A strange tea, with a lot going on.

Aroma of the dry cake is unimpressive, even slightly unpleasant, but when I brew it, it becomes much better tasting. It looks attractive at least, with a lot of golden tips.

Besides the dusty tones reminiscent of a damp basement (which are most evident before actually sipping the tea), there is a lot more that emerges in the aroma, a sort of caramel-like quality, tones of wood and stone.

Flavor is sweet with a slight bitterness. Surprisingly crisp for a ripened Pu-erh of this age. Oddly (but pleasantly) dry finish, unusual for any Pu-erh.

I tried brewing under a range of conditions. Although this tea worked well with multiple infusions, I actually found its complexity was much greater when brewed using a single, long infusion. This brought out an unusual, and pleasant tingly sensation on the palate, and a strange, piercing estery quality, fleeting and transient...almost suggestive of peppermint, but also somewhat fruity. It also becomes, however, a bit suggestive of bubble gum, which I found I disliked a lot.

This is probably my second-favorite shu Pu-erh sampled. I am tough to please when it comes to ripened Pu-erh and this one was quite pleasant to drink, as well as being complex and diffreent. Still, there's a big gap between this, and my favorite Shu Pu-erh, the Jing Mai Autumnal from Tao of Tea that I still have some of in my cupboard (and which I could happily drink every day).

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