What a nice puerh it is. The aroma is probably the best I experienced with raw puerhs: no sourness, no dunkiness…. just a very powerful floral and fruity blend that is hard to describe but very easy to enjoy and appreciate. The same could be said for the taste – it is strong and immensely pleasant. Apricot, apple, cherry, mineral, flowers, orange zest. The tea’s emotional profile is of energy and cheerfulness.
This tea is forgiving with longer steepings and in general presents markedly different (but equally enjoyable!) profiles steeped short and medium. It invites you to experiment a little bit. A very nice lingering bitter and astringent aftertaste with floral and cherry notes is present. The only downside is that this enjoyable taste lasts only for the first 3-5 gaiwan steeps and after that quickly degenerate in the all-too-familiar cheap sheng astringency.
I tried this tea first time a year ago and while I liked it back then it since improved quite noticeably. I will have to go back and bump my previous rating up since this Smooch certainly deserved.
