First, here's a couple photos:
(As you can see, there's only about 1/3 of this bing left)
So, how to describe this 2 yr. old shou bing? The first word that comes to mind for me is, "passable." In other words, it's nothing extraordinary, nor is there much to complain about.
The color of the broth for initial brewings is of a dark carob, almost coffee tone. When held up to light there are some nice medium red tints that come through. In subsequent brewings, the color of the broth lightens up nicely but still retains some leathery tones. In terms of clarity, it's definitely not as luminescent as would be desired and almost creeps into the 'too opaque' zone. I'd put it at about a 6.5/10 on the murkiness scale (10 being very murky).
This 普洱's bouquet is actually not bad, with mostly earthy notes accented by tinges of caramel.
My main complaints about this puer are that the flavor is a little too mellow and body is too light. The initial flavor is woody but is extremely toned-down and could definitely be a little more prominent. It leaves much to be desired. The tea comes through a little bit better in the aftertaste, exhibiting slightly stronger woody and faint molasses notes. While the flavor is not outstanding, it certainly isn't disagreeable. Again, I would describe it as "passable" or "drinkable." The 口感 (kou gan; mouth-sensation) is fairly smooth and agreeable, but isn't anything special.
The stimulating effect isn't too forceful and develops slowly over several brews. The right amount of pick-me-up while not being overwhelming.
As I said, I've been drinking this tea almost exclusively (in terms of puer that is... i still drink wulong, long jing, bi lo chun, etc.) for the past couple of months. It's treated me fairly well, actually. While I certainly long for higher quality aged sheng chas, this is a decent fairly-young shou cha for affordable daily drinking.
Overall score: 67/100
I hope you enjoyed reading this (my first!) review. Any feedback is welcome and appreciated!
