higher than this, but at the time I was blown away by the “cotton candy” aroma/flavor I had discovered in that one. In retrospect now I would rate it a little lower.
