Mellow, forgiving, well suited for dreary days
"Steeping: 5g tea ball in a Zisha Clay Teapot for 30s Aroma: Dry Hay, Petrichor, Oakwood, Fall Leaves, Vanilla, Powdered Sugar Taste: Very subtle, just hints of vanilla, rock sugar, and orchid. Not a trace of bitterness nor astringency. Aftertaste: Also quite subtle, just a hint of bittersweet chocolate that coats the tongue and layers on your tongue through the session. Texture: Medium-bodied, not quite as thick as a soup would be, but thicker than milk. Progression Through Steepings: This tea starts stronger on the aroma with a very subtle flavor; it needs 3-4 steepings to loosen up. It lasts about 9 gong fu style steepings of 30-45s before it tapers off. In earlier steepings, the vanilla and powdered sugar aroma was not present at all; in later steepings, the other aromas faded away and those two were dominant. The aftertaste wasn't present until the 3rd or 4th steeping and kept getting thicker all the way until the end. The texture remained medium-bodied through the whole session. Summary: This is quite a mellow and forgiving tea that can be oversteeped without getting bitter. None of the dusty-musty aromas that badly stored puerh can often have. Great for late afternoons on dreary days when you're feeling groggy or stuffy. The aromas remind me of fall and winter in the early steepings and spring in the later steepings. The texture is just present enough to give the tea some oomph without being brothy or oily. Ripe puerh tea can have a funk to it when you first open it. Give this tea a couple days to air out after opening before you drink it, and the smell will dissipate completely. I recommend putting the tea balls in a not-airtight but opaque container, not plastic as that can impart its own smell. Thank you to the team at Meimei for your generosity in providing this tea for me to review! I enjoyed taking several sessions with this tea to explore all aspects of it and distill my thoughts."